HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Author: JK Rowling

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Adventure, Classics

Book 3 in the Harry Potter Saga

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

The one where everything started to make sense to me, and it got my attention to the point of moving me forward with the books, the story, everything about it. Mostly, thankful to Alfonso Cuarón for making it such a fun experience and making me watch the movie endless times, at this point in my life, I have lost count of how many times I have watched it. I had it on a VHS tape (suddenly felt old), anyway, I had it and re-watched it on my own many times, it made my teenage days better.

But, as always, this is about the book, not the movie. It goes without saying, that there are Spoilers for those that have not watched the movies, read the books, or watched the movies and didn’t read the books, or vice versa, you’ve been warned. 📖👈

Starting

We are back in Privet Drive, and soon after it, we are introduced to the wonders of Knight Bus and travel to the Leaky Cauldron. On the bus, we spent some time, unlike in the movie, and Harry uses Neville’s name, just a fun fact. After we spent quite some time at the Leaky Cauldron, one would say the rest of his summer vacations, and not two days or less like in the movie. Sorry, could not help to mention it. We study, hang out, and pretty much see the magical world from this place until Harry has to go to Hogwarts, and we are faced with a new professor, who we’ll eventually love, as well as meeting dementors, a new horror, and fear a dog that is not a dog.

At Hogwarts

Alright, so this year, we are older, perhaps not wiser, but definitely more curious and eager to keep on learning about Hogwarts and new creatures in the magical world. 

Our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is none other than Remus Lupin, who we learn, later on, knew Harry’s parents and was one of the Marauders. Also, we begin to hear: You have your mother’s eyes. The phrase that will know hunt Harry for eternity it seems since everyone who knew Lily Potter, apparently, noticed nothing else about her but her eyes. (LOL, didn’t mean to sound mean, if I did).

In any case, we also meet a new beautiful creature, who gets a little upset if you don’t pay court to it, the Hypogriff, and this one is called Buckbeak, and we later one want, well I did.

Our new professor, teaches us about a whole bunch of magical creatures, the Hippogriff is from Hagrid’s class, not Lupin’s; and in our DADA classes, we now see what it would be like to have a fear manifested in front of you to face like I have no idea what mine would be, a gigantic cockroach or rat I guess, or perhaps a zombie though I good swing with a machete and I’ll be okay, so I couldn’t tell you, but we do know that Harry’s is a dementor because it seems he fears soul-soaking more than anything in the world, more than the Dark Lord, the one who killed his parents, but I suppose a dementor is as scary as that. 

Wow, I have lots to say about this book, do you see how much I liked it? Can you tell? 🙂 

This year at Hogwarts just had too many little details that you cannot miss or stop loving, you have the Maudere’s Map, Harry discovering there are multiple passageways in Hogwarts, like there are a bunch, we have Adivination classes with Professor Trelawney, which has a much more expanded and complex character in the books, I mean she doesn’t always see into the future, but when she does, she does. And Lavender and Padma were featured more in this book, especially in Trelawney’s class. 🔮

Oh, we also have Hermione jumping around and disappearing or appearing out of nowhere, and Ron being the only one who notices these moments, real love in the making.  

We play against Cedric Diggory, I mean Hufflepuff, a little view into other houses playing against Harry, and how he is not actually the best of the best at everything, Cedric was really skilled. 

Lupin teaches us about the Patronus charm, and Harry has various sessions before managing it, it’s not like he suddenly did it, and he kept on doing it and facing the fake dementor (Boggart), because he sort of likes hearing his mom screaming his name. 🤷‍♀️

We went to Hogsmeade and spied on people, found out that Sirius Black is Harry’s Godfather, and well, that was a surprise, considering everyone thinks he’s the devil or something and that he betrayed them, which we know it’s not true, after, not there. 

Ending the School Year

Well, I have talked quite a lot about The Prisoner of Azkaban, but the bottom line was at the end of the year when we found out that Hermione had a powerful artefact all year long and had been turning back time. 

Thanks to her and Harry, we were able to go back, save Buckbeak, Sirius, after finding out… oh wait, I skipped over the part where Harry, Ron and Hermione went after Pettigrew and found Black, and then went into the Shrieking Shack, and Lupin followed as did Severus, whom Harry disarmed with Hermione’s wand, and they all went in there by pushing a knot in a tree. 

Alright, so after all of that, and Harry finding out that Sirius was not actually the bad guy, and that it was Pettigrew who betrayed them all, and escaped once more because he is an Animagus too, as were James and Sirius because it seems they learned how to do it, to help their friend Remus.

In any case, after saving Sirius and Buckbeak from certain death by going back in time, Harry discovers that he can conjure a very powerful Patronus and that he saw himself conjuring it to save Sirius from dementors. 

Afterwards, Sirius is the one to sign the petition so that Harry can go on school trips like going to Hogsmeade, no, they don’t say that in the movies.  

And that’s about it in the Prisoner of Azkaban, poor Sirius spent so much time there, paying for a crime he didn’t commit, and that was a tragic story, like his life was basically wasted there. I think I covered quite a lot of the books. I know some details are not here but then what would you have for the book? I hope you have read it and if you haven’t but you will, I am sure you will enjoy it. 

For the other books, check regularly on the page Wizarding World here on my blog.

Thank you for staying to the end and reading my ramblings on one of my favourites. 

Happy Reading, dearies! ⭐