chapter ten of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Things look up for Harry when Lupin promises to give him anti-dementor lessons, until he learns another Hogsmeade weekend is upcoming. Fred and George, though, give him the Marauder’s Map, and Harry sneaks into Hogsmeade – where he then learns that Sirius Black betrayed his parents.
 

“Well… all right. I’ll try and help. But it’ll have to wait until next term, I’m afraid. I have a lot to do before the holidays. I chose a very inconvenient time to fall ill.”

(by Jeni Malament)

 

“Psst – Harry!” He turned, halfway along the third-floor corridor, to see Fred and George peering out at him from behind a statue of a hump-backed, one-eyed witch.

(by TomScribble)

 

He took out his wand, touched the parchment lightly, and said, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

(by somelatevisitor)

 

“Hear your teeth chatter and squeak!”

(by Gnatkip)

 

“Harry!” squealed Hermione. “What are you doing here? How- how did you-?”

(by Ditraveler)

 

“Are you going to report me?” Harry asked her, grinning.
“Oh – of course not – but honestly, Harry – “

(by salamandersoup)

 

“I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him….”

(by MartinTenbones)

 

Ron’s and Hermione’s faces appeared under the table. They were both staring at him, lost for words.

(by Ditraveler)

 

about the chapter

Something You May Not Have Noticed

McGonagall casually mentions that Cornelius Fudge is dining with Dumbledore in the evening, but I have to wonder why. Is this a usual occurrence? Is Fudge simply trying to get help from Dumbledore, as we know he has in the past? Or is this a special occasion – and if so, what’s the cause? Given his frustration with Dumbledore’s refusal to allow the dementors into Hogwarts, I suspect he’s probably made a date to try to convince Dumbledore to bend on the issue. Of course, given the circumstances, it’s certainly also possible they’re merely discussing the best ways to continue protecting Harry Potter.
 

The Wizarding World

I absolutely love the drinks that Madam Rosmerta serves to the four adults: McGonagall gets a small gillywater, the essence of restraint; Flitwick a cherry soda with an umbrella, like a little kid; Fudge a red currant rum, a “serious” drink; and Hagrid orders four pints of mulled mead all at once. It’s a totally unnecessary detail for Rowling to include, but her world is so much richer for these kinds of details.
 

The Boy Who Lived

Harry’s sudden trip to Hogsmeade, sans Invisibility Cloak, strikes me as one of those things he’s known for that are “both very brave and very stupid.” It takes a certain amount of guts to do it, for sure, and Fred and George aren’t wrong in assuming that Harry’s willing to give it a go with the Marauder’s Map. But how easy would it have been for McGonagall to spot him in a crowd walking down the street?
 

Something to Remember

I can’t help but wonder why Lupin held Harry back after class, “for a word.” Harry seems to initiate the whole conversation about the dementors and Azkaban. It’s also interesting to pay very close attention to Lupin during the conversation – he’s rendered speechless at the thought of Harry’s hearing Lily’s death in his head, he knocks his briefcase off his desk when Harry mentions that Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban… in short, he displays lots of unexpected behavior that we don’t quite understand. Yet.
 

The Final Word

“The laughter – [Sirius] was absolutely unhinged by James’s death…. He was unhinged. Yes, he laughed. He knew what he’d lost. It was a humorless laugh. Pettigrew, who they, in a slightly patronizing way, James and Sirius at least, who they allowed to hang round with them, it turned out that he was a better wizard than they knew. Turned out he was better at hiding secrets than they knew.”–J.K. Rowling, July 2005
 

(When asked, “How did [Fred and George] figure out how to work the map?”)“Don’t you think it would be quite a Fred and Georgeish thing to say in jest, and then see this thing transform? … The map helped… flickering into life here and there when they got closer and closer, and finally they hit upon the exact right word combination and it just erupt[ed].”–J.K. Rowling, July 2005