The world of witchcraft and wizardry comes alive once again with the new release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Based on the third novel written by J.K. Rowling, The Prisoner of Azkaban came out Tuesday, Nov. 23 with booming sales and rentals.

According to imdb.com, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban currently sits at the number two position in top rentals with a gross of $10.2 million.

The Prisoner of Azkaban is also Amazon.com’s number one best seller.

The movie takes viewers into the life of Harry Potter and his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) returns to Hogwarts with his friends Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) to find that a murdurous convict, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), has escaped from Azkaban and is after Harry.

Although he is supposed to be safe from danger while at Hogwarts, Harry encounters many new dangers and terrors in his third year at school.

Dementors, soul-sucking guards from Azkaban, have come to Hogwarts to find Black, but Harry has a few deathly encounters with the monsters.

Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) becomes the new Care of Magical Creatures professor and with his first class, Malfoy (Tom Felton) causes a big problem for Hagrid.

Along with these new terrors and dangers, Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) still doesn’t like Harry and tries to catch him in trouble. There’s also a werewolf lurking around the grounds this year.

Although the movie has new terrors and dangers for Harry, The Prisoner of Azkaban also has several comical and light moments with the Knight Bus, Harry blowing up his uncle’s sister and the Boggart.

Staying very close to the storyline of the novel, the movie introduces a few new characters: Professor Lupin (David Thewlis) is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Trelawney (Emma Thompson) is the scatter-brained Devination teacher and Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy), is the Minister of Magic.

A major change in the cast for the third movie is Michael Gambon playing Dumbledore.

The third movie is very different from the first two because Harry and his friends are not restricted to the grounds at Hogwarts anymore.

The Prisoner of Azkaban is a great movie and novel to avid readers of the Harry Potter series because Harry learns more about both his parents’ death and lives. In the third story, Harry also learns of a secret that will change his life (you’ll have to see the movie or read the book to find out).

The movie is a definite must-see for anyone who likes Harry Potter or for anyone who wants to believe that there is magic and imagination in the world.

The DVD comes with a second disc that is filled with special bonuses from the movie. Viewers can take a tour of Hogwarts or Honeydukes, play a few games, see interviews with cast, crew and J.K Rowling and many more bonuses.

The movie is rated PG (for mild language, frightening moments and creature violence), and has a running time of 142 minutes.

The fourth movie, The Goblet of Fire is set to be in theaters in 2005. Filming for The Goblet of Fire started March 2004 with the returning cast from the previous Harry Potter movies along with some very new faces.