This book is the third in the series of Potter’s series. I was not disappointed by the book. I must say that the first book was the best but this book hold up the standard of the plot and the writing.
Another positive aspect of the book is that you dont feel lost if you have missed the other two books !! its connected well with the other books and provides a meaningful continuation of the story.
Harry is thirteen years old and he is in his third semester in Hogwarts. He had come to his aunts house for the holidays as usual. He has a misadventure with his uncle’s sister which makes him furious and he leaves home in a huff.
He reaches Hogwarts and gets prepared for classes. He is very happy to be reunited with his friends Ron Weasely and Hermoine ( who is supposed to be the cleverest witch ). Hermoine acquires a new pet, a cat by the name of Crookshanks who is terminally after Ron’s pet , Scabbers the rat.
It so happens that the whole wizard lot becomes very protective about Harry and he is under strict scrutiny because a prisoner has escaped from Azkaban. The prisoner is supposed to be the servant of Voldemort, the evil magician whose powers have gone beacuse of Harry. This prisoner, Sirius Black is rumoured to have been instrumental in murdering Harry’s parents and he is also rumoured to come for Harry and kill him.
Hogwarts has a new teacher for the Dark arts subject, Professor Lupin who is sickly but he is liked by all.
Harry’s enemy in the class, Draco Malfoy is always making fun of him. Harry overcomes this by defeating him in the School’s Quidditch Match. Harry is a great player of Quidditch.
Hogwarts has another new teacher Hagrid ( the gamekeeper) who is entrusted with the subject ’’care of magical creatures’’. Hagrid introduces Hippogriff ( half bird and half horse) and Malfoy takes advantage of its sensitive demeanor and makes him bite his hand. This puts hippogriff in danger and he is to be executed as per the rules of the MInistry of Magic.
The book progresses onto the happenings in Hogwarts. The guards from Azkaban are posted outside the Hogwarts gate in search of Sirius Black who was supposed to be hiding in Hogwarts. The guards are called the Dementors. They suck the happiness out of you and make you filled only with sad and tragic thoughts which make the prisoners in Azkaban mad.
Thus follows the adventures of Harry with the Dementors, how he overcomes the effect of dementors by using advanced magic. Harry along with his friends Ron And Hermoine also meet Black and ultimately meets Black in very unusual circumstances and they realise that Lupin appears to be his friend.
Harry is convinced by the duo that Black did not murder the Potters. On the other hand it was Peter Pettigrew who was incidentally Scabbers, Ron’s rat. Pettigrew used the magic of Animagus ( turning into an animal of one’s choice)and remained in hiding in Ron’s house for twelve years. Lupin, Black Pettigrew and James ( Harry’s Father) were close friends who had lots of adventures. Pettigrew’s betrayal put Black to the hellish place called Azkaban and Black waited for twelve years to take revenge on Peter.
The story reaches an interesting climax when they capture Pettigrew and in a big tussle he escapes by performing ’’animagus’’ again.
Harry helps Black and the hippogriff with the help of his headmaster, Dumbeldore ( who is a great wizard as well) and his time machine of some sorts where you can go back in time.
All is well again except that Pettigrew’s escape provides the base for the next Potter series.
A lot of new characters have been introduced and there are lots of funny incidents. Rowlings has again managed to keep a strong balance of humour and suspense together.
This book is a good read and if you like Harry Potter, I am sure that once you start reading this book you will not be able to put it down until you finish the story. The flow of the story is smooth and it has lots of interesting and unexpected turns which make the book extremely unputdownable.