The Short Version
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, book three of seven in J.K. Rowling’s series, works well for a book club because it is the book where the series grows up: darker, funnier and more cleverly plotted than the first two, with a mystery that plays fair and rewards a second read. Published in 1999, it runs twenty-two chapters and roughly one hundred and seven thousand words, the longest of the series so far. Sirius Black has escaped from the wizard prison Azkaban, and everyone says he is coming for Harry.
Below are twenty questions: ten you can use before everyone has finished the book, and ten that spoil the ending. A short section on the 2004 film gives the group something to compare. The book scores five out of five in our review.
Before You Start: Content Notes For Your Group
This is the darkest of the first three books, but still a children’s story. The dementors cause fear, sadness and fainting, and some characters hear echoes of terrible memories. There is a murderer on the loose, a knife in a dormitory, a hippogriff threatened with execution, bullying and talk of death, loss and grief. Our review suggests readers around ten and up, or a little younger with a grown-up beside them, especially for the dementor scenes.
Spoiler-Free Questions
- Harry runs away from Privet Drive after a visit from Aunt Marge goes badly wrong. What does the opening tell us about how he has changed at thirteen?
- Nobody has ever escaped from Azkaban before, and everyone agrees Black was a servant of Voldemort. How does the book build fear around a man we barely see?
- The dementors are frightening because of what they do, not what they look like. Why does Rowling make despair the monster?
- Professor Lupin is gentle, shabby and kind, and one of the few Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers who actually teaches. What makes his first lesson, about a creature in a wardrobe, so memorable?
- Hermione is carrying something she will not talk about, and her schedule looks impossible. Did you spot the clue, and what did you guess?
- Hogsmeade, the Shrieking Shack and a magical map expand the world. Which new piece made Hogwarts feel more real?
- Friendships are tested in the middle of the book, over things like pets and presents. Did the falling out between Harry, Ron and Hermione feel real?
- Professor Trelawney reads tea leaves and sees doom everywhere. Is she a comic gift, or does she do more than that?
- The book asks how much of a person’s reputation is true. Who in the story is judged unfairly so far?
- Our review mentions that the middle sags a little and that Snape and Draco are drawn in one color. Did you feel that?
Spoiler Questions (Finish The Book First)
- Sirius Black is innocent, and Ron’s rat Scabbers is the Animagus Peter Pettigrew. How well did the clues prepare you for the reveal?
- Lupin tells the story of James as a stag called Prongs, Sirius as a dog called Padfoot, Peter as a rat called Wormtail and himself as Moony. Were their Animagus years a loyal act or a reckless one?
- Hermione worked out that Lupin is a werewolf from a school essay and a lunar chart. Was Lupin right to hide it, and was Snape right to reveal it?
- Harry steps between Pettigrew and the wands, saying his father would not have wanted his friends to become killers. Was mercy the right choice?
- Dumbledore says Pettigrew now owes Harry a life and that this is a bond. How does a decision made in kindness cast a shadow across the series?
- Hermione’s Time-Turner lets them go back three hours, free Buckbeak and rescue Sirius. How well does the time loop hold up when you look back at the chapters?
- Harry thinks the figure across the lake is his father, then realizes it was himself. What is Rowling saying about grief and about finding someone inside yourself?
- The grown-ups fail Sirius and Buckbeak, who are condemned without a fair hearing, and children put it right. Is that satisfying or a cheat?
- Lupin resigns and returns the cloak and the map, and Hermione hands in her Time-Turner. Which goodbye hit you hardest?
- Everyone in the ending carries a mistake: Lupin, Sirius, Snape. Who does the book forgive, and who does it leave unforgiven?
Book And Film
Your group may want to compare the 2004 film, directed by Alfonso Cuarón and running about 141 minutes, with Gary Oldman as Sirius, David Thewlis as Lupin and Timothy Spall as Pettigrew. It was Michael Gambon’s first film as Dumbledore after Richard Harris died in October 2002. The film reportedly cuts the Marauders’ nicknames, the Fidelius Charm and most of the Quidditch plot, and it has only one trip to Hogsmeade. It earned two Academy Award nominations, for John Williams’s score and for visual effects.
What To Read Next
If your group wants a spoiler-free verdict first, start with our review. Our ending explained covers Pettigrew, the Time-Turner and the stag, and our clues page shows what the book hid in plain sight, so save both for after the discussion. The book versus movie comparison is a good follow-up for a film night.
