Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Harry Potter Review Continued

Book 2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Despite dire warnings about returning to Hogwarts, Harry does so, only to learn that a monster has escaped from Hogwarts' chamber of secrets. It attacks several students -- including Hermione -- leaving them paralyzed. Because he is able to speak to snakes, Harry is suspected of being the Heir of Slytherin, the villain who has unlocked the chamber of secrets and is controlling the monster. Ron's sister Ginny is kidnapped and hauled off to the chamber, forcing Harry and Ron to take action. In the chamber, Harry encounters and kills Tom Riddle who -- it gets a bit confusing here -- is a sort of ghost-memory version of the teenage Voldemort, the real heir of Slytherin. (Bonus point: "Tom Marvolo Riddle" is an anagram of "Lord Voldemort.") That closes the chamber and Harry leaves Hogwarts for summer break.

Book 3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry is back at Hogwarts for a third year, eager to play Quidditch. Instead, Harry finds himself in apparent danger from the convicted murderer Sirius Black, who has escaped from Azkaban prison. Soul-sucking Dementors, who guard the prison, have been sent to Hogwarts, supposedly to protect Harry from the escapee, but who more than once attack our hero. Eventually, Harry learns that Black was once his parent's best friend and accused of having betrayed their whereabouts to Voldemort. Worse, Black, it turns out, is Harry's godfather. But when Harry finally confronts Black, he discovers that Black was framed for giving up Harry's parents and that he escaped Azkaban to kill the actual murderer, Peter Pettigrew (a.k.a. Wormtail), Voldemort's servant. Black is captured by the Dementors but, thanks to Hermione's time-travelling device, she and Harry return to the recent past to help Black escape.

Tomorrow--Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

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