Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third instalment of the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. It was published in July 1999.
The novel begins with Harry spending his summer at the Dursleys. He has just finished his second year at Hogwarts. During the summer, Harry hears some news about an escaped convict named Sirius Black and is unhappy to hear that Aunt Marge, his uncle Vernon’s sister, will be coming to stay for a week.
Marge enjoys throwing insults at Harry and Harry manages to keep his cool until the last day of Marge’s visit, when he loses his temper after she insults his parents. His anger unintentionally causes a magical reaction, and Marge begins to inflate. She floats away and Harry decides to run away. He ends up on the Knight Bus, but not before seeing a large, black dog staring at him through some bushes. During his journey, a bus conductor, Stan Shunpike, explains to Harry that Sirius Black is a murderer and that he is a big supporter of the Dark Lord Voldemort, the wizard that tried and failed to kill Harry when Harry was just a baby. Harry arrives at the Leaky Cauldron, where he finds Cornelius Fudge, the Minster for Magic, waiting for him. Harry expects Fudge to expel him for using magic outside of school, but Fudge informs him that Marge has been located, her memory has been modified and that no more needs to be said about the matter.
During his stay at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry overhears a conversation between his best friend Ron Weasley’s parents and learns that the dangerous murderer, Sirius Black, is in fact after Harry and intends to kill him.
During their journey to Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and his other best friend Hermione, encounter a creature known as a Dementor. Dementors guard the prison Azkaban, and drain any happy thoughts of those who come near them. When one of the Dementors get close to Harry, he hears the voice of a woman screaming. The three friends are saved from the Dementor by a man named Remus Lupin.
When Harry arrives at the school, he discovers that Lupin is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and that Hagrid, the gamekeeper, has been appointed as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. The students are given a new timetable and Harry and Ron find themselves confused when they see Hermione’s timetable, which shows that she has several lessons that are held at the same time.
Harry, Ron and Hermione have their first Divination class, which is held by professor Trelawney. They do not enjoy the lesson and things go from bad to worse when their Care of Magical Creatures lesson goes wrong after Draco Malfoy, Harry’s enemy, is attacked by a Hippogriff. Hagrid had informed the class earlier that insulting a Hippogriff will cause it to attack and that anyone who encounters one should bow, and the creature will bow back. Draco, who was jealous after Harry successfully managed to get a Hippogriff named Buckbeak to bow, had insulted Buckbeak and therefore been attacked. A complaint is made by Draco’s father, Lucius, and as a result the class are forced to look after boring creatures, such as Flobberworms.
As a result of Sirius Black intending to kill Harry, Dementors are sent to guard the school. Harry, who reacts badly to Dementors every time he is near them, falls off his broom during a Quidditch match after he sees one. As a result, his broomstick falls into the violent Whomping Willow and is destroyed. Lupin, who has noticed Harry’s struggle with the Dementors, teaches him a Patronus Charm to fight against them. Harry realises that the screaming woman that he hears each time a Dementor gets near him is his mother. He hears her screams from the night that Lord Voldemort murdered her.
Meanwhile, tension grows between Ron and Hermione after her cat, Crookshanks, appears to have eaten his rat, Scabbers. The two friends have a big argument and Hermione begins to spend more time apart from Ron and Harry. Harry can sense that Hermione is stressed from her fallout with Ron and her heavy workload and things get worse when Trelawney continually predicts Harry’s death after she reveals that the black dog that Harry had seen earlier is in fact the Grim. Ron warns Harry that the Grim is bad luck and Harry feels even worse when he learns that an uncle of Ron’s died a day after coming into contact with one.
Harry then obtains an object called the Marauder’s Map, which is given to him by Fred and George, Ron’s brothers. Harry uses the map, which shows the location of everyone nearby and all the secret passageways out of the castle, to sneak into Hogsmeade as he does not have a signed permission form. During one visit, he makes a shocking discovery whilst overhearing a conversation between some teachers in a pub. He learns that Sirius Black was his parent’s Secret Keeper and that Sirius betrayed them by revealing their location to Lord Voldemort, resulting in their murder. He also discovers that his parents made Sirius his godfather and that Sirius murdered twelve Muggles (non-magical people) and also Peter Pettigrew, who was a friend of Harry’s parents.
Harry faces even more turmoil when Professor Trelawney makes a prediction that the Dark Lord’s servant will break free that night and that the Dark Lord will rise again. He becomes confused when he sees the figure of Peter Pettigrew on the Marauder’s Map. Harry cannot understand how Pettigrew can be on there as Pettigrew is dead.
Ron and Hermione finally make up and the three go to support Hagrid, who is devastated that Buckbeak has been sentenced to execution for the attack on Draco as a result of Lucius Malfoy taking action. Ron discovers that Scabbers is alive and has been hiding at Hagrid’s. Buckbeak is executed by the trio are distracted when Ron is bitten by Scabbers. Suddenly, a large, black dog appears. The trio believe this dog to be the Grim and it drags Ron off into the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione run after him. They go through a tunnel and end up in the Shrieking Shack. Once inside, the dog reveals itself to be Sirius Black. They discover that Sirius is an Animagus, which means that he can transform into an animal. He is unregistered, meaning that he is an illegal Animagus.
Lupin then appears, and reveals that he, Sirius, Harry’s father James and Peter Pettigrew were the original owners and creators of the map. Hermione then reveals that Lupin is a werewolf, something that she discovered when she noticed that he missed classes on a regular basis. Lupin and Sirius explain that Scabbers is in fact Peter Pettigrew in Animagus form, which explains why Harry noticed him on the map. Harry then learns that it was in fact Pettigrew that betrayed Harry’s parents and not Sirius. It was also Pettigrew that committed the murders, framing Sirius and transforming himself into a rat so that it would appear that he was dead.
Harry’s potions master and least favourite teacher Snape arrives to intervene, but is knocked unconscious when Harry, Ron and Hermione hit him with a spell. Sirius and Lupin wish to kill Pettigrew, but Harry stops them, saying that it is not what James would have wanted.
Together, the group exit the Shrieking Shack and Sirius asks Harry to come and live with him. Harry is pleased at the thought of leaving the Dursleys, but things go wrong when Lupin transforms into a werewolf. After a fight between Lupin and Sirius in his animagus form, Sirius is injured and attacked by Dementors. Harry tries to get rid of them using the Patronus Charm and the two are only saved when a mysterious light defeats the Dementors. Harry wakes up in the Hospital wing and believes that it was his father that he saw casting the spell to save him and Sirius. He then learns that Sirius is due to have his soul sucked out by the Dementors and wishes to save him.
Dumbledore appears and hands Hermione an object. Harry watches in confusion as things around him begin to change and Hermione later explains that the object is a Time Turner and that they have gone back in time. She tells him that that’s how she has been managing to attend all her lessons. Ron does not go with them as he is injured. With the help of the Time Turner, Harry and Hermione manage to save Buckbeak from execution and Harry realises that it wasn’t his father that he saw, but in fact his future self casting a Patronus charm to save himself and Sirius from the Dementors.
Harry and Hermione free Sirius from his cell and stop the Dementors from taking his soul. Peter Pettigrew transforms back into a rat and escapes. Lupin resigns as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, as he feels his condition will worry the parents of the students. Sirius leaves with Buckbeak. Harry once again returns to the Dursleys, but is happy that Sirius is his godfather.
The novel begins with Harry spending his summer at the Dursleys. He has just finished his second year at Hogwarts. During the summer, Harry hears some news about an escaped convict named Sirius Black and is unhappy to hear that Aunt Marge, his uncle Vernon’s sister, will be coming to stay for a week.
Marge enjoys throwing insults at Harry and Harry manages to keep his cool until the last day of Marge’s visit, when he loses his temper after she insults his parents. His anger unintentionally causes a magical reaction, and Marge begins to inflate. She floats away and Harry decides to run away. He ends up on the Knight Bus, but not before seeing a large, black dog staring at him through some bushes. During his journey, a bus conductor, Stan Shunpike, explains to Harry that Sirius Black is a murderer and that he is a big supporter of the Dark Lord Voldemort, the wizard that tried and failed to kill Harry when Harry was just a baby. Harry arrives at the Leaky Cauldron, where he finds Cornelius Fudge, the Minster for Magic, waiting for him. Harry expects Fudge to expel him for using magic outside of school, but Fudge informs him that Marge has been located, her memory has been modified and that no more needs to be said about the matter.
During his stay at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry overhears a conversation between his best friend Ron Weasley’s parents and learns that the dangerous murderer, Sirius Black, is in fact after Harry and intends to kill him.
During their journey to Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and his other best friend Hermione, encounter a creature known as a Dementor. Dementors guard the prison Azkaban, and drain any happy thoughts of those who come near them. When one of the Dementors get close to Harry, he hears the voice of a woman screaming. The three friends are saved from the Dementor by a man named Remus Lupin.
When Harry arrives at the school, he discovers that Lupin is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and that Hagrid, the gamekeeper, has been appointed as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. The students are given a new timetable and Harry and Ron find themselves confused when they see Hermione’s timetable, which shows that she has several lessons that are held at the same time.
Harry, Ron and Hermione have their first Divination class, which is held by professor Trelawney. They do not enjoy the lesson and things go from bad to worse when their Care of Magical Creatures lesson goes wrong after Draco Malfoy, Harry’s enemy, is attacked by a Hippogriff. Hagrid had informed the class earlier that insulting a Hippogriff will cause it to attack and that anyone who encounters one should bow, and the creature will bow back. Draco, who was jealous after Harry successfully managed to get a Hippogriff named Buckbeak to bow, had insulted Buckbeak and therefore been attacked. A complaint is made by Draco’s father, Lucius, and as a result the class are forced to look after boring creatures, such as Flobberworms.
As a result of Sirius Black intending to kill Harry, Dementors are sent to guard the school. Harry, who reacts badly to Dementors every time he is near them, falls off his broom during a Quidditch match after he sees one. As a result, his broomstick falls into the violent Whomping Willow and is destroyed. Lupin, who has noticed Harry’s struggle with the Dementors, teaches him a Patronus Charm to fight against them. Harry realises that the screaming woman that he hears each time a Dementor gets near him is his mother. He hears her screams from the night that Lord Voldemort murdered her.
Meanwhile, tension grows between Ron and Hermione after her cat, Crookshanks, appears to have eaten his rat, Scabbers. The two friends have a big argument and Hermione begins to spend more time apart from Ron and Harry. Harry can sense that Hermione is stressed from her fallout with Ron and her heavy workload and things get worse when Trelawney continually predicts Harry’s death after she reveals that the black dog that Harry had seen earlier is in fact the Grim. Ron warns Harry that the Grim is bad luck and Harry feels even worse when he learns that an uncle of Ron’s died a day after coming into contact with one.
Harry then obtains an object called the Marauder’s Map, which is given to him by Fred and George, Ron’s brothers. Harry uses the map, which shows the location of everyone nearby and all the secret passageways out of the castle, to sneak into Hogsmeade as he does not have a signed permission form. During one visit, he makes a shocking discovery whilst overhearing a conversation between some teachers in a pub. He learns that Sirius Black was his parent’s Secret Keeper and that Sirius betrayed them by revealing their location to Lord Voldemort, resulting in their murder. He also discovers that his parents made Sirius his godfather and that Sirius murdered twelve Muggles (non-magical people) and also Peter Pettigrew, who was a friend of Harry’s parents.
Harry faces even more turmoil when Professor Trelawney makes a prediction that the Dark Lord’s servant will break free that night and that the Dark Lord will rise again. He becomes confused when he sees the figure of Peter Pettigrew on the Marauder’s Map. Harry cannot understand how Pettigrew can be on there as Pettigrew is dead.
Ron and Hermione finally make up and the three go to support Hagrid, who is devastated that Buckbeak has been sentenced to execution for the attack on Draco as a result of Lucius Malfoy taking action. Ron discovers that Scabbers is alive and has been hiding at Hagrid’s. Buckbeak is executed by the trio are distracted when Ron is bitten by Scabbers. Suddenly, a large, black dog appears. The trio believe this dog to be the Grim and it drags Ron off into the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione run after him. They go through a tunnel and end up in the Shrieking Shack. Once inside, the dog reveals itself to be Sirius Black. They discover that Sirius is an Animagus, which means that he can transform into an animal. He is unregistered, meaning that he is an illegal Animagus.
Lupin then appears, and reveals that he, Sirius, Harry’s father James and Peter Pettigrew were the original owners and creators of the map. Hermione then reveals that Lupin is a werewolf, something that she discovered when she noticed that he missed classes on a regular basis. Lupin and Sirius explain that Scabbers is in fact Peter Pettigrew in Animagus form, which explains why Harry noticed him on the map. Harry then learns that it was in fact Pettigrew that betrayed Harry’s parents and not Sirius. It was also Pettigrew that committed the murders, framing Sirius and transforming himself into a rat so that it would appear that he was dead.
Harry’s potions master and least favourite teacher Snape arrives to intervene, but is knocked unconscious when Harry, Ron and Hermione hit him with a spell. Sirius and Lupin wish to kill Pettigrew, but Harry stops them, saying that it is not what James would have wanted.
Together, the group exit the Shrieking Shack and Sirius asks Harry to come and live with him. Harry is pleased at the thought of leaving the Dursleys, but things go wrong when Lupin transforms into a werewolf. After a fight between Lupin and Sirius in his animagus form, Sirius is injured and attacked by Dementors. Harry tries to get rid of them using the Patronus Charm and the two are only saved when a mysterious light defeats the Dementors. Harry wakes up in the Hospital wing and believes that it was his father that he saw casting the spell to save him and Sirius. He then learns that Sirius is due to have his soul sucked out by the Dementors and wishes to save him.
Dumbledore appears and hands Hermione an object. Harry watches in confusion as things around him begin to change and Hermione later explains that the object is a Time Turner and that they have gone back in time. She tells him that that’s how she has been managing to attend all her lessons. Ron does not go with them as he is injured. With the help of the Time Turner, Harry and Hermione manage to save Buckbeak from execution and Harry realises that it wasn’t his father that he saw, but in fact his future self casting a Patronus charm to save himself and Sirius from the Dementors.
Harry and Hermione free Sirius from his cell and stop the Dementors from taking his soul. Peter Pettigrew transforms back into a rat and escapes. Lupin resigns as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, as he feels his condition will worry the parents of the students. Sirius leaves with Buckbeak. Harry once again returns to the Dursleys, but is happy that Sirius is his godfather.
