Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

[CLOSED] The Harry Potter Book Club! - Your Notes for Chapters 1, 2, 3 & 4 of the Prisoner of Azkaban! (Patreon)

Published:
2022-11-24 16:41:46
Edited:
2022-12-13 16:54:20
Imported:
2026-08
Tags:

Content

This part of the Book Club is now complete! Thanks for taking part and see you next time! :)

NOTE - This part is 4 chapters!  This is because it's the start of the book and there will likely be some going over old ground.

Here is a chance to get your comment read out in the next Book review video!

If you are reading along with the reviews, we are covering chapters "Owl Post", "Aunt Marge's Big Mistake", "The Knight Bus" and "The Leaky Cauldron"! So if you have any thoughts, opinions, comparisons or questions regarding these, please leave a comment below!

I do have to ask, try to keep them fairly short, like 4 or 5 sentences.  That way I can cover more when making the video.  Also try to keep them on subject and not referencing anything that we are yet to cover. Ideally, keep it to 1 comment each if you can (if you have more to say after commenting, you can edit it and add to it! :) ).  These are just rough guidelines rather than rules, I want to be able to fit in as many of you as possible! :)

OH! And if you would like to leave a comment but would rather I didn't read it out in the video, please feel free. Be sure to say you would rather it not be used in your comment.

Thanks, guys!! :)

Files

Comments

Nix001

Been looking forward to this one and the following books. The first two films covered most of what was in the books. A lot of stuff started being omitted from book three onwards so looking forward to watching you discover a whole lot more about Harry and his world. Crookshanks being just one small furry but important example!

Josh Z

I love the start of this book, Harry is really trying to be on his best behavior and even the Dursley’s try to diffuse the tension between him and Marge, I always got the feeling that Vernon was never overly fond of his sister. Harry getting food from his friends to survive the summer makes me happy. Also teenage attitude is nice to see. Let’s you know that the series is aging with the reader. JKR was always brilliant at that .

YaeliEz (Yael)

Harry hanging out at Diagon Alley and enjoying a couple of weeks of freedom is great! So much is seeded here! I hope you enjoyed the recap chapters. This is going to be a bumpy ride, lol

Daniel Lee

I’m usually not one to gripe about the movies… but I just don’t understand whose idea it was to have Harry use Lumos in the first scene, especially when both the start of Chamber and THE VERY NEXT SCENE involves Harry getting in trouble for using magic outside of school???? Anyways, I love how you can see Harry’s growth through his interactions with the Dursleys. In Chamber, Harry just repeated the line about being in his room and pretending he doesn’t exist but now he’s starting to talk back to Vernon (it only gets sassier from here). I have to wonder if part of why the Weasleys are so poor is because they make the worst financial decisions. Spending lottery winnings on a trip to Egypt when it's mentioned in the previous book that they already visited Egypt last Christmas…

Jake M

This one was always my favourite growing up, I loved Lupin and(as you'll probably be sick of hearing), he was done so much better in the book. It wasn't until a few years ago I realised Ernie Prang was a pun, though- a prang being British for crash, apparently. I just thought it was one of those odd wizarding names she'd invented 🤦‍♂️😂

Xeph

This is the one movie that I think actually made many improvements to the book, I'm curious what your thoughts will be, especially later in the book. This movie is also the beginning of the more major omissions though. The leaky cauldron chapter was almost entirely cut, and it includes some of my favorite bits of worldbuilding. More importantly though, it introduces the most important character of the book, Crookshanks.

Annamarie schwirian

I absolutely loved Harry's week at Diagon Alley. AS a kid the idea of that much freedom at 13 was amazing. What do you think about the scene in the pet shop?

Mordimer

This is more comment to overall Harry Potter books then those 4 chapters, but I will keep it very broad, to not spoil anything. I know that you have watched the movies first, so you have some kind of idea about some characters, but try to read it as much as you can like you don't know their futures. Many characters were portrayed in the movies very differently then they are in the books and I noticed that sometimes because of that you try to justify their actions or words. There is a lot you still don't know about them and you might think that they are better then they really are ;)

Leroy

From the beginning you see how Harry is becoming more adolescent. Negotiations with Vernon (to sign the form), maintaining self control on Marge's comments for a whole week, and even when he snapped - decision to 'leave and never come back' to Dursleys, possibly accepting all consequences. There will be more signs that all characters are heading towards young adult rather than the phase of a promising child. I think it makes this one and further books visibly different than first two.

Michael

This is where Harry Potter really picks up the quality that continues to the end for me, books 1 and 2 are great but this is such a huge step up in quality

H

Bit of a spoiler to mention that Crookshanks is _very_ important when he's only four chapters in when he reads it, isn't it? I agree about the leaky cauldron chapter, by the way. I completely get why they changed it, but yeah, it's a lovely chapter.

itsanursething

I was always disappointed by the little bits of humor that the movies left out. Like Ron calling Harry at the Dursleys, Stan Shunpike calling Harry ‘Neville’ even after learning his real name, or Fred and George greeting Harry as pompously as Percy. That being said, the movie adaptation was very close in the beginning. The book just provides more context that helps answer some questions. Fun fact: I'm reading the 20th anniversary Hufflepuff edition of the books as I follow along with you. The beginning always has a little intro about Hufflepuff and I learned that former Minister for Magic Dugald McPhail introduced the Knight Bus while minister. And he was a Hufflepuff!

Jacob sparks

Starting my favourite book, not fully sure why i like this one more then others. Movies may have changed some things from past books but they straight cut things out from this and future books. Look forward to your reactions to the new information you will get.

Xeph

To someone who's only seen the movie that would sound like a joke, which is why I said it the way I did. It's not a spoiler if he thinks I'm not serious.

Kattie Martin

I agree with Harry, she deserved what she got. What a despicable hypocrite calling someone a drunk when she's obviously a lush herself. Not to mention the poor puppy that she had disposed of just because it was a runt.

Benjamin Hütz

Well, if you thought Vernon and Petunia are bad, just remember: There is always someone who is worse ;) Also its so funny to see how wizards have no clue about technology. Rons phone call was hilarious... imagine introducing them to the internet :D

Katherine

Just wanted to say thank you for these book reviews and bookclub. It is a delight to re read the books again. I have not read them since they were published. It’s nice to go back and mate do I wish Ron’s phone call was in there -too funny :)

Rebecca May

I really love reading these books again and rediscovering all the little details I’d forgotten, or never noticed in the first place. For example, “The Invisible Book of Invisibility” has got to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever read… and from my own experience working with the general public, I know there would be some people silly enough to actually want to buy them! I also only noticed this time around how Sirius’ hair is described as "elbow length" in this book… Wow, that would have been a look, if they’d kept that in the film! Sort of glad they made it a bit shorter, to be honest. 😅 Speaking of which, that mirror that Harry has in the Leaky Cauldron… I mean, mostly the wizarding world sounds like a wonderful place to be, but the last thing I’d need is a judgmental mirror when I was rushing out of the door in the morning! Yikes 😂

Ziro the Hutt

Just want to say something general. The opening chapters of the books, and the daily events in Hogwarts, are my favourite things in this world. Sure, Voldemort and his followers stories, are excellent; but I am always more interested to learn all the little things about the world, than when the main story kicks in.

Jacqueline Chaiton

Marge is just the absolute worst, isn’t she? I get why they had to shorten her visit from a week to just the night but man. Harry seemed to have at least a little bit of fun putting on the act, at least. I love the getting more of the knight bus as well. Also, Hermione getting Crookshanks after he scalped Ron is just *chefs kiss*

Giorgia M

This is the first book where I feel like I’m not waiting to get back to Hogwarts, maybe that’s just the effect of being Dursley free more quickly. This book is also the first where you can feel the world expanding and becoming this system that is complex and working away when Harry isn’t there. Down to Harry considering what he would do if he couldn’t be a wizard anymore. His time at the leaky cauldron feels like a breath of fresh air for Harry and the reader with little details sprinkled in about cruickshanks, Scabbers etc for later. I also just love Harry going to get ice cream and Florean Fortescue helping him with his schoolwork!!! It’s so wholesome. Also, it’s so interesting to see how Fudge handles this instance of underage magic completely differently from how he does in Order. Shows how flaky he is as a leader when it suits him.

Kat

You may have already clocked this…but Ron gives Harry a Sneakescope for his birthday. He tells Harry it kept going off at the Weasley’s dinner table and says this is because Fred and George put beetles in the soup. But I think this is actually because Scabbers/Peter Pettigrew was around. Look out for more scenes with it in the coming chapters as I think they make my theory more plausible 😁 PS - I always thought the Weasley’s could have spent the money they won on something more practical than a holiday as they are so poor, am I just being a grump? Haha

Kristina

I'm not sure about this because Peter didn't actually intend to do something bad to Ron or the Weasleys, at least not in the way he did to Harry. I think this bit is meant to show how they are never sure if the sneakoscope is working properly but little hints keep proving that it is. For example later on the train, Harry ignores the thing spinning wildly because they think it's broken and the reader is supposed to think it shows that Lupin can't be trusted. It's not a massive spoiler to tell that the sneakoscope always turns on with Scabbers around but it kind of is, as it would have been funny to watch Veggie figure that out for himself.

Kristina

It's always kind of strange how people only get excited or suspicious when they notice that Harry has a scar. He's been part of the wizarding world for two years now, I can't imagine no one ever took a picture of him and published it so everybody would recognize him instantly by now. Actually I think he appeared in the Daily Prophet with Lockhart at the start of second year. So why wouldn't the guy on the knight bus who clearly loves gossip immediately say something like, "Holy cricket, you're Harry Potter"?

Kat

Hey Kristina! I agree with you that he didn't mean harm to the Weasley's, but the sneakescope (I think) goes off for untrustworthyness rather than danger, and I would argue that a person concealing their identity could fall under that category? You could be totally right though and just a plot device at that point to keep us all guessing! I do apologise if this is considered a spoiler as that wasn't my intention. I only mentioned it as it jumped out at me during Chapter 1 and is just a theory never actually confirmed :) I'll try to be more careful x

Kristina

Yeah you could be right too! I didn't mean to sound reproachful or anything :)

Kat

Not at all Kristina 🥰 we’re all good!

H

I agree! Let's hope that's the way he reads it, and that he just think you love cats (which might be correct as well).

S1lm4r1l

(Just go with Slim) The idea of Ron and Vernon yelling at each other down the phone always tickles me. Whilst the movie is pretty good, one thing they do fail at is selling Black as a real danger and threat to Harry. "Black is mad and murdered 13 people with a single curse." It's just a lot more impressive than "Black and Voldemort were chummy back in the day." Similarly, we hear an awful lot about Azkaban and its guards before Harry ever interacts with them. I love the Leaky Cauldron chapter. Harry experiences real freedom for the first time in his life. Its great.

Kunzite Blossom

I know from my experience working in Macys, I can get the same customer 3 times in an hour and still not recognize them, or remember if they have their Macys card or not. Sometimes in work we just kinda tune that kinda stuff out. Could be possible he just wasn't paying attention, nor did he probably care about WHO was getting on the bus. If you aren't expecting a famous person to show, you probably wouldn't really notice. It's just another customer to him.

H

I like how much you can feel the panic when Harry runs away. I also find it kind of interesting that Sirius was there just before the knight bus arrives, since that's a moment that he can probably relate to since he ran away from his own parents. It's also nice to see Harry standing up for himself in different ways. First by making a deal with one of his abusers by threatening to tell Aunt Marge everything, and then a bit more uncontrolled when... well, you, know. And then questioning Fudge because he has noticed a change there. As you of course already know from the films: questioning the "official story" and standing up for the truth is an important part of this book, I'd say, even though that part of the story gets more important in later books (with Order of the Phoenix as the obvious example as you already know from the films). Reading about Scabbers in these chapters is quite amusing when you know the full story!

Annette Elliott

To me the biggest difference in the book is the sense of time You really realize that Harry has had to put up with Marge's sniping at him for an entire week. He handled it admirably..until she went after his parents. Especially the remarks about his mother. Also the weeks of freedom he had in Diagon Alley for weeks before leaving for school are missing from the movie. Then there's the mention of Sirius on the television and the conversation between Stan and Ernie on the Knight Bus. I also really like the better description of how the dementors affect everyone but especially all the kids in the train compartment. Ginny was almost as badly affected as Harry.

Daniel Lee

I really love your take on how the sense of time in the books really intensifies what Harry goes through! I think the dementor scene is part of Chapter 5 though

Katie

I really like that moment with Ginny as it shows how badly affected she really was by Tom Riddle's diary. It's subtle but not forgotten by the narrative

Janie

I really admire Harry for putting up with Aunt Marge for a whole week. She was truly horrible, even the Dursleys looked like a loving family compared to her. He really wanted the permission to visit Hogsmeade so badly. Even in later chapters you can see it. First he asked Fudge to sign it then his thoughts after finding out that Sirius was after him were not about his own safety but about not being able to visit Hogsmeade. I think it describes the priorities of a thirteen years old boy quite accurately.

Katik

I love that there is (implied) magical tourism industry! I mean Weasleys go on holidays in Egypt, buy sneakoscopes in a souvenir shop (magical one?), go visit tombs and the way Ron descibes it, wizards get a different guided tour to us muggles! Then Hermione goes on a holiday with her muggle parents , yet she learns a lot about local magical history. Did she just visit the local magical Visitor Centre?!

Garry (Not Jerry)

“Cost a fortune…and we never found them” 😂

Garry (Not Jerry)

I love this book (and all of the books) but there’s one thing that really bothers me about these chapters. Again and again, everyone calls The dementors “the Azkaban guards”. And then as soon as Harry learns what a dementor is, they are never called that again. It just seems so terribly convenient! Also, I’m surprised that no-one else has mentioned it, but there is no mention of the weird floating head guy that they added into the movie on the knight bus. What was that about?

S1lm4r1l

This, Goblet and Deathly Hallows are probably the best written books in the series in my opinion.

Mate

I love the small attention to detail added in the books by the author. It really brings the wizarding world into life. Like when harry mentions his essays and what he has read in his books. Its crazy to me how a fictional world could be so detailed!! Loving all your reviews and looking forward to the rest of the series!!

Frederique Gillespie

The Knight Bus is very different in the books and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on that episode. Personally, it's the Hogsmead permission slip saga that caught my attention. First, how Harry tries to leverage good behaviour with Marge for Uncle Vernon's signature. (He's not that forceful in the film.) And then how quickly he realizes that it will never be signed once he learns that everyone is worried about him because of Sirius Black being "after him". He doesn't catch on nearly as quickly in the movie. It takes overhearing the adults talk in Hogsmeade for Harry to put two and two together. Book Harry is shown to be so clever. He is in the movies, too, but you're meant to assume he is instead of being shown it.

Diego Zenhäusern

Wow, I never noticed the thing with Sirius' hair...that's wild😯😅

Diego Zenhäusern

Plot convenience is convenient🙃😅 To be honest, I don't know why Rowling even did that. Calling them Dementors without explaining what they are would have worked just as well...some people probable even would have though that's just how human guards are called that work there🤷🏼‍♂️😅

Diego Zenhäusern

Something that was pointed out to me in another podcast (WizardTeam) a while ago: The homework assignment states that witch burnig was pointless. Now, while that might be true physically speaking (since true witches weren't hurt by it) it (along with other things that happened during the witch hunts) does seem to have had a lasting effect on wizard society itself, since it drove them into hiding (statute of secrecy). I think it's just a nice little detail (whether completely intentional or not by Rowling) that shows how Wizards tend to look down on Muggles/ tend to not acknowledge their accomplishments and will sometimes rewrite history as it suits them (not that we Muggles would be better at that...). On a lighter note: Gotta love the relief of the bookshop assistant when he learns that Harry doesn't need a copy of "The Monster Book of Monsters" 😂.

Garry (Not Jerry)

I’m sure that’s a valid counter argument that Harry could make in his essay. Good point about not acknowledging muggles though. No wizard ever went to the moon!

Diego Zenhäusern

Yeah, you're right that that would definitey be a valid counterargument. But it is at least a leading question that already implies the conclusion they'd prefer the students to draw. And the excerpt we get from the book supports that sentiment as well🤔

Methanoutput

First of, a little rant - Why the f*** is Harry using magic at the Dursleys in the first scene from the movie? I mean even without the details from the book, just with the knowledge from the movies, this wouldn't make sense?! I never got why they changed that. In the Knight Bus Chapter we've met one of my favourite side characters, Stan Shunpike. I think he's absolutely hilarious, how he keeps calling Harry Neville even though he knows who he is. And i love the last chapter, so many little details and the story, how Hermione originally wanted an owl, so she can send mail herself and instead gets crookshanks is awesome. I think you can already kind of see, why most of the people (i think) say, this is where its starting to get really good, because the book takes its time to talk about things that are not necessarily incredibly important for the plot? I think this gives the story a lot more depth. Hope you are doing well Veggie, cant wait to see the [CLOSED] tag on this one!

Dara Jeeling

so excited! can't wait for the later chapters!

Weronika

Spoiler! Don't mention things he didn't read yet!

itsanursething

Order has always been my favorite book.

itsanursething

Thinking back to what Harry said about the Dursleys at the end of Chamber, this makes me wonder: if Vernon and Petunia knew Sirius was after Harry, would they have signed the form knowing he would be in more danger in Hogsmeade and hoping something bad would happen to him?

Frederique Gillespie

You're obviously 10000% about the inconsistency of the Lumos thing... but you have to remember that this movie was directed by Alfonso Cuaron of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame. The Lumos sequence was a visual pun. Harry, now a teenager, is "playing with his wand" after hours. It's inconsistent AF with the universe rules... but it's just a gag.

Frederique Gillespie

The movie is directed by Alfonso Cuaron of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame. I think he could resist starting the movie with a visual pun of having a teenage boy "play with his wand" after hours.

Thunderbird

I thought only Molly and Arthur (and maybe Ginny?) visited Egypt in the first book. This time the whole family went, which is much more expensive. That is how I explain it to myself 🙃

Thunderbird

While rereading these chapters I noticed again how clever Harry actually is. I mean when he left the Dursley’s he made a whole plan about how he would escape the ministry and live as an outcast (which was completely left out of the movie). Then he noticed immediately that something was off when Fudge was the one waiting for him at the leaky cauldron and when he didn’t get any punishment for blowing up his aunt. He ultimately put all the peaces together after overhearing the Weasley parents talking about Sirius (who is btw my favourite character from the books). Also I love the fact that Harry asked the Minister of Magic to sign his Hogsmeade form. 😄 Only four chapters in and we already have a lot of amazing things left out in the movie that i really enjoyed, like Harry getting presents from his friends, more information about the Monster book of Monsters, the early mention of the grimm (on the cover oft a divination book) and Scabbers/Pettigrew looking ill.

Hawwah

I can already see this is going to be a super long video! Bold of you to review 4 chapters at once, since from now on the books really start to differ from the movies. Or, to be more precise, from now on the filmmakers started to leave out a lot of stuff from the books. I actually think you might consider reviewing just 2 chapters per video. Beginning with PoA, not only do the books get longer, darker and more mature, they also get much more controversial. And most of the controversial stuff was left out of the movies as well.   The Dursleys did their best to denigrate Harry's parents, but Uncle Vernon actually told Marge the truth one time. James Potter was indeed unemployed. However, he didn't live off government money (he inherited so much gold from his parents that he didn't have to work), wasn't a drunk and obviously didn't die in a car crash. Interesting fact: in a lot of fanfiction James works as an auror. It's such a common trope that many fans actually think this was the case in the books as well. But no - he wasn't even old enough to be a qualified auror. Remember,the Potters died at the tender age of 21. The timeline is something the movies really screwed up. With Professor Snape, too. He's 33/34 in this book, while his actor was almost 60. I love the part when Harry just hangs out in Diagon Alley. Not much is happening, but all the descriptions and details make the wizarding world feel so real. And I love the talking mirror!

Katik

You're so right about Lumos in the film - it has annoyed me for ages! And then I annoy the rest of my family EVERY TIME we watch the films together pointing that out :D (being the only one having read the books there). No one likes the "the-books-are-better" person when watching a TV/Film adaptation but I just cannot help myself here! Although I think I show A LOT restraint in so many other places in the films. This book club is a kind of therapy for me for that 😂

Jacqueline Chaiton

I’ve totally accepted the fanon of James being an auror trainee as canon, ngl. Also yeah, as much as I love Alan Rickman as Snape his casting led to one of my biggest pet peeves of the movies (the marauder era characters being too old).

SaChaMa

I love the way Fred and George poke fun at Percy in chapter 4, they're just so much more hilarious in the books! I also love how Sirius is mentioned so early on even in the muggle world as an escaped prisoner. So often details are woven into the story so early on you never even notice at first read. As someone who is not from the UK, could you maybe give us a clue of the different dialects Stephen Fry gives certain characters? For example, what kind of dialect does Hagrid have or what about Stan Shunpike, the conductor of the Knight Bus? I find this so interesting. :)

Garry (Not Jerry)

The accents is an interesting one as well, because they are actually implied by the way the dialogue is written. I assume this is why veggie assumed that Fry was doing an "impression" of Hagrid from the movie (they both used the same accent). Although Fry does take some liberties. Tonks - when she appears - is given a strong Yorkshire accent - although "wotcher" is a London expression, so I'm not sure why he goes for that. He gives Scottish accents to some of the Scottish-sounding names (Mcmillan, Macnair) although not Mcgonagall...I guess it's easy enough giving accents to side-characters, but he didn't want to commit to doing it for such a main character? Btw I could answer your question but I'll let veggie tell it haha

Garry (Not Jerry)

I don't think you meant to leave this as a main comment?

Garry (Not Jerry)

just FYI 2 chapters at a time would take 99 episodes and if he's averaging around 1 a month that's going to take 8.25 years. Although he's already done book 1 and 2 so starting from now it will take 6.8 years

S1lm4r1l

Certainly the movie Marge clearly bullies or otherwise dominates Vernon to an extent. To be honest, Petunia also overrides him on a number of occasions in the books too.

Josh Z

You are absolutely right, it's gotten to the point where I never voluntarily rewatch the film's, the deviation starting in this film with the trio is just bad.

S1lm4r1l

I think the diary is a big factor in why Ginny becomes so forthright, carefree and brave in later books. She's just like "Voldemort? Pah! Writes terrible poetry and gave me shitty dating advice." Nothing else can scare her after having Voldy inside her head for a year.

Hawwah

I would be totally OK with that :) The more episodes the merrier.

Raider Max

The foreshadowing in the first 2 chapters is brilliantly written. You discover a lot when you know the rest of the book and re read it. That being said I really wish Harry's time in Diagon Alley was shown in the movie. Would be nice to see Harry happy outside of Hogwarts just like his first visit to the Borrow.

Fiur

I feel like there is so much in these first chapters that it is easy to miss some of the details that get important later on. Especially the things we hear about Black like him repeating in his sleep: "He is at Hogwarts". Also we can already experience the shift from children books to a more mature feeling. This can also be seen in the characters themselves like in Harry who is able to stand his ground in front of Vernon to try to get the allowance to visit Hogsmeade. On a side note i found the development of Percy extremely interesting. He is the only one of the Weasleys that really shows a growing ambition and love for law and order, contrary to the rather chaotic but kind hearted rest of his family. Percy becoming Head boy pushes him further away from the things that the rest of his family care about. Keep that in mind because it gets more important in the later books to understand Percys motives. As always thanks for your interesting and profound thoughts on these books and greetings from Germany.

Loveinthehat

Yay Azkaban finally! Poor Harry though, having to spend a week with Marge instead of just a day no wonder he snapped, it’s better that in the book Harry is doing an essay and is very worried about doing magic because of the warning last year. Instead of how in the movie they had him straight up practicing the lumos spell under his covers… I guess it’s because it looks cooler. It doesn’t add much story wise but I would have loved to see Ron calling the Dursley’s in the movies and shouting down the phone. Their faces would be glorious. I forgot how many clues they give about scabbers from the beginning… it’s interesting reading it knowing the story. This is a small thing after hearing about Hermione’s birthday, I could be wrong but I don’t think we ever in the series hear of Harry buying Ron and Hermione birthday or Christmas presents and it’s always Hermione and Ron buying Harry, he’s the richest and gets the most free stuff as well lol. I guess it’s because it’s not an important plot point but I assume Harry must buy them gifts as well even if it’s not mentioned.

electroshock therapy

I think there is a moment in one of the books where Hermione thanks Harry for a present, but I can't remember either the gift or the book I believe it's from. I know, that's probably not helpful, but that's all I've got. XD

sarah4hp

Okay, SO excited for you to have started these longer and more mature books that have more details and so much more that you have no way of knowing as just a movie watcher. Three questions: 1. What was the most surprising thing from the first four chapters for you? 2. What character are you most excited to hopefully get more information about and more scenes with going into this book? 3. What is your impression of Sirius as a character after reading about his "crimes" and his laughing reaction to getting caught that we are told about by Stan and Ern when knowing what ACTUALLY happened? A few of MY observations about these chapters: 1. HOW are people still using the "as long as Albus Dumbledore is there nothing bad can happen to Harry" line when Harry has now been attacked at the end of two out of two years at Hogwarts??? Come on Molly! Makes me laugh every time. 2. Stop flying Errol Weasley family, it is just abusive at this point and one of these days it will kill the poor owl! Especially looking at you Ron! Also looking at you Harry Potter - want to use all that money to buy them a new owl that won't die if used ??? No??? Okay then. 3. HOW does Arthur Weasley NOT know how to use a telephone??? His JOB is Muggle relations, he is a supposed Muggle EXPERT whose job requires a LOT of contact with Muggles, yet he never seems to actually know ANYTHING about Muggle things 😂 4. My favorite Hedwig theory is that the reason Harry keeps getting shitty gifts from the Dursleys is that Hedwig flies to collect a gift from them every year, just as she went to Hermione to get the birthday gift in these chapters, and that the Dursley's just send shitty things because she won't leave without a gift of some kind. She is such a sweet and loyal pet, and Harry doesn't appreciate her nearly enough 😍 Sorry it got so long, but there is just so much to ask and point out.

Lukas

I like your questions and observation 4 especially, but I think the other three points are not really thought through: 1) Harry was never attacked while Dumbledore was there, only when he was gone (to London in the first book, released of duty by governors in second) and Harry was actively putting himself into danger. So their argument still stands. 2) Harry notes to himself on several occasions that the Weasleys would never accept any substantial gift from him (a 13 year old kid). They want to get by on their own account and not be thought of as leeching off of a kid. And they likely cannot afford a replacement owl. 3) It's his job to handle enchanted muggle artifacts, which don't necessarily work anymore in the normal muggle sense. He is very curious about muggles and likes to investigate their stuff, but never got anyone to explain it all to him (which admittedly is partly his fault, but imagine someone came to you asking about rubber ducks or plugs. How many people would actually explain stuff vs scoff and leave, thinking him either an idiot or a clown)

Sara

I don't have a problem with your first point, however 2) I agree that the Weasleys wouldn't accept Harry's money but "They cannot afford a replacement owl"? Didn't the Weasleys recently win 200 galleons? Couldn't they have put some of that aside for a new owl, or do they just enjoy torturing poor Errol? And an owl can't be expensive enough to drain their whole budget since less than three books ago Arthur bought Percy an owl. (This does raise the question of why didn't they use Hermes for the package delivery, but at least there you can argue that Hermes is a screech owl, which are pretty small, so he might not be able to carry the heavy package.) 3) Wouldn't Arthur have to know how the artifact worked originally to be able to disenchant it? Then the whole learning about muggles thing: It's not like Arthur has to walk up to a random muggle and ask his questions. Are there really no muggle-born wizards/witches working at the Ministry? Arthur knows many people from many different departments but never made friends with someone who's muggle-born? Or made friends with someone whose wife or husband was a muggle/muggle-born? Heck, even some half-blood wizards would still have one muggle parent! Also, don't the Weasleys have an accountant cousin? Also, I know her blood status is a bit unclear, but if Penelope is muggle-born, Percy's currently dating a muggle-born girl whom he apparently writes letters constantly. Can't one of those letters include a post-script of "Hey, Penny, dad wants to know how to operate a telephone"? The point that I'm trying to make is that Arthur is very lazy when it comes to his muggle interest. If he was actually as passionate about the issue as he claims, he would have multiple avenues to find out more about muggles without even leaving the wizarding world. And if he was really as interested as he claims, why wouldn't he leave to go check out the muggle world? It's not like he can't go where he wants since he can apparate. Especially since he spends all his free time tinkering in the shed anyway. Couldn't he take a break from that to go actually learn about muggles through observation?

Garry (Not Jerry)

FYI Stan is indeed cockney (or at least, from London). Ernie also has a London accent, but a more old-school one appropriate to his age. Hagrid is indeed from the west country (Devon/Cornwall/Somerset area). He was actually inspired by a real person the Rowling met. He was a huge scary-looking biker-gang type that was actually really soft and loveable (hence hagrid arriving on a motorbike)

Q

Hermione thanks Harry for a book he got her for Christmas in OotP (don't have it in front of me to look up the title) so that might be the one you're thinking of, and there are at least a few other instances of Harry getting them Christmas or birthday gifts (he gets Ron a Chudley Cannons hat for Christmas in book 4 and new keeper's gloves for his birthday in book 6 to name the ones I can remember). And it becomes something of a plot point in book 4 after he gets them the omnioculars and Ron pays him back in leprechaun gold.