Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I finished this book over a month ago and am now finally posting about it. I don't know why it has taken me so long, laziness is my best guess. I've decided to finally post it because it's 5am on the day after Thanksgiving, I've come down with a wicked flu and have run out of nighttime flu medicine. So I can't sleep and I want Cam to sleep, and I decided this would be a good time to do this post. Can I just say it blows my mind to think that people are actually out shopping right now?

Sweet! There is a planet of the apes movie on! That makes me feel a little better about being awake at 5am on a day off. It's the one where the mutant ape tries to control the others telepathically. There are some awesomely terrible scenes in this one.


Anyway, I liked this one much more than the first 2 books. I liked the story itself quite a bit. The first two were a bit predictable, so this third one was a nice surprise. This posting will be kind of short because I gave the book back to Emily the day I finished it, so I don't have much of a reference. And Em, I can't find that website you suggested. I think you suggested it on some random comment on the family blog. So I'm strictly going by memory with a little help from wikipedia.

Likes:

Again I really like how awful the Dursley's are. I liked the introduction of Aunt Marge. She was just horrible and obnoxious, I thought she was great. I really liked when she shared her tea with her dog. And I didn't think anyone could be meaner to Harry than his aunt and uncle, but Marge was. I liked it when he inflated her.

I really liked professor Lupin. He was a really likeable character and I liked his character development through the end. I liked finding out that he was a friend of Harry's father and a werewolf.

The Marauder's Map. I thought it was a really cool concept. I liked the scene where Snape grabs it and the map insults him. Lupin says something kind of funny in that scene, but I don't remember what it was. I didn't take very good notes while reading this one. (yes, I take notes).

Hogsmeade. I really like these little secret places that exist, like Daigon Alley. I especially liked the scene when Harry sneaks there in his "invisibility cloak" and messes with Draco Malfroy at the haunted house. Draco deserved it, he's a little jerk.

The flobberworms. I thought it was really funny that after the Hippogriff fiasco, Hagrid made them learn about the boring, lettuce eating flobberworms the rest of the semester. Don't ask me why, it just cracked me up.

And my memory is pretty vague about this one, but there is a character in one of the paintings at Hogsworth that really cracked me up. I think it was a knight on horseback that helps Harry and Ron find a classroom I think. He runs through painting after painting trying to be gallant, and I thought he was pretty funny. Kind of a Monty Python type of character.

I liked Professor Lupin's class when they were learning about the Boggarts. I thought it was pretty funny when one of them, Neville? Imagines Snape in a dress.

And the thing I liked best...The Monster Book of Monsters! I loved it! The idea of a book about monsters being a monster was great. And the idea that all they had to do was scratch the books head or something like that to calm him down cracked me up.

Dislikes:

The Grim. I just thought it was dumb. I hated the name (I'll get to that later), and frankly, it just didn't make that much sense to me. Emily, correct me if I'm wrong. But I just didn't quite grasp the significance of the Grim. I know it was a bad omen when you saw it, that it pretty much meant you were going to die. I think what bothered me the most, was they made such a big deal out of it, but it never seemed that significant to me. Did I miss something?

Professor Trelawney. She bugged the hell out of me. I found her very annoying and overly dramatic. Which I realize she was supposed to be dramatic, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I liked how Professor McGonagall didn't like her much either.

Hermione is starting to get on my nerves. I liked at first how she was a bit smarter than the boys, but now she is over doing it. I find her to be just an overachieving know it all. She needs to just calm down and be a kid.

Hagrid is also starting to get on my nerves. I'm glad he finally became a professor, but he really needs to get his motions under control.

And the thing I'm disliking most....the names JK Rowling comes up with for things. Sorry Em, I know you have a love for her names, but I pretty much feel the opposite. They've kind of bugged me all along (refer to my posting of the first book and the "put outer"). But Hippogriff was the last straw. It really pissed me off. Tolkien is far superior to coming up with names.

So that's it for the dislikes. Not bad eh? I really did enjoy the book and so far it is my favorite story of the HP series. I guess I should have included this under likes, but I really enjoyed the whole scene in the Shrieking Shack (stupid name). The way the story of Sirius Black and Lupin came out and learning they were friends of Harry's dad. I loved that Ron's pet rat Scabbers (name!), was Pettigrew. It was good to find out why Snape hated Harry so much. I thought the book ended really well and the author did a good job making a lot of little pieces of the book come together.

I'm trying to start the 4th one! I've read the first 2 chapters a couple of times. I'll get on it. And if anyone is new to reading this blog and are wondering why I do these Harry Potter posts. You can totally blame my sister Emily.