Friday, February 8, 2013

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Readalong Post 1

It's time to discuss The Prisoner of Azkaban!! 



FINALLY!


This is easily one of my favourite books in the entire series. It's the book where I think JKR really got her groove on, the plot is tight, the characters, new and old, are interesting and full of life and it's just all around awesome sauce.

Where do I even start?

I know a book that centres around magic isn't going to be realistic, but the scenes with the Dursleys are the most deliciously absurd in the whole series. Take the Aunt Marge fiasco. I understand (though don't accept, because they're bonkers) why Petunia and Vernon are cold to Harry but why is Marge so comically aggressive towards him?  Is she just responding to how the Dursleys treat him and the lies they probably tell about him? I mean, saying that she would have sent him directly to the orphanage is pretty harsh, as is only calling your nasty little dog off after several hours of harassing a CHILD up a tree. It's bonkers but I love it - I've never liked soap operas, but this, oh yes, this is my trashy, guilty pleasure.

But it also makes it 10,000 times more exhilarating when Harry finally loses the plot and shatters a brandy glass or y'know, blows up dear sweet Marge. She's being all sassy with her crap about bad blood and bitches and runts of the litter and Harry's just fuming being all;


And BOOM! She goes the way of Violet Beauregarde. So good. SOOOOO good!

Is this the most exciting first half we've read so far? Because what do I discuss next? The giant big dog in the shadows (could it be a grim?)? Shabby old Lupin and the Dementor attack on the train? Sirius and his bloodthirsty desire to murder little Harry Potter? Hermione and her inability to show a modicum of pet owner respect?

Maybe how insanely evil Snape is in this book? Normally with Snape I'm all;


But you DO NOT humiliate Neville in front of another teacher you crazy greasy haired man. Take it out on Harry if you must, frankly his dad was a complete douche to you at school (not that that's really an excuse, seriously, pick on someone your own age) but Neville? What the hell did that small kid with the teeny, fragile self-esteem possibly do to deserve that level of humiliation? No one deserves to be imitated by a boggart and stuffed into a vulture hat more than him in that moment.

I don't want to blather on too much more, especially since I know next week's post is going to be HUGE. But can I just say how much I adore Lupin in this book? I grow to have issues with him later, but in this book he is exactly the teacher all the kids (and not just the Gryffindor trio) need. He's intelligent, warm, approachable, and flippin' great at FINALLY teaching them about defending against the dark arts. He's basically a more reachable Dumbledore, free from the whole scary headmaster-y thing. Not to mention he's got the whole mystery thing going for him at this point. Why did he ride the train to school? Why is he so shabby? Why is he afraid of magic balls? Oh HP newbies, I can't wait for you to read the next half of the book!

Tina Fey was inadvertently the perfect Lupin/Surius hybrid at the Golden Globes.

A few smaller points:

*I would absolutely travel exclusively on the Knight Bus if I was a witch.

*Chocolate - it cures my dementor sadness.

*Sorry Hermione, but Honeydukes over town history EVERY TIME.

*Poor Ginny during the dementor attack on the train. She went through hell last year, and she barely got a pat on the back.

*I Love Fred and George mocking Percy at the Leaky Cauldron, it's the twins at their most loveable and least obnoxious;
"Harry!" Said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply splendid to see you old boy-"
"Marvellous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing."
*Come on Harry, invisible horses? I know he's basically spot on, but wouldn't you assume they were charmed?

*Ummmm, on p72, Hagrid didn't send you a biting book Ron, you BOUGHT yours 20 pages ago.

*Laura, do English kids actually say things like "Pop my clogs"?

*Hermione, proving to not understand the whole pet thing at all, should probably avoid the logic thing while Lavander is grieving for her bunny rabbit. Give her a couple of days and THEN tell her how mental it is to think Trelawney made a correct prediction.

Later Gators,





31 comments:

  1. Oh Hermione. Her irrational attachment to Crookshanks is kind of hilarious given her COMPLETE non-understanding of pet ownership, as you say. There had to have been a better way for JK to show foreshadowing, right? But no. And on some level it makes H a little more human - she's book smart but not people smart, as the incident with Lavender proves.

    Oh the twins. They are so lovely and wonderful. "Bighead Boy." *snigger*

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    1. Aside from this instance, I'd say Hermione is usually pretty people smart, she's usually the first out of the three of them to clue on to someone feeling sad/hurt/weird. BUT people feelings seem to be the first thing she forgets when she MUST prove a point. She's so stubborn and determined to prove divination is fraudulent (because she can't excel at it, and can't study her way through it) that she's oblivious to the fact that in her intense debate she's crushing on Lavender's feelings.

      Like Sarah said below, it's nice to see her show her faults though, makes her very human.

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  2. HAHAHA, Harry accidentally blowing his aunt up is HILARIOUS and awesome. I would so love to be able to do that to jerky people.

    I like that Hermione finally shows a little fault in this book - her need to be all logical about everything becomes really tactless. I mean come on, don't try to prove your point using someone's dead bunny! But we all still love her, cause she's only human.

    Snape is super-douchey to Neville. I get that he hates Lupin and all, but he totally let his anger go too far there.

    Oh and the Weasley twins are HILARIOUS, as always. I did chuckle at that part, I forgot about it.

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    1. I would kill to have some of those reaction magical powers they all seem to have. Although it might end with my road rage going from grumbling and swearing under my breath when someone cuts me off to blowing them up, or sticking their car up a tree or something.

      We DO still love her, she's our wonderful Hermione, and who hasn't occasionally forgotten about the Important Thing when trying to prove a point/win an argument? It's becoming more and more clear that JK had a magical ball that looked into my childhood when she wrote these books - except for the insanely intelligent thing, I WISH I was as brilliant as Hermione.

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  3. I have never in my life said 'pop my clogs' but I feel like it's something that maaybe my grandparents would say? So... way to be age appropriate, JK! (To be fair though, it didn't jump out at me as being ridiculous, so I guess it must be said MORE over here, anyway!)

    I hate Aunt Marge SO much. It's just kind of like evidence that Vernon's genes are seriously defective. Is it just me though, or do we think that Vernon did feel a little tiny bit that Marge went too far? Or did he just not, like, MURDER Harry because he was scared he'd do magic on him too? *shrugs*

    I LOVE LUPIN A LOT! I really do. I can't even think of a time when I don't love him, and he's a lot easier to get behind than either Sirius or James Potter. I have to wonder why he trusts Snape so much though, you know? Maybe because D-Dore told him to and D-Dore is always to be trusted?

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    1. I think Lupin is genuinely just a great guy. He always seemed pretty peripheral to the whole Snape/James/Sirius thing and I guess now he figured, 'well we're adults, let's leave that in our pasts'. But I definitely think if Dumbles said to trust Snape, he'd be like yup, ok, done.

      I never dislike him (he's probably one of my favourite adults) but I get really angry in the final book with him and Tonks and I don't want to post spoilers here, but I just think what they do is irresponsible and unfair to a tiny little person and it makes me cry a lot.

      Aunt Marge is the WORST. I love how everything she criticises Harry for is true in her side of the family. They might be big, but they're pretty weak people when it comes to spirit/personality/will power etc. I also can't help but see her as Ms Trunchbull (from Matilda) and that make me hate her even more!

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    2. YES MISS TRUNCHBULL YES!

      Brilliant connection.

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    3. Have you been to Jennifer's post yet? TRUNCHBULL IS MARGE AND MARGE IS TRUNCHBULL!

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  4. Snape picking on Harry cos he didn't get along with his dad is the duuumbest reason to pick on someone. And then the whole Neville thing. That asshole...

    Wow Tiny Fey at the Globes WAS a good Sirius/Lupin cross. Good catch!

    Hermione and Lavender's bunny-thing: RIGHT? Hermione, when someone is grieving that is NOT the time to point out how their beliefs are all wrong. Quit being a know-it-all and take in some social cues.

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    1. It is the dumbest reason ever. So many of the adults in this seem to be stuck in a perpetual state of arrested development. Some I get (to an extent) like Sirius, mad with grief and then stuck in a prison from the age of 20. Others it's like, dude, let it go, she picked the other guy.

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  5. History over Honeydukes. HISTORY OVER HONEYDUUUUUKES

    And seriously, why is Snape mean to Neville? It is UNNECESSARY. And I'm pretty sure Neville's parents weren't dicks to him in school. Unless he was in love with Neville's mom.

    Snape: In love with everyone's future wife.

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    1. "History over Honeydukes. HISTORY OVER HONEYDUUUUUKES"

      I AM IN YOUR CAAAAAMP! Although maybe a quick swing through Honeydukes for snacks WHILE we are exploring history...

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    2. There is no way I could go somewhere like Hogsmeade and voluntarily choose to go anywhere before Honeydukes. That place is real magic.

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  6. Lorelai Gilmore, yay! She is most wise.

    "Come on Harry, invisible horses? I know he's basically spot on, but wouldn't you assume they were charmed?" Excellent point. Clumsy foreshadowing.

    Also, I totally agree about Hermione's response to the dead bunny. Come on Hermione, that is not okay. Ron is totally right about her not caring about other people's pets. PEOPLE HAVE FEELINGS, girl. But yeah - this book is awesome, and even Hermione being anti-pets does not tarnish that for me.

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    1. I can't believe I haven't used a GG gif before now, because Lorelai is most wise AND quippy as hell, which is the perfect recipe for good gifs.

      She mustn't have had a pet as a kid because she's so unable to connect with the idea that pets=love, dead pets=sad, but other than that she generally seems to care for others - just look at her SPEW campaign. Oh Hermione, you're such a weird little witch.

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    2. Lol. I think that sometimes she just gets too caught up in her head.

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  7. THIS BOOK. This is when Harry Potter really kicks off. All that introductory stuff out of the way and straight into action!

    I was reeeeally tempted to draw boggart!snape, but something told me that it wasn't a good idea. Poor Neville.

    I love love love Lupin. He is the bestest teacher in fiction, honestly. Being super intelligent and knowing your stuff is one thing, but being kind AND approachable?? Sign me up!!

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    1. Yes! It's why he wins over some of the other teachers, who are awesome and know their stuff but are not at all approachable. Or kind, in the case of Snape.

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  8. Yes, I was shaking my head at Hermione vs Lavender's bunny. But you're right--it's great to see her human side and that's what makes her such a complete character.

    That whole Aunt Marge bullying thing: gosh, I slipped right over that one this week. Too terrible to even think of as real.

    I'm with you on Lupin. I love him in this book, and he seems to be one of the few gryffindors without that terrible anti-slytherin bias.

    And YES about ginny on the train with the dementor--I went off about that in my post, too. Come on, peoples. who is more deseriving of comfort in this scenario? (Hint: it's not harry)

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    1. I wouldn't say that Harry doesn't deserve comfort. When someone faints due to a monster appearing they deserve comfort regardless. BUT, one of the others should have helped Ginny too, especially Ron - dude, it's your sister, COME ON!

      I guess because of his monthly issues Lupin just doesn't have the energy to get worked up over silly house grudges. And he just seems like a genuinely decent dude who judges people on their individual merits/issues. Even in the next book Lupin seemed less into the bullying side of the Marauders - although he should have done more to try and stop Sirius and James.

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  9. I love Hermione and Crookshanks, because she's usually so sensible and then she just loses her head over this cat AND I JUST REALIZED THAT THIS IS ANALOGOUS TO HER FEELINGS ABOUT RON. That Hermione loves a redhead.

    I like how we're all Ginny's bitches now. LUV YOU, GINNY! CALL ME.

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    1. Raych you just blew my mind!

      And who doesn't love a redhead? Not I! Hermione has fabulous taste in cats and boys.

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  10. English kids don't tend to say pop my clogs, but it is an English phrase, and I always thought the magical world was a bit archaic. (Or maybe that's just JK not being down with the kids?)

    I'm sure in my version it Ron says only Hagrid would set them a biting book. Have to actually look now.

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    1. Yup, set. It's been a long time since I've got a Potter book out to fact check. I used to do it A LOT

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    2. Huh, that'd make far more sense. I wonder if my edition was an early one before they picked up the error?

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    3. Which I meant to add...didn't make sense to me when I read it lol. Meaning, only Hagrid would "assign"??? them a biting book?

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  11. I love Lupin too...but there seem to be a few suspicious things about him, like you already mentioned. Why the shabbiness? Why is he "ill"?

    Oh god, the scene between Hermione and Lavender...SO awkward. I'm also suspicious of Crookshanks...but then again, I feel like I'm suspicious of most everyone!

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    1. I can't wait for you to finish this book, because I don't want to spoil it and answer your questions but I have SO MUCH TO SAYYY!!!

      I think this is one of the most suspicious books out of the whole bunch, everyone seems to be doing something shady or secretive!

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  12. - Ahahaha, Tina-Sirius-Lupin. That is some good stuff.
    - I need to start saying "spiffing" more.
    - He TOTALLY would have just thought the carts were charmed! What the what?
    - Snape's treatment of Neville bums me right out.
    - I love the thought that Lupin is a more reachable Dumbledore. He's like a gateway awesome-adult-that-we-can-talk-to, preparing the trio, or at least Harry, for Dumble times to come.

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    1. When I was in year 7 one of my friends and I used to put on a fake and very posh British accent and used a lot of "spiffing" and "old chap" and "I say" --I'm 99% sure it was based on this interaction between the twins/Harry/Percy.

      yay for gateway Lupin!

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