Third time's a charm for 'Harry Potter'
By Cathy Hainer, USA TODAY
It's three for three for British author J.K. Rowling, who scores another home
run with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third in her
projected series of seven books about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry.
Now 13, Harry is eager to leave the unhappy home of his mean-spirited guardians,
the Dursleys, and begin his third year of magic studies at Hogwarts. A little
too eager, perhaps: Tired of the insults of his visiting Aunt Marge, Harry
illegally uses his magic arts at home and blows the big-headed Marge into a
balloon.
Emboldened by his success, he defies Uncle Vernon Dursley, vowing, "I'm
going. I've had enough."
Unfortunately, it's a bad time for Harry to be homeless. Murderer Sirius Black
has escaped from the prison fortress of Azkaban and is looking for him. Killing
Harry, who somehow repelled his master Voldemort's dark magic years earlier,
would help bring Voldemort back.
Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, Harry is having troubles of his own. His friend
Hagrid might be fired from his teaching post. His best pals, Hermione Granger
and Ron Weasley, can't seem to get along. And worst , Harry must suffer the
taunts of odious bully Draco Malfoy.
Whether it was prescient or planned, Rowling has ripped part of Prisoner's
plot right out of today's headlines: Harry learns that cliquish school pranks
can linger and fester long after the laughter dies.
And in a surprise ending worthy of The Sixth Sense, he finds that looks
can be deceiving. At a school for sorcerers, that means you can't judge a book
by its cover, a wizard by his robes or even an animal by its hide.
Considering Prisoner's 435 pages and Tom Clancy-like plot
complications, younger readers might want some guidance from parents or older
siblings. Still, the book whizzes along.
In tea-leaf-reading class one day, Madame Trelawney looks into Harry's cup and
gasps when she sees The Grim, a big hairy dog that is a death omen.
Soon afterward, as he is speeding along on his broom during an important
quidditch match (a sort of highflying soccer game), Harry indeed spots a large
mongrel.
Soon the field is overrun by dementers, the hooded, wraith like ghouls who guard
Azkaban. The terrifying shadows suck all joy out of your heart, driving even
Azkaban's hardened criminals mad. The Ministry of Magic has called the dementers
in to protect Hogwarts until Black is captured.
As his heart goes cold, Harry passes out and drops from his broom, but not
before hearing a woman's screaming voice - his mother's final words before
Voldemort killed her: "Not Harry, take me instead."
With each book, we come closer to unraveling the mysterious murders of Harry's
parents. But in Prisoner, Harry learns one of life's most magical
lessons: Death is a transitory thing. The spirits of loved ones linger inside
us, urging us on to find the best in ourselves.
