Their third year at Hogwarts is no less eventful for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with many changes. There is yet another new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts, as the kind but sickly Professor Lupin joins the faculty. Also joining the teaching staff is none other than gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid, commissioned to instruct the students in the Care of Magical Creatures.
The only black cloud hanging over the new school year is the recent escape of Sirius Black from the titular Azkaban prison, long thought to be impossible. Black has been imprisoned for a dozen years after betraying James and Lily Potter to Lord Voldemort and killing one wizard and a dozen muggles in his escape. Since Black is thought to be holding a grudge against him, Harry Potter is being kept under close watch and forbidden from leaving the castle except for Quidditch practice and games. (Even in the wizarding world, school sports can warp people’s priorities.)
The plotting is a bit more intricate in this entry in the series, presumably as a result of Rowling trying to keep up with her audience aging along with the books. The cast of characters is expanding, and Rowling does a fair job of keeping them all in the fold, though it still strikes me as funny that three books in we know extremely little about two of the four schools of Hogwarts.
I try to make allowances for other stuff, based on these books being written for a young audience. But it is hard to take some of the sillier stuff. For instance, the Weasleys not knowing how to use a telephone, or even what one is. Or more broadly, the very concept of the Weasley being poor wizards. Excuse me? I also keep wondering what all the adult wizards do after leaving Hogwarts. The only two jobs available seem to be teaching at Hogwarts or working in the Ministry of Magic, and even Percy Weasley seems uncertain of getting hired there.
And then, of course, there are the things that work only on younger readers, like naming a character Lupin and expecting the big reveal about his character to be a surprise. Or having Hermione take three times the normal courseload, with classes occurring at the same times, and not letting Harry or Ron figure out for hundreds of pages.
Still, the Potter books are a consistent source of light entertainment. I enjoyed the ending of this one very much, until Rowling committed the cardinal sin of dragging it out for far too long. But I’m still invested in continuing the series, which I suppose is the main goal.