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

Book Details
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Paperback, 448 Pages
2001, Scholastic Paperbacks
ISBN: 9780439136365
Series: Book 3 of Harry Potter

Synopsis
For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Review
Freedom seems to be a major theme in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry spends weeks in Diagon Alley, free from both the Dursley's and Hogwarts, able to spend his time as he sees fit and make his own choices even if it's only about small, inconsequential things. The book itself is free of Voldemort, as the central story line is far removed from that impending evil.

The introduction of Sirius Black is the most important thing that comes out of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The book is about Sirius as much as it's about Harry's journey. Mentioned only once in passing in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Sirius Black is basically introduced here and proves to be the most important development in Harry's life thus far. And, in the end, Sirius gives Harry hope for the future.

In addition to Sirius, Harry also becomes acquainted with Remus Lupin. Lupin's friendship with Harry is important for two reasons. He gives Harry a link to his parents, as only a true friend of theirs could and he becomes important to Harry. Perhaps less so than others in this book and the series itself, but Lupin is definitely added to the list of people it would hurt Harry to lose. Through his long ago friendship with James Potter and his faith in Harry's abilities, Lupin makes himself important to Harry immediately.

The aspect of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that I found to be the most enjoyable was Hermoine and her multitude of classes. I loved seeing Hermoine struggle to keep up with her coursework (something almost impossible to imagine). I especially loved the twist Rowling put on how Hermoine's able to actually attend all those classes. While this was part of the resolution of the story as a whole, I thought the entire concept was extremely inspired even just as it related to Hermoine's classes.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban doesn't do much to progress the Voldemort story line along, but I find this to add realism to the overall story. Harry having a big showdown with Voldemort at the end of every school year is less than believable. What Prisoner of Azkban does accomplish is the bringing in of more characters to Harry's "family" of those he truly cares about. This is the last of the shorter books in the series and the last book where Harry gets to hold on the his remaining innocence. From this point forward the series gets darker and I loved this last look at Harry before he really starts to grow into the man he's to become.

Rating

Links

J.K. Rowling's
Website