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Rating(4.2 / 5.0, 110 votes)
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110 reviews
March 17,2025
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3), J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the third in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999.

The book follows Harry Potter, a young wizard, in his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Along with friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry investigates Sirius Black, an escaped prisoner from Azkaban who they believe is one of Lord Voldemort's old allies.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: در ماه نوامبر سال 2001 میلادی

عنوان: هری پاتر و زندانی آزکابان - کتاب سوم؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم ویدا اسلامیه؛ تهران، کتابسرای تندیس؛ 1379؛ در 496ص؛ چاپ بیست و جهارم 1392؛ شابک 9789645757012؛ موضوع: داستانهای خیال انگیز نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 20م

فصلهای کتاب: جغد نامه‌رسان؛ اشتباه بزرگ عمه مارج؛ اتوبوس شوالیه؛ پاتیل درزدار؛ دیوانه ساز؛ چنگال تیز و تفاله‌های چای؛ لولوخورخوره درون گنجه؛ فرار بانوی چاق؛ شکست شوم؛ جغد نامه‌رسان؛ آذرخش؛ سپر مدافع؛ لولوخورخوره درون گنجه؛ مسابقه‌ی نهایی کوییدیچ؛ پیشگویی پروفسور تریلانی؛ گربه، موش و سگ؛ مهتابی، دم‌باریک، پانمدی و شاخ‌دار؛ خادم لرد ولدمورت؛ بوسه‌ی دیوانه ساز؛ راز هرمیون؛ یک جغد نامه‌رسان دیگر؛

آن روزها که این کتاب منتشر شد، تنها در آمریکا، بیش از پنج میلیون جلد گالینگور، و میلیونها نسخه با جلد شمیز، به فروش رفت؛ والدین آمریکایی، با حیرت، به خبرنگارها میگفتند: فرزندان آنها، بازیهای کامپیوتری را کنار گذاشته، و کتابخوان شده اند؛ یادم میآید یک هفته نامه نوشته بود، «هری» پسرک دوازده ساله، ظرف کمتر از دو سه سال، رویاهای بسیاری از کودکان دنیا را تسخیر کرده است

هری پاتر و زندانی آزکابان، کتاب سوم از مجموعه رمان‌های «هری پاتر»، اثر بانو «جی.کی رولینگ» است؛ پس از اینکه «عمه مارج» وارد خانهٔ خاله ی «هری پاتر» می‌شود، او با «هری» درگیری پیدا می‌کند، و «هری» ناخواسته باعث رخداد ناخوش‌آیندی می‌شود «عمه مارج» باد شده و همانند بادکنکی به هوا می‌رود؛

اخطار و هشدار برای آنها که میخواهند کتاب یا فیلم را داغ داغ بخوانند و تماشا کنند، بهتر است ادامه ریویو را نخوانید

هری از خانه فرار می‌کند، و منتظر اظهارنامه ی وزارت جادو می‌شود، زیرا انجام جادو، برای افراد زیر هفده سال ممنوع است، و «هری» تنها سیزده سال سن دارد؛ اما او سرانجام می‌فهمد، که «سیریوس بلک»، کسی بوده، که پدر و مادرش را به «ولدمورت» فروخته؛ و اکنون از زندان فرار کرده، و حالا دنبال اوست، و به همین دلیل، وزارت برای او حکم اخراج نمی‌فرستد، تا بتواند در مدرسه «هاگوارتز» در امان باشد؛ «هری» همواره باید مواظب باشد، تا مورد حمله ی «سیریوس بلک» قرار نگیرد؛ اما در پایان مشخص می‌شود که «سیریوس بلک» پدر خوانده ی اوست، و دوست صمیمی پدرش بوده، و کسی که پدرش را به «ولدمورت» لو داده «پیتر پتی‌گرو» بوده؛ که خود را به شکل موشی درآورده بوده؛ که همان موش از قضا موش خانگی «رون ویزلی»، بهترین دوست «هری» بوده‌ است

اما درست آنگاه که همه چیز سرراست می‌شود، و «سیریوس» موش را به شکل عادی برمی‌گرداند، و همه امیدوار می‌شوند، که اعتراف او بی گناهی «سیریوس» را ثابت کند؛ همه چیز دوباره نقش بر آب شده، و «پیتر پتی‌گرو» باز هم فرار می‌کند؛ پس از اینکه «سیریوس» دوباره زندانی می‌شود؛ «هری» و «هرمیون گرنجر»، دوست صمیمی «هری»، به گذشته بازگشته، «سیریوس» را نجات می‌دهند؛ همچنین «هری» با موجوداتی به نام «دیوانه‌ ساز» مبارزه می‌کند؛ در نهایت «سیریوس بلک» به یاری ساعت زمان «هرمیون گرینجر» فرار میکند، و «هری» به مدرسه باز می‌گردد؛

نقل از متن: (چندی نگذشته بود که درس دفاع در برابر جادوی سیاه درس محبوب همه‌ ی دانش آموزان شد؛ در این میان فقط «دراکو مالفوی» و دارو دسته‌ اش پشت سر «لوپین» بد و بیراه می‌گفتند؛ هر بار که «لوپین» از جلوی «مالفوی» می‌گذشت او با صدای نسبتاً بلندی زمزمه می‌کرد: رداشو ببین! سر و وضعش مثل جن پیریه که توی خونه‌ ی ما کار می‌کنه؛ اما هیچ کس دیگری به لباس‌های وصله‌ دار و نخ نمای پروفسور «لوپین» توجه نمی‌کرد؛ کلاس‌های «لوپین» هر بار مثل اولین جلسه جالب و دوست‌ داشتنی بودند؛ بعد از لولوخرخره‌ها به درس کلاه قرمزی‌ها رسیدند؛ آن‌ها موجودات بدجنسی شبیه به جن‌ها بودند، و در جاهایی که خون و خون‌ریزی زیاد بود، کمین می‌کردند؛ در سیاه‌ چال قلعه‌ها یا در چاله‌ های میادین جنگ منتظر می‌ماندند، و کسانی را که راهشان را گم کرده بودند، با چوب و چماق می‌زدند؛ بعد از کلاه قرمزی‌ها نوبت به غواص‌ها رسید؛ غواص‌ها موجودات آبزی وحشتناکی شبیه به میمون بودند، که بدنشان از فلس پوشیده شده بود، و منتظر می‌ماندند، تا یک شخص بخت‌ برگشته، و از همه‌ جا بی‌خبر، از کنارشان عبور کند، آن‌وقت با دست‌های پرده‌ دارشان، گلوی رهگذر را می‌فشردند، و به درون آب می‌کشیدند؛ هیچ‌یک از کلاس‌های «هری» به‌ اندازه‌ ی کلاس دفاع در برابر جادوی سیاه، جذاب و دوست‌ داشتنی نبودند؛ از همه بدتر کلاس معجون‌ها بود؛ این روزها «اسنیپ» بسیار کینه‌ جو شده بود و کسی نبود که علت آن را نداند؛ ماجرای لولوخورخوره‌ای که به شکل «اسنیپ» درآمد، و بالباس‌های مادربزرگ «نویل» ظاهر شد، مثل توپ در تمام مدرسه صدا کرده بود؛ به نظر نمی‌رسید که این ماجرا برای «اسنیپ» خنده‌ دار باشد؛ به‌ محض شنیدن نام پروفسور «لوپین» آتش خشم در چشمانش شعله‌ ور می‌شد و این روزها خیلی بیش‌تر از قبل، به تهدید و تحقیر «نویل» می‌پرداخت؛ «هری» دیگر تحمل کلاس دم کرده و خفه‌ ی پروفسور «تریلانی» را نداشت؛ اصلاً حوصله نداشت از راز و رمز شکل‌ها و نشانه‌ های کج‌ و معوج سر درآورد؛ هر بار که چشم پروفسور «تریلانی» به «هری» می‌افتاد، چشم‌های درشتش پر از اشک می‌شد، و «هری» سعی می‌کرد به او توجهی نشان ندهد؛ با اینکه بسیاری از شاگردان کلاس، پروفسور «تریلانی» را به سرحد پرستش دوست داشتند، «هری» به او علاقه‌ ی چندانی نداشت؛ «پروتی پتیل» و «لاوندر براون» هر روز ظهر هنگام صرف ناهار، به سراغ پروفسور «تریلانی» می‌رفتند، و هر بار که از آن برج مطرود دم کرده، بازمی‌گشتند، چنان بادی به غبغب می‌انداختند، که گویی از اخباری اطلاع دارند که دیگران از آن‌ها بی‌خبرند؛ تازگی‌ها هنگام صحبت کردن با «هری»، با حالتی ملایم و دلسوزانه حرف می‌زدند، انگار «هری» را در بستر مرگ تصور می‌کردند)؛ پایان

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 21/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 21/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
March 17,2025
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This - is my review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.... It’s a great book - but not without its…problems….

D’you get it? It’s because every goddamn sentence of this book contains either a dash or an ellipsis. (That’s one of the...problems….)



https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...

I’m debating whether to unleash the anti-Snape rant that’s been building up inside me for a decade now. I think I’ll wait until his supposedly redeeming backstory is revealed. What book is that in? Anyway, just his extensive presence in this book made the whole thing less fun for me.



I feel about Snape the way Michael Scott feels about Toby. But I digress. My main thing with this book is that Rowling can be kind of...bad at fitting the parameters of the universe she created. That’s understandable, since it’s immense and so impressive, but there’s also little common sense things that get under my skin. (This would be under “general stupidity” if I hated this book - which I absolutely don’t.) I wanted to be having a great time, but instead I was caught up in the little mistakes.



Some examples: There’s just no way McGonagall would have given Hermione the Time Turner. No way. I get the significance of the thing to the plot, and it’s a really creative and entertaining concept, but my girl Minerva would NEVER have handed that over. This is the woman who will shut any student down, take Harry Potter’s broom, deduct points from her own team, throw shade at Trelawney...what I’m saying is she’s a one hundred percent badass. And she’s a badass who exudes said badassery with the well-being of all Hogwarts students in mind. But I’m supposed to believe she put herself out there, petitioned the government, and presumably put in effort to convince her fellow faculty just so Hermione could take a purely overwhelming number of classes? Nah. She would have recognized it as unnecessary (Hermione never even gives a reason beyond "wanting to" for her overloaded schedule) and a huge pressure (workload's making a thirteen year old cry all the time and lose the ability to sleep). In other words, Minerva would have shut that shit down in a hot Texas minute.



But wait - I have more examples! Lupin tells us that when he was at Hogwarts, they went through an INSANE amount of work to get him off the grounds when he ~underwent his transformation~. Keep in mind this whole thing is for one. Effing. Student. They put in a magic, violent tree (the infamous Whomping Willow), dig a tunnel that is presumably at least a mile or two long, and mess with (build?) a shack-like shelter. This is way, way, way too much to ensure that a single student can attend the school. But even suspending your disbelief there - why would you put a werewolf inside a WEAK, SHUT UP BUILDING to protect people? One, don’t put a rabid monstrous creature in a house, because two, he can break out of it and now the inhabitants of Hogsmeade are at risk. Also, putting in the Whomping Willow? Are you kidding me? It’s a danger to the students! And so is building a passageway in/out. There are so, so, so many more problems than solutions here.



And here’s the most wild, laughable one for me. At the end, Sirius Black reveals that it was him - HIM! - who bought Harry Potter the Firebolt, hundreds-of-Galleons price tag and all. This is INSANE. Since Ron had earlier mentioned that it would have been impossible for Black to buy a broomstick, J.K. is so kind as to reveal how he did it in his letter to Harry. He says he sent Crookshanks (a f*cking cat) to the Owl Post, had him order the broomstick under Harry’s name, and had it charged to his own bank account at Gringotts. HAHAHAHA, WHAT?! You’re telling me a goddamn cat walked into a post office, conveyed the information that Harry Potter was ordering the most expensive broom on the market, and charged it to the most wanted man in Britain’s account without consequence? Like everyone was just like, yeah, okay, we didn’t really want to find him anyway? We won’t bring this up to the Ministry or Potter or anything? Jeeessssuuuuussss. Also, how did my guy have that much money in his account anyway? How is his account even open?



Also, I know this is well-discussed, but there is just so much conflicting information about how many people attend Hogwarts. It drives me insane. I’ll never be satisfied with one answer, because there are always a million other pieces of evidence that conflict.



The sheer confusion of the story relayed in the Shrieking Shack was also so confusing. Like, I get why there had to be a dozen f*cking pages of Black/Lupin begging the story to be told and Hermione/Ron/Harry essentially covering their ears and singing “Walking on Sunshine,” but they couldn’t at least have told the story with some semblance of organization once they finally got there? I mean, Jesus.



On the other hand, characters. Hermione is still killin’ it - Time Turner, baby! And slaying those exams! But she did have less time with the squad (fighting) and a lot of scenes where it was just like, “Oh. Yeah. Hermione. Uh, she’s...doing homework over there.” Plus Neville was not really included, like, at all. But Lupin was introduced, and he’s one of my favorites! But Snape was here as hell and I hate him so much. But no Colin Creevey or Lockhart or Dobby! But Trelawney and Malfoy and Pansy. But Sirius! But mainly he was villain-ing it up. Oh well. It’s a real 50/50 in this one.



Still, it was definitely enjoyable. Like, I read it in pretty much one sitting, and I haven’t done that in a whileeee. I missed doing it. And this was so, so much better than the second book. So this is so hard to rate! I am having a really hard time here, you guys.



And my absolute favorite aspect of these books - which was missing in the second volume - was one hundred percent present and accounted for. I’m talking a look into the world, baby! We get Hogsmeade, we get an entire fortnight of Diagon Alley, we get a bunch of discussion of the school and the classes. Even the bad parts, like Azkaban. Ugh! I could read a series’ worth of books just on the world, I swear.



So, bottom line: In some ways I liked this as much as the first, but it definitely had more problems. I am looking forward to continuing my reread, and hopin’ I find just as much of the world and even more of the good characters. Goblet of Fire, I expect to see you soon!
March 17,2025
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I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly in times of great trouble?

At this point, you’ve either read the Harry Potter series, or you’ve deliberately chosen not to read them. Either way, there’s not much to say here.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is where the Harry Potter series really starts to deepen. The introduction of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black gives Harry new ways to learn the story of his parents. But what I love most about this book is that it’s the first one (but not the last) that does not resolve everything at the end. Sirius is innocent but still a fugitive, and Harry realizes that Dumbledore can’t fix everything.

The author may have let people down later in her life; people sometimes suck more than you realize at first. But the Harry Potter series is an achievement that will outlast her and all of us. If somehow you’ve stubbornly refused to read it, you are really missing out.
March 17,2025
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Messieurs Lunard, Queudver, Patmol et Cornedrue
spécialistes en assistance
aux Maniganceurs de Mauvais Coups
sont fiers de vous présenter.
LA CARTE DU MARAUDEUR


I have to say that after all this time I have a bigger appreciation for the third book than I did before. And it was sadder than I realised. Knowing what's going to happen.
No matter how many times I read this, it's still amazing.

Je jure solennellement que mes intentions sont mauvaises.
March 17,2025
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(A) 85% | Extraordinary
Notes: Separating itself from its forebears, it's a story of greater complexity, darker tones, and a vastly expanded mythology.
March 17,2025
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The third HP adventure serves to bring the likable Sirius Black into the story and get Gryffindor their Quidditch Cup, but the story and action was still far less gripping than the first novel. I thought that Lupin was an interesting character, but less spectacular than the previous two teachers against the Black Arts. I recall reading this for the first time nearly two decades ago when it came out and losing enthusiasm for the Harry Potter universe. However, I read it again so that I can read the rest with my son (he refused to read 2 and 3 with me because he felt they were the weakest books in the series and I have to say I agree with him). Nonetheless, one must read this story for the long game if one wishes to make sense of the rest. I am still a bit baffled by the whole switcheroo that Prang & Co did leading to the death of HP's father and mother, but perhaps they will return to that later.
On to The Goblet of Fire and the Quidditch World Cup!
March 17,2025
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Re-read 2/18/21:

I began teaching my dual-language daughter to read English last year during the quarantines. We quickly ran through the basic exercises and went straight into the good stuff, reading the first two Harry Potters with great fanfare, movie watching, and props.

She's doing well. Reading very well, with emphasis and understanding even though no school here has gone beyond anything more than days of the week. *groan*

I'm here to announce that Harry Potter is one of the greatest teaching tools. Good s**t is always better than practically anything else we could have tried.

Oh, and after all these re-reads, and despite knowing the story so well, I still burst into tears while reading my parts. My girl stared at me each time as if I'd grown another head. Do you know that scene when Harry hid behind the bush at the lake? Yeah. That scene. I swear I made the lake.

Teaching this way is definitely the best way.


The Other Reviews:

I read this as a buddy read, but really I wanted to compare the text to the movies more than anything. I've watched them so much and I've only read the series once through. (Now twice through this third book.)

So what do I think about this monstrosity of a series that gets so many hearts a-pumpin? About this book in particular?

I love it.

But how about this book in comparison to the film, you ask?

ALAS! I like the movie better.

What??? Blasphemy! Heretic!

No no no, give me a chance. I liked the fact that Hermione develops real stressed-out reasons for giving up the time-turner even if the reasons are still rather weak, all told, when taken in conjunction with all the other crap that happens in the series later. It'll always be one of those hedge-moments for me. BUT, putting that aside, the actual narrative events that happen in the book that I think are the best parts, namely the space of a certain 3-hour stretch, BOTH times, were much more fascinating and fleshed out in the movie.

Sorry! It's true! All the expressions and the little tidbits and quirks were more brilliant on the screen. And so was the penultimate event that always... ALWAYS brings tears to my eyes... the moment when Harry realizes that he was the one to bring out that awesome power to save himself. Even now I tear up when I think about it.

Yes, the book has it, but the build-up was just too quick in the text. The movie, however, did what movies are brilliant at... SHOWING us the enormity of the event. Sometimes it just takes the right media.

The movie is my favorite of the series. I'm reserving judgment as to whether the book is as well. (At least until I finish my re-read. :)
March 17,2025
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It's a rainy Sunday. It's colder than it should be this time of the year, so I'm drinking a delicious cup of coffee and I'm browsing my Goodreads shelves only to realise that I haven't written a Harry Potter review. Not a single one. So, I decided to start with the first Harry Potter book I ever read, the one that took me to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and made me believe that magic is something tangible.
n  n    “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” n  n

I was 16 years old, and I had just started my english classes in order to pass my Proficiency examinations. My teacher told me that the best way to delve into a foreign language and familiarize with it is to read books written in it, so she gave me the third instalment of Harry Potter. (Little did she know that she unleashed a beast who now reads almost exclusively in english). Before I tell you about my experience, I need to make a confession. It was my choice to stay away from J.K. Rowling's books until that moment. I wanted to swim against the current, and I thought that Harry Potter was too "mainstream" for my taste. And the foolish little me was proud of this decision. But when my teacher gave me this old, used copy, something inside me cracked. I knew the basics about the story, about the orphan kid who goes to a school for wizards and fights the ugly, evil dude who doesn't have a nose. But page by page, I came to understand with awe that the wizard who finds trouble even when he doesn't want to offers more than that; he opened a portal to a world where I longed to be fervently. I stayed up late at night, with a faint light just enough to make out the sentences, and I cheered for Gryffindor's Quidditch team, I flied with Firebolt and I kept wondering what my patronus would be (according to Pottermore it's a brown mastiff, which is oddly fitting). I casted spells (but never Avada Kedavra, you shouldn't play with this shit) and tasted butterbeer in Hogsmeade, and just like that, my life had changed irrevocably. I was a Potterhead. And I was proud of that. (my mum wasn't though, especially when I asked for a wand).
n  n    “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”n  n

There is a reason why J.K. Rowling is the fairy god-mother to millions of children (and adults) worldwide. Friendship, love, hope, they're present in her books even in the most desperate times, when Evil seems undefeatable, when no escape is visible. She encourages and empowers, shows that everything is possible, that strength and courage can be found within, when you have someone to hold your hand. Harry was a kid who was deprived of love yet he was capable of loving, it took him years but he finally found a place to belong, to feel safe and cared. Ron, with his witty lines and his constant presence, Hermione, my personal favorite, with her intelligence and compassion, they managed to enchant my prejudiced heart, and even now, years later, I'm still under their spell. I think I will always be.
n  n    “Don't let the muggles get you down.”n  n

I'm still waiting for my Hogwarts letter, and secretly hope that Dobby is the one to blame. I still caress with affection the spines of my Harry Potter books (meanwhile I bought them all and finished the entire series in a week and a half) and laugh at Harry Potter jokes. And I know, and it's imprinted in my soul, that I'll never be a muggle again.

March 17,2025
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¿Viajes en el tiempo, animales fantásticos y un plot twist increíble? Claro que disfruté este libro
March 17,2025
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June 2024: My thirteen year old suggested that I reread Harry with her this summer. This is my favorite book of the series. I noticed more nuances this time around, and choked back tears and laughter in the appropriate parts. Rowling has said that she wrote this series not as a fun magical series, but as a means of helping the living to cope with loved ones’ deaths. Lupin and Sirius are my favorite characters not named Harry and Hermoine in the series. When they are present, Harry feels like he finally has a family. I do not need a reason to have to reread this book every year. What Dumbledore tells Harry in the book’s closing pages says it all, but in the minuscule event that a person or persons haven’t read this before, I will not repeat it. On to book 4, mischief managed.


August 2023. Rereading series to commemorate the twenty five years that Harry has been part of our collective history. Nothing like an all time favorite book to comfort me in the wake of an end of summer cold.

Time. The things we could accomplish if we had extra time on our hands. Just this week I mentioned to people that I have been running on fumes with all the things I had to get done. If only I had a few extra hours in my week to take a nap or rest with a book. Thankfully, we have a leap year, providing our busy lives with a full extra day to get those things done that may have been pushed to the back burner. Whether it’s catching up on sleep, reading, or chores, a leap year creates the impression that there is indeed an extra day to accomplish those things that may have been pushed to the wayside. Despite this, adults rarely have the time to go back and savor favorite books, but, in 2020 a group of us in Retro Chapter Chicks have decided to take the time to reread Harry Potter in all its glory. I find it appropriate that on a day where we can enjoy extra time, that I curled up with my favorite book in the series, one that indeed tests the limit of place and time.

A mass murderer has escaped from prison. The news is so important that it even made the Muggle news. Even Muggles who detest magic like the Dursleys are on high alert. For Harry Potter, a wizard about to enter his third year at Hogwarts, it is just another summer vacation. Although famous and living up to his name during his first two years at school, at the Dursleys he is treated like less than human. His living conditions have advanced from a cupboard under the stairs to a room with bars on the window and a flap on the door for which to receive stone cold meals. Even though Aunt Petunia is Harry’s blood relative, she also treats him like vermin. Things couldn’t get any worse until Uncle Vernon’s sister Marge arrives for a weeklong visit, and she believes that Harry is worthless and ungrateful to his family. What Marge fails to realize is that this so called family wishes that Harry did not exist. Harry’s true family is thicker than blood and bound by magic: his Hogwarts family. Each summer, life at Dursleys grows unbearable and Marge’s treatment of Harry puts things over the top. In a fit of teenage emotions, Harry causes Marge to blow up, and then he leaves the Dursleys home, for what he thinks is hopefully for good this time.

Normally use of magic outside of school is grounds for expulsion from school, but, with a murderer named Sirius Black on the loose, the Minister of Magic himself has bent the rules in Harry’s favor. Minister Cornelius Fudge believes that Black is a dark wizard and servant of Lord Voldemort, and, in his eyes, the safest place for Harry is at Hogwarts under the watchful eyes of Albus Dumbledore. Harry gets a reprieve and is allowed to spend three weeks of his summer vacation away from the Dursleys and will indeed get to return to Hogwarts to continue his magical education. With the addition of Black to the storyline, the stories only get darker. Readers find out that he is the first ever prisoner to escape from Azkaban prison located in the middle of the sea and guarded by dementors, creatures so foul that they suck the happy memories from all those around them. Fudge is convinced that Black is after Harry and has stationed dementors outside of Hogwarts, much to Dumbledore’s chagrin. As long as Dumbledore is headmaster, dementors will not be allowed inside the castle because he foresees that these horrid creatures are allied with Voldemort. Black was able to outsmart them, and all of England is on high alert. It is against this backdrop and protection that Harry returns to Hogwarts.

Third year students have more responsibilities and more freedoms. They are allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade provided a parent or guardian signed a form; the Dursleys did not. Yet, they also have enough magical training to sign up for extra classes. Harry, Ron, and Hermoine enroll in Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, taught by none other than Hagrid. Hermoine also begins the study of Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies. Harry and Ron do not understand how anyone, even one as smart as Hermoine, could take that many classes. Some are at the same time as others, which makes it humanly impossible for her to attend two classes at once. The dialogue between Ron and Hermoine involving her class schedule speaks to growing relationship between the two, a relationship which neither is mature enough to recognize. Meanwhile, class work has gotten harder. Professor Snape loathes Harry more than ever, and the new Defense of the Dark Arts professor Lupin is an old friend of Harry’s father. Hagrid, while the nicest person around and Harry’s protector, is threatened by the Malfoys yet again, this time after Draco is scratched by a hippogriff named Buckbeak because he refused to pay attention in class. Buckbeak is threatened with execution, adding to the animosity between Harry and Draco, and only Hermoine, on top of her grueling class schedule, finds the time to assist Hagrid in his defense. All these storylines would make for an exciting tale, but inserting Lupin and Black and Harry’s anti-dementor training make this book the turning point in the entire series.

The story progresses, and animals play a key role in plot development: Ron’s rat, Hermoine’s cat, and a large black dog. The three are infinitely linked to one another. Rowling reveals that Black was the Potters’ secret keeper and only him revealing their whereabouts would expose their location to Voldemort. He was supposedly in jail for murdering twelve innocent people plus a tag along named Peter Pettigrew. He is also Harry’s godfather. This information has Harry’s growing teenaged emotions on high. He is more determined than ever to defeat Voldemort and his legion of dark creatures and takes necessary precautions to guard himself against the darkness. Although teenaged pranks occur in this book, my favorite scenes are between Harry and Lupin and Black. Being able to interact with one of his parents’ closest friends, one really feels for Harry as an orphan and sees that he truly belongs in the wizarding world and not at the Dursleys. As Rowling will reveal much, much later, Dumbledore has his reasons for placing Harry there, but with each book it gets harder and harder for him to return, even if the presence of these Muggles is key to the plot line.

Time, of course, plays a key role in the plot as well. Hermoine reveals that she has been using a time turner to get to her classes all year but promised not to tell anyone. Sirius turns out to be none other than the dog who has made an appearance throughout the book. He is innocent, yet the only people who believe him are Harry, Ron, Hermoine, and Professor Dumbledore. Lupin is indeed his closest friend and also a werewolf, and it is Pettigrew who is the servant of Lord Voldemort. This, Dumbledore explains to Harry, is magic at its deepest, most impenetrable moments and, in my opinion, the essence of the entire series. As Dumbledore points out time and again, it is one’s choices that determine one’s fate, not their abilities. For a few glorious moments Harry believes that he can live with Sirius and escape the Dursleys once and for all; it is the most touching moment, and the scene in the movie where the two of them are staring at Hogwarts castle has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. Yet, this moment is indeed fleeting. The Ministry of Magic still believes that Sirius is a dark wizard and he is forced to flee on Buckbeak the innocent Hippogriff. Readers know that this moment is indeed fleeting because Harry and Sirius will eventually be reunited but for only a short amount of time. It makes for a necessary storyline later on but one that gets harder and harder to stomach with each passing reading. Pretending that I do not know what comes next; however, knowing that Sirius and Lupin reappear in future books is what has always had me excited at the end of this book, a crossroads between the end of Harry’s adolescence and the darker times that lurk on the horizon.

Time. J.K. Rowling has shown us what can happen if well meaning witches and wizards are given just a few hours extra in their days. Most adults with busy lives wish they were afforded the opportunity to relive hours and minutes in order to accomplish even the most mundane tasks. The climax of this book has revealed how precious time is and to take advantage of what time we do have in order to live life to the fullest. This year’s leap day provided me with the opportunity to reread favorite books and get some much needed rest that I needed after a busy week. Even in this busy life that I lead, I have found the time to visit Harry Potter’s magical world yet again. As the plot moves deeper into Harry’s teenaged years, and, he and his friends are about to embark on fighting the forces of evil, it is obvious that they have left their childhood behind. It is the moments that mark the end of this book combined with the extra time afforded to us this year that show us just how precious the time we have is to us all.

5+ stars
All time favorite book
March 17,2025
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I last read this book when I was 14 years old, given that I'm almost 32 now, I have a whole new perspective on it. Despite the fact that I gave this book 5 stars previously, I have to admit that it didn't grow on me until this, my second read.

Confession time: I didn't like Remus or Sirius.

*Khanh ducks as rotten fruit and eggs are thrown her way*

OK, OK, I'M SORRY! I've since changed my mind! Notice that I used the past tense.

Obviously, there will be spoilers for the book below, for the 1.5 of you who haven't read this yet.

I can't even recall why this book wasn't memorable to me. All I remembered was that Sirius - and what happened to him - was terrible, but he's like meh to me; I just never connected with him as a character. Remus was a werewolf and I've never liked werewolves. The Marauders in general were just a bunch of rowdy teenaged boys, and having been the target for teasing from rowdy, rude teenaged boys in my youth, I just didn't care for the way they were portrayed. And I was right, somewhat, James, et al weren't perfect. They bullied Snape, they were little shitheads.

Yes, eventually they became productive, admirable members of society, but I just didn't like them at first.

I guess this is one of those books that just takes time to grow on you.

This is the last Harry Potter book in which Harry is a child. Before his life - and this series - was visited by the spectre of death. I'm not talking about the long-ago deaths of James and Lily, of course Harry has experienced deaths before, but it was distant. I'm talking about the future deaths where Harry lost people he actually remembered, and respected, and loved. That's what I mean when I say that this is the last book in which Harry is a child, because as hard as his life was until now, he still had his innocence.

Children believe that their heroes are unerring. One of the rites of passage to adulthood is the realization that heroes fall, like everyone else.
n  Harry stared up into the grave face and felt as though the ground beneath him was falling sharply away. He had grown used to the idea that Dumbledore could solve anything. He had expected Dumbledore to pull some amazing solution out of the air. But no … their last hope was gone.n
I know that everyone loves Sirius, but for some reason, he didn't click for me when I was 14. This time around, I could understand his character more. I could relate to his desperation, his frustration, and the hope that kept him alive all those excruciating years in Azkaban.
n  ‘I don’t know how I did it,’ he said slowly. ‘I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn’t a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn’t suck it out of me … but it kept me sane.n
I think for me, it took maturity and the experience of loss and frustration, well, life itself, in order to appreciate the hardship that Harry and Sirius and Remus went through.

Previously, this was a magical Cinderella-like tale about a boy in a room under the stairs. With this book, the story became twisted, and it became something more.

Read this review and more @ The Book Eaters
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