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Mikayla Lietzke

2nd Hour

Folder Write #1

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban​ and ​Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire​ are by

far the best books in the ​Harry Potter​ series. The books do a good job of fleshing out characters

while also bringing up small points that seem irrelevant throughout the book, but then towards

the end, stack up to be a huge plot point. However, if you have not read ​Harry Potter and the

Prisoner of Azkaban​, or any of the following ​Harry Potter​ books, you should NOT read any

further.

A fantastic example of this is when Hermione seemed to have signed up for a bunch of

classes that all happened during the same period. Harry and Ron wonder how she manages to

balance going to all her classes while staying on top of her work throughout the entirety of the

book. Yet, at the end, it is revealed that Professor McGonagall lent Hermione a time-turner in

order to turn back time and attend all of her classes everyday. So, during the finale of the book,

Hermione still has this useful item in her possession that she uses to ensure there’s enough time

to rescue the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, from being executed, while also ensuring Sirius Black has a

means of escape from his own death as well, while ALSO ensuring that Harry and Hermione are

in the hospital wing at the correct time to prevent themselves from being caught by the Ministry

of Magic. Hermione having all sorts of classes without a means to attend them seems pretty

lame, until it winds up leading to one of the most explosive conclusions to a book in the ​Harry

Potter​ series.
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ​certainly has a good ending that’s crazy as well, but

most of what makes this book so bananas happens during the middle of the book. Thanks to the

Triwizard Tournament, Harry is able to take on all sorts of insane challenges. The best one

would have to be when Harry goes to face a dragon, in order to retrieve its golden egg. He

strolls in with nothing but his wand, but then he summons his broom from a solid three miles

away (in order to do a hit and run) like an absolute madman and winds up placing first for that

challenge.

Also, ​Goblet of Fire​ does a great job of fleshing out some of the characters that are only

seen in this book, like Fleur DeLacour. Fleur is established to be absolutely gorgeous, yet

Rowling traces this back to Fleur’s Veela heritage. She is also shown as being caring and

protective when her younger sister is supposedly put into the line of fire in one of the Triwizard

Tournament challenges. Fleur panics when she is unable to rescue her sister from the bottom of

a lake, presuming her sister had drowned. However, when Harry brings Fleur’s sister back up to

the surface, alive and well, she breaks down in tears of relief when she is able to reunite with her

sister.

Both ​Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban​, and ​Harry Potter and the Goblet of

Fire​ are the best entries in the ​Harry Potter​ series. The two books cement themselves in the

position through their explosive endings, foreshadowing, developed characters, and interesting

plot lines. I, personally, have not yet finished the series, but I hope that I will be able to add yet

another book to the top of the list.