Prisoner of Azkaban Chapters 10-11

For Diane O.... because you so love my blog.

Tests of Loyalty

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I have sure seen a decrease in loyalty in our society. Gone are the days of an entire city being devoted to one sports team. Seldom do you find consumers shopping at a single store out of loyalty (Ahem, Walmart.) And rarely do you see loyalty to a political figure and going even further, loyalty of that political figure to his or her office. People these days even jump ship on religions like they're fads. I can tell by the way she writes, that JK Rowling values loyalty as this is one of the major themes (and my favorite) that comes out throughout the book. Bonds of loyalty and trust and tried, tested, and sometimes even broken. In Chapter 10 of this book, Harry finds himself in the hospital wing because of a fall from his broomstick. Harry, being the moody teen he is, dwells on his overwhelming problems: his broken broomstick, quidditch, the issue with the dementors, the grim, and the fugitive, Sirius Black. We get a firsthand look inside Harry's head because he's the protagonist of the story, but what is not to be overlooked is that while Harry is lying in the hospital wing, Ron and Hermione "left Harry's bedside only at night." I don't think this is a superfluous tidbit added by Rowling; rather, I prefer to believe she did it intentionally to reenforce the theme of loyalty because their loyalty to Harry will be severely tested later in the series.



Keeping with the theme of loyalty, we see in this book that although Dumbledore is an extremely accomplished and powerful wizard, he has earned the respect of others. It has been said that the true test of character is how you treat your subordinates.... or something like that. We've already seen acts of loyalty demonstrated by Hagrid in earlier books and I'll reitterate those as more examples come later on. In this chapter, we see a demonstration of loyalty to Dumbledore by McGonagall. During her conversation with Fudge, Flitwick, and Hagrid in the Three Broomsticks, McGonagall unquestionably backs Dumbledore when Fudge mentions the dementors being angry with Dumbledore.

Christmas Bells are Ringing... blah blah blah blah blah blah.

During the Christmas feast, Professor Trelawny notices the absence of Professor Lupin. Dumbledore gives the excuse that he's ill. However, Professor Lupin has not been seen in the hospital wing... suspicious. Perhaps he knew he was going to be sick, and perhaps this is why he didn't want to start anti-dementor lessons with Harry until after break. I don't think he was really busy... hmmmm.

It's a Freaking Broomstick

It takes true talent to write about a plain object like a broomstick and make the readers yearn for one the same way they'd pine for a new sports car. As I was reading about Harry and Ron's excitement over the Firebolt, I had to stop and remind myself that it's a stupid broomstick she's describing. There is no such thing as a Firebolt, yet I found myself jealous that Harry had one and I didn't... :(