Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Review

Intro

Despite how swamped/lazy I've been lately, I managed to finish my current reread of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm actually surprised it took me so long. I started this reread in August and it's now November. I shudder to think how long it's going to take me to reread Goblet of Fire, though I'm planning to attempt keeping up with Alohomora's reread, now that I've started the book.

SPOILER WARNING

Although I find a spoiler warning for this book rather silly at this point, if you haven't read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban don't read my review until you have done so. My review will contain spoilers. Also, if you haven't read/listened to it, where have you been? Living under a rock? Get on that!

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

Characters:

• Harry James Potter - Main protagonist. Gryffindor.
• Hermione Jean Granger - Harry's Best friend. Gryffindor.
• Ronald "Ron" Bilius Weasley - Harry's Best friend. Youngest Weasley male. Gryffindor.
• Sirius "Padfoot" Black - Main antagonist. Animagus. Former Gryffindor. Marauder.
• Remus "Moony" John Lupin - Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Werewolf. Former Gryffindor. Marauder.
• Severus Snape - Potion Master. Head of Slytherin House.
• Draco Lucius Malfoy - Antagonist. Slytherin.
• Professor Sybil Trelawney - Seer. Divination teacher.
• Buckbeak - Hippogriff.
• Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew/Scabbers - Animagus. Former Gryffindor. Marauder.
• There are too many characters to list. I think I've got the main bunch of this book listed here, though.

Review:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my all time favorite Harry Potter book. That said, I hadn't realized until this reread that most of my enjoyment of this book is drawn mainly from chapters 18 and 19. Everything else serves to set up the events of those chapters and the ones after. PoA is also the most normal year Harry ever had at Hogwarts, I believe. There honestly isn't much that goes on and so the book jumps through the year like it's playing leap-frog with the events.

The main thrust of the PoA story, for me at least, is The Marauder's Map and the characters surrounding it. The Marauder's Map is an interesting concept, though scrutinizing it shows a few massive plot holes, though most of those show up later in the series. The Map has been shown to reveal the true identity of anyone within Hogwarts. It was previously owned by the Wesley Twins who, while probably not using it to spy on people in other dormitories, probably would have noticed that Peter Pettigrew was constantly with Ron. I honestly wouldn't have thought about this plot hole if it hadn't been for the internet, so you can take it or leave it.

The first of the Marauders is the most infamous of the group, one Sirius Black. He is mentioned first in Chapter 2, though not actually seen until much later. Sirius is the main antagonist of this book, though it's later revealed he's not much of an antagonist. Sirius was purported to have turned the Potters over to Lord Voldemort and also to have murdered Peter Pettigrew and a number of Muggles. He was sent to Azkaban and, at the beginning of the book, has managed to be the first person to escape the prison. It isn't revealed until the last chapters of PoA that Sirius is innocent of both charges.

The second Marauder we meet in chapter 5, one Remus Lupin. Lupin is the latest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He is somewhat mysterious in that we know next to nothing about him until the final chapters of the book. He is very fond of Harry and Harry of him so we see Remus is a very good light. Remus is also revealed to have been friends with Harry's parents, though this doesn't do much to strengthen the bond between he and Harry.

The final member of the Marauders we meet is Peter Pettigrew. However, as it's revealed much later in the book, we've known Peter from the very start of the series. Peter is, in fact, Scabbers, Ron's rat. He is revealed as having been the spy among the Potters' friends. He faked his death to escape whatever fate he had coming to him. Unfortunately, Peter escapes before he is able to face any punishment for his crimes.

Of course, my main interest in the Marauders, also including James Potter, is the back story surrounding them and the Map. I say "of course" because I've previously reviewed some Marauder's Era fanfiction. The birth of Marauder's Era fanfiction began based solely on the information we as a fandom gleaned from information provided by Prisoner of Azkaban.

I think it took me such a long time getting through PoA this time around because I was chomping at the bit to get to the end of the book. Reading through the previous chapters kind of became a bore, quite honestly. I feel like knowing the end of the story made the rest seem like extraneous material. It wasn't horrible extraneous material, but at the same time, it didn't make me want to keep reading this time around.

However, the first couple times I read PoA, I ripped through it at a much faster pace. I really do enjoy the book as a whole, not just the last few chapters.

Housekeeping

Alright, that might not have been my most awesome review ever, but... meh. It'll have to do. Let me know what you thought of the book in the comments.

Next up: Either a Nuzlocke Challenge update (yeah, that's been a long time coming) or a review of something... depends on my mood.

Again, I'm sorry for getting so behind and whatnot. I've been working and tired and unmotivated lately. I'll try to break out of that funk sooner rather than later.

Love ya, Jessie