Chapter Discussion: Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 17: Cat, Rat and Dog

[rtbthw_mom]

No: HPFGUIDX 190259



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff" <geoffbannister123 at ...> wrote:
Snip excellent summary of the chapter. Thanks, Geoff!
> QUESTIONS
> 
> 1. When the dog attacked the group, what were your thoughts about where 
> it had come from and what it was? For example, did your mind return to the 
> Grim? 

No, I was just going along for the ride at this point, waiting to see what JKR had in store for us.

> 
> 3. Crookshanks pushed the knot on the trunk of the tree which caused its 
> flailing to stop. What were your thoughts at that point about Crookshanks 
> and his actions? Accidental? More to the Kneazle than meets the eye?

I am not certain, but I'm pretty sure that JKR hadn't discussed Kneazles yet, so I didn't even know that there could have been such a thing (didn't read FBAWTFT until later.)
> 
> 4. In the Shrieking Shack, the dog is then revealed to be Sirius Black. Had 
> any sort of possibility like this crossed your mind previously?

No. The reveal was so much fun though!
> 
> 5. Many of Sirius' actions and words at the outset still seemed to indicate 
> that he was after Harry. Do you think that he took a very great risk to 
> himself in increasing that perception by saying to Harry "Going to kill me?". 
> If so, why did he behave in this way? Would Harry have really attempted 
> to do this if Crookshanks had not intervened?

My impression has always been that, while Harry thought he wanted to kill Sirius, he really had no idea how to go about it, and was pretty much stalling for time, trying to figure out something he could do. We haven't seen Harry do too many things outside of what we've seen him learn in class (with the possible exception of the tickling charm he does on Draco at the dueling club in CoS.)  
> 
> 6. To me, this is the most interesting chapter in the whole book because 
> there are so many questions answered, so many puzzles resolved and, as 
> a result,  so many pieces of the jigsaw fall into place. Would you agree 
> and, if so, what was for you the most illuminating information that was 
> revealed?

This chapter all by itself cemented my HP fandom. I was a late-comer to the whole HP world: HBP was just about to be published when I started reading. While I had enjoyed PS/SS and CoS, I really started noticing all of the "little extras" that JKR puts into the books. When we discover that Sirius is the dog in animagi form, I made the connection that the star Sirius is called the dog-star. When it's revealed that Remus is a werewolf, his name suddenly made perfect sense to me. And I started looking for all the other things that are to be found in the HP books. So, as you say, so many pieces of the jigsaw fell into place and suddenly I couldn't get enough of Harry Potter!
> 

> 
> Geoff
>

Thanks again for a great summary and great questions!
Pat