It’s Monday, and Podtrificus Totalus is back! This chapter begins our coverage of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in the series. We begin by covering the release of Prisoner of Azkaban and the writing process behind it, then launch into the full chapter discussion.

We make a number of references to outside sources and popular culture, which are listed below:

• 
  

  Prisoner of Azkaban was delayed from The Remembrall, archived by the Wayback Machine

  
  


• 
  

  New ‘Potter’ movie sneaks in spoilers for upcoming books (Claudia Puig for USA Today; 27 May 2004)

  
  


• 
  

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on the Harry Potter Lexicon

  
  


• 
  

  Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (movie)

  
  


• 
  

  Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter by Galadriel Waters (Ed. Astre Mithrandir; Published by Wizarding World Press in 2003)

  
  


• 
  

  Bathilda Bagshot on the Harry Potter Wiki

  
  


• 
  

  The Lord of the Rings (series) by J.R.R. Tolkien

  
  


• 
  

  Wendelin the Weird on the Harry Potter Wiki

  
  


• 
  

  Property Brothers, a home improvement show on HGTV

  
  


• 
  

  The Wizarding World Currency Exchange on the Harry Potter Lexicon

  
  


• 
  

  Fleetwood Mac, Cassie’s mom’s favorite band

  
  


• 
  

  Mistakes in the Harry Potter books on the Harry Potter Wiki

  
  


• 
  

  The Flame-Freezing Charm on the Harry Potter Wiki

  
  

We also answer a listener email from Marlin, who clarifies some details on poltergeists in the Harry Potter universe.