Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban discussion, chapters 1-8

July's Harry Potter series reread is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.This thread is for discussion of the following chapters:

1. Owl Post
2. Aunt Marge's Big Mistake
3. The Knight bus
4. The Leaky Cauldron
5. The Dementor
6. Talons and Tea Leaves
7. The Boggart in the Wardrobe
8. Flight of the Fat Lady

I've always felt that this was the book where the Dursleys began to realise that Harry was someone to be reckoned with. I say began because I don't think Uncle Vernon would ever be able to admit it.

And Aunt Marge! Who did she think she was?!

I love the knight bus. I wonder if they will have the Knight bus at Orlando

You Are right. I thought the same thing. I thought it was funny when he blew Aunt Marge up like a balloon. I love when Harry finally meets sirius

Polly, well said about the Dursleys!

There were two things about this group of chapters and at the moment I can only think of one. Hopefully the other will return to me!

The one is, Trelawney warns Parvati to beware a redheaded man. Parvati looks around at Ron suspiciously. I haven't looked it up, but is Parvati who Ron ends up going to the Yule Ball with? And Ron isn't very nice to her there, poor girl.

No, Ron goes with Padma, Pavarti is Harry's date.

I think the only times Trelawney is genuinely psychic is when she goes into a trance.

#6 -- I agree that she's only genuinely psychic when she goes into a trance, but every now and then one of her "normal" predictions hits the nail on the head -- like the one about Neville breaking his teacup. I'm sure she could see that he was nervous and a little clumsy and capitalized on that, making it sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Kind of a "it doesn't take a psychic to see that this is going to happen" sort of thing, but she plays it up. As for the red-haired man comment, perhaps she should have directed it at Lav-Lav? ;-)

Thanks, Bib!

And definitely right, jj & Foggi.

lol, Lav-Lav! Too bad Rowling didn't plan that one out just for a laugh. I would have found it amusing for "beware a redheaded man" to be one of those quirky predictions that turned out true.

I like the way trelawny always manages to turn her insults around, so that when hermione gets mad, she acts hurt

I remembered the other thing!

Madam Marsh is on the Knight Bus with Harry and is not feeling well. This happens again in book 5. In book 5, it says something along the lines of vomiting again but there wasn't a first vomit. Reading this, I wondered if this could count as the first. But it doesn't actually mention Marsh vomiting, just being generally sick. This was the first time I noticed Marsh was in this book as well as the fifth though.

Obviously Madam Marsh should not ride the Knight Bus!

I'm about 4 chapters in over at A Bit of Light Reading and I love comments. :)

i wonder what hermoine would see the boggart as?

it says in the book,tom!

I wonder what her boggart would be after she finished school? Possibly Bellatrix, after the incident in Book 7.

what would a boggart see when it met another boggart?

Now that is a good question, MrA.

and the answer is... me!

Is this one of those "There's nothing to fear but fear itself" conundrums? ;-)

#19: Is MrA fear itself? :P....

#2: No, polly, there isn't a knight bus at the Wizarding world in Orlando...:(

I'm afraid I am.

Can fear be afraid of itself, then?