Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapters Ten through Thirteen
Page 184: Harry dozed fitfully, sinking into dreams full of clammy, rotted hands and petrified pleading, jerking awake to dwell again on his mother’s voice.
Ah, Harry’s dreams. So seldom pleasant.
Page 185: “Don’t worry. I’ll speak to Professor Snape. You don’t have to do the essay.” “Oh, no,” said Hermione, looking very disappointed. “I’ve already finished it!”
This is something that would happen to me, too. I feel you, Hermione.
Page 187: He hesitated, and then the question he had to ask burst from him before he could stop himself. “Why? Why do they affect me like that? Am I just --?”
I love that Harry asks his questions here. Throughout the series, Harry is so slow to trust, always holding things back. I love how quickly Lupin gains his confidence.
Page 187: Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can’t see them. Get too near a dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself…soul-less and evil. You’ll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life.
This paragraphs can be distilled to three words: Dementors are lawyers.
Page 191: We bequeath it to you.
I *love* that the twins give Harry the Marauder’s Map. I find it an oddly touching gesture on their part.
Page 204: Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!
I love the intrigues of the generation preceding Harry. It’s one of my favorite things about the book, the layers of everything that happened before Harry was born, and the effect all of it has on Harry’s life.
Page 205: I remember him offering to be the Potters’ Secret-Keeper himself.
So here’s the deal. I know James seemed to trust his friends a whole lot, but none of them were considered the greatest wizard of the day. When the greatest wizard of the day offers to keep you safe, why turn him down in favor of Peter Pettigrew? I have decided the Potters didn’t want to put Dumbledore at risk because of Voldemort’s determination to get to them, but one has to assume Dumbledore was pretty much at high risk as long as Voldemort was alive, whether he was the Potters’ Secret-Keeper or not.
Page 210: They were both staring at him, lost for words.
Which is pretty much how I felt after reading that bit for the first time. Isn’t it amazing how Rowling can do that?
Page 211: Harry didn’t have a very clear idea of how he had managed to get back into the Honeydukes cellar, through the tunnel, and into the castle once more.
Ah, JKR, you can’t fool me! I know this technique because I use it way too often: She just didn’t feel like figuring it out herself!
Page 219: “Er - shall I make a cup of tea?” said Ron. Harry stared at him. “It’s what my mum does whenever someone’s upset,” Ron muttered, shrugging.
Your mum is very smart, Ron.
Page 220: Kep’ goin’ over horrible stuff in me mind…the day I got expelled from Hogwarts…day me dad died…day I had ter let Norbert go….
I know that she throws it in there as a little knowing wink to the readers, who all recall the Norbert incident, but seriously, Hagrid, letting a baby dragon go is the equivalent of your father dying?
Page 221: Yeh can’ really remember who yeh are after a while. An’ yeh can’ see the point o’ living’ at all. I used ter hope I’d jus’ die in me sleep….When they let me out, it was like bein’ born again, ev’rythin’ came floodin’ back, it was the bes’ feelin’ in the world.
This can also be dispelled to, well, four words: Azkaban is a law firm. Hopefully, the effect of leaving a law firm is like leaving Azkaban. I’ll let you know whenever I am lucky enough to find a new job.
Page 222: Here’s something…there was a case in 1722…but the hippogriff was convicted - ugh, look what they did to it, that’s disgusting-
All this talk of lawyers and law firms, and now the kids are doing legal research…
Page 223: “I bet it was Dumbledore,” said Ron, now walking around and around the Firebolt, taking in every glorious inch. “He sent you the Invisibility Cloak anonymously….” “That was my dad’s, though,” said Harry. “Dumbledore was just passing it on to me. He wouldn’t spend hundreds of Galleons on me. He can’t go giving students stuff like this -“
I love two things about this: (1) Ron immediately assumes that Dumbledore would spend all sorts of money on Harry; and (2) Dumbledore really does love Harry enough that he might be tempted to do something like this, which melts my heart.
Page 224: “I know,” said Ron, controlling himself, “I know who it could’ve been - Lupin!” “What?” said Harry, now starting to laugh himself. “Lupin? Listen, if he had this much gold, he’d be able to buy himself some new robes.” “Yeah, but he likes you,” said Ron.
I also love that it’s obvious that Lupin has a special affection for Harry as well. I think Harry needs this affection from his teachers, he has none from any family member.
Page 227: “Crackers!” said Dumbledore enthusiastically, offering the end of a large silver noisemaker to Snape, who took it reluctantly and tugged.
I just so adore Dumbledore.
Page 243: Terrible though it was to hear his parents’ last moments replayed inside his head, these were the only times Harry had heard their voices since he was a very small child.
Oh, Harry. This breaks my heart.
Page 244: “Bad news, Harry. I’ve just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She - er - got a bit shirty with me. Told me I’d got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn’t care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first.” Wood shook his head in disbelief. “Honestly, the way she was yelling at me…you’d think I’d said something terrible….”
Oh, Oliver Wood, I love you so.
Page 248: You’ve got a very good friend somewhere, Potter….
Aw, he’s got better than that: He’s got a godfather!
Page 252: It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione’s friendship.
I have to be honest and confess that I am on Ron’s side here. Knowing nothing about Scabbers being Pettigrew-which they didn’t at this point-Hermione went out and bought a pet who had already attacked Scabbers once, and continued to try to attack him. I think Hermione was way out-of-line in even buying Crookshanks, actually, and she really needed to apologize to Ron.
Page 257: Cedric Diggory came over to congratulate Harry on having acquired such a superb replacement for his Nimbus, and Percy’s Ravenclaw girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, asked if she could actually hold the Firebolt.
Seriously, Cedric Diggory is so nice. I feel like I didn’t notice this as much before I’d read Book 4.
Page 265: If she just acted like she was sorry - but she’ll never admit she’s wrong, Hermione.
Now, I don’t think this is a nice thing that Ron does here, but I’m with him: Hermione really needed to apologize to him, and I don’t think she deserved to get away with not doing that. I am an extremely harsh person, it’s true.
Page 265: He had a very strange dream.
Of course he did.
Page 268: “Which person,” she said, her voice shaking, “which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week’s passwords and left them lying around?”
This is a detail from a bit earlier in the story, when Neville says that he made Sir Cadogan give him the week’s passwords so he could remember them. It’s a throwaway moment, and you barely register it, because it makes total sense for Neville to need a password list. That’s how prettily JKR plots: She sets you up and you never even know it, sometimes.