Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Scholastic
Copyright Date: 1999
Number of Pages: 435
Reading Level: 9-12
Summary:
This is the third book in the Harry Potter series, and Harry's thrid year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. In the beginning of the book Harry is stuck at his aunt and uncle's again bored and bullied as usual. He has recieved a couple letters from his friends Ron and Hermione, but otherwise there has been nothing. He is ready to go back to school. After a week of mysery when his Aunt Marge comes to visit (she thinks he is a juvinile delinquent) he gets so angry at her one night for going off about his parents that he accidentally blows her up like a balloon. All the sudden she started to swell and then she was floating as if full of helium. Harry was furious and he was also on the run. Young Wizards are not supposed to do magic outside of school. He unintentionally calls upon the night bus to come get him when he fell to the ground after seeing a mysterious animal staring at him from the shadows of the houses, and it takes him the Diagon Alley where the Minister of Magic is waiting for him. Oops. Sure that he was going to be expelled or maybe even arrested he is surprised to find the minister relieved that he was ok. Why shouldn't he be?
He spends the next two weeks doing his homework and walking the streets of Diagon Alley. On the last night before term started Ron and his family come to stay at the Leaky Cauldron along with Hermione. That night Harry over hears Ron's parents having an argument about him. In a nutshell, Sirius Black, famous mass murderer broke out of Azkaban and is after him. They were having an argument on whether or not it is the right thing to tell Harry or not. The next day Mr. Weasley ends up telling him anyway and tells him not to go after Black. Harry is confused by that, why would he go looking for someone who wants to kill him?
On the train ride to school Dementors (the guards of Azkaban) come aboard the Hogwarts Express and Harry discover's first hand what they can do to people. They suck the happiness right out of you. Harry passed out because of all the horrible things that have happened in his life. It is then that Harry meets professor Lupin for the first time. Harry has a problem with dementors all year and professor Lupin gives him anti-dementor lessons. It is a charm called the patronus that acts as a shield to protect him.
It is a busy year for Harry, from passing out on his broom during quidditch from the dementors and being tailed by teachers all tring to make sure that he is safe from this Sirius Black... He also is in divination for the first time with Professor Trelawney who "predicts" his death every day. Somehow Hermione is taking two classes at once and he always has ongoing battles with Professor Snape. Ron and Hermione are always fighting because Hermione's cat is always trying to eat Scabbers, Ron's rat, who is looking older and closer to death by the day. Draco Malfoy is on a warpath to get Hagrid fired because the Hippogriff, Buckbeak attacked him, and oh yeah, a killer is after him.
There are a few times that Sirius Black breaks into the castle. The first time was on Halloween. He snuck up Griffindor Tower and slashed up the Fat Lady portrait because she wouldn't let him in. The second time, he breaks into Griffidor Tower and slashes the curtains on Ron's bed, but when Ron yelled out, he left quickly. Everyone was confused that he didn't just silence Ron and move onto Harry.
Harry, who didn't get permission to go into Hogsmede, snuck in with ron and Hermione. While at the Three Broomsticks, under his invisiblity cloak he over heard some of the teachers and the Minister of Magic talking about Sirius Black. He found out that Black and Harry's dad were best friends in school and apparently it was because of Black that Harry's parents were killed. Black joined the dark side and told Voldemort where Lilly and James were hiding. That filled Harry like fire. His parents best friend, turned them into Voldemort.
As the end of the semester drew near they had exams to take. During Harry's divination exam, Professor Trelawney, who everyone thought to be a fraud, made a real prediction that a servant of Voldemort will escape tonight and will rejoin his master to make him stronger. The Dark Lord will return stronger than ever before. Unnerved, Harry hurried to tell Ron and Hermione only to find out that Buckbeak the Hippogriff, who had attacked Malfoy, was sentenced to death that night. They wanted to be with Hagrid when it happened because he was so distraut. Because it was a formal execution the minister, an executioner, and Dumbledore were all going to be there for it. When Harry, Ron and Herminone arrived at Hagrid's hut Hagrid made them go back to the castle because they weren't supposed to be out of the castle! They left just as the Execution Party arrived. On their way, Scabbers was going crazy. He was squealing and freaking out. It was because Hermione's cat was slinking along behind them. Well Scabber's escaped Ron and was running across the lawn and ron ran after him. Just as a great black dog, the one Harry saw at his aunt and uncle's and the one he had been seeing all year, came running up. It latched onto Ron and took him underneath the Womping Willow.
They followed, afraid at what might be on the other end. When they got there, they realized that it was the shrieking shack. They found Ron and apparently, the dog was Sirius Black who was an animagious! To make it short, Lupin came in after them and they found out that Lupin is a werewolf, Sirius and Lupin had been friends too at Hogwarts and Ron's rat was an animagious as well, and he was the real one that betrayed Harry's parents. Sirius was not after Harry, he was after Peter Petegrew. After much explanation (including, revealing Peter Petegrew, stunning Snape who followed them, and learning the truth) Harry believed Lupin and Sirius.
They all made their way out of the shrieking shack pulling along with them Snape and Petegrew. They were taking Peter up to the castle to be turned in so that Sirius's name could be cleared. Once they were out on the grounds the clouds shifted and the full moon shown down on Lupin who turned into a werewolf. He was chased into the woods by Sirius, and Peter escaped (making Trelawney's prediction true). Eventually they made their way to the lake where they found Sirius benig converged upon by dementors. Harry tried to save him but the dementors turned on him too. He passed out but not before he saw someone across the lake conjure a patronus that drove the dementors away.
He woke up in the hospital wing. Apparently Sirius was being held and he was awaiting the dementor's kiss (sucking out of his soul). Dumbledore came in and explained that they needed to save him and that Hermione knew how. He said that there could be more than one innocent life that could be saved. Hermione had been using a time turner all year to get to her classes. They used it now. They went and relived the past 3 hours and in the process, they saved Buckbeak, flew him up to where Sirius was and Sirius escaped on him.
Now, Harry had a Godfather who cared about him and who he kept in contact with. It made for a very promising summer.
Who would I recommend this book to/Who would benefit from reading this book?
Anyone and everyone. It is a marvelously written book that has amazing descriptions and plots.
What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?
None, personally. But, there are a lot of religious groups who do not support Harry Potter because it is evil and sacreligious. I would be careful reading it in the classroom.
My Reaction:
There isn't much to say except, this book is amazing and it is my favorite of all the Harry Potters. Sirius Black is one of my favorite characters and so it is exciting that he is introduced in this book. The adventures that Harry and his friends go on are not only entertaining but they are clever and intense and proof of what a master writer J.K. Rowling is.
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