Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The theme was “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”. This was used by the leaders as a way of connecting with biblical stories and our church teachings. We watched the film the first night along with lots of popcorn.  The next morning we thought about the story of Peter Pettigrew, who had betrayed Harry’s parents. There was discussion about times when people had treated us badly and whether we would want to take revenge or forgive. We also thought about biblical characters who forgave, such as, Joseph and Jesus.  We looked up biblical passages about forgiveness. This theme continued when we heard how Harry and his friends realised that they had been wrong all along about Sirius Black and thought about times when we have been wrong in our own lives.

Time Turners

On Thursday, Hermione’s  time turner gave us another theme. Hermione uses a time turner to give her the chance to attend more lessons – something only one of us wanted to do! We learnt that even though we cannot go back in time and make changes, the Lord, through Divine Providence, finds ways to lead us each day and makes sure that something good comes from everything we experience – even though it may not feel like it at the time. Another topic was about the Dementors, who are terrifying soul-destroying creatures. We each created our own “pocket patronus”  – uplifting biblical passages for us to use when we are finding life tough.

Social Time

We also enjoyed lots of social time; we went to Forbidden Corner which is best described as an outside maze full of tunnels, underground chambers and secret passages where it was really easy to get lost. Another trip was to Skipton for a shopping trip, and we played lots of games of “Werewolf”.

Surprising Spiritual Adventure

They young people were really keen to go down to the reservoir, and who can resist when the countryside was so beautiful?  As we had such a busy programme of activities, the only way we could fit it in was to have a short Vespers service while we were there.  There is something deeply moving about worshipping in the open air, and it was even more special for two of the leaders – we remember doing something similar when we were not much older than these young people in the Scottish mountains.  We heard a Psalm and sang a hymn we all knew off by heart.  There was the opportunity to join in with prayers to say what we were thankful for, something we were sorry for, and something we were hoping for.

We had a fantastic few days away and just wish we could have stayed longer!

Thanks to Jenny for this write-up, and for being an awesome leader.  Big thanks to Robert and Becky for their leadership, and to Libby for her and cooking skills and intimate knowledge of everything Harry Potter.

The next residential for this age group is 13-18 Summer Camp, which is from Sunday 2nd August 2026 – Saturday 8th August 2026.