Chapter Discussion of Prisoner of Azkaban:
Some people have shown interest in doing a chapter discussion of POA and if it works out, proceeding to GOF, then OOTP.
I talked to some of you about this and Justin had a good idea (I thought). He suggested that we use a chapter review from a website. I am going to insert such a review here followed by some questions/observations/ discussion points. I may use different websites for different chapters to keep it fresh. It may make more sense to do several chapters at once sometimes, depending on the content of the chapters.
Obviously the up coming movie will be fair game, however let’s stay away from just plain movie bashing and stick to comparisons of differences between the book and the movie, particularly in terms of our perceptions from the book and the how the movie differs.
Please complain if you want something changed.
POA: Chapter One: Owl Post ( chapter summary from harrypotterfacts.com)
- Harry is back at the Dursleys', reading A History of Magic. He has to write an essay on Witch-Burning in the Fourteenth Century. He reads about the pointlessness of it. Muggles were not very good at recognizing it. On rare occasions when they did catch a real witch or wizard, the witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and pretend to be in pain. Wendelin the Weird was famous for having himself caught and enjoying the frozen flames.
- The Dursleys locked up Harry's spellbooks, wand, cauldron and broomstick. Harry managed to 'steal' a spellbook back, since he needs it to write an essay about Shrinking Potions.
- On his birthday three owls fly in; Errol, Hedwig and another, unknown to Harry, wearing the Hogwarts crest. The first letter is from Ron. It has a cutting from the Daily Prophet saying that Mr. Weasley won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. Mr. Weasley stated that they will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt where Bill works as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. It also has a letter from Ron, asking to meet in London next week and mentioning that Percy has become Head Boy. In the letter he also finds a Pocket Sneakoscope which looks like a miniature glass spinning top, with a note explaining that it is used to notify the owner when there is someone untrustworthy around. Hedwig brought a letter from Hermione. Hermione also included a Broomstick Servicing Kit as a present, containing a jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of Tail-Twig Clippers, a compass to clip onto your broom and a Handbook of Do-it-Yourself Broomcare. The last parcel was from Hagrid, containing a book called The Monster Book of Monsters with a note. The last letter was from Professor McGonagall. It is said that the new school year will begin on September the first and third-years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade at certain weekends if they bring a filled-in permission form from a parent or guardian.
The owls bring the important clues for to the major themes for the book.
1. The Sneakoscope ( what if Harry had paid attention to it?)
2. The picture of Peter Pettigrew as a rat in the Daily Prophet (how come no one has thought about how old Scabbers is)
3. The issue of Hogsmeades visits (It’s all happening at the Shreiking Shack)
I wonder if any of this will make it into the movie – what could be skipped?
