HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

It's been awhile since I've done a post on a book, but I just finished the third Harry Potter.  The third book is excellent, and also marks the start of the maturity of the series overall. In this one, Harry has just turned 13 - and as he gets a little older, the story gets a little darker.

WARNING!  This post is contains spoilers.  It is pretty much all spoiler with a few of my opinions thrown in.  Sorry I'm not sorry, this post is meant to be for fans of the series who want to discuss the book in depth.  I do, however recommend that you read the series (if you haven't already), then come back and join in the fun.

One of the things that I really like about the third Harry Potter novel is that the main villain isn't He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  I mean, the villain is associated with You-Know-Who, but not actually the man himself.  It's not the first time we hear about other dark wizards (cough cough Lucious Malfoy), but it is the first time Harry and the gang take on a new opponent.  I think it expands the perspective you get of the story, and makes the whole wizarding world more believable.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love me a good super villain, but when you only have one person being evil against every other person... not very realistic (at least outside of the Marvel universe).  The Dark Lord was a true dark lord, he had armies of people and creatures behind him.  One man doesn't get that far even if he is a super powerful wizard.  I like that this novel gives us a bigger picture of the wizarding world and shows us a realistic side of evil dominion.

Then you combine that with the betrayal of a close family friend, and Harry is getting a heavy dose of real world war.  How many traitors are there in a war?  No one really knows unless they are caught, but let's face it, there hasn't been a war without traitors - and the closeness of this betrayal to Harry really makes the reader feel it on a personal level.  It doesn't matter that the facts weren't accurate -  Harry's parents were still betrayed by a friend.  And not even betrayed because the friend was captured and tortured, which would be slightly more understandable. It was a deliberate and planned deception, which makes the sting even worse.  Betrayal that had actually been going on for a while, the Potters knew someone was leaking information.  What a horrible feeling -  having someone you trust betray you, knowing that you would die for your friends and one of them is selling you out literally to your death.  I can't imagine, but I would guess Lily and James died heartbroken on so many levels.

So, apparently time traveling is a thing in the wizarding world (you guys like that segue?).  And let's face it, was anyone surprised that Hermione used time travel so that she can take extra classes?  Classic Hermione.  

There are a lot of people that go around and are like WAIT!! If time travel exists, why didn't someone go back and kill He-who-must-not-be-named before he became an evil overlord and mass murderer?  Why didn't someone go back in time and prevent him from trying to kill Harry's parents?  It is an interesting thought that time isn't really set in stone, but to those people who are hating on this third novel, please remember a few things. Yes, the Dark Lord is pretty evil. I'm not trying to debate that, dude was evil, and he deserved what he got. BUT can we really justify going back in time and killing him before he commits a crime?  Well, haters, if we paid attention in Divination class (and more importantly to what Professor McGonagall said about the device itself) the future is a very, very tricky thing. And how can you punish someone for something they haven't done?  The argument that he will go on to kill people is irrelevant. Yes, we know that it's been written down, and in terms of Harry Potter history it happened, but going back and killing him before he kills in the name of prevention? Not OK.  I mean come on, innocent until proven guilty, right?  Just the act of going back in time and trying to kill him before he could cause too much damage would be changing time, so you wouldn't know 100% he was going to kill until after it happened... because you already changed the outcome. Technically, that leaves a tiny chance he could change his ways (slim, but still there, hence the 'beyond a reasonable doubt'). So now what? Do you still punish him for a crime he hasn't committed?  That's not a justice system I can get behind. 

Ok, so then let's say you find a way around that conundrum. Maybe you wait for him to kill someone, or find some other way to justify going back in time and ending it all before it starts.  So, you've gone back in time and stopped the Dark Lord from rising to power!  Awesome!  Now there aren't two huge wars! And you saved countless people by providing a key eye witness in Tom Riddle's murder trial.  So now what?  Well, guess what - you just created a time paradox.  By eliminating the cause of the war, and the cause of you going back in time in the first place, you've made an alternate timeline. The only way to get back where you started is to have the war... which means you have to everything play out as it did originally. If you don't, everything has now changed, and you can't get back where you started and may not exist at all.  BOOM, classic time travel paradox.  So guys, when you are raging on Mrs Rowling remember time travel is a tricky thing.  And to all the haters who are like, 'well, then why were Harry and Hermione were able to still save Sirius and Buckbeak', I say, 'well they didn't change the CAUSE, just the outcome.'  They didn't stop Sirius from going to jail the first time, they didn't stop the trial, or Buckbeak maiming Malfoy, they only changed the outcome, and they did it quickly enough that nothing else had happened yet that was contingent upon that action.  BOOM knowledge explosion (I'm basically a logic wizard, it's ok to admit it). I mean, come on, go watch Back to the Future/Minority Report/contact me for a list of other movies that will show you how wrong you are in ways ranging from "that movie was fairly entertaining" to "this one is incredible, and how have you not watched this yet?"

So lets talk for a second about Azkaban and Dementors.  This shit is super dark.  I mean, these things live off of stealing people's happy memories and thoughts, and not only that, they can literally steal your soul.  They steal the essence of what makes you, well, you.  But not only do they take everything from you, they take away your ability to re-make yourself.  You don't just lose yourself, you lose the ability to make yourself, the process of learning and growing that we all go though continuously in life. That's just gone.  And there is no chance of recovery.  You might as well be a vegetable.  It is interesting to note that people on the internet say JK Rowling wrote the Dementors to represent her own depression she was dealing with.  And I think this is perfect.  No idea if its true, I haven't researched it, but either way, it works.  Depression can't be seen, and muggles are incapable of seeing Dementors. And when it's left untreated, when you lose the support of others, when you're alone, it gets worse and harder and harder to function as a normal person.  Just like Harry and the Dementors, the longer you are exposed to depression, the harder it is to overcome.  Most of the prisoners in the prison fall so low thanks to the Dementor,s that they go insane or they stop caring about anything. They stop eating or caring for themselves, and they die.  The comparison of the effects of Dementors to depression is very powerful.  The Dementors aren't killed by the patronus charm, depression never really goes away, it just become better or manageable for a time period.  So props to J. K. Rowling book 2 showing us how wrong any form or discrimination is, and book 3 giving us a first hand experience of what living with a mental disorder is like.  TAKE THAT Harry Potter haters who say that it's a kid's series. These are serious issues.

Now the idea of Dementors as guards for wizard jail seems very cruel to me.  The only thing I can think of to justify the use of the Dementors as Azkaban guards is that I don't know how to get rid of them.  I mean the patronus charm is awesome but it doesn't seem to kill the Dementors.  Now I could be wrong, but I don't think it's ever mentioned how to kill a Dementor.  The story tells us how Dementors multiply (in later books), but from what I know, does not tell us how to kill them.  So you could argue that putting them as guards at least keeps them from running around giving random people their creepy kiss, but still, the idealist in me says that there must be a better solution. Because let's face it, being in Azkaban is cruel and unusual punishment.  The prisoners there lose their powers, and then also have every good memory and thought taken from them. Most of them go insane.  There are people that argue against solitary confinement as cruel and unusual and (not that I have experience with either) I would guess that Azkaban is a just little bit worse.  I suppose wizards don't have the death penalty, but that doesn't seem to justify Dementors.  I'm at a loss here - I think there must be a better solution for controlling them and not letting them run around hurting innocent muggles, but I don't know what it is. Like I said, at least they are all in one place.

And in this edition of "Wizards are Useless", we're gonna talk about being an animagus and how when someone turns into a rat and you trust them, you're a moron.  Like, come on, your animagus is basically a window into who you are as a person (your inner spirit, or whatever you wanna call it) and you think trusting the "rat" was a good idea?  I'm actually a little mad my 13 year old self couldn't figure this out when she was reading the books for the first time.  Seriously, you're worried that someone in your inner circle is betraying you and you look around, why do you not immediately look at the guy who shape-shifts into a rat?  Come on, people.  Even his nickname should make you pause. "Wormtail", come on, a spineless blind slimy bug (yes, worms are helpful for plants and life, but we're gonna ignore that for now).  This is who you trust with your life?  Sirius turns into a dog, known for loyalty and you're like, 'nope not a good idea, lets go with the rat'.  James Potter, you done goofed.  I suppose when you don't learn math or logic in school, just magic, this is what happens.

But now onto a lighter subject... like those Undervalued Characters Who Deserve More Credit Than They Get.  I know you have been waiting for this part.

Snape- Ok, let's not take future books into account.  Snape is a dirty (like dude go shower) jerk.  He may be good at potions, but let's be real for a sec: he's a horrible teacher. He plays favorites way beyond what is an acceptable level.  He ostracizes his students (I mean does he really need to intentionally mean to Neville).  He is vindictive and cruel. I mean, he threatens to poison several students, and Neville's toad.  Dude has some serious issues.  BUT I have to give him a shout out for "saving" Harry, Ron and Hermione in the shrieking shack.  Yes, he was completely off base, yes, he was a jerk while he was doing it, yes, he probably didn't give a crap about the three students.  BUT!  Look at it as an outsider - you don't know Sirius' story. For all you know, he is a crazy mass murderer.  That was the thought belief Snape was acting on.  Should he have handled the situation better?  Hell yeah, like call the other professors and stuff.  But I'm still giving him props for trying to save the day

Professor Trelawny- This shout out is based purely on her actually doing something useful.  Yup, that's all I got.  Thank you for actually making a prediction, it's about time.

Hermione- Ok, Hermione is awesome on her bad days, so you could argue she doesn't deserve to be on this list cause she's always recognized for her awesomeness.  True. BUT she slaps Malfoy in the face.  And for that we love her just a little bit more in this novel.

Lastly if you haven't read this histerical troll post comparing Twilight to Harry Potter you should 
http://www.eatliver.com/twilight-vs-harry-potter/