Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban is the third book in the series. It takes place during Harry's third year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. In the first two books, Harry defeated the evil wizard Voldemort on two separate occasions, but this third book hasn't got even a small apperance of Voldemort. Instead, Harry must face a darker enemy within his own soul, that of despair.
The plot starts when Sirius Black, a convicted mass murderer, escapes from the wizard prizon Azkaban (a place like the Alcatraz) and is thought to be after Harry. Harry's emotions, magnified by his teenage angst, begin to consume him as he learns the secrets of Sirius Black, and what connection did Black have with his parents? The story that J. K. Rowling presents to her readers in this third volume is brilliant. She touches on a number of compelling themes. Sirius Black, if caught, is to be given the death penalty by the dementors that will suck out his soul. This parallels another storyline in which a magical creature attacks a student and is sentenced to death for the crime. Should Buckbeak, a hypogriff, die just because a human (guess who) taunted him into attacking? Does Sirius Black deserve a punishment worse than death? Rowling stands her ground with a firm no as played out in the different characters' actions.
A wonderful addition to the book is Prof. R. J. Lupin, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. For the first lesson, Lupin teaches all of the students how to fight a boggart, a shape-shifter that lives in closets, cupboards, and other dark places. The boggart takes the form of terror, turning into whatever the person it faces fears the most. Lupin teaches the children that the only way to fight such terror is with laughter and happiness. If a boggart tries to frighten you, turn it into something that will make you laugh; it is the only way of defeating it. For any despair be there, no matter how extreme it is, there's always a ray of hope to get out of it.
The third Harry Potter book is all about emotions and learning to control them (great idea of J. K. Rowling to introduce this as soon as Harry becomes a teenager). Harry's struggle in this book is to find the hope in the darkest of times, to go on enjoying life even when there seems little to be joyful about.
Adult readers will also appreciate the plethora of themes throughout the novel. Besides emotional and political themes, Rowling explores the preciousness of time, the unpredictability of the future, and the bonds of lasting friendship and courage; for there's one universal truth: "Its not our fate that determines our future, but our choices".
In this book, Harry discovers more about his past. All the painful memories, however including some moments of Happiness. Overall, this is a very good book, and it is the favourite of among the Harry Potter books of many people (I conducted a survey). Get this book, which is filled with emotions and adventure, now!
Chapter Names:
- Owl Post
- Aunt Marge's Big Mistake
- The Knight Bus
- The Leaky Cauldron
- The Dementor
- Talons And Tea Leaves
- The Boggart In The Wardrobe
- Flight Of The Fat Lady
- Grim Defeat
- The Marauder's Map
- The Firebolt
- The Patronus
- Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw
- Snape's Grudge
- The Quidditch Final
- Professor Trelawney's rediction
- Cat, Rat And Dog
- Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot And Prongs
- The Servant Of Lord Voldemort
- The Dementor's Kiss
- Hermione's Secret
- Owl Post Again
- Cat, Rat and Dog
