Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban Review 

Something small that stuck out to me in this book was you got to see a small glimpse of the nice person Cedric Diggory was. Hufflepuff won their match, but because Harry passed out he asked for a rematch. I thought that was very thoughtful of him. RIP 💔

It was so heart breaking reading this book the first time. When Sirius asks Harry to live with him I remember getting really excited for Harry and thinking about all the cool things he would get to do living in the Magical world the entire time and finally getting away from the Dursleys.....and then the rest of the book happens.

I loved the part about Lupin, he is so underrated, but man I love him so much!!! Thanks for this review❤️

Wait, there are people who don't love Lupin? He's probably my favorite character. How can someone not love Lupin?

She basically said “I’m sick let’s talk about Harry Potter” Love that

I have to disagree with your complaints about The Knight Bus and wondering how anyone would want to use it. We're shown time and time again throughout the books that brooms are really expensive, we don't know how much specifically but I assume the reason The Knight Bus has enough passengers to operate is the same reason any bus in the muggle world has enough passengers to operate, cars are expensive and public transit is more affordable for those in heavily populated areas. As to why they don't apparate instead, it services underage wizards like Harry who aren't allowed to use magic, but also potentially those who are elderly or without a formal education, apparating is described as tricky to pull off correctly and disastrous if botched. Portkeys have to be authorized by the Ministry of Magic to be created and are also known for being incredibly uncomfortable to use. Floo Powder requires you to have Floo Powder, access to a network connected chimney, and that your destination have a network connected chimney as well. I still agree that The Knight Bus doesn't seem like a good time, just like I wouldn't be thrilled to ride a public bus, but it's public transit thorugh-and-through so I personally believe that's why it gets enough passengers.

17:50 I think that's actually a pattern of Harry's. He's gone through so much trauma and has had so many people treat him terribly that the second anyone shows him kindness, he latches onto it and will forgive that person for anything else they've done. Snape is a good example of this as well.

The Knight Bus in my mind is for the too drunk to function wizards who don't wanna splinch themselves or floo to somewhere weird because their diction has gone sideway 4 drinks ago... Because apart from apparition and floo the rest is pretty regulated (especially portkey, you have to have an authorization from the Ministry) and you can't fly on a broom around muggles.

As for Hermione and her fight with the boys... Yes, she was in the wrong. But I also feel she was just under a lot of stress in this book with all the classes she took. She is constantly tired and irritated and even had that break down in Trelawney's class. Also, and I feel she deserves credit for this... Despite her busy schedule she found time to help Hagrid out with Buckbeak, whereas the boys kind of forgot about it. Knowing how being overworked feels like, I kind of felt sorry for her rereading the book a few weeks ago. So yeah, she should have aknowledged that Crookshanks probably ate Scabbers but her behaviour was understandable.

I've had all the Harry Potter books since middle school (I'm 19 now), but I only ever read the first two back then. These videos got me to start reading them again, and now I'm on Order of the Phoenix, having read more in the last two weeks than I probably have in a year. So thanks, Merphy!

I agree that Lupin is a great character! I want to add that I feel Lupin was also so timid when he was young because he was afraid to lose his friends. Sirius, James, and Peter protected Lupin every month while transformed which is wonderful to do when so many wizards are fearful of werewolves. Yes they did try to "trick him" into killing Snape. Without their support, I would imagine he could have been expelled from Hogwarts. He had to walk a fine line in order to stay in school and I don't blame him! This is one of my favorite books of the series just as you said because you feel the story becomes more focused in the bigger picture, the story really begins to build.

This is why PoA is my favorite book in the series... it's kind of the safe bridge between the child-like storyline of the first two books and the complete nightmarishness of the next four books. And Lupin is just the best, period.

“Clustercuss” lol. It’s cute whenever you use that to replace swearing, the only other place I can remember hearing that was in Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Honestly, I’ve got my criticism of JK as a writer, but I appreciate that she managed to write good closed loop time travel.

I feel that this was one of Hermione's harshest years, so the fact she wasn't considering people much (though there were times she was indeed being plain mean, such as the whole thing with Lavender's rabbit) didn't surprise me. She was under a lot of strain with this time-travelling business, taking more classes that anyone else, she really needed her friends and they weren't there for her and this is probably the first book in which I dislike Ron and Harry for quite a bit of the story. I believe it affected me more when I read this book in high school, tho. Recently I fly by these conflicts.

Your insight on Lupin and Hermione's stubbornness and how dark and kinda scary Sirius is.. It hit hard.

The Sirius Snape werewolf situation was more complex than Sirius trying to "kill" Snape. They're both to blame, let's not forget Snape's role in the situation. Snape had been trying to find out for a long time what the boys were doing in the nights of the full moon and Lupins nature in order to get them expelled or at least Lupin expelled. He'd already suspected that Lupin might be a werewolf, he wasn't completely clueless, he knew where Lupin went to transform and knew that the whomping willow was of limits and he knew that the school staff was aware of Lupin's condition. He saw the NURSE take Lupin to the whomping willow and still tried to "expose" him, even when Lupin hadn't done anything to him. His only problem is that he just didn't know how to get past the tree in order to get evidence to get Lupin in trouble. It's not as if Snape was completely clueless to the fact that he'd be running straight into danger. I don't know about you, but the whomping willow literally screams DANGER. A potential werewolf literally screams DANGER. Especially since Snape didn't know if Lupin was locked up or chained or what, and he was still trying to find a way to bypass the willow. Something happened that caused Sirius to be stupid enough to tell Snape how to bypass the tree, we don't know whether it was out of genuine malicious intent or because Snape goaded him into telling him or how a conversation between enemies about this topic would've started. Sirius has been known to be notoriously reckless and doesn't think about consequences before he does things when he's angry, this is still the case for him in adulthood, as a teen he'd have been even less responsible. It would make sense that Sirius who already hates Snape would be angry about Snape's noisy unprovoked actions against Lupin and would in the heat of the moment, influenced by his temper tell him the secret. It would be unreasonable to assume that a 15-16 yo would actually try to get someone legit killed, he isn't Voldemort. Sirius was most likely fed up with Snape's shit and reckless, didn't think about the consequences for Lupin and told him, thinking that Snape wouldn't be stupid enough to go to a werewolf on the full moon or wouldn't be stupid enough to believe what his ENEMY tells him and actually act on it. Or if he did think Snape was stupid enough to go into danger, he probably believed that Snape would only catch a glimpse of Lupin, enough to give him a scare, but wouldn't actually be harmed. (Also in this scenario, Sirius might've underestimated/forgotten how dangerous Lupin actually is for humans, since he's been spending fun times with moony for a while and danger isn't something he needs to worry about). All this, is probably the reason why Sirius didn't face as many consequences as he could have from dumbledore. If Sirius had told the secret, genuinely wanting to get Snape killed, he would have been punished far more severely. If Sirius was an attempted murderer, Dumbledore wouldn't have let it slide just like that, that doesn't make any sense. Both people were at fault, if Sirius had stopped to think and consider Snape's safety or at the very least Lupins safety and feelings, and kept the secret, this wouldn't have happened. However at the end of the day, he didn't force Snape to do anything he didn't want to do, he played a role in it, but if Snape hadn't acted upon the information, nothing would've happened, don't just put all the blame on him. If Snape hadn't been putting his nose were it didn't belong, desperate to get Lupin and the boys expelled, hadn't been stupid enough to listen to his enemy, hadn't been stupid enough to go to a werewolf on the FULL moon, this wouldn't have happened. (Well it might've happened regardless of whether or not Sirius told him, Snape could've been smart enough to figure it out on his own and then he would've gone and gotten himself killed.) I can understand Snape wanting to get rid of the marauders, but the fact that he ran straight to what he strongly suspected is a werewolf on a full moon, is on him, it was stupid and reckless, no one forced him to make that choice and I don't think it's fair to act like he wasn't to blame at all. I can only assume that he was blinded by the prospect of expelling the marauders or thought he was capable enough to handle a werewolf to explain his lack of self-preservation.

This book is my favorite and I stand by that but you’re right, serious was a real a hole. Lupin deserves so much more than he gets and it makes me sad. He should get his own novel so we can learn everything about his childhood, from the bite to Hogwarts to graduating. I’d love it if that happened

He’s a convicted murder, my favorite line, also I always sided with Ron on that rat thing, and I can see Hermione on the broom. But everything is very child like and is on point they act like kids.

this part really was my favorite for a long time and Lupin was one key reason for that. Finally a compentent DaDA Teacher who is really kind and helpful to Harry and to Neville as well. Also i really loved the ending of this book even if it was frustrating, when Peter escaped.

I didn't realize how messed up Sirius was for that. I guess I always thought he'd stop it before it got too far...but he set his friend up to be a murderer and tried to kill someone...he fit in more with his family than he thought.

One thought I had during the hogwarts express scene at the beginning, is that those poor first years on the train must have been absolutely *traumatized.* Especially the muggleborn first years who've pretty much only just learned that they're magical and have almost no context for anything yet. I felt so sorry for them! 😭

Time travel is one of my favourite things in fiction, when it's used smartly and not as a cop out to undoing a character's death or something like that

I love this book, probably my favorite, mostly because I love Lupin.

I think the reason Harry agrees so fast to live with Sirius is literally because he hates the Dursleys so much and just doesn't wanna go back. also, he now knows that Sirius is innocent, and he knows that's his godfather, and Sirius is sorta kind to him, so yeah. also, maybe Harry feels good around Sirius, because that's a link to his parents and Sirius is actually not that far from Harry in age and maturity, so it's like a friend more than a guardian. speaking of Sirius, I actually, after rereading the books lately, realized that he's not that good of a guy. he's a cool character and an awesome friend, but, besides his affection to Harry in later books, he's not a good guardian. he's reckless, immature (probs, cause he's spent 12 y in Azkaban, and sorta stayed on the maturity level of a 22-y-old, when he was arrested),angry at Harry for no reason whatsoever, rude to many (not a good role model to his godson) and, what annoyed me most, he is SO OBSESSED with James. it's uncanny. I get that they were best friends etc, but Harry is not James(he's much more like Lily, actually) and Sirius keeps seeing him as James. and then he gets mad at Harry, because Harry is different from James. and Harry is confused and sad and blaming himself for Sirius's inadequacy, and that's not how your guardian should make you feel. boy, did that annoy me. overall, Sirius is cool and his death makes me sob every time (mostly, cause of Harry's pain and grief)

Snape was a general a-hole. He was bullying as well, hence Lily's annoyance @ his behavior in the last book. Snape has no reason to hate Lupin 'cause he didn't do anything (it's Sirius' fault).

I really enjoyed and appreciated the lenghty speech about Lupin♥️

I feel like Sirius choking Harry and that whole scene going from DANGER to "Come live with me!" "Sure!" that quickly must've been because Rowling was trying to push the idea that Sirius was a danger to Harry, before the twist that he wasn't. And it was just handled poorly. But also I haven't read the book in a few years so I don't remember the proper context. I'll have to keep an eye open when I reread the books later. Also Sirius got Harry a new broom, that makes everything okay right? (It doesn't, giving gifts does not negate abuse or violence or anything like that).

When they travel back in time, it was a closed loop. There was no changing the timeline like in Back to the Future. When the trio are walking down to Hagrid's cabin the first time, they hide before heading into the Entrance Hall because they hear footsteps and a door closing. That was future Harry and Hermione having come back and hiding so that their past selves would not see them. Then Harry and Hermione keep out of sight, quite well I might add, until finally Harry literally saves himself. The movie does a very poor job of this section, because unlike the book, nothing is timed correctly.

This is my favorite book in the series but mostly just because I love Lupin. One thing that always breaks my heart about him and this whole book is the fact that the rise of Voldemort is tecnically his fault. Snape's says it "you forgot to drink your potion tonight so I was bringing you a full goblet". If Lupin hadn't forgotten to drink the wolfsbane he wouldn't have transformed and be dangerous, distracting Sirius and the kids and allowing Peter to escape. If he just drank his medicine like he was supposed to, he could have transformed but since he would have kept his mind and obviously not attack anyone, Sirius could have kept watch over Peter. No one ever mentions that in the whole saga ever again, and I don't know if it was because JK forgot about it but I'm honestly glad no one brought it up to Lupin ever, that would have been devastating to read.

My favorite part of this book is learning about james and sirius and the gang something the movie does poorly.

The thing about chocolate... It is kind of true actually! There have been studies saying that black chocolate (with 90% cacoa in it or so) actually make you produce serotonin or whatever. This being said, if anyone reading this is suffering from depression: you'll probably need more than that and you should seek out treatment in the form of therapy and/or medication. But yeah, (black) chocolate seems to have the effect to make you happy actually. :)

I love Prisoner of Azkaban its hands down my favorite book and movie. Sirius, Lupin, and Crookshanks are outstanding additions to the cast. One of my favorite things is the call back to book one when Hagrid said he borrowed the motorcycle he used to deliver Harry to the Dursleys from Sirius Black. It just shows how well JK Rowling plans. A small remark in book one pops up and has much more importance in book 3.

I think Sirius' insane behaviour can be explained like this: 1st, at this point he is a little bit insane after severe trauma and 12 years of Dementors. 2nd, his focus wasn't on proving his innocence or explaininghimself, it was on killing Pettigew. That was all his somewhat broken mind could see. When Pettigrew was revealed and they had him captive, then Sirius was able to calm down and think a bit more clearly

I WAS WAITING 12 YER.... l'm sorry

Sirius Black is an attempted murderer at the age of 16 which is never addressed by anyone in the book.

This is my favorite Harry Potter book so excited for this review.

Yes, i love Lupin. He is a great character

I believe that Sirius did not actually stop to think about the consequences when he told Snape about the whomping willow. Not even that Snape might get injured or even killed.

I also am impressed how Rowling doesn’t dedicate much time to the endings and yet we are fine with it!

time travel stories are my thing. I love a good one. even when there aren't that many. writers often use one of these three main paradoxes for their stories: 1. the grandfather paradox. basically, you go back in time and kill your grandfather. creating an endless loop where the grandfather dies and the time traveler gets deleted and recreated. (time traveler kills the grandfather, the time traveler is never born, never goes back in time, doesn't kill the grandfather, grandfather survives has a family, grandchild goes back in time kills the grandfather...over and over and over again) 2. the bootstrap paradox. my favorite one. this one brakes the laws of cause and effect. it can even delete the cause but the effect remains. it allows people, objects and information to exist even when their starting point got wiped from history. think John Connor at the end of Terminator 2. The Song Of Storms in Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time or the sports almanac from Back To The Future Part 2. 3. the Predestination Paradox. this one is used in Harry Potter. this paradox says history is fixed and can't be changed. if the time traveler goes back in time then they were already there. history already recorded their actions. time isn't altered it simply plays out as it should. for instance: the time traveler goes back and tries to kill their grandfather only causing the events that made the grandfather meet his wife. or the time traveler goes back to stop an event, only to learn that their actions were the cause of the event. Harry sees his 'father' saving him, only to later learn it was his future self he saw. history, time wasn't altered. they were simply the events that played out normally. what did confuse me was the 'cursed child' there history is changed. now the Potter world can also use the bootstrap paradox? but, how can that be if 'Prisoner Of Azkaban' already established that time works with the predestination paradox in the Potter world? I found that a bit odd.

I don't think that Sirius was trying to kill Snape. He was trying to scare him, but he was a arrogant teenager that did'nt care for consequences. Irreaponsable, yeah, not murderer.

Snape is really nasty in this book. He tells everyone that Lupin is a warewolf, and that cause him to be unemployed again.

Hi!! I'm rereading HP too but in English for the first time. I manage to get the ones with the castle on the spines. I'm already in book 5 which is my favourite. Love this videos!!! Hugs from Argentina!!

I always wished that JKR would have added more Lupin to the books. Def one of my fav characters.

"Let's talk about Sirius...Boy's Dark!" I love that. Sirius is my favourite character in Harry Potter because he's not an 'always do the right thing' person, though he is undoubtedly a good guy. He's extremely flawed and complex and un-apologetically himself. He's neverendinglly dedicated to his friends and the people that he loves...but he's also very cruel to people he doesn't like like Snape when they were in school and Kreacher the house elf. And all of that makes him an interesting and engaging character. As I writer, I think he'd be a very fun character to write for.

Damn, this book is a lot darker than I remembered!

when i was a kid and teen sirius was my all time favorite character. now i'm an adult, lupin and luna

There is so much Harry Potter stuff on RU-vid. And yet this is my favourite... and it’s just you talking. Looking forward to each book as you do them :) Hope you’re feeling better

Thank you. There really isn't enough talk about how abusive the Dursleys are. Why no one ever called CPS (or the UK version of CPS) on them is baffling.

Kinda feel like Hermione wasn’t in the right being a tattle tail in this book. If you read it again you’ll realise she did not come to Harry about the broom at all. She didn’t try to convince him to ask the professors about it, she didn’t even mention it could be from someone trying to hurt Harry. She just went straight to the teachers. I’d be mad too if my friend thought something was dangerous to me and did not even attempt to talk to me about it. They just went behind my back to deal with it without my input

I didnt remember that dementor thing about Ginny! I love her and harry together even more now.

Remus Lupin is my absolute favorite character and this is my favorite book. Good analysis of it.

Honestly, while I do love this book a lot, I never understood why it was so many people’s favorites. The movie, I get why but the book, not really. I think it’s because I’m not overly attached to the Marauders. Aside from Bellatrix, Greyback, Voldemort, Fudge, Draco and Umbridge, I love every other Harry Potter character equally.

Well Sirius is insane because he did his waiting... 12 years of it... In AZKABAN!

I am a Lupin fan. I also love how he was depicted in the film by David Thewlis. Although...I wish that some of the cast didn't have to be British because Viggo Mortenson would have been an amazing Lupin. He, could pull off a British accent I am sure!

I thought this WAS the "doesn't make sense" video. You included so many discrepancies already :D

Really enjoying these HP videos! 👍 The thing that's always bothered me about the story of Sirius trying to get Snape killed by Lupin is it's completely out of character for Snape to trust anything Sirius would tell him, let alone something as suspicious as "Here's how you get past the Whomping Willow." Does anyone think someone as observant as Snape is repeatedly shown to be would never have noticed that Lupin disappeared on the full moon, and put two and two together before that? Hermione noticed after just a few months, after all. What seems more likely to me is that he did suspect, and took the opportunity Sirius gave him to find out for sure. From his perspective, it would mean someone with the authority to have the (very dangerous) tree planted had brought a (in theory, extremely dangerous) werewolf into the school without consulting the board, keeping it secret from all the parents of the kids there. Putting all the students, especially unsuspecting fellow Gryffindors like Lily, in danger. But he never expected James to run in after him. So, he confirmed his suspicion, but in a way that left the whole school knowing only that James had risked his life to save him from something dangerous, after he'd been stupid enough to fall for Sirius' trick. And he could never tell anyone the truth, because Dumbledore had extracted a promise not to speak of it, because yes, it would definitely have gotten Lupin kicked out for no fault of his own. Imagine being a 15 year old school kid pressured to protect the people who nearly killed you by the headmaster. The fact that he still can't express his anger at this favoritism to Dumbledore, now his boss, may have something to do with it coming out at others instead. This is too long already, but I can't get behind how Dumbledore handled bringing Lupin into the school. If he really wanted to change things, he could have spoken out, years earlier in fact. Dumbledore was highly regarded in the wizarding community at that point. He could have been Minister. Holding Lupin up as an example of the injustice of keeping werewolves out of school, campaigning for the right of this sweet, inoffensive boy who had done nothing wrong, would have meant far more to the community in the long run, Even If He Failed To Get In. Going to Hogwarts did nothing for Lupin's future prospects, because no one would hire him. The only people who would value that NEWT degree were the ones who couldn't get it: other werewolves. Which, as little as I like it, leads me to think Dumbledore was grooming him for the role he willingly took on, spy on the werewolves. Enrolling him by keeping the secret from everyone he couldn't trust (and fire) put incredible pressure on Lupin. Dumbledore could have been removed as headmaster, or at least had his reputation tarnished for good, if Lupin screwed up. Hence his complex all those years later around letting Dumbledore down. He was too ashamed to even say that Sirius had become an animagus. The point of this rant is basically that the better way to show you believe in someone is to fight for them openly. That's how you bring about change. Instead, Dumbledore reinforced the conviction of Lupin's father that the wizarding world would never accept his son and placed a personal burden of trust on an 11 year old, to keep this secret indefinitely, and live up to the unspoken expectation that he would be worth it. This whole third book would have been a lot less dramatic if Dumbledore had handled all these people a bit better as kids. I actually like Dumbledore for the most part, but this is one thing I feel strongly about, not that you could tell from the length of this. 😐🤣

Draco Crabb and Goyle didn’t get disqualified because, as we learned with Chamber of Secrets, the head of house determine punishment. Snape isn’t going to risk the Quidditch cup for a prank.

21:56 Omg I thought maybe I wasn't paying attention🤣🤣🤣 sooo trueee🤣🤣🤣 Always wondered why nobody takes it?🤔🤔🤣🤣🤣

I appreciate you pointing out that Ginny was affected by the dementors. I (mistakenly) said in your other video that she wasn't changed by her possession in Chambers of Secrets but clearly I missed a lot of those details.

I think that jk Rowling did great with the timetravel because it’s a closed loop. I really love closed loop timetravel, it’s the only timetravel that makes sense.

The way you feel about Chamber of Secrets I fell about this book...

In my opinion, the prisoner of Azkaban is the best one!

I think the reason why Sirius switches from murder the rat at any cost to well okay lets tell kids why first, because Lupin shows up and convinces him to do so. And also about Sirius sending Snape to Remus, I agree that he was wrong, but it was strange to me that Snape actually did what Sirius told him to. Like what was he thinking? Why did he believe him, why did he believe that three would stop. It always was so strange for me.

With regard to your point about Hermione being a bit... well... rediculous (keeping in mind she's meant to be 13). I feel like it shows a lot that she is okay (or at least willing) having Ron and Harry be angry with her when she's showing a front. She can be stubburn and appear up on her high horse. But, I think that really she was just terrified of her showing her true feelings and still being rejected afterwards. She was fine with them hating a lie, a front. But, if they hated her while she was vulnerable that would kill her. So while it should have been her that appologised first, when Ron showed that it was okay, she lets her guard down completely and practically breaks down. Her front is shattered and only when she's honest are they able to be friends again. So.. I guess, I feel like with Hermione, her bravery begot pride and that pride prevented her from trying to mend her relationship with they boys. When the pride faded it gaveway to shame but even with that, she'd rather them hate an inauthentic her than hate her authentic self... I could be grasping at straws but its a character detail that I missed until you pointed it out. Love this series, Cheers

The Fact that MERPHY Ranted about The knight Bus for SO Long but still LOVES it😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Spoiler!!!! I just realised James inadvertently cause his own death. If he’d never went to save Snape and he’d been killed by Moony then he’d never have joined the Death Eaters nor would he have told Voldy the prophecy.

I’m just gonna say, it might be a huge nightmare to edit, but if your review videos for the next books are 40 minutes long (or longer) I WILL 👏🏻 WATCH 👏🏻 THEM 👏🏻 ANYWAY 👏🏻 😂

Well...imagine being locked up in azkaban for 12 years....for something u never did....would u care to “explain” yourself to a bunch of 13 year olds or kill the person reponsible for ur misery?😂 i love sirius. And i like ur review ! I just finished book3 and it was such a rollarcoaster of emotions i can’t wait to start book4!!!!!

I have to comment on the characters of Sirius and Lupin, and Harry's relationship with each of them, because this has always kind of bothered me. First, Sirius - as you point out, he is quite dark and a bit unhinged in this book, and also to a lesser extent in later books. I have always blamed this on his time in Azkaban, combined with the fact that he would have been put away when he was about 21, so even though he's now in his 30s, he appears never to have emotionally matured beyond the age he was when he was locked up. Which is pretty understandable, since Azkaban is no ordinary prison, it's more like being shut up in solitary confinement with no ability to have any semblance of a life. So I figure he's got some trauma and immaturity. Also, given his behavior when they were in school, clearly he was not the most mature teenager to begin with. So while he's stalking around Hogwarts trying to get at Scabbers/Pettigrew, he does a lot of really stupid and reckless things. He slashes the portrait of the fat lady, he tries to grab Scabbers from out of Ron's bed while brandishing a knife, and then flees when Ron wakes up screaming, and then later he grabs Ron by the ankle as a dog and drags him into the Whomping Willow secret passageway and lures them all back to the Shrieking Shack. Because if you want to gain someone's trust, that's one way to do it, right? But as you said, he's clearly not interested in convincing anyone. He just wants to grab Pettigrew and kill him. These feel like the kind of impulsive, poorly thought out actions of a teenager with serious impulse control problems. Once he was on the grounds, why didn't he first try to seek out Lupin and explain the situation? Why didn't he try to seek out Dumbledore? We know he was never given a trial when he was arrested, so why wouldn't his old friend and his former teacher be willing to hear him out? We've already seen that both of them believed Sirius to be innocent once presented with the alternate explanation and what little evidence was available (pretty much just the Marauders' Map convinced Lupin; in the absence of having Pettigrew in person, God knows what they told Dumbledore, but he seemed totally convinced by the time he went to Harry and Hermione and instructed them to go back in time to save him). But Sirius doesn't even try this approach. He has no thoughts for his own long-term outcome, he's just obsessed with killing Pettigrew. Not even exposing him, just killing him. As Dumbledore tells Harry, "Sirius has not acted like an innocent man." And yet, as soon as Harry finds out Sirius is innocent, it's like they become instant best friends. Which always seemed weird to me, not only for the reasons you pointed out, but also because of Lupin. I adore Lupin as a character, and I feel like he kind of gets shafted in favor of Sirius for the role of Harry's surrogate parent/mentor. Over the course of just book 3, Lupin protects Harry from dementors, reassures him about the nature of his sensitivity to them, hangs out with him when he's excluded from the Hogsmeade trips, shares memories about his time with Harry's parents, agrees to teach him how to repel dementors, in the process showing an impressive degree of confidence in Harry's capabilities by allowing him to attempt very advanced magic for his age, covers for him when Snape discovers the Marauders' Map, and effectively chastises him for taking unnecessary risks by not turning the map in. (This is important because Harrys' usual reaction to being lectured is the typical teenage annoyance at getting caught and unfairly punished for harmless rule breaking. But we see here that Lupin is one of the few teachers who can actually make Harry realize he did something wrong and feel ashamed of himself for it.) So it seemed to me that Lupin was becoming a great mentor to Harry. They spent a lot of time together in this book and a considerable amount in later books as well. With Sirius, they spend barely 20 minutes together in book 3, most of which is spent either fighting with each other, or dealing with the fallout of Lupin's ill-timed transformation, Pettigrew's subsequent escape, and trying to fight off dementors. And even in book 4, most of their interactions take place over letters, except for one encounter in a cave in Hogsmeade. Yet in book 5, every time he meets Sirius and Lupin, it's Sirius that gets the enthusiastic hug. Harry bonds with Sirius in a way he never really does with Lupin, even though his time with Lupin seems so much more impactful, supportive, and parental. Maybe it has something to do with Sirius' association with James, which was so much stronger than Lupin's. James was closer with Sirius than he was with Lupin; he named him Harry's godfather, and their character traits were more similar. Oddly, some of the traits they had in common were the same ones that made Harry uneasy when he saw them in his father in the Pensieve: arrogance, immaturity, and a tendency towards bullying and cruel practical jokes. Harry gets pretty upset when he sees his dad cruelly humiliating Snape, yet he never seems to hold it against Sirius that he tried to get his friend Lupin to KILL Snape as a werewolf, which seems SO MUCH worse. And even setting aside the guilt Lupin would have had to live with had he killed someone in his wolf form, add to that that he would have certainly been chucked out of Hogwarts had such a thing happened, his matriculation there being already somewhat tenuous given the public's prejudices about werewolves. So Sirius would have not only gotten Snape killed but also royally screwed his good friend, all for a laugh? That's pretty messed up. But Harry nevertheless bonds with Sirius and gives him a pass on all of his considerable flaws, while Lupin, who generously mentored him, supported him, protected him, had the same connection to his parents, and was always kinder and more empathetic than the other Marauders (character traits that Harry obviously respects), he remains merely a beloved former teacher, ranking well below Sirius's status as godfather, surrogate parent/older brother, and the first devastating (memorable) personal loss of his life (obviously his parents were the first personal loss but as he has no memory of them, he never actually went through the conscious loss or the grieving process with them). I kind of suspect that JKR's sole reason for having Sirius in Harry's life at all was just so he could die and leave Harry feeling more alone than ever. So she had the space of just 2 books (from the end of book 3 to the end of book 5) in which to develop their relationship despite having to be physically distant most of the time. And so it feels a little bit forced. I can kind of believe it because of how it gave Harry a connection to his father, and also because he was so isolated to begin with that it was easy for him to latch on to any parental figure, but it's less believable given Lupin's proximity and the role he played during that whole book and, to a lesser extent, in the later books.

I am wondering on your take on J.K. Rowling's works under her pseudonym Robert Galibraith (Cormoran Strike novels). I have read these books a few times and it is far from her style in Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, however they are still enjoyable. She has also written other works under her own name, for example the Vacancy. I don't want to spoil anything, but I am interested in hearing your view on her other works.

You look amazing for being sick. When I’m sick I look like Jeff Goldblum in The Fly after his skin falls off.

I know I’m absolutely horrible but... Sirius is the absolute best character, because he’s a murderous, psychotic lunatic; under layers of moral awesomeness. I appreciate that he’s a sick and twisted man, who had that mindset nurtured in Azkaban and even in spite of that - he’s so kind and caring and downright just cool as all bloody hell. We need more characters like this in the world. The testament to “not all good guys are nice people with amazing moral standings”. Sometimes the good guy is actually a person with a killer’s mindset. Why don’t we have more of these?

i really dont think sirius wanted Snape to be killed he probably just wanted to give him a good scare and then go save him (as this was in 6th year and im pretty sure they were animagi at this point) or he knew he'd see Lupin in the tunnel and so would run away. i dont think he is a straight up phyco 😂

I think the Knight Bus has a place because for floo powder to work the destination needs to be registered with the Ministry of Magic, apparition is controlled and some wizards would rather not use it because of fear of getting splinched, side-by-side apparition is one of those things of always asking someone for a ride (gets annoying after a bit especially if they are waiting around for you), magical creatures are probably controlled to some extent by the Ministry, brooms can only really be used at night because you are more likely to be seen during the day.

Unpopular opinion: the more I think about what Sirius did as a teenager the more I conclude that he's a horrible person and I can't understand why our heroes (ESPECIALLY Lupin) are on speaking terms with him.

I find it funny that Sirius didn’t trust Remus yet HE is the reason why snape know that Remus is a werewolf. Remus has more valid reasons to why not to trust Sirius.

I don't agree with everything you said (not saying you're objectively wrong), but you won me over by actually being fair to Ron. Sure the boys aren't acting perfect by any means, but I usually encounter people saying that Ron is being a jerk about the whole thing. Kudos to ya

I agree with the hermione scabbers scenario. And that shows you how people even if they “think” they ar right they should communicate all that to the other person... communicate don’t just do things and justify it to yourself

I've only read books 1-4 so far, and I can honestly say that Hermione is my least favorite character. Bitch is an annoying snitch.

Look at things symbolically, or metaphoricaly. The Knight bus is a form of transport for people who can’t afford floo powder or haven’t learned apprating. Rowling ya so many symbolic things in the series that reflect our reality but sadly we are all stuck on technicalities rather than try to decipher the meaning

Her sarcasm about Hogwarts being the 'safest place in the world' is HILARIOUS 😂

This one is my favorite HP book because my favorite character is lupen and we get the most lupen in this book.

I'm baffled how people just ignore Marge, she is IMO a worse character than umbridge

Hi Merphy ! I’ve been a silent watcher of yours for a few months now, but today I decided to finally write you a comment ! First of all : THANK YOU for your videos, the way you talk about books and your passion made me rekindle with my own passion for reading. Your videos are just great, I love the way you construct them and th way you analyze things, and they help me a lot to choose what I’m going to be reading next. I now watch every single of your videos, and even wait for them impatiently every Sunday Tuesday Thursday Saturday and Sunday 😂Second of all : I’m so glad you’re doing this series of videos on Harry Potter ! I love those books so much, and hearing your thoughts on them feels GREAT, and I also love reading the comments of your community. I’ve decided to re read them with you , and i just finished PoA to be ready for this precise video ! I absolutely agree with your thoughts on chocolate, I love how it is the official « remedy » ! About the fact that Sirius tried to kill Snaps when they where at Hogwarts, I never saw it like that. To me what he really wanted to do was just scare him, and he never really thought about the consequences.Snape however is the one who was convinced that Sirius wanted him killed (as he was bullied by him and James so often) which would as you said be horrifying regarding Lupin too, but to me it doesn’t fit with Sirius’ personality ! Besides that I so agree with every thing you said, and I really loved hagrid and Lupin ! I felt really bad for Hagrid knowing that in the following books, nobody will like his class, but it could have been GREAT, he could have been an amazing teacher if it wasn’t for Malefoy ! Anyway, sorry for this really really long comment, I just really wanted to finally enter the discussion and thank you for everything you do on your channel ! I hope you have a good day !

I also don't usually like time travel as a literary device. But kore specifically, I hate it when time travel is used to make future agents alter past events in a cyclical manner.(like in the prisoner of Azkaban when Harry's future self casts a patronus to protect his past self). Because a cyclical time loop like this implies that the future is already written and can't be changed. It takes agency away from the characters. An example of time travel I like is the one they did in avengers: endgame wherein travelling back in time creates another timeline altogether

Neville is guilty. He shouldn't have written any password anywhere. Even worst, he wrote all the passwords in the same paper. What if he loses the paper or it gets stolen as it happened?

you say that theres only 25 or so pages dedicated to the time travel at the end where they "go back and change everything" but thats not really true, they don't change anything at all, they just do exactly what they had already done.

I read the Prizoner of Azkaban (and all the HP books) before watching My Neighbor Totoro. But I wonder if this is a coincidence or JKR was a little bit inspired bg the NekoBasu (CatBus).

There’s sone hints about the time turner during the books. I remember reading about some scenes where the three are walking and um suddently Hermione disappears or when they go to class and Hermione doesent enter the class room with them

Harry was punching Black all over, then while looking away Black grabbed his throat and tightened his grip. Seems like he just wanted Harry to stop hitting him lol

Great analysis on lupin. I agree 100%

Dude...you have such good insight and interesting things to say about the books I don't understand why you feel like you need to make the videos short. I'd watch a 50 min video of yours just as much as I'd watch this 25 min one. I'm sure a lot of your subscribers feel the same :)

What? Magic isn't real? 😱

Me encantan tus vídeos porqué se mantienen desde el fanatismo y amor por los libros.

I always saw the time turner as a closed time loop. Everything that Harry and Hermonie did they always did. And they couldn't change anything.

Personally I'm ok with Sirius choking Harry since I consider Harry to be a little pr*ck anyway. I have never liked that boy I read Harry Potter for the worldbuilding and the side characters, not for its protagonist.

Do you mean you couldn't remember that Lupin conjured a Patronus on the train? Did you honestly read the books? I never forget a detail from Harry Potter. It's too engagingly written. Lupin was the character in the books I'd most want teaching my kids. Sirius was clearly a bit of a sociopath from his family's influence. Sirius had not just endangered Snape, but betrayed Lupin. Maybe that's why Dumbledore concluded he would betray the Potters. Neville was not ostracised, just punished by McGonagall. Notice she didn't look further up the chain of command than Neville and the portrait of Sir Cadogan. She certainly didn't look at how she was at fault with putting Sir Cadogan there.

Wow.. This review is making me review my love of Sirius and making me appreciate Remus a lot more.