While I agree that POA is a major transition point for Hogwarts being seen as “the safest place” in the Wizarding World to somewhere where the war is actively happening — I don’t think the POA movie handled the tonal shift that well.

I know part of it is due to the actors hitting puberty and definitely seeming older than the 13 they were supposed to be, but POA’s shift seems too sudden after CoS and I think it would have worked much better if there had been a gradual shift throughout the movie rather than starting out SO much darker than the first two films.

I think it would have more emotional impact if he had progressively darkened the tone — probably after Aunt Marge first, then shifting darker when he found out about Sirius, then again darker with the Dementor on the train, darker still after the attack on the Pink Lady.