Book: Harry Potter and The Prisoner Of Azkaban by J K Rowling
Krishna
As we progress through the series, (see Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets for two of the earlier books in the series) the books are getting bigger but also a lot darker.
The justification is that Harry is growing up and so can face much darker scenarios than before but really by now the fame of the series had reached fever pitch and Rowland continues to push the envelope on what is possible. The book is as fascinating as any other, for all that. If possible, even more so.
Also it is fair to warn you (in case you are reading this blog in order) that the books in the series have been reviewed out of order. Let us look at the story.
Aunt Petunia arrives at the house of Vernon and is foul mouthed about Harry. Meanwhile the TV says that a very dangerous criminal has escaped from the prison, putting Vernon all aquiver. Aunt Petunia arrives and makes life hell for Harry. Harry meanwhile has got presents from his friends. When Petunia insults his parents, he can take it no more. Petunia starts to swell like a balloon and also float up, and Harry decides to quit their house. Middle of the night with nowhere to go; Both Ron and Hermiione abroad on holidays (Ron’s family in Egypt and Hermione in London); he used magic (albeit inadvertently) and so may be expelled for using magic in the Muggle World. He is crestfallen, with no one to turn to.
But a Knight Bus comes and carries him over to Diagon Alley. He bumps into Cornelius Funke, the Minister for Magic. (Yes, the one who dislikes Dumbledore fervently; that one).
Cornelius, though, is courtesy itself; he waves off any notion of Harry being punished for his infraction of using magic in Muggle town. He arranges a nice room for Harry to stay for the remainder of his vacation.
Harry, after a gap where he enjoyed himself in Diagon Alley gawking at the latest and greatest broom called Firestorm (but resisting the temptation to buy it) meets Ron and Hermione who have come with the Weasleys. Ron’s rat, Scabber, looks puny and sick and they take it to a pet shop in Diogan Alley. Hermione buys herself a cat called Crookshank, which nearly scared Scabber to death.
Meanwhile, Harry overhears a conversation where Mr Weasley is telling his wife that the notorious criminal Black, who managed to escape from the unescapable Azkaban prison is gunning for Harry and knows that he will be at Hogwarts.
Meanwhile a Dementor, who is one of the Azkaban guards, enters the compartments and Harry feels a chill deep down and faints. It is sent away by the new Professor Lupin, the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher.
New stuff abounds. Professor Lupin is the new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher. Miss xxx is the Divination teacher. Snape is always there, sneering at Harry and Ron and Hermione and favouring Draco.
Hagrid is a teacher for the Care of Magical Creatures and makes a hash of his first lesson, injuring Draco, even though it was Draco’s own fault. That goes badly for Hagrid.
Professor Lupin wins the affection of the class by releasing a Boggart (that can take the shape you most dread) out of a cupboard and teaching the class how to contain it.
Harry is frightened when he sees that Snape is making Lupin drink a potion (as Lupin was indisposed).
Later in a Quiddich match, Harry sees dementors and faints. Luckily he hit soft earth and survived. However, they lost the match to Griffindor.
George and Frank present Harry with the Maurader’s Map, which shows everyone in Hogwarts and also shows some secret passages. So Harry is able to join the group in Hogsmeade, even though he was expressly banned to go, based on the fact that the notorious crimial, Sirius Black was specifically obsessed with killing Harry, according to common knowledge.
As Harry leaves by a secret passage and joins his friends in Honeydukes, the sweet shop, they are astounded first, and then delighted. They decide to go to Three Broomsticks for a little refreshment but are shocked to find the tutors arriving there with Fudge. Harry learns that Dumbledore had put protection on James and Lily Potter and kept the charm with Sirius Black whom James trusted most but then You Know Who had found him. The only way it was possible was for Sirius to have betrayed James and declared his allegiance with the dark side. On top of it, little Pettigrew cornered Black but was blown by Black with his superior magic.
Harry destroys his Nimbus 2000 in an accident – a dementor turned out and Harry lost consciousness. So Griffindor lost to Hufflepuff. Secretly Professor Lupin teaches Harry the defence against it by creating a Patronus. Harry is not good at it.
When a Firebolt arrives by post, Harry is thrilled. But based on Hermione’s suspicions, McGonagal confiscates it to check if it has been hexed. (Hermione fears that it may have been sent by Sirius Black to tempt Harry). It is found to be clean and is restored to him. When he has the all important match with Ravenclaw, he sees dementors and zaps them with his Patronus and still manages to catch the snitch. When it is known that the ‘dementors’ were really Goyle and Draco in disguise, and they are trapped by Harry, McGonagal is furious!
Meanwhile, Black is seen to have entered Hogwarts once again, this time using a password written down stupidly by Neville. He seems to have escaped again.
Hagrid now keeps a dragon called Buckbeak and Lucius Malfoy files a case to get it executed. Despite Hermiione’s help, Hagrid loses the case and Buckbeak is scheduled for execution.
They go to console him, with the invisibility cloak. While there, Ron finds Scabbers who had not been eaten by Cruikshank, to their delight. When it appears that Cornelius Fudge is comiing, Hagrid shoos them away to save them from serious harm. Now, when they are out, they hear (not see) the execution of Buckbeak; also Cruikshank appears and is again after Scabbers. Scabbers is frantic – even before Cruikshank appeared but Ron holds him firm, despite being bitten. However when a black wolf comes and takes Ron away, with Ron resisting to the point of breaking his legs, Harry follows him. They find Lupin and a crazy looking Sirius Black. While Lupin tries to calm Ron and Harry, they are frantic and even more amazed when Black is hugged by Lupin. Before they have time to ponder if Lupin was the evil one all along, they get hold of Scabbers and Lupin announces that this is a wizard, an amimage called Peter Pettigrew.
Not any animagus. They were a quartet of close friends in those days – Black, Lupin, James and Peter. Harry learns that Peter betrayed his father to Voldemart and it was Sirius who tried to save him. When they finally try to kill Peter, Harry intervenes and asks that they hand them over to the dementors, and send to Azkhaban.
Meanwhile Snape appears there and tries to take Sirius prisoner but Harry throws him by his wand’s power and Snape slumps down.
They chain Peter to Sirius on one side and Lupin on the other and slowly leave the tunnel. Snape floats about. Meanwhile, Lupin suddenly starts changing into a werewolf and Black, worried that Lupin would attack Harry, changes into the animagus dog and attacks the werewolf. But in the meanwhile, Pettigrew changes back into Scabbard and disappears.
Both the dog and the werewolf run in different directions and when Harry tries to go after Pettigrew, he hears Sirius moaning and runs to help. He however finds Black supine, surrounded by Dementors. He tries to expel them with ‘Expecto Patronum’ but only a weak mist appears. Demetors easily dispel it and try to give Harry ‘the kiss of death’ but just when Harry had decided that he and Sirius are doomed, a huge patronus appears and drives them away. Harry sees who created it and is amazed. Can it be true? Could it be who he thinks it is?
Brilliant story telling and why all this happens is revealed in a huge twist in which Hermione plays a part. As usual Dumbledore is in on the secret and it is he who prods the duo (Hermione and Harry) in the right direction.
Excellent as usual and shows why this author captured the imagination of both adults and children and created a literary frenzy the likes of which the world has seldom, if ever, seen before.
9/10
— Krishna