40. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 1999. 435 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. For another, he really wanted to do his homework but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And he also happened to be a wizard.

Premise/plot: Harry Potter and his friends are preparing for a third year at Hogwarts. This one starts out in some ways extremely similar to the other two books in the series, but quite different as well. After an INCIDENT with his "family," Harry Potter runs away... Around this same time the magic world is shook by the escape of a prisoner from Azkaban--Sirius Black. Everyone is so distracted/concerned about his escape, that Harry Potter's so-called illegal use of magic is overlooked or quickly pardoned. Most of this school year is concerned with the missing Sirius Black. It is thought that Harry Potter is in even more danger than usual...

Plenty of adventures and misadventures are to be found in the day to day lives of Harry Potter and company. 

My thoughts: I certainly did not expect Scabbers--Ron Weasley's rat--to enter into the story in this fashion. I wasn't surprised by other elements of this one. I've learned to expect just about anything/everything from other characters--particularly adults, mostly professors, etc. 

I liked this one okay. I didn't hate it. But it also wasn't all that thrilling. Well, it had its thrilling moments towards the end. But for the most part it is all ho-hum. Hermione is super busy taking a million classes at once. Hermione has a "mean" cat. I guess the only other positive thing is that we get a few glimpses of who Harry's parents--their characters/personalities/relationships/etc.

 

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