Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Thoughts on the Prisoner of Azkaban

Hello all! I know it has been ages since i've written, and I am truly sorry for that, but I have been at school. And to be honest, there hasn't been much to write about in regards to Pottermore lately. However, as we are currently reading the Prisoner of Azkaban in my literature class on the adolescent Hero's journey, I decided to re-visit the site today and it occurred to me as I was going through the chapters of the third book, that there are some new elements that I would like to talk about! :)

First and foremost, the third House Cup recently came to pass. While I am hopeless at earning points on Pottermore, I know there are many out there that worked hard to contribute, and I wholeheartedly congratulate Slytherin on their victory!

Second, I would just like to note that the third book, the Prisoner of Azkaban, is my favorite of the entire series. As my literature professor remarked, it is essentially the axis that marks the pivotal turning point in Harry's journey. He is no longer a naive little boy. From the fourth book on, things get progressively more serious and deadly. The entire plot of this book really shows that transition in Harry's life. I also really enjoy the character development and the introduction of some of the most important figures in Harry's life, Lupin and Sirius.

Third, as I was going back through the first few chapters of the third book, I was surprised and delighted to find that they have added audio recordings of the text throughout some of the chapters! This is just another wonderful element that adds to the interaction and immersion of the Pottermore experience. I just love this addition, and I hope they use this feature a lot more in the next books!

I have one general note to say, and that is that what I love about Pottermore on a whole, is that it easily allows us to re-experience an entire book in the length of about twenty or thirty minutes, if you are taking your time and going through everything. It takes even less time if you are rushing. What i'm getting at, is that it is unrealistic to believe that most of us have the time to sit and watch one of the full length movies or re-read one of the books whenever we want. Sometimes, yes we might have time, but for the most part, we don't. Pottermore allows us to re-visit the stories quickly and visually, which is heartwarming.

I am now re-excited for the last seven chapters of the Prisoner of Azkaban to be released! When Pottermore was first announced, I had said that it was going to be seven more long waiting periods for us Potterheads, and boy was I right! Luckily, it's not as bad as waiting for the books or movies to come out, and the content we are getting is worth the wait.

I hope you all are doing well! Let me know in the comments what your favorite book of the series is :)

-Danielle