[First read: December 2001. 3 stars. 
 Second read: 2nd February 2016. 3 stars.] 
 Read as part of The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003. 
 I think it was pretty similar to the first two books in terms of style, but of course there was little other development, except a small addition to the world (Hogsmeade: whilst it's a nice place, it's still far too small to provide much to the whole) and to the characters (Sirius and Lupin). At this point in the series we are still looking at rather simple children's books, but the tone of the story is getting much darker and you can see the transition as the characters themselves get older and the threats grow. 
 I liked the development of Hermione, which is something I'm looking at closely during this re-read. In the first two books she just seemed like the Token Girl, who giggled and cried and was scared and needed to be rescued (much like Ginny, who has perhaps replaced her), but in this third book she seems to have dropped that moniker somewhat. She's still not quite as I remember her, though. 
 It was written better than the first two: you can clearly see various improvements, but it still doesn't seem to have the magic I was expecting. Not magic-magic (y'know, wooshy wands and all that) but the magic of the whole thing. I think the severe lack of world is really getting to me: the castle is fun, the Dursley's house is fun, the solitary trips to Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are fun, but they're so small. So so small. 
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