Harry Potter Week: Remembering POA

Prisoner of Azkaban was the book that first hooked me on Harry Potter. I knew, of course, that there were these books going around, and I had seen the SS/PS movie, but it was kind of.... meh. Whatever. They were books for children.

But I was a sophomore living in the "honors dorm" filled with a bunch of truly dorky (and awfully clever) people, and so many of them were talking about these freaking Harry Potter books that I decided I might as well see why all these otherwise smart people were reading these things.

I settled myself in the university library, in the children's section, with one of the four copies of Prisoner of Azkaban available. (Even though there were only three of the seven books yet released, the Harry Potter books already took up an entire shelf of the library. Everyone seemed to want a copy.)

Before I continue I want to mention something wonderful about my university's library -- or, perhaps, their system of planning. The honors dorm, a lovely old building from 1912, was placed directly next to the university library. It was barely a few steps to go. I could do it barefoot. I *did* do it barefoot. The library was open all night, and I spent many wonderful late nights running from my little room to the giant expanse of books. Pure instant gratification.

Anyway. POA was a pageturner, and I read it cover-to-cover on a weekend afternoon. I still wasn't sure these things were "literature," or even if they were particularly well-written, but they were certainly well-plotted. I ran delightedly back to the honors dorm. Now I knew what these books were about, and I could join in the game.