DISCLAIMER: Spoilers below!

“Harry’s eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn’t see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downwards, the roaring growing louder…”

“Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban” is a fantasy-themed book and the third edition of the “Harry Potter” series. It is set in Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, a year that turns dark with Sirius Black, a mass murderer, on the loose...

Harry Potter is back at Hogwarts, after accidentally blowing up his aunt in a rage and having to board the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron. Shockingly, Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, a feat that no one has ever pulled off before. With dementors patrolling the Hogwarts grounds, a murderer potentially out to get Harry, and strange predictions of Harry’s death by the divination teacher, Harry’s third year at Hogwarts takes an unexpected turn.

Harry Potter is the protagonist of this book and he is a determined, brave, humble, helpful, and loyal boy. This is shown whenever he does things like helping to keep the peace between his friends, or the fact that he never brags about being famous with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

After a dementor attempts to suck up all the happiness from Harry on the Hogwarts Express, he faints, having just heard his mother’s voice.

“And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms, but couldn’t… a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside him-”

This is what produces Harry’s fear of dementors. Thankfully, Professor Lupin, the new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, teaches him how to counter a dementor attack with a Patronus. Professor Lupin is a skilled teacher who really knows how to engage the class, and he quickly becomes Harry’s favourite teacher.

The genre of this book is fantasy, although there are many themes covered such as friendship, bravery and courage, hard-work, self-control, persistence, and perseverance. An example of hard work was when Harry Potter continuously practised the Patronus charm, trying to master it so that he would be able to repel dementors and their ghastly hooded faces.

I loved reading this book as it is engaging, exciting, and attention-grabbing. It makes the reader want to keep on reading and I felt slightly disappointed when the book came to an end. The ending’s twist warmed my heart, and I also love Hagrid’s first Care Of Magical Creatures class, except for the ugly incident in which Draco Malfoy, Harry’s arch nemesis, received a wounded arm. Although, if I’m being perfectly honest, he deserved it!

To conclude, reading Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban was certainly not a waste of my time because of its engaging storyline and I strongly recommend this book to you. Reading the rest of the Harry Potter series, as well as other fantasy books, is also an amazing idea.

Written by Hazel Emory Antler

Edited by Hazel Emory Antler

Proofread by Sara Rowan