Harry Potter Read-Along/Discussion [9]

Alright guys! Time to get back to business! I've skipped a week and a day of my Harry Potter discussions in case you hadnt noticed. As much as I'd love to rant and rave to you about the crazy couple of weeks I've had (which include getting sick and having a girl quit in the middle of our busiest season at work), I'd rather get back to business. :)

I started read the third Harry Potter book which, if you remember, is definitely one of my favorites. I mean, I guess the whole series is my favorite lol, but this one definitely changes the series in its entirety. We go from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds flat, so to say. As I've mentioned one of my amigas saying before, it definitely sets the tone for the rest of the series.

RECAP - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Chapters 1 through 6

We meet Harry again, living with his aunt and uncle for the summer holiday, hating life as usual. Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's nasty sister comes to stay for a week, and Harry promises to be on his best behavior in exchange for Vernon to sign his permission slip to visit the all-wizarding village of Hogsmeade at school that year. Instead, when Marge is being particularly nasty, Harry inflates her to quite a large size by accident and runs away - even though there's news that a crazed escaped prisoner named Sirius Black is on the loose. Harry is picked up by the Knight Bus, thank goodness, and Cornelius Fudge gives him strict instructions to spend his time left before school at the Leaky Cauldron and not to do anything dangerous.

Hermione and the Weasleys come to stay the night before school begins and Harry finds out that Black has escaped wizard prison to kill him - thankfully Harry isnt worried since he's faced Voldemort before. On the train to Hogwarts, the train is stopped and invaded by Dementors (creepy Azkaban prison guards) searching for Black. Harry is the only one to pass out and "have a fit" but everyone says they felt as though they'd never be happy again. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, the shabby-looking Professor Remus J. Lupin, sends the dementors off and gives Harry some chocolate to feel better. The students find out once they arrive at school that the dementors will be guarding the school in case Black comes a-lookin' for Harry. Inside, Harry and friends also see that Hagrid has been named the new Care of Magical Creatures professor! Yay Hagrid!

Hermione is somehow taking every course offered to third-years at Hogwarts, though Harry and Ron dont quite understand how that's working out for her. The three of them have their first Divination class with Professor Sybil Trelawney who ultimately predicts Harry's untimely demise because of the Grim (scary black dog that happens to be a death omen) she reads in his tea leaves! Hermione is very skeptical about divination in general and doesnt think Harry is going to die, even though he has seen a real Grim lurking around him before. The kids take their first lesson with Hagrid in which they meet Buckbeak the Hippogriff who lets Harry ride him but then it attacks Malfoy. Just great, because now Hagrid is convinced he'll be fired from his dream job!

This is obviously a movie poster, but the tag line is so true. Everything will change!

DISCUSSION

Super excited to finally have started reading this book. This is the book that gave me the name for my blog after all. :) So, since I was pretty stumped on discussion questions this week rather than just my ramblings, I was looking through some school discussion questions and came upon a question that made me laugh a little bit. It read:

"What do you think is going through Aunt Petunia’s mind when Aunt Marge says, “If
there’s something wrong with the bitch, there’ll be something wrong with the pup”? " (source)

I couldnt help but laugh at that. This one line in the entire book over everything else just enrages me. I dont blame Harry at all for inflating her and I kind of wish he'd blown her up. After reading the series in its entirety, I kind of wondered sometimes if Petunia secretly felt bad or guilty because even though she was jealous, none of the stuff that was said was actually true. I mean 13 years later, she must have realized what an ass shes been, right? I mean eventually she kind of softens up a little, but still. In my mind, I think she was too proud to admit after a certain point that she didnt hate her sister so much after all, and she was being a nasty little....nevermind. What do you think?

Another thing I found interesting about this book already is that Hermione is adamant about the uselessness of Divination because Trelawney is basically a fake. But... other than her major predictions that we find out about later in the books, some of the stuff does oddly enough come true, if not in the way we expect. I mean, other than knowing Neville is a complete and total klutz and telling him he's going to drop a tea cup would make him nervous enough to actually drop one, I mean... she's kind of clever. She kind of reminds me of the real life Cris Angel (I think that's his name) who uses illusions and other craziness to make it seem like the magic is real. Maybe she doesnt tell the future, but she is one smart lady, don't ya think?

I'm enjoying this book immensely and cant wait until we run into the Marauder's Map later in the book! Scenes with the map just so happen to be my favorite. :)

Hope to talk to you all next week about Harry and friends as the book and series go on!

Mischief managed!
A.