Summary
The third installment in the Harry Potter series begins, as all the other novels in the series begin, with a brief recap of who exactly Harry Potter is. Rowling's first chapters don't assume that the reader has read the previous books, thus making it possible (though not advised!) for a new reader of Harry Potter to ostensibly start reading the books non-chronologically. Chapter One of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban begins in Harry's bedroom at number 4, Privet Drive, where he lives with his cruel Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley. Harry is a wizard, but his parents were killed when he was an infant by the evil Lord Voldemort, and since that tragic event, he has lived with his non-magic ("Muggle") family on his mother's side (Aunt Petunia was his mother's sister). Harry lived his entire childhood totally unaware that he was a wizard until his eleventh birthday, when he recieved an acceptance letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, he learned that he was a celebrity in the wizarding world on account that when Voldemort tried killing him as an infant, he lived through the attack, thus earning him the moniker, "The Boy Who Lived." Harry loves being at Hogwarts with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, however when school is out for summer, he is forced back to his hateful extended family's house on Privet Drive. And much to Harry's misfortune, his Muggle family despises magic and forbids the mention of anything wizarding-related in their home. They make Harry's life miserable on account of him being "different" from them. So, in this first scene in his bedroom, Harry is quietly trying to complete his summer work in the middle of the night, because his aunt and uncle don't allow him to do his homework in their house.
As Harry tries to write a history essay on the futility of witchburning in the fourteenth century, he takes a moment to look out his window, wondering where his pet snowy owl, Hedwig, has been for the last two days. When he glances at his digital clock, it reads 1 AM, and Harry remembers that it is now officially his thirteenth birthday. Since he was a child, his birthdays have been ignored in the Dursley household, so Harry never expects gifts or fanfare. As he scans the night sky, Harry spots three figures growing larger on the horizon. As they fly closer, he recognizes them as owls, two of which are familiar owls. There is his own Hedwig, a scrawny, pitiful looking owl named Errol that belongs to the Weasleys, and a third, handsome tawny owl bearing a letter from Hogwarts. The Weasleys' package contains a letter from Ron and a newspaper clipping announcing Ron's dad, Arthur Weasley, as the winner of the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. The Weasleys have many children but very little money, so winning a small pile of gold was a great boon to them. They were spending the money on an extended holiday in Egypt where their son Bill works for the famous Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Ron's letter wishes Harry a happy birthday, gives him an update on the Weasley family (Ron's older brother Percy was made Head Boy at Hogwarts), and implores him to come to London for the last week of summer break. Included in Ron's package is also a gift, a "Pocket Sneakoscope," which is a magical apparatus that lights up when someone untrustworthy is nearby.
The package Hedwig carried in contains a letter and wrapped birthday present from Hermione. In her letter, Hermione updates Harry on her summer travels through France, where she's learned all about the regional wizarding practices there. In her typical studious way, Hermione talks about her schoolwork and how jealous she is of Ron being able to learn about the ancient Egyptian wizards. Harry is surprised to find that as a gift, Hermione sent him not a book, but rather a high-end broomstick servicing kit (Harry plays Quidditch at Hogwarts, a sport played atop flying broomsticks). Then, finally, Harry turns his attention to the packages from Hogwarts. The first was a letter from Hagrid, Harry's friend and the half-giant gamekeeper at the school. Hagrid sent Harry a copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which is not only a book, but a small, rabid animal with sharp teeth. Harry manages to wrestle the book into a belt without waking the Dursleys. The last letter is from Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Enclosed is a permission slip to visit Hogsmeade village on the outskirts of Hogwarts, a privilege students are granted in their third year at the school. Pleased that his friends remembered his birthday, Harry decides to go to sleep and finish his essays another time. As he falls asleep, he wonders how he will convince the Dursleys to sign his permission slip.
The next morning Harry goes down to breakfast and finds the three Dursleys huddled around the television, already eating. The news reports an escaped convict is at large by the name of Sirius Black, but the Muggle news fails to report from where the convict has escaped (an omission that Uncle Vernon finds quite frustrating). Of course, none of the Dursleys remember Harry's birthday. Instead of wishing him a happy birthday, Uncle Vernon informs Harry that Aunt Marge, Vernon's sister, will be visiting them for a week. Marge is one of Harry's least favorite people in the world, and that's saying something for a boy who spends his days fighting evil witches and wizards. Vernon instructs Harry on how to act while his sister is in town. He's told Marge that Harry attends "St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys," and implores Harry to corroborate the lie. Harry counters with a bargain, verging on blackmail. He tells Uncle Vernon about the permission slip he needs signed in order to visit Hogsmeade Village. "If you sign my permission form," Harry says to a purple-faced Uncle Vernon, "I swear I'll remember where I'm supposed to go to school, and I'll act like a Mug— like I'm normal and everything," (21). Through gritted teeth, Vernon agrees to Harry's terms.
Aunt Marge arrives with one of her prize-winning bulldogs (she is a professional dog-breeder) and immediately starts in on Harry, ridiculing him for being ungrateful and snide, and suggesting that they aren't beating him enough at his correctional school. But Harry manages to bite his tongue for the first few days of her visit. On the third day, after a few glasses of wine, Marge alludes to the notion that Harry might have something innately wrong with him that simply cannot be cured. As Harry stares her down from across the dinner table, her wine glass shatters in her hand. Marge laughs it off, blaming her firm grip. Harry excuses himself to his room, afraid that he may have accidentally caused the glass to shatter.
On the final day of Marge's visit, dinner seems to be going smoothly. Marge has somehow neglected to harass Harry all through the entree course. Then, once Petunia breaks out dessert and Marge is feeling sufficiently drunk, she starts to comment on Harry's "runty" physique. Harry tries to distract himself by thinking of his broomstick servicing kit and the lessons in his magic books, but Marge continues to dig into him. Finally, she crosses the line by speaking ill of Harry's parents. She calls his mother "a bad egg" (28) and says that Harry's father James was an unemployed drunk. Harry rises to his feet and vehemently denies Marge's claims. Marge starts screaming at Harry, calling him insolent and a liar, when her whole body begins to swell like a balloon. She continues to inflate until she finally floats up to the ceiling like an actual balloon. The Dursleys realize that Harry's magic is the obvious culprit, and chaos ensues in the dining room. Harry storms out of the house with his luggage, telling a panicked Vernon that his sister deserved what she got, even though it was an accident.
Once out of the house, Harry's mind is racing. He realizes that his actions have placed him in a dire situation. First of all, by performing magic as an underage wizard, he's broken wizarding law and opened himself up to expulsion from Hogwarts. Secondly, he has nowhere to go and no way of contacting anyone who could help him. As Harry stands on the curb with his luggage a few blocks away from the Dursleys house, he has an eerie feeling that he's being watched. He takes out his wand and casts an illumination charm, which reveals some kind of hulking dog-like animal in the bush behind him. Before he has a chance to react, a massive triple-decker bus screeches to a halt right by where he's standing. A young man named Stan Shunpike disembarks the bus and announces himself as the conductor of "the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard" (33).
Shunpike is under the impression that Harry hailed the bus, when in fact Harry has never heard of the Knight Bus before this moment. But Harry boards anyway and asks to be taken to the Leaky Cauldron, an inn in London and a portal to Diagon Alley, a wizarding section of the city. When Stan asks for Harry's name, Harry tells him he is Neville Longbottom, a clumsy schoolmate of his at Hogwarts. On the bus, Stan reads in the newspaper about the escaped convict, Sirius Black, who has escaped from Azkaban Prison, the feared prison of the wizarding world that is supposed to be impossible to escape from. He was originally imprisoned for allegedly killing thirteen people with a single curse. Stan explains to Harry that Sirius Black was a big supporter of the Dark Lord Voldemort, and that he was thought to be somewhat of an heir-apparent to Voldemort's evil organization.
Once they arrive at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry finds Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself, awaiting him on the doorstep of the inn. Fudge greets Harry, revealing to Stan and Ernie, bus driver, Harry's true identity. Upon finding out, Stan exclaims that he knew he was Harry Potter all along because of the trademark scar on his forehead. Fudge takes Harry up to a private conference room in the Leaky Cauldron where he debriefs him on what unfolded at number 4, Privet Drive after he boarded the Knight Bus. People from the Ministry managed to deflate Aunt Marge and erase her memory. The Dursleys were quite furious, but willing to take Harry back the following summer as long as he spent Easter and Christmas holiday at Hogwarts. Harry, confused, asks the Minister how he'll be punished for performing underage magic. The Minister assures Harry that he is not in trouble and that everyone at the Ministry knows it was an accident. But the Minister makes Harry promise that for the remaining two weeks of summer break, he will stay within the confines of Diagon Alley. Harry is provided a room at the inn, where he finds his owl Hedwig patiently waiting for him.
Life in Diagon Alley agrees with Harry. He finds it much more enjoyable than living under the iron fist of Uncle Dursley. He spends his days there breakfasting in the Leaky Cauldron, sitting in cafes and out on the patio of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor doing his homework, and browsing the many magic stores and oddities to be found in Diagon Alley. While shopping for his school books, Harry encounters a Divination book about death omens. On the cover of the book is a big, black dog that reminds Harry of the one he saw the night he boarded the Knight Bus, and the coincidence sets him on edge. On the final day of summer break, Ron and Hermione show up to Diagon Alley. They, along with the entire Weasley family, are also staying at the Leaky Cauldron.
That day, Ron and Hermione catch Harry up on their summers. Harry accompanies them while they buy their school supplies and attend to other errands. Ron's rat, Scabbers, has been ill, and Hermione wants to bring a pet to Hogwarts, so the three of them head to a magical creature store. While in the store, a large, ginger cat named Crookshanks attacks Ron and Scabbers, so they promptly leave. When they meet up with Hermione later on, much to Ron's horror they find that she has purchased Crookshanks and plans to take him to Hogwarts. In the evening, Harry has dinner with Hermione and the Weasleys at the inn, and Arthur informs everyone that the Ministry is providing a few cars to take them to Charing Cross station in the morning. But an otherwise joyous reunion turns sour when later that night, Harry overhears an argument between Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about whether they should tell Harry the true depth of the danger he faces while Sirius Black is on the loose. Harry overhears them say that Black is after Harry as revenge for weakening the Dark Lord. Mr. Weasley wants to tell Harry so he can be on his guard, but Mrs. Weasley insists that there is no point in worrying him, and that as long as Harry is at Hogwarts, (where, as a safety measure, the feared guards of Azkaban will be patrolling), he will be safe.
Analysis
In these first four chapters of The Prisoner of Azkaban, Rowling is laying the foundation for the rest of the book, which means that around every corner, we find heavy foreshadowing, exposition, and as with all fantasy novels, constant world-building. Rowling devotes much of the first chapter, "Owl Post," to quickly establishing who Harry is, who his friends are, and what his trajectory looks like for the rest of the novel. Rowling reminds us that Harry is, of course, a wizard (and a famous one, at that), and that he is forced due to the tragic murder of his parents to spend his summer breaks with the Dursleys at number 4, Privet Drive. Immediately, Rowling re-establishes Harry's double life. In the "Muggle" world, Harry is an outcast. He's isolated, abused, and harassed because he is a wizard. Possessing magical abilities in the Dursley household is treated as a crime. However, in the wizarding world, Harry is celebrated for his exceptional magic. Where no one in the Muggle world knows his name, everyone in the wizarding world knows Harry Potter, "The Boy Who Lived." This dichotomy characterizes Harry as a hero and celebrity while also granting him the experience of being confined to normal, human constraints such as anonymity and loneliness.
All four pieces of mail Harry receives on the night of his birthday indicate some future importance. Ron's emphasis that his brother Percy made Head Boy at Hogwarts undoubtedly foreshadows Percy's future role in either hindering some hijinx or using his power to facilitate some kind of rulebreaking that Harry, Ron, and Hermione will surely need to engage in throughout the course of the book. Ron also includes a device called a "Pocket Sneakoscope," which lights up when someone untrustworthy is nearby. Given that Harry and his friends face evil adversaries every year, the Sneakoscope will certainly come in handy at school. From Hermione, Harry receives a broomstick servicing kit, which introduces Harry's role on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and offers Rowling the opportunity to remind readers that Quidditch is a wizarding sport played atop flying brooms. Harry's letter from Hagrid, accompanied by a monstrous book about monsters that thrashes and bites, explicitly engages in mystery; Hagrid writes, "Think you might find this useful for next year. Won't say no more here. Tell you when I see you" (14), indicating that there is some omission that will later come to light. And finally, the letter from Hogwarts requesting a signed permission slip to allow Harry to visit Hogsmeade village indicates that Hogsmeade will be an important location later in the story.
In Chapter 2, "Aunt Marge's Big Mistake," Rowling demonstrates one of her tendencies to associate body types and physical attributes to personality traits; for the Vernon, Dudley, and Marge, this manifests as a fixation on their character's size and how that corresponds with gluttony. Rowling frequently describes Vernon in terms of the beefiness of his fingers, the size of his swollen, purple face, or the weight of his steps. Marge is often shown consuming food and drink, overindulging to the point of intoxication, and then picking fights with Harry. In their last fight before he unintentionally inflates her like a balloon, Marge compares the body types of Dudley and Harry, saying of Dudley, "I do like to see a healthy-sized boy," and referring to Harry as having "a mean, runty look about him" (27). She goes on to blame Harry's "breeding," which ultimately leads to a discussion of his parents. Harry, on the other hand, is described throughout the series as being wiry and slim, which in Rowling's terms, may translate as someone who isn't overindulgent.
A series of circumstances in these first four chapters indicate the future importance of a large, black dog. First, Harry feels as if he's being watched while standing outside on Magnolia Crescent after storming out of his aunt and uncle's house. When he looks behind him, he thinks he spots a large, black dog. Shortly thereafter, the Knight Bus arrives, and the conductor is under the impression that Harry hailed the bus. But we know, as readers, that Harry had nothing to do with the Knight Bus arriving, so the only conclusion is that someone else hailed the bus. Then, when Harry is in Diagon Alley, he sees a large, black dog on the cover of a Divination book about death omens. In the midst of all this hysteria, a supposedly crazed lunatic named Sirius Black is on the loose after escaping from Azkaban prison, and according to the Weasleys, he's hunting for Harry Potter. Rowling's clues in these first four chapters are strong indications that somewhere along the line, Harry will confront this ominous black dog. Whether it is a friend or a foe is yet to be known.
