Ah, my favorite of the innocent years. The way I see it, the series is separated into two parts. The first half, years one through three, is the innocent years, the second half, years five through seven, being the dark years and the fourth bridging the two of them. If we're talking first half, this is by FAR the best in the first half.
It starts off like any other book. Harry is continually being mistreated by the Dursleys and it has now become intensified by the appearance of Aunt Marge. Always one to rag on Harry, she goes too far one night and he causes her to turn into a gigantic human balloon. Harry runs off with his belongings and sees a black dog peering out between some bushes which causes him to fall back and summon the Knight Bus. Once on the bus, he learns that Sirius Black was actually a prisoner in and escaped from Azkaban for a mass murder the day after Harry escaped Voldemort. Not feeling at all comfortable with this information, he turns up at the Leaky Cauldron where the minister is waiting for him. After a few weeks, he is joined by Ron and Hermoine before heading back to school.
But, as this is Harry Potter, he is not far from trouble for long. After telling Ron and Hermoine all about Sirius Black, the train comes to an abrupt halt and is searched by the dementors. This is the first time Harry is reminded of the pain of Voldemort killing his mother, for he hears her screaming whenever the dementors get too close. He eats a bunch of chocolate, they wonder how Hermoine is getting to all of her lessons and they begin their new subjects of Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Trelawney soon starts seeing the Grim (a giant spectral dog that is "of the darkest omens of our world. It is an omen of death.") every time she sees Harry and Buckbeak the hippogriff takes a liking to Harry.
Because he didn't get his Hogsmeade permission slip signed, Harry is forced to sneak into the village by means of stealth. When the Weasley twins discover this, they offer him the Marauder's Map. This allows Harry to sneak into the basement of Honeydukes, meet up with Ron and Hermoine and into the Three Broomsticks where he learns of what happened the night his parents died, how Sirius is his godfather, who he murdered and how he's now on the hunt for Harry. He learns to cast a patronus from Lupin, as a few close scares with Sirius and has to deal with the fued between his friends over their pets. They go to visit Hagrid before Buckbeak's execution and things start to go wild.
Once they leave Hagrid's hut, Scabbers makes a run for it. Ron chases after him, leading the other two to chase after Ron, wind up at the base of the Whomping Willow and Ron gets dragged into the base by a large black dog. Obviously Harry and Hermoine go after him and follow the tunnel until they reach the Shrieking Shack. They arrive to see an injured Ron cupping a squirming Scabbers and a dirty, ragged version of Sirius. Before he can get his story out, Harry attacks, Lupin comes in and he begins to realize Sirius might not be guilty. As the story starts to unfold, Snape comes in, is knocked unconscious and Scabbers turns out to be Peter Pettigrew. The story of what happened unfolds and Harry's world is knocked for a loop. They go back to the school, but halfway there, Lupin sees the full moon, transforms into a werewolf and in an effort to save the trio, Sirius turns back into the dog to fight the Lupinwolf. Harry follows Sirius down to the lake where the dementors close in and almost kill both of them before a shiny silver stag prance across the lake. They wake up in hospital, Harry learns of Hermoine's time-turner, Dumbledore gives them directions and the two of them are off. They go back in time, save Buckbeak and Sirius and save the day. Yay! Just another year at good old Hogwarts.
What I really love about this one, apart from the movie being directed by none other than Alfonso Cuaron, is that it had the first really MASSIVE twist in the series. This little rat that has been in on their every conversation for the last three years is actually a HUMAN? And not just ANY human, but the one that was the secret-keeper for the Potters and betrayed them to Voldemort? It absolutely blew my mind and still does whenever I read it again. It was not something that anyone who was reading it could see coming. It resolves yet sets up so much of what happens in the rest of the series. He knows so much of what they know and throw around in order to stall his return. I think that that is absolutely wild. That twist alone is a testament to the talent that that woman possesses.
Another little note on the movie: I am still dying for a heart shaped cotton candy like the one either Neville or Seamus has in the movie. If anyone can help me with that, I will be terribly grateful.
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