Book 13: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Book 13: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Writer: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy/Young Adult
Number of pages: 448
Read This Year: 3362
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best]: A-
Short description/summary of the book: from Amazon
Rowling proves that she has plenty of tricks left up her sleeve in this third Harry Potter adventure, set once again at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Right before the start of term, a supremely dangerous criminal breaks out of a supposedly impregnable wizards' prison; it will come as no surprise to Potter fans that the villain, a henchman of Harry's old enemy Lord Voldemort, appears to have targeted Harry. In many ways this installment seems to serve a transitional role in the seven-volume series: while many of the adventures are breathlessly relayed, they appear to be laying groundwork for even more exciting adventures to come. The beauty here lies in the genius of Rowling's plotting. Seemingly minor details established in books one and two unfold to take on unforeseen significance, and the finale, while not airtight in its internal logic, is utterly thrilling. Rowling's wit never flags, whether constructing the workings of the wizard world (Just how would a magician be made to stay behind bars?) or tossing off quick jokes (a grandmother wears a hat decorated with a stuffed vulture; the divination classroom looks like a tawdry tea shop). The Potter spell is holding strong.
My Thoughts: Book 1 charmed me. Book 2 intrigued me. Book 3 utterly hooked me. In the third installment of J.K. Rowling’s gargantuan series about a the boy who lived, Harry Potter learns that a killer with ties to his parents has escaped from Azkaban prison, and he’s taken aim at Harry himself. What’s worse, Hagrid finds himself in trouble with the ministry of magic, Hermione’s workload takes on truly mythic proportions, and Ron’s pet rat Scabbers seems to be on his last legs. As always, one of the ways Rowling amazes me is in how she manages to take so many disparate storylines and seamlessly weave them together. Like I did with the first two books on my re-read, I’m not going to give it a standard review, but instead I’m looking at this as part of a series. As such, spoilers for all six books are likely, so be warned.
This book really displays just how richly constructed Rowling’s universe is. Tons of elements from previous books come back to the forefront here - back in book one, Hagrid appears with baby Harry on a flying motorcycle he borrowed from one Sirius Black. This time we not only meet Black, but learn a lot more about what happened that night. In book two, the Whomping Willow was introduced as a sort of incidental plot point. In this book, it’s a fairly major plot point, as we learn why it was planted and what purpose it serves on the school grounds. We learn more about why Snape felt compelled to protect Harry from Quirrell in book one, but why he still despises him anyway. Even Scabbers’s missing toe, first mentioned two books ago, turns out to be a clue as we find out what was the only piece of Peter Pettigrew ever found. Rowling also plants things in this book that will bear fruit later. We first meet two characters (both Quidditch Seekers, incidentally) who will become far more important in book four: Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang. Cedric’s purpose (as predicted by the Centaurs in book one) will be to become the first casualty in the new war, but that wouldn’t matter if he was simply a nameless cipher. Instead, Rowling lets us have a glimpse of him here, and makes sure that we understand he’s basically a decent human being, trying to call for a rematch after beating Harry only because Harry was knocked off his broom by the Dementors. Cho’s purpose, of course, will be to become Harry’s first real crush. We have hints of that in this book, but it will become a more important plot element in book four.
The backstory we get here is enormous, of course, and it’s what made me love the book immediately. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, the Marauder’s Map and everything that flows from those elements have become integral to the story. (Sirius, of course, has become the fan favorite character, but personally, I’ve always preferred Lupin - a tragic figure in a totally different sort of sense.) And although he managed to eke out wins against Voldemort in the first two books, in both cases his victory was somewhat incidental - his mother’s magic protected him in the first book, and Fawkes not only brought him his weapon, but saved his life in book two. Here we see Harry, for the first time, truly begin to demonstrate some skill as a sorcerer. Lupin teaches him the “highly advanced” Patronus charm, and Harry figures out how to use it to save his own life.
Let’s talk for a second about Harry’s Patronus. As Lupin tells us in this book, each Patronus is unique to the wizard who conjures it. In book five, we’ll see some more specific Patronuses (Patroni?), but for now, I just want to talk about Harry’s. The shape his Patronus, his protector takes is a stag. The obvious (and, I think, vital) question is, why did Harry conjure a stag? As we learn later in the book, Harry’s father James was an unregistered Animagus, a wizard who could assume the form of an animal at will. James’s animal form was that of a stag. But the thing is - Harry did not know that. Harry’s Patronus took on a vaguely stag-like form (according to Lupin) when he conjured it at the Quidditch match to charge down Malfoy. It was clearly a stag when he saved himself from the Dementors at the lake. Both of these instances happened before he knew his father turned into a stag, so it’s not possible he chose that form, even subconsciously, to emulate his father.
I hold with what Dumbledore said. “Prongs rode again last night.” Lupin said the Patronus is a “good spirit” the wizard summons to battle the Dementors. Can a spirit be created, even by the strongest magic? I, personally, think not. It may not ever be addressed in the books, it may not even be important, but I prefer to think that the Patronus is a protector with a connection to the wizard who summons it. I like to think that Harry’s Patronus, at least in part, is James Potter, protecting him now just as Lily did on the night they died.
At any rate, I’m really charged up now, and I’ve already begun Goblet of Fire. I think it’s interesting to note that, if you go by the number of books, I’m halfway through my re-read already. If you go by page count, though, I’m barely a third of the way through. I kind of like it that way.
In the Queue: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling & The 10th Circle by Jodi Picoult