Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling

This book. Where do I even begin? Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has always been my favorite Harry Potter movie, which is why my expectations for this book were unbelievably high. This book met those expectations and then went above and beyond. I couldn’t put it down, I loved every second of being in this world with these characters. I loved how Harry’s father’s friends were the center of this book. I loved how the entire universe was colliding with James Potter and his best friends. 

Plot

As another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry begins, Harry and his friends are pulled into a deep plot involving dementors and Sirius Black. 

Black is known to want Harry dead, so he must do anything he can to avoid coming face to face with the murderous man who has escaped Azkaban wizardry prison. 

Harry launches into the new school year full of magical spells, quidditch games, and dementor hauntings only to come face to face with Remus Lupin, his new defence against the dark arts teacher, who tells him that a patronus is the only way to get rid of the dementors that seem to be coming after Harry at any possible moment. 

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

Harry and his friends make their way through another school year filled with Dark Magic, meeting his father’s best friends, and murderers. 

Characters

Just when you think Harry can’t become more of a “chosen one”, he does. This entire book revolves around Harry’s father and his best friends. I loved seeing Harry develop farther into a wizard that I could find myself following. He was strong and eager to learn and I love that he was able to figure out the deepest secrets that Hogwarts had to offer. He was just such a powerful character and I love how the narration of the book revolves around him and his story as he develops relationships with his father’s oldest friends. 

Ron and Hermione are always loyal best friends, however, there were major hiccups in their relationships throughout this book. Both of them were fighting due to their pets trying to murder each other and while it added a lot of plot to the book, at times it was kind of unnecessary and a waste of time. Despite this, I enjoyed seeing them become less of the perfect golden trio, and more of best friends that love each other and look past their differences. Ron was the usual male best friend that stuck by Harry throughout the entire book. Hermione, however, became more of a strong female lead that added a lot more than just a best friend/side character. She took on copious amounts of work throughout the school year, and as I’ve mentioned before, she’s been a character that I’ve always admired. In this book, she manages to create an entire storyline that revolves around her and her schoolwork, eventually leading to Harry being the hero of the evening. 

Professor Lupin is a character that I loved from his introduction. As someone who knows about the Marauders and is a huge fan, Lupin and Sirius are characters that are already familiar to me. It was so cool seeing their relationships develop with Harry, especially because of the bond that both of them had with James Potter. I can’t imagine their feelings as they met the young son of their murdered best friend. It was clear throughout the book that Lupin was greatly attached to James and Sirius and I loved seeing his side of the story that we never got to see in the movies. Sirius was the exact same, and I loved seeing how he reacted around Harry especially when Harry believed Sirius was the murderer of his parents. 

“Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people’s business.

Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.

Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor.

Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.”

Setting

As usual, Hogwarts is such a magical setting that it makes me giddy with joy. It’s just one of those places that is so familiar, but so different that it makes you think twice about everything. Magical paintings that talk when spoken to, magical staircases, moving as if they have minds of their own, all of it is so beautifully magical that it makes the perfect settings for these books. 

Writing

Rowling’s writing beat the last two books by far. I was completely hooked on this book and couldn’t put it down at all. It was amazing seeing all of the characters develop and it was so cool learning things about the Marauders that I’d never even guessed. 

In Conclusion… 

I can’t wait to continue with this series that holds such a special place in my heart. The Harry Potter books will forever be special to me and their familiarity is something that warms me from the inside out. 

Rating: 5/5⭐