Prisoner of Azkaban-Ink Black Heart links, Part 1: Interrupted birthdays and well-deserved vacations.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Career of Evil (Books #3 in their respective series) have one very clear over-arching connection: both stories involve a deranged filler out to kill one of our major protagonists. Of course, there are also some contrasts: in PoA, the identity of the "killer" is known (Sirius Black) but the popular belief about him is false (he is not actually a killer, but a wrongly convicted prisoner and he does not want to kill Harry, but rather to save him from the real killer, Peter Pettigrew). No one knows the identity of the man stalking and planning to kill "The Secretary" (Donald Laing) until the book's end, but everyone is 100% about his plans to murder Robin; he, unlike Sirius, is actually responsible for multiple other deaths as well. 

Will Prisoner turn out to also have major connections to The Ink Black Heart, Book 3 on the hypothesized second ring that closes the Cormoran Strike Series?  That remains to be seen.  Here, I am going to examine the "prologues of both books." This means the part literally labelled "Prologue" in TIBH, covering the Ritz and the aftermath of the missed kiss, Strike's New Year's Eve stakeout and taking up with Madeline, and Robin's trip to Zermatt. For Harry Potter, it is the first four, pre-Hogwarts chapters: Harry's birthday, the visit from Aunt Marge, his flight from Privet Drive via the Knight Bus after blowing her up and his subsequent three-week vacation in Diagon Alley. Obviously, I am taking a risk comparing four chapters each to start with, given that PoA has 22 chapters and TIBH 107. But, so far, the strategy of grouping the pre-Hogwarts segment with the pre-main-mystery section has served me pretty well.

It won't surprise me if the connections break down a bit, compared to what I saw in the PS-LW and CoS-TB comparisons. As I have argued elsewhere, TIBH is largely a "reset" volume, where Strike and Robin's budding romance and even their professional partnership take a few backwards steps, likely because of hypothesized decision of Galbraith to expand the Strike series from seven books to something longer; it is not known when the 10-book plan was decided upon.  Hence the brakes get put on the Strellacott 'ship with the missed kiss, Madeline appears as Lorelei II, Strike is "wondering about his true feelings for Robin" and "for the first time, considering her a full partner" (no, Corm, you were pretty clear on that back in TB) and insisting she stay home and do computer work at the first sign of danger (what about the post-Mucky Ricci talk?) PoA, however, is advancing Harry's involvement in the wizarding world and making more connections to his father's generation through the introduction of Sirius and Lupin. There is also the whole time-travel plot, which is going to be a challenge to duplicate in a realistic detective novel.  

But of course, none of that is any reason not to look. And, we find one connection literally in the first sentences, which start off telling us how atypical our protagonists are. Harry, we learn, hates the school holidays more than any other time of year, and is eager to do his summer homework but forbidden to do so, so much that he has to hide his studies from his guardians. Robin and Strike, the couple who is apparently having the best time at the Ravoli Bar, are actually not a couple. 

In the first chapter, we also find the same connection as we saw in CoS-TB: both books open with a birthday celebration. However, in contrast to the preceding books, where the celebration was not altogether happy (marred by Joan's diagnosis, and Harry's being blamed and punished for Dobby's actions), both Robin's and Harry's birthday's are unexpectedly happy. Harry gets the first birthday cards ever and presents from his best friends, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid; Robin, who at the end of Troubled Blood got her first-ever card from Strike, is now enjoying her new perfume and an Ritzy evening out with her best friend, because he has, unlike the last two years, decided to be thoughtful about his gift to her. For both Harry and Robin, the atmosphere is the complete opposite of their previous birthday. 

Unfortunately, in both books, the festivities come to a screeching halt. For Robin, this happens because of her automatic fear response to Strike's attempted kiss. The emotional closeness she had built with Strike in the last book is wiped out and barriers are re-erected---  barriers that will disrupt their relationship for at least the next three books. For Harry, his happiness evaporates when he learns that his despicable Aunt Marge, the Dursley-who-is-worse-than-the-Dursleys, is arriving the next day for a week-long visit.  Not only is this the "worst birthday gift the Dursleys have ever given him," he has to hide his good presents and his cards under his floorboards and send Hedwig away for a week. 

Finally, both our heroes get a well-deserved and long-overdue vacation. Robin, who has been working almost non-stop since her disastrous honeymoon (other than her calamitous first anniversary getaway and her miserable TB Christmas in Masham) finally gets a week away on her own when her cousin Katie invites her on a skiing holiday in Zermatt, which is largely pleasant except for the annoying Hugh Jacks. Harry's getaway is even more unexpected; after blowing up Marge and running away, he is stunned to be allowed a room at the Leahy Cauldron and free reign of Diagon Alley for that last three weeks of his summer; this is certainly the best holiday he's ever had. 

I was tempted to try to draw a connection between Marge and Hugh, but it doesn't work especially well. While I am sure Robin wouldn't have minded seeing the Axeman inflated and floating off over the Matterhorn, the irritation she feels towards him is nothing like the hatred Harry has for Marge, and his annoyances are nothing like Marge's verbal abuse. Besides, Marge is the cause of Harry's getaway; Hugh is merely a downside of Robin's 

Nor did I see any particular PoA connection between Strike's New Year and the start of his relationship with Madeline. But given that 1) she's annoying and 2) the Trio, at age 13, aren't ready to date yet, this is probably a good thing. 

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