Book 3 (already!) for the Harry Potter re-readalong. It is now the summer before the 3rd year of Hogwarts. Harry is once again at home with the Dursley’s nothing has changed… in fact now that they know that Harry is not allowed to perform magic outside of school, things have become a bit worse. When things do go terribly wrong, Harry finds himself on his own trying to get to Diagon Alley two weeks before school starts and discovers there is a Knight Bus for witches and wizards in need.
When the third year begins Harry overhears that a recent madman has escaped from Azkaban, and for some reason he has his sights set out for Hogwarts, and more importantly Harry. Dementors are now protecting the school… but not always the students. While the teachers are over protective of Harry for this reason, they will not give him the details as to why this man would be coming after him.
Hogwarts for Harry….. NEVER easy.
Of course Harry is hanging out with Ron and Hermione again… a particularity tense year as Hermione now has a cat who really would like to sample Ron’s rat Scabbers. Hermione also disappears a lot – returning usually looking disheveled and worried constantly about her studies.
It is a year of once again trying for the Quidditch cup, avoiding Malfoy’s sneering and jeering, a new (yet familiar) magical creatures teacher, and of course yet another new Dark Arts Teacher.
Harry works hard to keep himself safe all the while worried about sighting of this man named Sirius Black. Why would someone he had never heard of want to kill him?


The Prisoner Of Azkaban is the first of the books where you start to feel that Harry is growing up a bit. He is no longer a scared little newbie to the wizarding world and is growing into his own. It is funny to think that I do not recall every really enjoying this book that much but found this time around that I really got into it.
Harry’s friendship with Ron and Hermione is solid… although Hermione causes quite a bit of drama in this book, they are still friends…angry friends, but not like in the first book where she cries in the bathroom and is attacked by a troll…. no nothing like that. 🙂 Harry also holds his own on the Quidditch field, an important part of the team he loves being the Seeker (you will see that even comes with trials this time around).
I think what I love the most about the book is the introduction of the Mauder’s Map and the 4 students who had created it. This group of rebels that once ruled the school have passed their knowledge on and it is in Harry’s hands. I love that so much and I love the connections that he has tot he map that he does not even know about.
Great introduction of key characters take place here as well… we are introduced to Sirius, Lupin, and even Peter…. (well played JK, well played). This casual introduction will play out as the books continue.
I found this particular read to be so engaging I could not wait to get back to it. Not sure if it is the season, the mood, or what… but I fully wanted to engage this magical works and not come out. Feeling a little bit like Harry in the end, not ready to go back to everyday life… but knowing there is the promise of more to come.
This book was read for the Harry Potter re-readalong. It is a delight to be reading and rereading these books with a group from all over the world!