My goal for 2019 is to re-read the whole Harry Potter series. I’m making good progress as I’m on the Goblet of Fire now. However, the Goblet of Fire is the first Harry Potter book with more than 500 pages. The length of the Harry Potter books isn’t intimidating to me because I’m infatuated with the series. The Prisoner of Azkaban is a pivotal book in the series because of what’s revealed regarding Harry’s parents, but also how Harry’s parents were left vulnerable to Voldemort. Here are the notes I wrote regarding Prisoner of Azkaban: 

• Ron yells into the telephone when calling Harry over the summer.
• Harry is gifted a sneakascope from Ron. Goes off constantly when Scabbers is with Ron. Wonder why.
• The Firebolt can go 150 MPH in 10 seconds.
• Hermione’s birthday is in September.
• Neville and Ginny were also in the cart when Harry was first attacked by the Dementor. This isn’t shown in the movie
• Hagrid had more than one hippogriff in his class. He had a bronze, pink, chestnut, and black hippogriff beside Buckbeak.
• Snape completely humiliates Neville in the book. He feeds his potion to Trevor hoping to kill it. He also tells Lupin in their first lesson how it’s a pity that Neville is in his class. However, Lupin being the heartwarming character that he is, has Neville go first with the Boggart. Neville also teams up with Lupin to capture it in the chest. Lupin must identify with Neville because of the isolation Lupin feels about his identity.
• Red Caps are goblin-like creatures lurking where bloodshed occurs
• Kappas are water dwellers who try to strangle people.
• The Grindylow is mentioned in Lupin’s class. Nice foreshadowing of what’s to come
• You can’t apparate in and out of Hogwarts. Comes up when trying to deduce how Sirius Black is getting into the castle.
• Cedric Diggory is the current Hufflepuff seeker… 😦
• Impervius is the spell Hermione uses on Harry’s glasses to repel water.
• Sirius Black was James Potter’s best man.
• Dumbledore long suspected there was a spy in the Order of the Phoenix, but couldn’t prove who it was.
• Within a week of the Fidelius charm / secret keeper being cast, James and Lily were murdered by Voldemort. That’s depressing.
• In the book, Hagrid is with the professors in Hogsmeade where Harry overhears his parent’s history with Sirius Black. This makes Harry distrustful of Hagrid.
• Harry receives the Firebolt in the Gryffindor Common Room versus the Great Hall in the movie. This leads to McGonagall confiscating the Firebolt because there might be jinxes attached to it.
• I didn’t realize Dementors actually use their mouths to clamp onto their victims to deliver the kiss. In the movie, it looks like the Dementors just suck the soul out of the person without having to actually be attached to them.
• Cho Chang is referenced as the Ravenclaw seeker.
• The Slytherin match where Harry helps to win the Quidditch Cup is dirty. The Slytherin players were deliberately trying to take out all the Gryffindor players.
• Animagus have to register with the Ministry of Magic including their distinct markings.
• All the Maurder’s Map friends were unregistered animagi which explains why no one knew how Sirius was getting into Hogwarts.
• The Wolfsbane potion allows a werewolf to keep their mind during the transformation.
• Pettigrew was passing secrets to Voldemort for a full year before the murder of the Potters. The movie seems to play it off like Pettigrew was forced into working with Voldemort. In the book, it’s much more clear how deep the betrayal was between Pettigrew and the Potter family.
• Pettigrew is actually in danger because of the repercussions from former death eaters. Pettigrew’s information of the Potter’s location is what allowed Voldemort to become powerless. His death eaters have reason to want to kill him.
• Walden Macnair (the man who executed Buckbeak) is referenced as a former Death Eater.

I wanted to share one of my favorite parts of this book. I completely forgot this part exists, but it’s towards the end with Harry and Dumbledore having a conversation after Lupin leaves Hogwarts. Harry expresses that he regrets saving Pettigrew’s life, and Dumbledore responds, “The time may come when you will be glad you saved Pettigrew’s life.” IF THIS ISN’T FORESHADOWING I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS. I CAN’T EVEN.

Re-reading the Harry Potter books has been eye-opening for me. I’m probably enjoying them more as an adult because of the little details I missed as a kid. The different ways Rowling foreshadows future events are well done. Hopefully, you all are enjoying these recaps as much as I enjoy writing them. I will post my Goblet of Fire one as soon as I finish reading all 734 pages.