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Wikijunior:Languages/Polish

What writing system(s) does this language use?
The Polish language is written in its own version of the Latin alphabet, like English. Unlike English, however, Polish does not have the letters Q, V, and X. The Polish alphabet also uses four diacritics. These are the kreska ("dash"), the ogonek ("tail"), the kropka ("dot"), and the stroke.

Letters having a kreska in Polish include:
 * Ć or ć (like the "ch" sound in "chocolate"),
 * Ń or ń (like the "ny" sound in "canyon"),
 * Ó or ó (like the "oo" sound in "proof", just like Polish u),
 * Ś or ś (like the "sh" in "ship"),
 * Ź or ź (a unique "zh" sound, like the "s" in "vision").

The letters with an ogonek are both nasal vowels:
 * Ą or ą (like the "ome" sound in "home"),
 * Ę or ę (like the "en" sound in "lend"

The letter Ż or ż (like "zh" but different from the Ź sound above) has a dot, and the letter Ł or ł (pronounced like "w" as in "wind") has a stroke.

Because of these differences, Polish has 32 letters. That's six more than in English! The Polish alphabet is:

Polish has also digraphs:
 * Ch or ch (like the "ch" in "loch", just like Polish H)
 * Cz or cz (like the "ch" in "chocolate" but different from the Ć sound above)
 * Rz or rz (read just like Ż)
 * Sz or sz (like the "sh" in "ship" but different from the Ś sound above)

How many people speak this language?
Polish has 46 million speakers. Of these, 38 million live in Poland, while the rest live in countries all over the world. Around 10% of the EU population speak Polish. Over half a million Polish speakers live in the UK - most of these people are recent immigrants but many are Polish-British people who've lived there since the 1940s.

Where is this language spoken?
As the place where it was first spoken, Polish is mainly spoken in Poland. There are also large numbers of Polish speakers in neighbouring countries such as Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine, as well as important Polish-speaking communities in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Polish is an official language of the European Union.

What is the history of this language?

Like most languages in the countries around Poland, the Polish language comes from the very old Proto-Slavic language, a dead language once spoken around central and eastern Europe. The Polish language as we know it today began to take shape around the 10th century, when Poland started to become a distinct state. In particular, the history of the language is tied in with that of Mieszko I, the first Polish Duke, who united various Slavic tribes in the region that shared a similar culture and language. After Poland became Christian in 966, the new country adopted the Latin alphabet for its language. Before then, the language had no writing system, and only existed through people speaking it.

The earliest examples of written Polish are religious texts written by members of the Catholic Church. Non-religious examples of written Polish emerged in the Middle Ages, and the language kept changing and adding new words from other languages, such as German, Russian and Czech. Today, Polish borrows many words for English for new items that have never existed before, such as computer, which is called komputer in Polish!

Who are some famous authors or poets in this language?
Adam Mickiewicz, Henryk Sienkiewicz, Stanisław Lem, Czesław Miłosz, Wisława Szymborska

What is a simple song/poem/story that I can learn in this language?
Christmas is a very special time in Poland. One of the most popular carols sung there is the Jesus Lullaby.

In Polish:

In English:

title: Wikijunior:Languages/Polish


text:
User:Mga~enwikibooks

See Mga on the English Wikipedia.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User:Mga~enwikibooks


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 3

Synopsis
Harry finds himself, with his possessions but no Muggle money, on a dark deserted street. Fearing Ministry officials are hunting him to expel him from the Wizarding community, Harry decides that using more magic could hardly worsen his situation. He intends to magically lighten his trunk, and, hidden under his Invisibility Cloak, fly to Diagon Alley in London on his broom to withdraw his inherited fortune from Gringotts Bank. While rummaging through his trunk, he has an uneasy feeling eyes are upon him. Flashing his wand-light at a dark corner, he sees a huge dog; recoiling, he trips over his trunk and falls into the street. A purple triple-decker bus suddenly appears from nowhere, nearly running over him.

A conductor in an equally purple outfit hops out and introduces himself as Stan Shunpike, conductor for the Knight Bus. Only after he partially gets through his spiel does Stan realize that the person who "flagged" the bus is lying on the ground. Helping him up, Stan asks Harry his name. Harry, afraid that he is already a wanted fugitive, identifies himself as his Hogwarts classmate, Neville Longbottom, and asks if the bus can take him to the Leaky Cauldron. Stan tells him the Knight Bus will take him to London for eleven sickles; for thirteen, he gets hot chocolate, and for fifteen, a hot water bottle and a toothbrush. Harry climbs on board, while Ernie, the driver, manhandles his trunk into the bus. Inside, the bus is furnished with four-poster beds rather than chairs.

The bumpy ride leaves Harry unable to sleep, while Stan reads The Daily Prophet. Sirius Black's photo is on the front page—the same fugitive Harry saw on Muggle TV. The story says Black killed thirteen people with a single curse, and he is believed to be a strong supporter of Voldemort.

When the Knight Bus arrives at The Leaky Cauldron the next morning, it is met by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. Stan Shunpike, already awed by accounts of "The Boy Who Lived", is astounded when Fudge greets his passenger, addressing him as "Harry". Fudge escorts Harry to a private parlor in the Leaky Cauldron and informs him that his Aunt Marge has been punctured and her memory altered. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia will take Harry back next summer if he stays at Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter. And, most puzzling, given what happened when Dobby the House-elf used magic at his home the previous year, Harry learns there will be no consequences for having performed under-age wizardry.

Harry will stay at the Leaky Cauldron until school starts, and Fudge requests that he confine his travels to within Diagon Alley, not venturing into Muggle London. Harry asks Fudge to sign his Hogsmeade permission slip, but Fudge, disconcerted, refuses. Harry finds Hedwig inside his room, where he promptly falls asleep.

Analysis
Harry, thrown into a panic, is thinking and acting irrationally, and, in what becomes a somewhat typical behavioral pattern, takes his trunk and runs away, unable to endure his family's abuse any longer. Although Harry's reaction is childish, he knows from his own past experience the harsh penalty for using underage magic. He expects only the worst: expulsion from Hogwarts and having his wand snapped in two. His brief foray into the nighttime Muggle world is frightening, and however unhappy he was at the Dursleys, he was at least safe, and comforted by knowing he would always return to Hogwarts. Now everything he holds dear seems to have vanished, and Harry is too used to unfair treatment to expect the incident to be resolved favorably. He is unsure what to do next, but decides his only option is to become an outcast living clandestinely on the Wizarding world's fringe. Fortunately, his faulty plan is derailed by a scary large dog and the Knight Bus' timely arrival.

Harry experiences another way wizards coexist unnoticed with the Muggle world—the Knight Bus, a vehicle that seamlessly navigates through Muggle traffic undetected. Conductor Stan Shunpike, a rather comical and ineffectual character, represents Harry's lifeline back into the Wizarding realm. The return trip is bumpy, however, both literally and figuratively. Even aboard the Knight Bus, Harry is unable to escape his celebrity, overhearing Ernie and Stan Shunpike chatting about the famous Harry Potter, unaware he is their passenger. During the long ride, Harry learns about the escaped fugitive, Sirius Black, though he only briefly takes notice, instead preoccupied by his current unhappy situation. Harry's concern and reaction over the episode with Aunt Marge was unnecessary, however—Fudge, surprisingly, brushes off the entire incident and arranges for Harry to stay in Diagon Alley until school starts.

As a minor aside, there is a small numerical discrepancy here. Harry's birthday and Aunt Marge's arrival fall on the 31st of July; Aunt Marge's visit is only for one week, and Harry leaves on her last night there, which should be August 6. The next day, Fudge twice remarks that Harry will be staying in the Leaky Cauldron for the last fortnight (two weeks) of his vacation; but if school starts on 1 September, Harry's stay in the Leaky Cauldron should be closer to three and a half weeks than two. This discrepancy has been corrected in later editions, giving the length of Harry's stay in the Leaky Cauldron as three weeks.

Review

 * 1) What does Harry see when he is on the dark street? Why is he so affected by it?
 * 2) What is the Knight Bus and how did it know where to find Harry?
 * 3) Why does Harry say his name is "Neville Longbottom" when he boards the Knight Bus?

Further Study

 * 1) Why does Fudge brush off the incident involving Aunt Marge?
 * 2) Why would Fudge refuse to sign Harry's permission slip for Hogsmeade Village?
 * 3) If Stan and Ernie did not recognize Harry, then how did Cornelius Fudge know he was traveling on the Knight Bus and headed to Diagon Alley?
 * 4) Why don't Stan or Ernie recognize Harry?
 * 5) Why is Harry allowed to stay in Diagon Alley by himself, rather than sending him to the Weasleys or another wizard family that would welcome and protect him?
 * 6) Considering Sirius Black is reportedly one of Voldemort's followers, why does Harry pay so little attention to the Daily Prophet story about him?

Greater Picture
Throughout the year, Harry repeatedly sees the same black dog that appeared moments before he accidentally hailed the Knight Bus. He initially believes it is the Grim, a spectral creature (having no physical reality) believed to be a death omen. The first few times Harry sees it, it appears that he may be in mortal danger. However, before a Quidditch match, he sees Crookshanks and the dog together, which reassures him that the canine must not be spectral. Ironically, though Harry initially considered it a death omen, the dog's first appearance actually aids Harry by causing him to stumble backwards and raise his wand arm, thus hailing the Knight Bus, the vehicle that carries him to safety. The dog is actually the fugitive wizard, Sirius Black, who is an Animagus (a wizard that can transform himself into an animal at will). They continually encounter each other because Black wants to see Harry, who is his godson, though Harry is still unaware he has a godfather. When he first finds out, it proves to be particularly distressing, believing Black betrayed his parents. It is only later that he learns the true circumstances leading to Black's arrest and imprisonment.

Although Harry appears to choose Neville's name randomly when introducing himself, this may be a hint at the connection between the two boys. We will discover in a later book that a prophecy foretold that either boy could have become Voldemort's target.

Harry is still considered a hero: "The Boy Who Lived," who is widely believed to have caused Voldemort's downfall some twelve years earlier. As such, Fudge's "pro-Harry" stance is hardly surprising. Add to that, the general Wizarding population's belief that Sirius Black is (or was) Voldemort's right-hand man who apparently wants to kill Harry, and we see that it would be political suicide for Fudge to allow himself to be identified as the government head that left Harry defenceless against Black. Mystifying as it may seem to Harry, dismissing his magical misbehaviour is the only course the politically-driven Fudge can possibly follow.

Neither can Fudge allow Harry to roam London proper or venture into Hogsmeade village where he would be relatively unprotected from Black. It is also a little surprising that Fudge waffles at signing Harry's permission form; he certainly has a legitimate excuse, that he is not Harry's legal guardian. As the form requires a legal guardian's signature, that would be a ready-made and valid reason; it is therefore surprising that Fudge never uses it.

Stan Shunpike reappears throughout the series, though he remains a minor character. While he occasionally engages in petty mischief, Shunpike represents how easily innocents can become hapless pawns and scapegoats of a corrupt or political institution.

Connections

 * The Knight Bus, that appears again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is part of the ever-elaborated Wizarding transportation infrastructure. We have already seen the Hogwarts Express and the use of brooms and the Floo network, and in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire we will find out about Portkeys and Apparition. It may be of interest to examine the multiple modes of transportation, to see how each one's failings are covered by another one's strengths.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 2

Synopsis
At breakfast the next morning, Harry is hardly surprised when nobody wishes him a Happy Birthday. Everyone is watching the new kitchen TV, which had been installed because Dudley was complaining about the long walk from the living room TV to the fridge. The TV newscaster is reporting on an escaped prisoner, Sirius Black, saying he is armed and dangerous; Aunt Petunia immediately goes to the window to see if he might be outside. Uncle Vernon prepares to leave for the train station to collect his sister Marge Dursley, Harry's least favorite relative. Marge's past visits have left Harry with extremely unpleasant memories, and he is horrified to learn that she is staying for a whole week. Uncle Vernon warns Harry to keep a civil tongue and that there will not be any funny stuff (presumably meaning magic). He also tells Harry that Marge believes he attends St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys, and that he is expected to stick to that story. As Uncle Vernon is leaving, Harry corners him with a counter proposal: if he behaves as they ask during Marge's visit, Uncle Vernon will sign his Hogsmeade permission slip. Vernon, reminded about how easy it would be for Harry to slip up and say something about his magical connections, and how little he has to lose by doing so, angrily agrees, and storms off to the station as Harry, resigned to acting like a Muggle for the week, reluctantly puts away all his magical stuff and sends Hedwig and Errol to Ron for the week.

The visit begins poorly, with Marge giving Dudley a big hug and a kiss and £20, while treating Harry as a porter. Throughout the week, Marge repeatedly insults Harry, at one point commenting about how problems in the parents usually appear in the offspring. When her wine glass suddenly shatters, she passes it off as her having such strong hands, not suspecting that it could have been Harry who caused it to break. Her insults made Harry angry enough to have done it, but even he is unsure whether he did. Over dinner on her last day, Aunt Marge goes into an inebriated diatribe about Harry's "good-for-nothing parents". This time, Harry's anger causes her to start swelling, eventually inflating like a balloon and bobbing around on the ceiling. Harry knows he is probably in trouble for twice violating the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Under-Age Sorcery, an action that could result in having his wand snapped in two and/or being expelled from Hogwarts. Harry hurriedly packs his belongings, and dragging his trunk behind him, flees into the night.

Analysis
No one in the Muggle world could seem more unpleasant to Harry than Vernon, Petunia, or Dudley; but Aunt Marge is equally, if not more, hateful. Whereas the other Dursleys generally express their dislike of Harry through indifference, rarely even mentioning his family, Marge is prone to deliberate and ruthless insults towards them. Her derogatory comment, "If there is something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup," is clearly an aspersion at Harry by targeting his mother's character, but it could also be a thinly veiled insult against Aunt Petunia, who Marge may consider inferior and tainted by her blood relationship to her sister and Harry. Her animosity excludes Dudley, despite his blood connection to Harry and Petunia. Marge dotes on her young nephew.

Harry's interactions, both with Vernon and Marge, show how he has matured and become more assertive. A slight power shift in the household has occurred. Harry, fully aware of this, now bargains with Vernon to attain what he wants. With Marge, Harry restrains himself, barely, for almost the full week, only losing his temper when she insults his mother. Vernon, knowing Harry is being pushed to his limits, attempts to defuse the situation, fearing what might happen should those limits be exceeded. This illustrates their relationship's changing dynamic; even one year earlier, Vernon would never have worried about Harry in a similar situation, firmly believing in his own ascendancy.

While Harry has become more sophisticated and adept at manipulating and interacting with people, Uncle Vernon has grown fearful, perhaps realizing that as his nephew nears legal age, he could possibly retaliate against the family with magic. Seeing how their son, Dudley, is growing into an even bigger and less controllable bully may be having some effect on Vernon and Petunia's concerns regarding Harry. Knowing that Vernon worries that Aunt Marge, who already considers Harry inferior, might learn he is a wizard, Harry exploits the situation to barter with his uncle, offering good behaviour and acting like a Muggle in exchange for having his Hogsmeade permission slip signed. However, when Harry loses his temper with the obnoxious Marge, this opportunity is forfeited. Although his uncontrolled reaction has lost him the chance to visit Hogsmeade, it also shows how powerful Harry's magical abilities have become. Harry has unconsciously demonstrated "wandless magic" several times, a nearly impossible feat for most wizards. While Harry is unsure if he shattered Aunt Marge's wine glass, it is certain that both his inflating her, and the cupboard unlocking when he retrieves his trunk, are magic, and as Harry's wand is locked in the cupboard, Harry is performing magic without its assistance.

Despite the changed relationship between Harry and Uncle Vernon, Harry is still a child, and his reactions are childish. Having gotten into trouble in Vernon's house, and presuming he violated wizard law, Harry's impulse is to run away. He has no clear idea where to go, or what he will do when he gets there; he simply decides to become a fugitive, believing he can gather his money from Gringotts and go into hiding. For one as famous as Harry, this is clearly wishful thinking at its worst; Harry could never remain hidden. He also fails to consider that there are many, including Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the Weasleys, who would come to his defence. This actually is an interesting contrast to Harry's behaviour in his first year, where, knowing that he was headed into possibly mortal danger, Harry pressed ahead anyway. It likely would prove interesting to examine this event, and Harry's earlier excursion Through the Trap Door, to see how Harry's character is motivated in each case.

On a lesser note, the planning that must have gone into this chapter is interesting. At the chapter's end, Harry reclaims his trunk from under the stairs and runs. Somehow, the author must prearrange that all of Harry's Hogwarts belongings are in that trunk, and that Hedwig will already be gone; Harry will have no time to dash madly about the house, collecting his text books, assignments, and owl on the way out the door. The permission slip alone may be insufficient to force Harry to send Hedwig away and pack up his magical materials, but combined with Marge, strike the deal seen in this chapter, and it can all be arranged in an organic rather than contrived way. This is especially important at the end of this chapter, as Harry may feel he can never return to the Dursley home.

Review

 * 1) Why does Harry run away? Was he right to?
 * 2) How does Harry plan to have Uncle Vernon sign his Hogsmeade permission slip? What does this say about how Harry's character has changed?
 * 3) Why does Aunt Petunia look outside the window? Are her fears reasonable?

Further Study

 * 1) How is Harry able to perform magic unintentionally and without a wand? What does this indicate about him?
 * 2) How has Harry's relationship with his aunt and uncle changed? What accounts for this change and how will affect his relationship with them in the future?
 * 3) Even if Harry had not accidentally inflated Aunt Marge, would Uncle Vernon have signed Harry's permission slip? Give reasons both for and against this.
 * 4) Why does Aunt Marge insult Harry's dead parents?
 * 5) Why would Uncle Vernon attempt to intervene when Marge insults Harry?
 * 6) Were Marge's insults also intended for someone else? If so, who and why?

Greater Picture
It will be revealed that Sirius Black is actually a fugitive wizard considered dangerous to both wizards and Muggles. It therefore becomes necessary to warn Muggles about him. Though the Wizarding world is kept secret and separate from Muggles, there are key Muggle contacts who work with wizard officials. Just how Muggles are alerted is shown in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Aunt Petunia nervously peering out the window after the TV newscast may be for a very specific reason, rather than a general panicked reaction to a fugitive on the loose. Petunia is far more knowledgeable about the Wizarding world than Harry, or we, ever imagined. Dumbledore had likely briefed her regarding the circumstances surrounding her sister Lily's death; the letter that had been left with Harry in the first chapter of the first book likely went into some detail. Perhaps recognizing Sirius Black's name and knowing that Black is connected to Harry and also to the Potters' murders, she now fears for Vernon and Dudley's safety, as well as her own, though she is probably less concerned about Harry's wellbeing. It may also be that she was an uncomfortable must-be-invited guest at Lily's wedding; given that she knows Harry's name in Chapter 1 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, she must have some contact with the Potters at least. If so, likely she knew that Sirius was a close friend of Lily's, best friend of James', and best man; if Dumbledore did not brief her, recognizing the name might have startled her even more. We have no guide as to how she feels about Aunt Marge.

Connections

 * Aunt Marge was mentioned in passing as one of the people who might be persuaded to care for Harry while the rest of the family celebrated Dudley's birthday. She will reappear, briefly, when Harry is undergoing his abortive occlumency lessons with Professor Snape in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Snape will retrieve some memories of Harry's mistreatment at Marge's hands, and will ask about them.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 4

Synopsis
Harry's time in Diagon Alley is his own; he browses the many shops, admires the new Firebolt broom at Quality Quidditch Supplies, and spends the afternoons working on his homework, with free sundaes, at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. While buying school supplies, Harry is surprised that the book Hagrid gave him for his birthday, The Monster Book of Monsters, is displayed in Flourish & Blotts. Checking his booklist, he sees it is required for his Care of Magical Creatures class, which is a relief to Harry who was worried Hagrid wanted help with some new "pet". His already owning a copy is also a relief to the Flourish & Blotts clerk, as it is difficult to extract the aggressive tomes from their cage. While looking for his Divination text, Harry sees Death Omens: What To Do When You Know The Worst Is Coming. Something similar to the large black dog he saw when the Knight Bus stopped for him is on the book's cover. Harry is not entirely successful in convincing himself that it is not a death omen.

Many Hogwarts students are appearing in Diagon Alley, including Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and the real Neville Longbottom. Ron and Hermione finally arrive the day before school starts. Ron has a new wand, while Hermione has three bags of books. She wants to buy an owl, while Ron is going to have the sickly Scabbers looked at, so they troop into the nearby Magical Menagerie pet store. When a large cat named Crookshanks tries to attack Scabbers, Hermione buys it, and also the rat tonic recommended by the clerk for Scabbers.

At the Leaky Cauldron they meet Mr. Weasley. He mentions that Sirius Black is still at large, and the Ministry is putting all its efforts into capturing him. The other Weasleys sweep in: Mrs. Weasley, Percy, who is now Hogwarts Head Boy and even more pompous than the previous year, if that is possible, the Twins, Fred and George, who try to take Percy down a notch by imitating his affected mannerisms, and Ginny. The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione dine in a private salon at the Leaky Cauldron. Mr. Weasley says the Ministry is providing cars to the train station.

Ron has misplaced Scabbers' Rat Tonic, and Harry volunteers to look for it in the salon as Ron has been pressed into helping Percy look for his Head Boy badge. On the way, Harry overhears Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing about what Harry should be told about Sirius Black. The Ministry believes Black escaped Azkaban expressly to find and kill Harry to avenge the Dark Lord. Dementors, guards from Azkaban, have been placed around Hogwarts to protect Harry.

Surprisingly, Harry is unconcerned and believes Black will not be any harder to deal with than Voldemort. The Dementors are more worrisome, however, as it appears he will have to somehow slip past them to get into Hogsmeade village. Carrying Ron's Rat Tonic, Harry finds Fred and George outside the room Ron shares with Percy, and sees that they have changed Percy's Head Boy badge to read Bighead Boy.

Analysis
Three important plot elements unfold in this chapter. Most significant is that Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban prison is somehow connected to Harry. Understanding Fudge as a politician, we readers can now understand why Fudge so quickly dismissed the incident involving Aunt Marge, and also surmise that Harry is probably being closely guarded by Ministry wizards during his time in Diagon Alley. Secondly, and in Harry's mind most important, is Harry's intent to somehow attend the Hogsmeade school outings, despite lacking custodial permission. Finally, there is the ongoing battle between Crookshanks and Scabbers, a situation that likely will continue to escalate, straining Ron and Hermione's friendship, possibly permanently estranging them while putting Harry between and testing his loyalty to both his friends. We have seen already that Crookshanks will attack Scabbers while ignoring the nearby caged rats, so it is likely this specific antipathy will continue. Just why Crookshanks seems fixated on Scabbers is puzzling.

The reader should note the comment by the Magical Menagerie clerk about the age of Ron's rat, and the usual life expectancy of rats. It may also be worth noting that Crookshanks' attack on Scabbers is timed to prevent Ron from investigating this matter further. The reader should also note that Ron believes Scabbers is "looking poorly" before they visit the Magical Menagerie.

The canine image that Harry first saw in Privet Lane now seems to be becoming a pattern, with the appearance of a similar image on the book cover. We don't yet know whether this will prove a plot point, but we can see that Harry is beginning to believe that they may actually may have some significant hidden meaning. Harry of course suspects that he may be seeing death omens, but it is safe to assume this unlikely given that this is only the third book of a seven-book series. However, what the significance is, we have yet to find out.

Harry also learns about Dementors, Azkaban Prison's strange, eerie guards, though he is unsure exactly what they are. We find that, despite the worrisome death omens he is seeing, these concern him more than the possibility that Sirius Black may be hunting him. Harry's nonchalance about a more tangible danger is puzzling and unwise, though he may be rationalizing to himself that any threat other than Voldemort, who he has already faced twice, is simply less perilous.

And though Harry is left on his own for the first time, we can guess that Ministry officials are remotely monitoring him until his return to Hogwarts. We can guess that they do not show themselves to him to prevent his wondering about the threat presented by Sirius Black, and suspect that the injunction to remain in Diagon Alley is to avoid having his monitors reveal themselves by their inept aping of Muggle ways. Until his return to Hogwarts, Harry is unencumbered by apparent adult supervision, restrictions, or interpretations. Harry's time is spent exploring and observing the hidden Wizarding realm, which he clearly prefers to the parallel Muggle world only a few steps away.

Harry's character is further illuminated when he goes to Gringotts Bank to get money for school supplies. Rather than withdrawing a huge sum and frivolously buying whatever he wants, including the Firebolt broom he so admires, he carefully considers just how much he needs to cover his necessary school and living expenses. This level of maturity and restraint is rarely seen in someone so young, and it reflects Harry's balanced personality in general.

After being reunited with Ron and Hermione in Diagon Alley, Harry happily rejoins the Weasley family chaos as the children prepare to return to Hogwarts. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley warmly greet him, as do Ron and Ginny. Fred and George, meanwhile, seem even more irreverent, and, propelled by Fred's more dominant personality, are likely planning new mischief for Hogwarts. Percy, now Hogwarts Head Boy, is being insufferably pompous, and, having somewhat distanced himself from his younger siblings, becomes an irresistible target for the Twins' pranks. All these familial interactions provide Harry with rare doses of the happy, cozy family life he so sorely craves.

Review

 * 1) Why is Harry seemingly unconcerned when he learns that Sirius Black is looking for him?
 * 2) Why does Harry believe he is seeing Death Omens? What are they, and where specifically has he seen them?
 * 3) Why does Hermione buy so many books?
 * 4) Why is Scabbers looking so sickly?
 * 5) Why would such a "dangerous" book be assigned for the "Care of Magical Creatures" class? Who might have assigned it?
 * 6) Why was Harry actually relieved to see that the "Monster" book was on the school list?

Further Study

 * 1) Why would Sirius Black be looking for Harry?
 * 2) Fred and George have bewitched Percy's prefect badge. Is their replacement caption valid or is this just a mean-spirited prank on their part? How long before Percy is likely to notice?
 * 3) What might account for Percy's changed behavior?
 * 4) Why does Hermione decide to buy a cat rather than an owl, especially one that tries to attack Ron's pet rat?
 * 5) Why would Hermione's new cat, Crookshanks, only want to attack Scabbers, and not any other animal? How does Ron feel about that?
 * 6) As Harry spends time alone in Diagon Alley, what comparisons and contrasts might he make between the Muggle and Wizarding realms?
 * 7) If Harry is so convinced he is seeing death omens, why does he fail to tie that to Sirius Black, who is supposedly hunting him?
 * 8) Why do Mr. and Mrs. Weasley disagree about what Harry should be told regarding Sirius Black? Who is right, and just how much should Harry be told about this?

Greater Picture
As Voldemort openly returns to power later in the series, we learn that Florean Fortescue has apparently been captured. One has to wonder why the Death Eaters would attack a harmless ice cream merchant, though his knowledge about medieval Wizardry, as evidenced when he helps Harry with his homework, could be a factor. Also, Fortescue may be related to Dexter Fortescue, a former Hogwarts Head Master whose portrait hangs in Dumbledore's office; one supposes that this connection could also have some bearing on Florean's later disappearance. Alternately, Florean's disappearance could be intended to highlight the random violence and disappearances that occur under the tyranny of Voldemort and his minions. This is left unexplained, however.

Harry's relief that Hagrid's gift is a required textbook for the Care of Magical Creatures course, rather than something to aid Hagrid with a potentially ferocious new pet, will be short-lived when he learns that Hagrid is that class' new teacher. Whatever fear Harry may have had about Hagrid having a new "pet" will likely be magnified many times over when he realizes the curriculum will probably include dangerous magical animals.

The conflict between Scabbers and Crookshanks comes to a head with Scabbers' disappearance and apparent death around April. This results in an extended estrangement between Ron and Hermione. This will be particularly upsetting for Hermione, who had just reconciled with both Harry and Ron following an unfortunate falling out she had with the two boys. When Scabbers reappears in June, we discover that Crookshanks' distrusting him is wholly justified, so much so that before accepting a new pet, Ron asks for, and receives, Crookshanks' approval. It should be noted that Crookshanks is something other than an ordinary cat: in an interview, the author has said that he is a cat / kneazle cross-breed, and thus much more intelligent than the average domestic feline.

As mentioned in the Analysis section, the Magical Menagerie's clerk mentions that Ron's rat is superannuated. Scabbers has been Ron's for at least two years at this point, and was in the family long before that. We can guess, from events at the end of this book, that Scabbers will have joined the Weasley family some eleven years before this story, and this is significantly longer than the normal lifespan for rats, as the clerk points out. We are not given time to explore this discrepancy, as Crookshanks' attack on Scabbers is timed to occur as Ron is working out the number of years Scabbers has been alive. In the aftermath of the attack, finding Scabbers and dealing with the fallout from that event is given more weight, and the matter of Scabbers' abnormally long life is forgotten, by Ron as well as by the reader. The student of literature will note that the author uses this form of indirection throughout the series when introducing key facts that she does not want the reader to notice.

Also noted in the Analysis section is Ron's comment that Scabbers is looking poorly. Ron will later attribute Scabbers' decline to Crookshanks' depredations, but Harry will recall that Ron had said in this chapter that Scabbers' looking poorly will have started during the trip to Egypt. We will later find out that Scabbers looking poorly is due to his having heard of Sirius' escape from Azkaban, an escape that was triggered by Sirius spotting Scabbers in the picture of the Weasley family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet. This will be the same picture that Ron had earlier sent in the letter that accompanied his birthday gift to Harry.

Near the story's end, we learn that Sirius never intended to kill Harry. It is actually someone else at Hogwarts that Sirius is seeking revenge against. However, this mistaken assumption that Harry is the target, and the associated beliefs concerning why Sirius was incarcerated, helps drive the story.

The Firebolt broom seen in Diagon Alley becomes a plot point, starting at about Christmas, and it results in Harry and Ron being estranged from Hermione. She is immediately suspicious about who sent Harry the broom as an anonymous gift, and, fearing it may be cursed, reports it to Professor McGonagall, who confiscates it for examination.

An interesting point one might note is that, up to now, the term "Azkaban Guards" is used, but after this chapter, it is never used again, with "Dementors" replacing it. The author may have wanted to keep the creatures' true identity hidden to give the illusion that the Azkaban guards might be humans. From a story-telling point-of-view, however, it does not quite make sense as to why everyone suddenly drops the term "Azkaban Guards" after Harry finally learns what they are.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 5

Synopsis
Surprisingly, the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry are all ready on time the next morning. Ministry cars spirit them away to catch the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross Station. At Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Mr. Weasley takes Harry aside to discuss Sirius Black. Harry admits that he overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's conversation about Black. Mr. Weasley asks him to promise that, no matter what he hears, he will not go looking for Black. Harry is puzzled, but the departing Hogwarts Express prevents him from making that promise. As the Trio want to talk privately, Ron shoos away his sister Ginny, who storms off. The only available compartment is occupied by someone named R. J. Lupin, apparently fast asleep. Despite his presence, Harry relates everything he knows about Black, including what Mr. Weasley said. The pocket Sneakoscope Ron gave Harry starts whistling. Ron says it is cheap and likely defective, and Harry bundles it back up in his trunk to deaden the noise.

The conversation turns to Hogsmeade, and Ron and Hermione are appalled that Harry will be unable to join them, as neither Uncle Vernon nor Fudge would sign his permission slip.

Later, Malfoy and his two sidekicks, Crabbe and Goyle, show up intending to cause mayhem, but Lupin's presence deters them.

The train lurches to an unexpected stop. Ginny and Neville Longbottom make their way through darkness to Harry's compartment, and amidst the confusion, Lupin wakes up and provides some illumination. As he is about to go and find out what is happening, the compartment door slides open and a black-robed figure, as tall as the doorway, glides in, briefly displaying a hideous, dead-looking hand. Harry hears a woman screaming and passes out.

When he regains consciousness, the creature is gone and the train is moving again. Lupin says it was a Dementor, an Azkaban prison guard searching for Sirius Black. To counteract the Dementor's effect, he gives each student chocolate, then leaves to speak with the driver. During his absence, Harry asks if anyone else fainted, but they tell him no, nor did they hear screaming. Hermione tells Harry that Lupin repelled the Dementor by casting a silvery object from his wand.

They arrive at Hogwarts in a driving rain. As Hagrid rounds up the first-years for the boat ride across the lake, the Trio find horseless carriages waiting for them. Upon hearing from Neville that Harry fainted, Malfoy maliciously attempts to taunt him, but Lupin arrives on the scene, defusing the incident. As they head to the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall asks to see Harry and Hermione in her office; she reassures Ron that his two friends are not in any trouble. Hearing about Harry's encounter with the Dementor, she has summoned him to be checked over by Madam Pomfrey, who approves Lupin giving the students chocolate. Professor McGonagall suggests keeping Harry in the hospital wing overnight. Not wishing to give Malfoy further ammunition to humiliate him with, Harry insists he is fine and asks to attend the Welcoming Feast. Professor McGonagall grants permission, and then asks for a private word with Hermione about her class schedule. Afterwards, they go to the feast together.

Although they have missed the Sorting ceremony, the Feast is just beginning; Professor Dumbledore warns students that the school grounds are being guarded by Dementors and any attempt to slip past them by subterfuge will fail as they do not rely on sight to hunt their prey. He also welcomes two new teachers: Rubeus Hagrid, who will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures and Professor Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry notes that Lupin receives a loathing look from Professor Snape. Harry, Ron, and Hermione congratulate Hagrid on his appointment and then head for Gryffindor Tower.

Analysis
The Ministry providing cars to transport Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys to King's Cross Station is highly unusual, and indicates there is deep concern for Harry's safety that is probably tied to Sirius Black's escape. Mr. Weasley's warning to Harry to not go looking for Black is revealing, though Harry nonchalantly dismisses its significance, more concerned with finding a way to attend the Hogsmeade weekends with his friends than with avoiding an escaped murderer.

Also, a valuable story clue may appear here, but Harry quickly bundles it up and stows it away. There is some question as to whether the Sneakoscope actually works. Ron's note to Harry claimed it was just a cheap and probably inaccurate device, because it apparently had alarmed twice while he was preparing to send it to Harry, but as we have seen, on both of those occasions it was reacting properly. The reader can see that it is more effective and reliable than anyone realizes, but Harry follows Ron's lead and disregards its warnings.

And while Harry is foolishly brushing off concerns about Sirius Black, he soon becomes fixated on Dementors. Although the eerie creatures have been assigned to protect him and hunt Black, they strongly affect anyone near them, feeding on unhappy emotions and memories, while leaving behind darkness, coldness, and despair. The Dementor that entered Harry's compartment may have deliberately targeted Harry, though its purpose, apart from finding Black, is unknown. This, compounded with what Harry believes is a recurring death omen and Sirius Black's escape, likely foreshadows a difficult and dangerous year ahead at Hogwarts. Professor Lupin, however, unexpectedly demonstrates an ability to repel Dementors with an unknown spell, suggesting that it is possible to protect oneself from them.

A future relationship between Harry and Ginny may be hinted at here. As Percy goes to meet his girlfriend Penelope, Harry and Ginny look at each other and silently laugh. While this hardly indicates that Harry is romantically interested in Ginny, it does show they share a similar sense of humor that may be common enough ground on which a relationship could build.

Review

 * 1) Why would the Ministry of Magic provide cars to transport Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley family to the train station?
 * 2) Why does Lupin give the students chocolate after their encounter with the Dementor?
 * 3) How did Lupin repel the Dementor?

Further Study

 * 1) Why would a Dementor enter Harry's compartment?
 * 2) Why is Harry affected more than the others by the Dementor's presence?
 * 3) Who might Harry have heard screaming as he fainted? Why did no one else hear it?
 * 4) Why does Snape give Professor Lupin such a loathing look during the Welcoming Feast?
 * 5) Why does Harry's Sneakoscope sound an alarm when there is apparently no danger? Is it faulty as Ron claims, or could something else be amiss?
 * 6) Why would Mr. Weasley tell Harry not to go looking for Sirius Black? Is Harry likely to follow his advice?

Greater Picture
Harry's reaction to the Dementors seems far more severe than anybody else's, as nobody else heard screaming, or fainted. Harry fears some inner weakness makes him more susceptible, though Lupin assures him later this is not so; Dementors feed on peoples' memories, leaving only despair in their victims' minds, and Harry, having had so many bad experiences in his life, is more deeply affected. The memory that the Dementors appear to be fixating on in Harry is the moment his mother died; as Harry encounters Dementors throughout this story, this memory will be repeatedly brought forward and strengthened until he is able to recall not only his mother's words but also Voldemort's.

This is Harry and Ron's first encounter with the "horseless" carriages, as they had arrived at Hogwarts the previous year in Mr. Weasley's flying Ford Anglia, which, presumably, is still roaming wild in the Forbidden Forest. Although some students, like Luna Lovegood, who appears later in the series, know what pulls the carriages, for some reason they avoid mentioning it. Most students, at least younger ones, seem to assume the carriages are propelled by their own power. Even Ron, who has extensive magical knowledge that he always generously shares with Harry, is unaware that something else may be at work here. Harry, however, notes to himself that invisible horses must be pulling the carriages. This thought foreshadows his learning much later that they are indeed being pulled by strange horse-like creatures called Thestrals that are only visible to certain people. Only later does Harry gain the ability to see them.

There is no evidence yet that the pocket Sneakoscope is emitting false alarms. Assuming it is working properly, someone in the compartment must be untrustworthy. Apart from the Trio, the only other human there is Lupin. While the Trio, guessing correctly that he is a new teacher, apparently never consider that he could be untrustworthy, little is known yet about Lupin's background. Considering that a former Defence Against the Arts instructor (Professor Quirrell) was Voldemort's servant, it is easy to suspect Lupin, which may be what the author intended here. We should assume, however, that Dumbledore exerted far more caution when selecting Quirrell's successor. However, Crookshanks, Hedwig, and Scabbers are also present in the compartment, and our attention has already been pointed at Scabbers, who has apparently lived much longer than any rat should. Still, when the truth about Scabbers is revealed, it will be surprising.

And though it is not Lupin who set the Sneakoscope off, his shabby appearance indicates he has had difficulty finding work. This may explain why he accepted the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, which is now widely believed to be jinxed so that instructors never last longer than one year. Lupin is revealed later to be a Werewolf, and the next few books mention a significant Werewolf prejudice in the Wizarding world, as well as discrimination against other non-human magical creatures. It is this prejudice, merited or not, that presumably has prevented Lupin from finding employment.

Connections

 * The Sneakoscope, which first appeared in the first chapter of this book, will appear again near Christmas, and its warning will be ignored again. A different Sneakoscope will appear on Professor Moody's desk in the fourth book, and another, possibly Moody's, will appear in the Room of Requirement in the fifth book. The specific Sneakoscope that we see in this chapter will not be seen after this book until, old and broken, it is cleaned out of Harry's school trunk in the final book. Hermione will give Harry a new Sneakoscope for his birthday that year, and it will be used multiple times during the Trio's travels through England in that book.
 * This is the first time that we have seen the horseless carriages. It will be learned in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that these chariots are not, in fact, horseless, but are pulled by Thestrals, animals that are only visible to those who have seen death. Harry will be able to see them following his witnessing Cedric's death.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 16

Synopsis
It is late May, and exams are looming. Harry and Ron see that Hermione has two exams scheduled for Monday morning and two for Monday afternoon. When Harry asks if there is any chance of an explanation as to how Hermione expects to sit two exams at once, Hermione cheerfully says, "No," then looks for her Ancient Runes book. Hedwig delivers a note from Hagrid: Buckbeak's appeal is 6 June, the day of their last exam, and it will be at the school. A committee Wizard and an executioner will attend, so it appears to Harry that the committee's decision is already made. Ron is dismayed over the wasted work he has done on the appeal. Draco, who lost some of his usual swagger after Slytherin's Quidditch defeat, appears to be getting it back. Worse, the tight security has made it impossible to visit Hagrid, and Harry has not yet dared to retrieve the Invisibility Cloak from the One-Eyed Witch tunnel, because of Professor Snape.

Exams begin, and they are as rough as expected. In Transfiguration, students had to transfigure a teapot into a tortoise, which most found difficult. In Charms, they were tested on Cheering Charms, the one class Hermione missed. Tuesday's Care of Magical Creatures was a simple exam; they only had to keep Flobberworms alive for one hour. Harry, Ron, and Hermione use this time to exchange a few words with Hagrid, who says Buckbeak is tired of being penned up. It will be several days before the appeal. The Potions exam goes poorly; Snape apparently gives Harry a zero. Astronomy is Tuesday at midnight, History of Magic Wednesday morning, and Herbology is Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning is Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Lupin has set them a practical test: students have to wade across a deep pool containing a Grindylow, cross a series of potholes containing Red Caps, cross a stretch of marshland while avoiding being distracted by a Hinkypunk, then climb into an armoire to battle a Boggart. Harry gets a perfect score, but Ron is distracted and led astray by the Hinkypunk. Hermione is unable to defeat the Boggart who appears as Professor McGonagall telling her she has failed every subject.

Heading back, they run into the Minister for Magic on the castle steps. Fudge says he is there for a very sad duty—witnessing the execution of a dangerous animal. Ron protests that the Hippogriff might be exonerated, but before Fudge can answer, he is joined by a testy old Wizard and a tall, strapping man carrying a large axe. Convinced the appeal is a mockery, Ron starts to say something, but Hermione drags him away to protect Mr. Weasley's job.

After lunch, Harry and Ron have their Divination exam, while Hermione has Muggle Studies. Professor Trelawney examines students individually. Harry, examined last, pretends to see a Hippogriff in the crystal ball and claims it is flying away. As Trelawney dismisses him, she suddenly enters into a trance and speaks in a strange voice: "It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight... before midnight... the servant... will set out... to rejoin... his master..." Suddenly awakening, Trelawney is unaware of what she has just said, and chastises Harry for repeating it to her.

Uncertain if Trelawney was merely adding melodrama to the exam or experiencing a real prediction, Harry heads back to the common room. Before he can share what Trelawney predicted, Ron and Hermione tell him Hagrid sent a note: Buckbeak lost the appeal and will be executed at sunset. Hagrid orders the Trio to stay away. Harry bemoans that his Invisibility Cloak is still in the One-eyed Witch tunnel, otherwise they could visit Hagrid. However, if Snape catches Harry anywhere near there, he will be expelled. Hermione dashes off, returning shortly with the Cloak.

Donning the Invisibility Cloak, the three head to Hagrid's hut. A distraught Hagrid says Macnair, the executioner, is Lucius Malfoy's friend, but at least the end will be quick and clean. Professor Dumbledore is also coming to support Hagrid. Says Hagrid, "Great man, Dumbledore." Fetching a pitcher, Hermione discovers Scabbers hiding inside. Scabbers seems frantic to remain hidden, trying to climb back into the milk jug, even as Ron grabs him. Hagrid spots the execution committee coming and shoos Harry, Ron, and Hermione out the back door. As they head to the castle under the Invisibility Cloak, Scabbers makes another bid for freedom. As Ron tries to contain him, they hear the swish and thud of the executioner's falling axe.

Analysis
Once again, Hermione's attendance at multiple classes is called into focus and promptly shunted aside by something of apparently greater importance. This is the first time that Hermione has directly refused to explain, rather than diverting the question, and thus the first time that she is admitting that there is some validity to Harry's belief that she is attending multiple classes at the same time. Even so, the message from Hagrid arrives before we are given time to think about this, and so any speculation about Hermione's apparent ability to be in two places at one time is short-circuited.

Trelawney's prediction leaves Harry stunned and confused, unsure whether what he has just heard was mere melodrama or a true prophecy. It should be remembered that Trelawney has a poor record for making accurate predictions, though her lapsing into a trance, speaking in an eerie voice, and having no memory about what she just predicted is uncharacteristic. This prophecy may be genuine. There is also no indication as to who Voldemort's servant may be, but the obvious assumption is that it is Sirius Black. Harry can only wait and let events unfold; the prediction, if real, is that events will happen before midnight, far too short a time for Harry to consult with others to try and determine its meaning.

Ron shows a surprising side to his character here, reflecting a budding maturity that has been relatively unseen until this book, though he still has far to go before reaching adulthood. Previously, he wisely counseled Harry to heed his friends' advice, rather than listen to his enemies. Upon hearing Buckbeak's fate, he vocally opposes the Ministry's actions directly to Fudge, outraged over an obvious injustice that is being inflicted on innocent victims. Only Hermione's intervention prevents him from saying more and possibly damaging his father's position within the Ministry. For once, Ron not only speaks out against something he believes is wrong, but also expresses compassion for others. Though usually showing little concern regarding matters unrelated to himself, Ron here steps outside himself, and he is certainly correct that Buckbeak's execution is a mockery, one that has been orchestrated by the malicious Mr. Malfoy purely from spite.

It is perhaps worth noting that Ron has jumped to a conclusion here. The presence of the executioner does not mean that the appeal is a foregone conclusion. Contrary to the US system in which inmates can be kept on Death Row for extended periods, the English system does not keep the condemned prisoner alive for an extended time after final appeals have been exhausted. Buckbeak has one remaining shot at an appeal, and if that fails, it is a mercy to have the execution done quickly to eliminate a long period of anticipation. It is not, strictly speaking, necessary, given the efficient Wizarding transportation network, to have all three members of the Committee arrive at the same time; the executioner could be summoned only after the appeal fails, of course. The executioner's appearance here is largely for dramatic effect, though Fudge's arrival seems somehow forced. Perhaps Fudge is supervising as a favour to Lucius Malfoy, and to the voting bloc that he seems to informally represent.

Hermione, meanwhile, has come face-to-face with her greatest fear: failing all her classes. She does, however, show courage and loyalty when she unhesitatingly retrieves Harry's Invisibility Cloak, knowing that, if caught, she could be disciplined and lose House points for helping him. She further shows her loyalty by accompanying Ron and Harry to Hagrid's hut to comfort him during this difficult time.

Review

 * 1) What happens during Trelawney's Divination final exam? What might it mean?
 * 2) Who retrieves Harry's Invisibility Cloak and why?

Further Study

 * 1) Scabbers vanished in April, and it is now early June. Why did he remain hidden in Hagrid's hut all this time? Why does he try to escape again?
 * 2) How is Trelawney's prophecy different from her usual ones?
 * 3) What might Trelawney's prediction mean?
 * 4) Who is Voldemort's servant mentioned in the prediction?
 * 5) Why was an execution party sent before the appeal had been decided? Who is behind this and why?
 * 6) What prompts Ron, who rarely has an opinion about anything unrelated to himself, to stand up to Fudge? Why does Hermione drag Ron away?
 * 7) How has Ron's character changed since we first met him?

Greater Picture
Although Harry's fabricated prediction that Buckbeak flies safely away is wishful thinking on his part, it actually foreshadows events in the book's conclusion. It is perhaps lucky that Harry is aware that he is making this up; if he had been a little less sure of himself, he might have thought that he had a touch of the Talent.

Trelawney's strange pronouncement is a true Prophecy, and Dumbledore later tells us that it is the second genuine one that he is aware of. The first concerned Harry and Voldemort, and occurred while she was being interviewed for the Divination position by Dumbledore. It is apparently on the strength of that first prophecy that Dumbledore has kept her on staff; this second one will surely bolster that decision. Otherwise, it would seem that he shares the staff's general opinion that Divination is purest flummery, hardly deserving a place at Hogwarts.

The reader may believe that this is a true prophecy; it is certainly delivered in a convincing manner. If so, the reader will be misled by the belief that Black is the Dark Lord's servant. It is true that Black, imprisoned in Azkaban, could be said to be chained "these past twelve years", except that he has by now been free for almost a year. Despite the various bits of foreshadowing — the Sneakoscope, the revelation of the Animagus transform, Black's attack on Ron, and Crookshanks' repeated attacks on Scabbers — we are somehow unable to predict that Scabbers will be unmasked as the Animagus form of Peter Pettigrew.

The Invisibility Cloak has lain, undiscovered, in the secret passage leading from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade after Harry was forced to abandon it there in mid-April. It remained there until early June, when Hermione went to retrieve it. We know that Black was in the school on the night after the match against Ravenclaw, before the Cloak is dropped in the passage, and Harry sees him in his Animagus form the night before the Slytherin match, after it had been left. Did Black enter the school via that passage? If so, did he pass by the Cloak, and, recognizing it as once belonging to James Potter, leave it aside? Or did he use another means to get into Hogwarts? The author never clarifies this point, but it is quite possible that Black opened a boarded-up window in the Shrieking Shack, and is using the tunnel under the Whomping Willow to enter the school grounds. It would appear that this route is less dangerous for Black, in either of his forms, than the route through Honeyduke's.

Connections

 * This is the first time we have seen a true Prophecy from Trelawney. We will discover that Trelawney had been hired almost entirely because of an earlier prediction, which will see in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It will turn out that this earlier prophecy drives most of the action of the entire series. When the Ministry claims power over the hiring and firing of Hogwarts teachers, and then fires Trelawney, in that same book, Professor Dumbledore acts to keep her at Hogwarts despite her dismissal. This is apparently because Voldemort is then actively seeking the full text of the original Prophecy, and Dumbledore believes that Trelawney's life is not safe if she leaves the school.
 * The form which Trelawney's prophecy takes is important. Note that the start of the prophecy is repeated; thus, a person who only hears the end of the prophecy actually only hears the beginning of it. It will turn out that this pattern also appears in the only other prophecy of Trelawney's that we hear. At the time we hear that prophecy, Professor Dumbledore will state that Voldemort had only heard the beginning of the prophecy, and was desperate to find out the rest of it. We will later discover that Voldemort's informant had been present only at the end of the prophecy. This is certainly easier to believe than that he was present during the first part of the prophecy and somehow bundled off, without disturbing Trelawney and breaking her trance, or having the audience lose the gist of her speech.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 6

Synopsis
The next morning, Malfoy entertains the Slytherin table by imitating Harry's reaction to the Dementors. The Weasley Twins remark that Draco was less brave when the Dementors were near his compartment.

Ron notices that Hermione's class schedule lists Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, and Divination, all at nine o'clock. When Ron teasingly asks if she is going to be in all three classes at the same time, Hermione cryptically replies that it is all worked out with Professor McGonagall.

Harry and Ron have trouble finding the Divination classroom that is atop the North Tower. Sir Cadogan, an inept Knight in a portrait, clatters through several paintings, leading them to a room with a trapdoor in the ceiling. A nameplate reads "Sybill Trelawney, Divination Teacher." The trap door opens, and a silvery ladder descends. Harry and the others clamber up. With great drama and fortuneteller's tricks, Professor Trelawney proclaims that Divination is a difficult subject, one that cannot be learned from books. Hermione seems skeptical. Today's lesson is reading tea leaves, and Trelawney sees a dog shape in Harry's cup that she identifies as the Grim, a death omen. She predicts someone will die, leaving Harry a bit worried; it is the third time a dog shape has appeared to him recently.

Harry and the entire class are so disturbed by Trelawney's prediction that during Transfiguration class, they seem unimpressed when Professor McGonagall transforms herself into a cat to demonstrate how Animagi change shape. Somewhat nettled, Professor McGonagall, who appears to have little respect for Divination or its teacher's abilities, explains that it is an imprecise branch of magical study. Every year Professor Trelawney predicts some student's imminent demise and none have ever died. McGonagall carefully stops short of denigrating Professor Trelawney.

At lunch, Hermione comments that she is quite unimpressed by Divination, proclaiming it a woolly and almost useless subject, particularly compared with her Arithmancy class. Ron is amazed, as she has been with them all morning and wonders how she could also have Arithmancy.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione head to Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class. Hagrid is dismayed that no one has been able to open their textbook — the secret is to stroke it, whereupon it becomes quiescent. In a paddock in the Forbidden Forest are Hippogriffs, magical creatures with a horse's hindquarters, and the wings, talons, and head of a bird. Harry is volunteered to be the first to approach them. He steps up to Buckbeak and, acting as Hagrid instructed, is accepted. Hagrid convinces him to climb onto Buckbeak, whereupon Buckbeak takes him for a quick flight around the Forest and back to the paddock. The students lose their fear and address the Hippogriffs properly; Malfoy, however, insults Buckbeak, and the angry Hippogriff slashes his arm with its talons. Hagrid carries Malfoy to the hospital wing as the class disperses in disarray.

When Hagrid does not appear at dinner, the Trio visit him in his hut. Hagrid has been drinking heavily, and is morosely convinced he will be sacked. Harry, Ron, and Hermione insist that Professor Dumbledore would not do that, and they are witnesses that Malfoy behaved improperly. Hermione tells Hagrid he has had enough to drink. Hagrid sobers himself by soaking his head in the rain barrel and, suddenly realizing Harry is outside the castle after dark, soundly berates them before escorting them back to the castle.

Analysis
Once again, Harry sees a canine image when Professor Trelawney identifies a shape in the tea leaves as a Grim; this is the first time that it is actually named and specifically identified as a death omen. This, along with Ron's description of the Grim that his uncle saw shortly before he died, further supports Harry's growing suspicion that he is seeing a true death symbol. Coupled with the ever-present Dementors, this omen causes Harry to grow anxious and fearful for his own safety.

The fakery employed by Professor Trelawney in her Divination course probably appalls many readers. Cultivating the mystical, misty atmosphere in her classroom, and carefully constructing her "predictions" to be vague, clearly reflects the fortune-telling tactics employed by Muggle "mediums". It is particularly curious that Trelawney's classroom seems less designed to teach Divination techniques, than it is a venue to showcase her fortune-telling methods. It is hardly surprising then that she would interpret soggy, clumped tea leaves in a cup as a Grim sign, conveniently planting the idea into her students' susceptible minds that this image fits her annual prediction that somebody at Hogwarts will die. Trelawney seems to be held in less than great esteem by other Hogwarts teachers. Although she carefully avoids speaking ill about another teacher, Professor McGonagall clearly appears to believe that Trelawney's brand of Divination is useless. We can see that Professor Dumbledore, despite his eccentricities, is very level-headed and knows what is transpiring in the school; he almost certainly shares McGonagall's opinion regarding the validity of Trelawney's teachings. Given this, one should wonder exactly why she is kept on.

The reader should pay attention to Trelawney's prediction offered to Lavender Brown: "That thing you are dreading. It is going to happen on Friday the sixteenth of October." The author's efficiency, and the precision of this statement, would lead us to believe that there will actually be something that occurs on that date. We note in passing that the action of this book is apparently meant to be taking place in 1993 and 1994; in one of the writer's endemic minor calendar confusions, October 16, 1993 is a Saturday. Another prediction she makes at the beginning of the lesson is to tell Neville to take a blue cup after he breaks his first pink one. When Neville does break the pink cup it leaves many of the class believing in her Seer qualities; however, one suspects she has deliberately chosen Neville to hand the cups out because of his diffidence. This sort of selection of the least confident participant, coupled with an assurance that said participant will mess up, often results in the participant failing as predicted.

Also, Hermione has the same classes as Harry and Ron, but her timetable indicates she is taking many more subjects than they are, including ones taught at the same time. She remains evasive whenever Harry and Ron query her about her heavy class load, cryptically responding that it has all been arranged with Professor McGonagall. There is as yet no explanation as to how Hermione is managing this, though there is probably some magical means behind it.

Hagrid, who was recently exonerated fifty years after being falsely accused of releasing the monster from the Chamber of Secrets, soon finds his new-found confidence and self-esteem severely shaken by the incident involving Draco Malfoy and Buckbeak. We, and the Trio, clearly see that Draco deliberately provoked the attack, insulting Buckbeak when Hagrid had expressly warned against it. Hagrid, however, who either failed to hear Draco's insult or simply lacks confidence, feels he alone is responsible for what happened.

Malfoy's character is further highlighted when he uses the Dementor incident to mock Harry, even as the Twins inform Harry that Draco is also terrified by them. Draco's mocking and bullying, occurring as it does only when Draco is protected either by distance or Crabbe and Goyle, his tame thugs, is to be expected from the cowardly bully personality that the author has crafted for him.

Readers should also pay close attention to Professor McGonagall's class lecture and demonstration.

Review

 * 1) Why is this chapter called "Talons and Tea Leaves"? What does that represent?
 * 2) What is seen in Harry's tea leaves and what does it signify? Has Harry seen it before?
 * 3) What does Trelawney predict and how do the students react to it?
 * 4) What does McGonagall have to say about Trelawney's prediction?
 * 5) What is Hermione's opinion about Divination? Explain.
 * 6) Why does Buckbeak attack Draco Malfoy?

Further Study

 * 1) How does Hagrid react after the Malfoy/Buckbeak incident? Is his behavior justified or not?
 * 2) Why might Hermione be so evasive about her class schedule? How can she be taking classes that are scheduled at the same time?
 * 3) What effect might Hermione's heavy class load eventually have on her? How can she cope?
 * 4) What might Dumbledore think about Trelawney's abilities? Why would he have hired Trelawney as the Divination teacher?

Greater Picture
The partial reason for Trelawney's tenure is learned later in the story. During Harry's Divination exam, Trelawney lapses into a trance and makes a bona fide prophecy. Professor Dumbledore remarks to Harry later that this is her second genuine prophecy, and suggests that she might merit a raise because of it. Her first, we learn some time later, concerned Harry and Voldemort. Dumbledore witnessed it as he was interviewing Trelawney for the Divination position, just as he was about to refuse her the job. Instead, he hired her, despite being soundly unimpressed by her Divination skills, on the basis of that prophecy. He later refuses to allow her to leave the school, apparently fearing for her welfare should Voldemort, who badly wants to know the prophecy, discover she was its source.

We later learn that Divination is an examined subject, as an OWL exam is offered in that course. Though, given what Trelawney is teaching, one must wonder exactly what is being examined. Professor Dumbledore, in describing Trelawney's interview, says that he was strongly considering not offering Divination as a course at Hogwarts following his discussions with Trelawney; this would indicate that Dumbledore shares Professor McGonagall's feelings about the subject, at least as Trelawney teaches it.

Also, Trelawney's annual prediction that a student at Hogwarts will die does come true in the next book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, though even in that instance it is in no way a true prophecy. It is actually only a timely coincidence, and the author may be using it here to foreshadow an upcoming tragedy.

Over the course of this year, we will see a very clear polarization in the students, between those like Harry, Hermione, and Ron who see Divination as nonsense, and those like Lavender and Parvati who believe in it unreservedly. Lavender and Parvati are not stupid; however, they do seem to be gullible, and for whatever reason, they remain unable to see through Trelawney's indirections and deceits. We believe that the author may be using Divination as a way to highlight that the ability to do magic does not automatically include the ability to see through trickery like Trelawney's, or by extension, like Voldemort's.

Professor McGonagall's class educates us about the Animagus transformation. According to Hermione, there are only seven registered Animagi, indicating it must be an extremely difficult feat to learn. Though it is unknown if there are unregistered Animagi, most readers, unlike Hermione, understand that it is possible to be outside the law in small ways. Even after learning that Animagi are legally required to be registered, we should consider if there might be others than just the known registered ones. There are indeed several unregistered Animagi, three that will appear in this story, including Sirius Black, and one other who first appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. How many others there might be, remains unknown.

As noted, Hermione is somehow taking more classes than humanly possible. Unknown to the other students, she has secretly arranged with Professor McGonagall to use a Time-Turner, a device that allows her to return in time to attend classes taught at the same hour. However, Hermione soon realizes she may have taken on a heavier burden than even she can possibly manage and is beginning to realize her own limitations. Throughout the book, Hermione will steadily become more stressed by her heavy schedule, at one point actually punching Malfoy in anger. Disgusted by Trelawney's Divination class, she drops it mid-year, and later drops Muggle Studies, leaving her with a humanly-possible workload. At school's end, she returns the Time-Turner to McGonagall, who sends it, we are led to believe, back to the Ministry. An errant jinx of Neville's strikes a cabinet which Harry recognizes as containing Time-Turners during the battle at the Ministry in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In conversation in the following book, we learn that all known Time-Turners were destroyed, which gives Harry, Hermione, and Ron an excuse for not taking Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures course.

There are a number of places in this book where the question of how Hermione is able to attend so many classes is raised, and dismissed. This is such a pervasive question that, in retrospect, one wonders how Hermione is able to keep the secret of the Time-Turner from us for sixteen chapters (it is given to her in the previous chapter, and revealed in chapter 21). It may reward the reader to note the fortuitous timing of distractions of one sort and another that occur around the times when the question should have been raised. The author does an extremely good job of arranging events to prevent the reader questioning things like the way Hermione keeps appearing and disappearing in one place and another, by putting another, apparently more important event adjacent to the occurrence. This is a vital part of this author's exemplary skill in the set-up and pay-off; in this case, we don't recognize the set-up, because of the distractions, until the pay-off, when, with the reveal of the Time-Turner, we suddenly realize what was going on. This pattern will recur multiple times though the series.

Despite his size and strength, as well as his bravery in facing various monsters, Hagrid is curiously insecure. It will take a long time for him to recover from the incident with Draco and Buckbeak, and he struggles throughout the book to prove Buckbeak's innocence. Meanwhile, Malfoy, who deliberately provoked Buckbeak, shows no remorse for the damage he inflicts on those he considers inferior, or over allowing an innocent creature to be condemned.

Connections

 * This is our first exposure to Divination and the low esteem in which it is held, probably justifiably. Professor Umbridge's apparent vendetta against Divination and Trelawney, and Trelawney's mid-year replacement by Firenze, will be a plot point in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
 * This is also our first introduction to the operation of the Time-Turner, though it is not yet identified to us. The Time-turner will remain behind the scenes until it is exposed by Hermione, at Professor Dumbledore's request, in chapter 21 of this book. It will not be used again, though the author does, we believe out of necessity, destroy the entire world's stock of Time-turners in a later book.


text:
Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 17

Synopsis
Still hiding under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry, Ron, and Hermione debate whether to return to comfort Hagrid, eventually deciding to proceed to the castle. Scabbers bites Ron, who struggles to hold him. Harry spots Crookshanks approaching, apparently homing in on Scabbers' squeaks. Scabbers escapes, with Crookshanks in hot pursuit. Ron goes after Scabbers, and Harry and Hermione fling off the Cloak and chase after him. Ron catches Scabbers, but a large black dog appears, knocking Harry aside and grabbing Ron. The dog drags Ron into a hole under the roots of the Whomping Willow, breaking Ron's leg. Harry, trying to follow, is struck by one of the Willow's flailing branches.

Crookshanks dives under the branches and presses a knot in the tree trunk. The branches fall still; following Ron and the black dog, Harry and Hermione enter a tunnel that leads to the Shrieking Shack. Upstairs, Ron, lying beside a decrepit four-poster bed, warns them it is a trap; the dog is Sirius Black, an Animagus. Black disarms Harry and Hermione with Ron's wand.

Sirius remarks he is glad Harry acted like his father, coming to save his friend rather than running for help; that makes things easier. Ron says Black will have to kill them all, not just Harry, but Black responds there will only be one murder tonight. Harry demands to know if killing twelve Muggles plus Peter Pettigrew were not enough and lunges at the visibly weakened Black, grabbing his wand wrist. Black chokes Harry with his free hand. Hermione kicks Black while Ron grabs his wand hand. Despite Crookshanks clawing at his hand, Harry recovers his wand, which is rolling free, while Hermione grabs her own wand and Ron's. Defenseless, Black asks if Harry is going to kill him. Harry says he knows Black betrayed his parents to Voldemort. Black admits he was responsible but there is more to the story. As Harry decides whether or not to listen, Crookshanks deliberately sits on Black's chest, resisting Black's efforts to remove him.

Professor Lupin suddenly bursts in, disarms Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and asks, "Where is he?" Black points at Ron. Lupin demands, "Why hasn't he shown himself? Unless... you switched... and didn't tell me?" Black nods. Lupin pulls Black to his feet, embracing him. Hermione, sounding betrayed, tells Lupin that she trusted him and protected his secret that he is a Werewolf. Lupin admits that he is a Werewolf, but he has not been helping Black, nor does he want Harry dead. The Hogwarts staff knows he is a Werewolf; Professor Dumbledore convinced them he was trustworthy. Professor Snape set the Werewolf assignment with the expectation that a student would detect Lupin and give away his secret.

Lupin returns the Trio's wands, placing his own wand in his belt, and asks the Trio to listen. Lupin saw Black's name on the Marauder's Map, which Lupin helped to create when he was a student at Hogwarts. He is, in fact, "Moony" of the four Marauders. He saw someone else on the map with the Trio, but they are baffled as to who he means. Lupin and Black claim that Scabbers is actually an Animagus wizard... and that his name is Peter Pettigrew.

Analysis
Harry, shocked by Lupin's apparent betrayal and overwhelmed by extreme emotions, is thinking and reacting illogically. He initially wants to execute Black, who even admits he was responsible for the Potters' deaths, though Black's demeanor and concern over Ron's injury belie his supposedly murderous intent. However, Lupin's timely and surprising arrival prevents Harry from harming Black, although it is doubtful whether Harry would intentionally kill or seriously wound him. Harry's underlying humanity ultimately prohibits him from performing violent acts, even against his enemies, unless it is to protect others. Only after Harry is forced to calm down is he willing to hear out Lupin, though Lupin's explanation that Scabbers is actually an Animagus Wizard seems too incredible to be believed.

Hermione also feels betrayed, having trusted Lupin and protecting his secret. If Lupin is lying and was actually aiding Black, by remaining silent, Hermione may have unwittingly doomed Harry. Lupin denies this, but given what is known about Black, we are having as hard a time believing this as Hermione, Harry, and Ron are.

Lupin's returning the Trio's wands, and then placing his own wand in his belt, is probably about the only thing that could have at least temporarily defused the situation; it shows that Lupin is secure enough in his own position that he believes himself able to convince he Trio by what he has to say, and believes that he will have no need to duel to make his points. By making himself effectively defenceless, he ensures that he will not be attacked until he is heard. This may, however, have repercussions later.

It has been noted multiple times that there were four Marauders, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. The revelation that Lupin, under his nickname Moony, is a Marauder, may lead the reader to suspect that Black, Harry's father, James, and Pettigrew, who we had earlier discovered were school friends, may be the other three. We don't yet understand the derivation of these nicknames, however.

Now that Black's Animagus form is known to be a large black canine, we may also wonder if he was the same dog that Harry saw near Privet Drive earlier, and during the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, that he mistook for a Grim. If he was, and the author's economical writing style seems to imply that, just what was Black's true intent if he was not planning to murder Harry?

Review

 * 1) What does Black mean when he says he is glad Harry acted like his father?
 * 2) What did Lupin, Pettigrew, and Black keep secret about themselves? Why?
 * 3) Why did Hermione never reveal Lupin's secret? How did she discover it?
 * 4) Lupin knew Black and Pettigrew were in the Shrieking Shack by using the Marauder's Map. How could he know how to use it?

Further Study

 * 1) Why would Crookshanks attack Harry when he reaches for his wand, and why does he sit on Sirius' chest, refusing to be moved?
 * 2) Would Harry have killed Black if Lupin had not intervened? Explain why he would or would not have.
 * 3) How does Crookshanks know how to still the Whomping Willow?
 * 4) What might Lupin mean when he asks if Black "switched?"

Greater Picture
As is usual in the Potter series, the book's climax ties up many plot elements, while also leaving questions open for future books. Rather than neatly wrapping up every significant revelation in a single chapter, the story-closing summations instead span three, and the principal characters' activities during this period take three more. The essential revelations are so dense that six chapters, about one third of the 22-chapter book, actually only cover a four-hour period in the story's overall timeline, though in fact three hours of that stretch are covered twice.

We have been told in this chapter that Sirius Black never intended to murder Harry, though this still seems doubtful; that Lupin also now believes Black never intended to harm Harry; that Lupin is a Werewolf and Hermione knew this; and that Peter Pettigrew, thought long dead, is actually alive in the form of Scabbers. The sudden change of perspective that this forces on us almost beggars belief; Harry clearly cannot believe it, and the reader also has difficulty with it, but every point will be corroborated in the next two chapters, not only by Black and Lupin, but also inadvertently by Snape. We will find that Black was convicted and imprisoned for a crime he never committed, and that Black feels responsible for Harry's parents' deaths, though he never betrayed them. Pettigrew being forced to resume his human shape will prove that Black did not murder him, which suggests strongly that the Muggles who died in that incident were killed by Pettigrew.

At Christmas, it was revealed that Black was Harry's godfather, and we will find that he has retained his affection for his godson. While Black was imprisoned, he wanted to know how Harry had grown up, and, after his escape, went to Privet Drive to try and glimpse Harry. He was at the Quidditch match to watch how well Harry could fly. On both occasions, he was in his Animagus form, the shape that Harry had believed to be a Grim. He was also in his Animagus shape the night that Harry saw him with Crookshanks.

In future books, it will turn out that Sirius becomes a large part of Harry's life. If there is any truth behind the smoke-and-mirrors fortune-telling that occurs in Professor Trelawney's Divination class, perhaps the putative Grim that Trelawney repeatedly finds in Harry's future is actually Sirius.

Scabbers is curiously intent on escaping, starting in the previous chapter where he seems to be trying to return to the concealment of the milk jug where Hermione had found him, to the point here where he manages to escape Ron's grip. Once we know who Scabbers really is, of course, his attempts to escape seem only logical; he is deathly afraid of being discovered by Sirius, who he had falsely accused of James', Lily's, and Pettigrew's death. It is a testament to the author's skill that the action of this chapter keeps us from wondering too much about why Scabbers is trying to escape.

Connections

 * The Marauder's Map, created by James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, was first used earlier in this book to allow Harry to escape into Hogsmeade, and was later confiscated by Lupin; it has just shown Lupin, and will shortly show Snape, that people are getting into the Shrieking Shack via the tunnel under the Whomping Willow. After it is restored to him, Harry uses it to avoid interception by Peeves and Filch during Harry's fourth year; then, after it is borrowed by Professor Moody, it plays a role in Barty Crouch Jr.'s plot to murder his own father. Harry uses it to avoid detection of Dumbledore's Army, and himself, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It keeps Harry aware of Malfoy's activities in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Finally, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry uses the map to gaze at Ginny's name as she attends classes at Hogwarts.