Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #3
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 435
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

My Thoughts

Like the previous two books, this is my fourth time reading HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. It’s also my favorite story in the series. I love the dynamic of everything found in its pages–the characters, the adventure, the “mystery,” etc.

I love that the students finally get a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his stuff. I love seeing the students learn how to battle boggarts, grindylows, hinkypunks, etc. I think it’s fun to see how the students handle each of these obstacles. Professor Lupin is one of my favorite characters. I love getting to know him, learning all about him and his life at Hogwarts as a student and as a teacher.

I had a hard time with Snape in this story. He made me so angry that I wanted to reach through the pages and strangle him on more than one occasion. I remember hating him after finishing this book for the first time. I thought he hated Harry in the first two books, but there’s nothing like his hatred for him in this story. I completely understand why Harry, Ron, and Hermione don’t trust him. I wouldn’t have either.

It was fun to see the growing pains Harry, Ron, and Hermione go through. At first, it seems as though their friendship is perfect, none of them can do wrong in each other’s eyes. But, their friendship is just as susceptible to anger, hurt, indifference, and jealousy as any other friendship. I’m glad their friendship is strong enough that it can weather the hiccups and become stronger because of them. As I’ve said before, their friendship is one to be jealous of.

I love exploring Hogsmeade. It was fun to delve deeper into the wizarding world and explore all the different shops. It made me kind of jealous as I’d love to experience everything they did.

My favorite thing is the Marauders and the Marauders’ Map. I love the backstory of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. This part of the story is actually the main reason I don’t like the movie adaptation very much. I think it doesn’t give enough time to explain the importance of the Marauders themselves.

Update: When I’ve reread this series, I’ve sometimes listened to the audiobooks narrated by Jim Dale. I love how much Dale brings the stories to life.

Unfortunately, the audiobook for this story misses a huge chunk of the story near the end when the characters are in the Shrieking Shack. Because the Jim Dale audiobook was first produced on CDs, the part that’s missing happened when transitioning from one CD to another.

I’ve also been able to read a U.K. edition of each of the novels. The first four novels have the most differences, especially the first book. I loved getting to read Rowling’s original words, the words she wrote, not the words “translated” for U.S. readers.