Jayson’s Reviews > Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban > Status Update

I liked this sequence because it well illustrates how not only boggarts function, but also fears. The children here all fear for simple and uncomplicated things like monsters, things that go bump in the night, and abusive authority figures. Adults, meanwhile, fear deeper and darker things: Lupin fears the moon because it makes him lose his senses and might cause him to hurt his loved ones; and in a later book, Mrs. Weasley, an otherwise quite fearless and surprisingly formidable woman, completely breaks down at the sight of her own children dead. I think Harry was noted as being unusually mature in this regard: his fear of dementors suggests that he fears the fear itself, which goes quite a bit above the simple stuff of his peers.

One of my favourite scenes, in retrospect.

My favourite Harry Potter Jayson

Juho wrote: "I liked this sequence because it well illustrates how not only boggarts function, but also fears. The children here all fear for simple and uncomplicated things like monsters, things that go bump i..."

Yes, I agree. Well said :)

Leila wrote: "My favourite Harry Potter Jayson"

That's great! Glad to hear that, Leila :)

Poor Neville. He’s always getting the short end of the stick. He has a great character arc, it’s so easy to root for him

Loving these updates, Jayson! Keep'em coming! :D

I like to think of how much fun the costume department had with Alan Rickman for this scene 🤩

Annie wrote: "Poor Neville. He’s always getting the short end of the stick. He has a great character arc, it’s so easy to root for him"

Yes, you really see a baby-step maturation through the series, and he's probably the character that changes the most from start to finish. All the grief he gets does accumulate to greater satisfaction at the end. The scene at St. Mungo's in "Order of the Phoenix" is a particular favorite of mine.

Jody wrote: "Loving these updates, Jayson! Keep'em coming! :D"

Thanks so much, Jody! I'm happy you enjoy them. If I can keep up the pace, it'll be daily updates until the end of the series :)

Aoife - Bookish_Babbling wrote: "I like to think of how much fun the costume department had with Alan Rickman for this scene 🤩"

Yes, I wish there was some behind-the-scenes footage about it. I'm sure there were many cell-phone photos taken that day :)

I dunno, phone cameras then were awfully pixelated...if anyone has those photos they prob can't even tell what it is supposed to be an image of nowdays 😅
They must have actual set footage tho, prob saving it all for anniversary editions with bonus bts material 🤞😇

Aoife - Bookish_Babbling wrote: "I dunno, phone cameras then were awfully pixelated...if anyone has those photos they prob can't even tell what it is supposed to be an image of nowdays 😅
They must have actual set footage tho, prob..."

Yes, I expect there's a lot of stuff that couldn't fit on DVDs back in the day that might now fill several disks of bonus material :)

Hahaha, the Lupin, Snape, Neville thing is so true... and messed up *lol*

oh yeah poor neville have u wached the movies

books

Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Hahaha, the Lupin, Snape, Neville thing is so true... and messed up *lol*"

Yeah, things that happen in school have long-lasting effects into adulthood. I'd imagine the new mockery triggered some kind of ptsd, and subsequent adolescent behavior.

the toothpaste boys wrote: "oh yeah poor neville have u wached the movies"

the toothpaste boys wrote: "books"

Yes, I have watched the movies and read the books :)

Jayson wrote: "Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Hahaha, the Lupin, Snape, Neville thing is so true... and messed up *lol*"

Yeah, things that happen in school have long-lasting effects into adulthood. I'd imagine the..."

PTSD. Of course, it can be argued that he could at least try to be nicer to this kids, regardless of the situation.

cool

Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "PTSD. Of course, it can be argued that he could at least try to be nicer to this kids, regardless of the situation."

Yes, you'd expect at least that from an adult, and an eminent professor at that. But then, Snape sort of has an inability to separate like things. He looks at Harry and can only see James. Neville mocks him in the present, and he only sees Neville as a student who mocked him in the past. It's not so much history repeating with him, as much as it's that when something reminds him of a person or thing from his past, the new thing and the old thing become one and the same, and are treated as such.

the toothpaste boys wrote: "cool"

🙂👍

Jayson wrote: "Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "PTSD. Of course, it can be argued that he could at least try to be nicer to this kids, regardless of the situation."

Yes, you'd expect at least that from an adult, and..."

Exactly. He needed to grow up and leave behind all of that. You can't live forever hunted by your childhood baggage. Well, I mean, you can, but what's really wrong in here is that he takes it out on kids. If he had taken this actions with the adults only it wouldn't have been that bad.

Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Exactly. He needed to grow up and leave behind all of that. You can't live forever hunted by your childhood baggage. Well, I mean, you can, but what's really wrong in here is that he takes it out o..."

Yes, that's certainly the most distressing part of his character. What makes it even worse is that students are people who are entirely dependent on him for academic success and advancement, meaning they can't even punch back or defend themselves as they would to a peer. In a way, I don't think Snape ever matured past adolescence, and may consider his treatment of students entirely acceptable because he's still kind of a teenager himself.

Mhmm I think if Snape wouldn't have been so cruel to Neville he wouldn't have been mocked by him in effigy. In Austria we have the saying: "Wie man in den Wald schreit so kommt es zurück." Which basically means that people react to you exactly how you react to them. (Freely translated it would mean: How you yell into the wood, the same it comes back.) So if Snape wouldn't have been so mean to Neville in the first place he would have never been so afraid of him. It's a vicious cycle. In his teens Snape was bullied and now he uses every chance to bully his students.

Virginia Ronan wrote: "Mhmm I think if Snape wouldn't have been so cruel to Neville he wouldn't have been mocked by him in effigy. In Austria we have the saying: "Wie man in den Wald schreit so kommt es zurück." Which ba..."

Yes, unfortunately for Neville, he got sucked into a cyclone of Snape's personal issues. I figure that Snape just targets those people he thinks are the weakest, and least likely to fight back. Honestly, he targets Harry much the same, but Neville lets it affect him visibly... it's like blood in the water and Snape's a shark.

I hated this one and stopped reading the HP series because of it. It was too much Quidditch and village for my liking :/
I loved Sirius in the movies and was so excited to get more of his character in the book that supposedly talks about him. I was furious to find out that it wasn't the case! And it was a pain to finish it. I was really disappointed :(

Salam wrote: "I hated this one and stopped reading the HP series because of it. It was too much Quidditch and village for my liking :/
I loved Sirius in the movies and was so excited to get more of his character..."

Sorry to hear that, Salam. I would encourage you to read on to at least the fifth book, since there's a good deal of Sirius scenes and info in that one. Though, if you found this a pain to finish, I think the later books might be more of the same, especially if you dislike Quidditch and Hogsmede. Not everything's for everyone.

Jayson wrote: "Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Exactly. He needed to grow up and leave behind all of that. You can't live forever hunted by your childhood baggage. Well, I mean, you can, but what's really wrong in h..."

Exactly! And, now that I think of it, Dumbledore wasn't much better if he let that happen in his school. Because the one way a student can defend themselves is by talking to the headmaster and if Dumbledore, who knew pretty much everything that was going on in his school, didn't do anything to make the situation better, then, he wasn't better.

Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Exactly! And, now that I think of it, Dumbledore wasn't much better if he let that happen in his school. Because the one way a student can defend themselves is by talking to the headmaster and if D..."

I agree. To me, Dumbledore as headmaster was always more of an honorary and ceremonial figurehead than hands-on administrator. Especially in the sixth book where, though understandable, he was barely at the school at all. That's not counting large portions of the second and fifth book where he was removed as headmaster outright.

Though, I don't know if he could have done anything about Snape's abuse to begin with. Apart from not wanting to push him into re-joining the Death Eaters, the whole atmosphere of the school does have a very medieval tenor about it, and so perhaps action/inaction against abusive teachers reflects that attitude.

Jayson wrote: "Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Exactly! And, now that I think of it, Dumbledore wasn't much better if he let that happen in his school. Because the one way a student can defend themselves is by talki..."

Hmm, maybe. I mean, I guess I get that he wanted to protect Snape but he could have fired him.

He was a figurehead a lot of the time. People just respected him and that's why he got to do mostly whatever he wanted but the person really runing the school was McGonagall.

Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Hmm, maybe. I mean, I guess I get that he wanted to protect Snape but he could have fired him.

He was a figurehead a lot of the time. People just respected him and that's why he got to do mostly wha..."

Frankly, I think he was just given the position by the Ministry to keep him in one place and out of trouble. The most powerful wizard in the world off doing whatever he wants can be a dangerous thing and, like Voldemort, spawn a cult of personality and rival power base. Which is why I always think of Dumbledore as a nuclear weapon the Ministry wants to keep close tabs on. Also, it's very true about McGonagall running the school. Like most professional partnerships, it's the case where one person's more the public face while the other's more the behind-the-scenes administrator.

Jayson wrote: "Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Hmm, maybe. I mean, I guess I get that he wanted to protect Snape but he could have fired him.

He was a figurehead a lot of the time. People just respected him and tha..."

Hahaha, he was just been babysat *lol* I love that XD

Alexandra Elend Wolf wrote: "Hahaha, he was just been babysat *lol* I love that XD"