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The Prisoner of Azkaban is by far one of my most favorite books I have read. The plot engages with the reader and lures them into the story. First off, the name leaves you to wonder who the Prisoner of Azkaban really is. Harry Potter, the protagonist, has a bad history with the Dursley’s considering how much he dislikes them. When Harry was a baby, his parents, named Lily and James Potter, were murdered by a curse which was given upon by Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort is undoubtedly the most fearful and villainous wizard in all of the wizarding world. However, Harry and his parents were not afraid of him. Harry’s parents died trying to protect him, leaving Harry a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt. Harry had to lie with the Dursleys who are Lily Potter’s family. The Dursleys always hated Harry Potter because he was ‘magic’, as they would say. The Prisoner of Azkaban may not seem related to Harry, although they are very much associated. 

Towards the start of the story, Harry spends his summer with the Dursleys as usual, but something is off. Harry sees on the news that a prisoner from the most terrifying prison in the entire wizarding world, Azkaban, has escaped. Sirius Black is known to have killed thirteen people, including humans, with a single curse. During the same week, Harry accidentally inflates one of his aunts who is visiting. He does this because Aunt Marge passes comments about Harry’s parents. This incident leads him to lose hope, so he packs his bags and simply leaves He starts  walking on the empty streets of Privet Drive, and just as he realizes he has no connection to the wizarding world, he is picked up by the Knight Bus, an emergency travel service for stranded witches and wizards. The Knight Bus drops him off at Diagon Alley and he ends up meeting Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Since there were only three weeks of summer break left, Fudge informs  Harry that he should just stay at Diagon Alley. 

Those three weeks pass by like a breeze and before he knows it, Harry is on the Hogwarts Express. The Hogwarts Express brings back memories of all the good times Harry has had at Hogwarts and he is always ecstatic to be on it, but this time was different. Harry just learned that the prisoner escaping from Azkaban, was in fact wanting to murder Harry. Harry’s best friends Hermione and Ron try  their best to comfort him, which helps a little, but not a lot. To add to his sorrow, a dementor boards the Hogwarts Express and haunts Harry mid-journey, causing him to faint. Of course, Draco Malfoy was there to make fun of him, but in addition to Malfoy, a new professor, who was soon to be the Defense Against Dark Arts professor, helps fight the dementor off. His name was Remus Lupin and he was Harry’s soon-to-be new favorite teacher. After this encounter with a dementor, the students continue their journey as usual, but Harry is of course a bit shaken up. 

The next couple of days are hectic because they had different classes that were new subjects, but one class was especially strange. In Divination, Professor Trelawney predicts Harry’s death by reading tea leaves. She said that her tea leaves resembled a Grim, which is a big black dog that represents death. As the year progresses, Professor Trelawney predicts Harry’s negative future and Harry starts playing Quidditch. Harry couldn’t get Uncle Vernon’s signature for the Hogsmeade trip, so he ends up sneaking into all the Hogsmeade visits with an invisibility cloak.Half the year goes by and Ron and Harry stop talking to Hermione after her cat, Crookshanks, almost kills Scabbers, Ron’s pet rat. Hagrid loses his appeal for teaching when Draco tries suing Hagrid for Buckbeak’s violent behavior towards him. On the day of Buckbeak's execution, Harry, Ron, and Hermione find Scabbers alive and well in Hagrid's cabin. Things get nuts after this. Scabbers runs off, a giant black dog attacks and drags Ron and Scabbers into the creepy Shrieking Shack, Ron's leg is broken, and Harry and Hermione follow. Soon Lupin and Snape show up and we learn the shocking truths: Lupin is a werewolf, Sirius Black is an Animagus (meaning he turns into a giant black dog at will) and Scabbers the rat is really Peter Pettigrew, Voldemort's servant and the real criminal (Sirius was framed), hiding in his Animagus form. Crazy, as it turns out, Sirius Black is a good guy and Harry's godfather. 

However, right as the tale gets depressing, Dumbledore advises Hermione to use her time-turner device to reset the events that happened three hours before. Sirius writes letters to Harry as he is hiding and Pettigrew escapes in the form of Scabbers. Harry and Hermoine fix everything and save Buckbeak and Sirius uses Buckbeak to escape. Dementors come and try to attack Sirius, although Harry uses a very powerful Patronus to ward them off. After saving them, Harry, Hermione, and Ron get news that Professor Lupin has to resign since his Animagus is a werewolf. 

Ths school year ends and everyone goes home for the summer. The trio breaks apart and goes separate ways for yet another summer. Harry is still stuck with the Dursleys, but the only thing saving him is Sirius’s letters. He never reveals in his letters, his whereabouts just in case they slip to the wrong hands. The story ends right here, but continues in The Goblet of Fire. 

Conclusion

Thus finally, the book was very interesting and enjoyable. It was hard to put it down since there were surprises at every turn of the page. I would recommend this book to anyone who has, of course, read the previous books and enjoys the series. I would also recommend the overall Harry Potter series because it has too many good stories that are hard to resist.