Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author(s): Rowling J.K.
Release year: 1999
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Why in Database: The most turtle position in the seven books of Harry Potter. We have here two mentions of turtles, the first is a description of the turtle visible in the display case of the animal store on Diagon Alley, the second is a longer piece in which students exchange their impressions after the transfiguration exam, where the task was to transform a teapot into the turtle. The other four memories are about Kappa, a very turtle creature that is mentioned in the context of Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.
A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window.
From Red Caps they moved on to kappas, creepy. water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.
“Water demon,“ said Lupin, surveying the grindylow thoughtfully. “We shouldn’t have much difficulty with him, not after the kappas.“
“Please, sir, we’ve done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and grindylows,“ said Hermione quickly, “and we’re just about to start –“
“Very poorly explained… That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia…. Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn’t have given it three….“
The third years emerged from Transfiguration at lunchtime on Monday, limp and ashen-faced, comparing results and bemoaning the difficulty of the tasks they had been set, which had included turning a teapot into a tortoise.
Hermione irritated the rest by fussing about how her tortoise had looked more like a turtle, which was the least of everyone else’s worries.
“Mine still had a spout for a tail, what a nightmare…”
“Were the tortoises supposed to breathe steam?”
“It still had a willow-patterned shell, d’you think that’ll count against me?”
Author: XYuriTT
