the great harry potter re-read: harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban chapters 1-7
Well hey it's time for some Prisoner of Azkaban, in which we are introduced to Remus Lupin and Sirius Black (even though Sirius was mentioned briefly in Sorcerer's Stone), who are my two favorite characters in the Harry Potter series. Prisoner of Azkaban is probably my favorite book in the series as well, mostly because it prominently features said two characters, and the twist at the end is always awesome no matter how many times I read it, OH AND DID I MENTION THE TIME TRAVEL.
Also: I have some delicious dark chocolate right now. REMUS LUPIN WOULD BE SO PROUD.
(Fun fact: I was probably reading this book at around this same time eleven years ago. I know I got Prisoner of Azkaban for Christmas when I was eight, but I don't remember how quickly I finished it. I remember getting up through the part with the dementors on the train on Christmas Day, so I probably did end up finishing it within a week or so. I was a fast little reader when I was eight; when Goblet of Fire came out that same year I read it in four days which I consider to be quite an accomplishment considering the size of it and how young I was.)
Anyway. I'm getting my chocolate ready for when the dementors come.
Chapter One: Owl Post
Well, that took far longer than I wanted it to because I kept getting distracted, but hopefully I will be back tomorrow to do the second third of the book. UNTIL THEN, MISCHIEF MANAGED.
Also: I have some delicious dark chocolate right now. REMUS LUPIN WOULD BE SO PROUD.
(Fun fact: I was probably reading this book at around this same time eleven years ago. I know I got Prisoner of Azkaban for Christmas when I was eight, but I don't remember how quickly I finished it. I remember getting up through the part with the dementors on the train on Christmas Day, so I probably did end up finishing it within a week or so. I was a fast little reader when I was eight; when Goblet of Fire came out that same year I read it in four days which I consider to be quite an accomplishment considering the size of it and how young I was.)
Anyway. I'm getting my chocolate ready for when the dementors come.
Chapter One: Owl Post
- Oh look, there's Bathilda Bagshot's name, right on the first page of the chapter. She totally is not going to turn up again four books from now.
- HARRY'S A TEENAGER NOW, BRACE YOURSELVES (although his teenage ANGST AND RAGE doesn't really come out until Order of the Phoenix).
- It's so sad that it took thirteen years before Harry got a birthday card :(
- AUNT MARGE YOU ARE A STUPID BITCH. AND DON'T INDIRECTLY CALL HARRY'S MUM A BITCH, FOR THAT MATTER.
- YES YOU GO HARRY, FOUR FOR YOU, HARRY! (Not that it was a good idea for Harry to blow up Aunt Marge, but... SHE WAS INSULTING JAMES AND LILY, THE STUPID BITCH.)
- IT'S PADFOOT, PADFOOT'S HERE! Except we're not supposed to know that yet.
- It's interesting that Harry uses Neville's name as his alias, considering that Neville could have had Harry's life if Voldemort had chosen him instead of Harry.
- And here's Sirius Black again, mentioned by his full name for the first time in this book (although not for the first time in the series).
- The Daily Prophet mentions that Cornelius Fudge told the Muggle Prime Minister about Sirius's escape, which is a scene briefly shown later in the first chapter of Half-Blood Prince.
- Harry thinks that Sirius looks like a vampire, which I find hilarious. (And even though he isn't a vampire either, despite the fandom's jokes, I'm thinking that Vincent Valentine would be a good pictorial representation of Sirius if he were a Final Fantasy character. Maybe without the metal claw.)
- It's weird seeing Fudge actually behaving fairly reasonably around Harry considering his behavior in the later books when he's in denial that Voldemort has returned.
- The first page of the chapter is taped across the binding to the previous page to hold the book together. And this is one of my old Harry Potter books that's in relatively decent shape (seriously, I'm going to have to show a picture of Goblet of Fire once I get there because my original copy of that book is unbelievably beat up).
- I just realized that the surname Malkin (as in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions) also turns up on Lost. I wonder if Madam Malkin has a relative named Richard Malkin who is into Divination?
- OH CRAP SCABBERS. Of course, it's weird whenever he pops up during the previous two books as well, considering his true identity, but here is where I'm really like HEY IT'S PETER PETTIGREW.
- Although they're not mentioned by name, only by description, I'm pretty sure there are some fire crabs and puffskeins at the Magical Menagerie. (I read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them far too often during the wait between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix.)
- Fred and George "improve" Percy's head boy badge to read "Bighead Boy"--they must have done that without magic, because they're not allowed to do magic outside of school yet. Or else they did use magic and it just doesn't count for some reason.
- IT'S PROFESSOR R.J. LUPIN! PROFESSOR R.J. LUPIN IS HERE! (Was it ever stated by JKR that the J stands for John? I know it does in The Shoebox Project, but of course that's not canon as much as I would like it to be.)
- "Crabbe and Goyle chuckled trollishly." GREAT NOW I'M PICTURING THEM BOTH WITH THE TROLLFACE.
- We get our first dementor encounter in this book, after previous mentions about how supposedly terrible the Azkaban guards are.
- YAY REMUS IS HANDING OUT CHOCOLATE TIME FOR ME TO HAVE SOME! (It's Green and Black Organic 70% Dark. Delicious.)
- The stagecoaches pulled by "invisible horses" (thestrals) make their first appearance. I think Harry will see them one more time (in Goblet of Fire) before he starts seeing the thestrals.
- Snape is looking at Remus with loathing HINT HINT HINT. (Although Remus doesn't have much ill will toward Snape, I believe... maybe I'm just thinking of The Shoebox Project now, though. I think he does say in Half-Blood Prince, though, that he doesn't hate Snape.)
- So in this chapter the twins make reference to Mr. Weasley having to go out to Azkaban and feeling miserable afterward because of the dementors. When I was younger for some reason I interpreted that part as Mr. Weasley having been put in Azkaban once, so I was all OMG WHAT DID MR. WEASLEY DO D: Then eventually I realized that no, he just was probably just sent there on business.
- Oh I forgot all about Sir Cadogan! Was he in the movie? I can't remember. It's been a while since I've seen the Prisoner of Azkaban movie.
- McGonagall is teaching the third-years about Animagi. I SENSE A CHEKHOV'S LECTURE HERE.
- Ron mentions his Uncle Bilius, who supposedly died after seeing a Grim. Ron's middle name ends up coming from said uncle, as mentioned in Deathly Hallows.
- DRACO STOP BEING SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN. YOU KNOW YOU WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ATTACKED IF YOU WEREN'T BEING A JERK.
- This chapter gives the first evidence of Hermione's time travel (when she disappears from behind Harry and Ron and pops back up at the bottom of the stairs). TIME TRAVEL'S A BITCH.
- You can totally tell that Remus is a Marauder by the way that he sent that gum flying up Peeves' nose. Of course, that was probably the kind of thing that Sirius or James did, but still. The influence is there.
- The whole bit about laughter being the thing that can dispel fear is a theme that carries throughout the series, considering the success of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes once the war starts.
- FUCK YEAH REMUS LUPIN.
Well, that took far longer than I wanted it to because I kept getting distracted, but hopefully I will be back tomorrow to do the second third of the book. UNTIL THEN, MISCHIEF MANAGED.