Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in the Harry Potter series of novels written by JK Rowling. It is an amazing magical continuation of the previous two books. The book starts with the same unpleasant life of Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe) at his uncle’s home. His Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley, all hate him and try to make his life more miserable every day. This summer, however, they are expecting a new guest at home, Aunt Marge. She is a very judging and criticizing lady, but Harry is forced to be nice to her as Uncle Vernon promises to sign his permission letter to visit Hogsmeade in return. But no matter how hard Harry tries to be in his best of characters, aunt marge succeeds at making Harry furious by badmouthing his parents and as a consequence, ends up in a really worse condition. Harry leaves his Uncle’s house in a fury. Worried about his future now, as he has nowhere to go, a series of events lead Harry to The Leaky Cauldron, where he meets the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who is already waiting for him there. Luckily, he finds his way safely back to Hogwarts without facing any trials.
But this year, Hogwarts is being guarded by dementors, as a serial killer named Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban. There is also some new subjects and teachers this year. One of these subjects is ‘Divination’, which is taught by Professor Sybill Trelawny (played by Emma Thompson), who is a ‘seer’ and makes the prophecy of Lord Voldemort’s, or for the ones weak at hearts, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, return to power. Hermione (played by Emma Watson) specially dislikes her and considers her a big fraud. Other than Hermione, Professor Minerva McGonagall (played by Maggie Smith), who teaches Transfiguration at Hogwarts, also is not very fond of Professor Trelawny.
There’s also another new professor at Hogwarts this year, named Remus Lupin (played by David Thewlis), who is hired for the ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts’ subject which many suppose is jinxed. Professor Lupin is a very shabby man, and wears tattered clothes. However most of the students began to like and respect him from his very first class and consider him the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they ever had. He encourages students from the very first day and complements every one’s efforts. Professor Snape (played by the late Alan Rickman), however, loathes and distrusts Professor Lupin very much.
Also, this year Rubeus Hagrid (played by Robbie Coltrane), who is a Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, is also given the job of a professor and teaches ‘Care of Magical Creatures’. Harry, Ron (played by Rupert Grint) and Hermione are especially happy with this news. Though this joy does not last long, as Hagrid soon must face a trial for one of his magical creatures, a Hippogriff named Buckbeak.
This year again Harry’s friends decide to stay back at Hogwarts to keep Harry company through the vacations. All third years are excited to visit Hogsmeade, a village with shops made inclusively for wizards that sell everything from pranking materials to a wide variety of sweets, for the first time. But Harry is still not allowed to visit Hogsmeade, mainly because Uncle Vernon refused to sign Harry’s permission letter and all the professors want to keep him under their watch as the serial killer Sirius Black is on the loose.
The story follows with many more adventures, which prove to be rule-breaking yet again for Harry and his friends. But this time, it also involves some time-turning techniques that help them save more than one lives. Harry also discovers much more about his parents, James Potter and Lily Evans, and the time they spent with their friends at Hogwarts.
The movies surprisingly did a great job with capturing all the right details. The story, although short, is very well cut into a movie and involves fascinating visuals relating very closely to the books. From the big Hogwarts castle with all the massive moving staircases, corridors, classes, great hall, the moving portraits, and even the grand feasts, to Harry’s uncle’s house in the Privet Drive. The cast is brilliant and just perfect for their roles. Even the kids are played very well by their respective actors.
Most of the complains however are from the book readers for excluding a lot of scenes and some characters. For example, many readers complain Peeves, a poltergeist who had a major role in the books, was found nowhere in the movies. Similarly, Professor Binns, who was a ghost and taught The History of Magic, was also missing from the movies. Also, there were some changes in the plot of the movie which were not appreciated by viewers or readers.
One thing everyone seemed to agree upon, regardless if they’ve read the books or not, was the casting of the acting legend Gary Oldman as Sirius Black. Gary Oldman, who played a variety of diverse roles, such as Dracula in the 1992 movie adaptation of Bram Stoker’s famous novel “Dracula”, Lt. James Gordon in the famous Batman movie “The Dark Knight”, Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, in the latest movie “Darkest Hour”, proved his versatility once again by playing Harry Potter’s godfather, now turned murderer. The Academy Award winning actor kept everyone on the edges of their seats with his excellent acting and rode everyone along his emotional journey of the character played by him. And it’s safe to say, Sirius Black became the favorite character of many people by the end of this movie.
The movie is so dripping with magic and touches your imagination in a way that one starts believing in Hogwarts and might even feel dismay for not receiving an acceptance letter by an Owl sent from Hogwarts. One might even think J. K. Rowling designed everything in the movie herself. It is so fabulous that you just can’t stop asking for more!
It was by far the most fan favorite book of all books, and similar can be said for the movie. The adventures and journeys are as captivating as ever with addition of more Quidditch matches, more broken bones, more magical creatures, more teachers and more awesome past stories. One can hardly catch their breathe before the next adventure starts.
Our only request? There should be more Marauders’ stories!
