Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling holds a special place in my heart for a few reasons. It is the last book where everything is still kind of bright and happy. After this book, the books start to get dark. It is also the only book in the series where Voldemort and his underlings don’t make an attempt on Harry.

As with all of the Harry Potter books, I loved this entry in the series. In this book, the students of Hogwarts finally have a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who knows his stuff. I have to say that I really enjoyed Professor Remus Lupin. He is a complete underdog (no pun intended) and I feel like he got such a raw deal in life.

The visit back to Hogwarts is always one that I look forward to. Prisoner of Azkaban certainly doesn’t disappoint. We get to spend time in the castle, be with Harry as he plays Quidditch, be with the students during classes, and so much more. Hagrid’s first year of teaching Care of Magical Creatures occurs in the Prisoner of Azkaban. It is so good to be able to see Hagrid succeed after so many years of wrongful punishment. The only part about this whole book that didn’t sit well with me is the amount of time Ron and Hermione spent not speaking to each other because of their pets behaving like animals. (Apparently most of my problem comes from Ron being a whiny and annoying little brat.)

Of course at the end of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, JK Rowling twists the story and leaves us wanting to know so much more than she tells us. While we may not have any more new Harry Potter books to look forward to, we also don’t have to wait to pick up the next chapter in this phenomenal series. 🙂