Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This was my least favorite movie adaptation, but so far, it's my favorite book in the series.

It was so interesting! I love Sirius and Remus. I love the look into James Potter's past.
I loved the jokes and the parts that made me cry.

As a 23 year old, I am reading the books a little later than most. These books were out when I was a child but I chose not to read them. And now, I really wish I had, because I probably would have appreciated the movie a bit more.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in the brilliant Harry Potter, and J. K. Rowling just keeps getting better as the books go on. This is the last small book, as the thickness starts to pile on in the next few. The Prisoner of Azkaban is full of mystery, humor, spells and that great style of writing that J. K. Rowling has.

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

All readers will love the dark arts weaving into this superb book. The dementors and the dark feelings that they bring, freezing all the happiness that was existing. Buckbeak the hippogriff makes a show in Hagrid's first class, biting Malfoy in the process. Professor Lupin is a werewolf who teaches his classes about Grindylows and Boggarts, and I reckon he is one of the best characters, and a terrific teacher.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban must be one of the best in this amazing series, it is truly magical!

The Harry Potter series keeps getting better. In book 3, the innocence of Harry's first two years at Hogwarts fades as threats from the outside world move in. Dementors are on the loose, an escaped convict is apparently searching for Harry, and a traitor roams the halls of Hogwarts. With Rowlings trademark blend of humor, magic, drama, and superb storytelling, this is a book I can strongly recommend to anyone.

Reader reviewed by Ananya

This third book in the Harry Potter series is my most favorite book so far. It has mystery, humor, and adventure all tied into one. Harry Potter and his two friends must learn the truth about the dangerous mass murderer Serious Black. They also must discover what is going on with their good but odd Professor Lupin. I could not stop reading this book till I was finished. I really liked the cliffhangers at the end of every chapter.   

Reader reviewed by Crimin

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -  need I even get past Harry Potter?  Of course we all know what the third installment to the HP series is all about!  Weve seen the movie, if not ten times, and have probably read the binding on the book slack!   I mean, I can say I truly have.

Its my favorite book by far, as I have a short of school-girl crush on one Mr. Remus Lupin.  (He was totally the best DADA professor Hogwarts has seen throughout Harrys seven years - dont deny!)  Plus, Ms. Rowling tampered with the whole Time-paradox thing - where the characters had to go into the past in order for the future to take place.  Which is really confusing. . .but who cares?!  Its Harry Potter!

Of course, of course, of course I recommend these books to anyone who has read the first two!  If you havent - why in the sunny realm of Hades are you reading reviews for the third?

Reader reviewed by Sarima89

Reader reviewed by GRgenius

The Harry Potter series continues with book three, 'The Prisoner of Azkaban'.  In this installment, we find young Harry continuing to battle the forces of good and evil...all while trying to get his education!  With the help of his good friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, he stands a much better chance of escaping the clutches of his current nemisis, Sirius Black.  But wait!  Should Harry in fact be running from this accused follower of the Dark Lord?  As it turns out, Sirius is a long lost relative of Harry's...could he really be out to kill him to aid Voldemort's return?

You'll have to read the book to find out, but rest assured J. K. Rowling delivers what we have come to know and love in the world she created.  It's not just about the magic, it's about the heart and all of those that we choose to keep within.  Happy reading!

Reader reviewed by walkinonsunshine

This, in my opinion, is the best Harry Potter book. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but it just felt different (in a good, unique way) than the other books. Maybe it was because it was the first time we really learn anything about Harry's parents, or the ironic ending. I was riveted the entire book-- I couldn't put it down for days! Love, love, love this book!

Reader reviewed by tiff

this is a exciting book with the aperience of his godfather seres black. Rowling's third book opens with Harry Potter enduring another summer at the Dursleys', which is broken only by a news report about an escaped convict, Sirius Black, and a visit from Vernon's sister, Marge. When Marge viciously insults Harry's family, he loses his temper and inflates her, causing her to float away. Furious and distressed, Harry decides to run away. After a bad scare, when Harry believes he sees a black dog staring at him from a clump of bushes, the Knight Bus appears and takes him to the Leaky Cauldron. Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge is waiting for Harry at the door of the Leaky Cauldron, much to everyone's surprise. Harry is certain Fudge will expel him from Hogwarts for using under-age magic, but, surprisingly, the matter is dropped. While staying at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry overhears Mr and Mrs Weasley arguing over whether he should or should not be warned about Black, because they believe that Black escaped from prison with the intent to kill Harry.

Black is still at large, and so Dementors patrol the school. Dementors drain happiness from anyone nearby, and Harry is particularly affected; he faints during a Quidditch match when they approach him and falls from his broomstick, which flies into the Whomping Willow's reach. Professor Lupin teaches him the Patronus charm to repel Dementors, should they attack him again.

Tension grows between Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley because Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, continually torments Ron's rat, Scabbers. At Christmas, Harry receives a superb Firebolt broomstick, and Hermione suspects Black is the anonymous donor. She reports it to Professor Minerva McGonagall, who confiscates the broom for testing. Harry and Ron are infuriated with Hermione at such a marvellous broom being stripped down. When the broom is returned some weeks later, the two boys try to make up with Hermione, but it goes wrong when Ron discovers Scabbers is missing; Ron blames Crookshanks. Hermione's heavy workload, meanwhile, begins to take its toll on her; she accidentally misses a Charms class and drops out of the Divination class altogether.
The US cover for the book.

After Harry completes his Divination Exam, Professor Trelawney enters a trance and predicts that the Dark Lord's servant will return to him that night. Harry and Ron finally make peace with Hermione, but the trio soon learn that Buckbeak will be executed. When they visit Hagrid to console him, Scabbers appears, bites Ron, and Ron chases him to the Whomping Willow. A large dog attacks Ron and drags him and Scabbers into a hole at the tree's base. Harry and Hermione follow, finding a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. Inside, Harry confronts Sirius Black, who- as an unregistered, and therefore illegal- Animagus, can transform into an animal at will. Lupin, who spotted the group on the Marauder's Map, suddenly bursts in and embraces his old friend Black. Confronted by Hermione, Lupin admits to being a werewolf and the Map's creator, along with Black, Pettigrew, and James Potter, the latter two also being illegal Animagi (a rat and a stag, respectively). Lupin and Black explain that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. He is Voldemort's servant, and he betrayed the Potters, framing Black for the crimes. He was the man that Black was sent to jail for murdering. Harry is sceptical until Black and Lupin force Pettigrew back into his human form. Black explains he discovered that Pettigrew was still alive and escaped Azkaban to seek revenge. Harry stops Black and Lupin from murdering Pettigrew, believing that his father, James, would not have wanted his two best friends to become killers. Snape then enters and tries to capture Black but is blasted into unconsiousness by three simultainious disarming charms from Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Lupin explains that Black was not the Secret Keeper. The Secret Keeper was actually Pettigrew who was able to convince people that Black was the traitor. It is also explained that the four friends, James, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew, developed the Marauder's Map as a way to sneak out of the castle on nights when there was a full moon. They each transformed into an animal as a way to be with Lupin while he was a werewolf and would spend their time in the Whomping Willow/Shrieking Shack, thus also explaining the Shack's reputation.

Hermione reveals to Harry that she was entrusted with a time-travelling device called a Time-Turner, which is how she was able to attend simultaneous classes. Prompted by Dumbledore, she and Harry travel three hours into the past, watching themselves go through the night's previous events. They set Buckbeak free and return to the Whomping Willow. As the Dementors are about to attack the "other" Harry and Black, Harry realizes that the mysterious figure he saw earlier was actually himself. Armed with the new memory of his talk with Black, he casts the powerful Patronus that repels the Dementors. Harry and Hermione free Black, who escapes on Buckbeak as the two return to Dumbledore and resume their normal timeline.

Remus Lupin resigns as an angry Severus Snape, who has a childhood grudge against the Marauders, tells the whole of Slytherin House that Lupin is a werewolf. After Harry says good-bye to Lupin, Dumbledore tells Harry that Pettigrew is now in his debt, a fact for which he may one day be grateful. He also tells Harry that "all four Marauders were on school grounds tonight" and says that James Potter lives in Harry.

Pre-release history

Of the first three books in the series, Prisoner of Azkaban took the shortest amount of time to write - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone took five years to complete and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets needed two years, while Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was written in one year. Rowling's favourite aspect of this book was introducing the character Remus Lupin.

Reader reviewed by 3holidaybabies

Voldie dosen't bother Harry in his 3rd year...but that dosen't mean Harry's safe! There is an escape from the wizard prison & for some reason the escaped prisoner seems to be bent on getting Harry! The adventure continues in this 3rd installment. You won't be bored or disappointed!