Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Hello friend!

I have brought you a new blog post today. 

Happy reading!

[ WARNING: This contains MAJOR spoilers]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in the Harry Potter series. It’s an amazing book [coming from me, that’s rich, as I’m not generous with praise when it comes to books.] Voldemort doesn’t appear in this book [which is good, ‘cause we’ve got enough on our hands even without having to deal with him—rats are so much trouble, you know.]  This book introduces the character Sirius Black, who is central to the plot, though he doesn’t appear in the flesh for a long time. This book’s a roller-coaster ride! [Azkaban is the infamous Wizarding Prison. It’s a super creepy place.]

Harry Potter is back at the Dursleys’ for the summer holidays, where he sees an escaped convict named Sirius Black on Muggle television, though no mention is made of the facility he has broken out of. When his Aunt Marge comes to visit, she derides his parents, causing him to involuntarily inflate her; under-age wizards are not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts. Harry promptly packs his stuff and runs away. He travels to the “Leaky Cauldron”, a tumble-down inn where wizards gather; there he meets Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, who soothes him by assuring him that he will not be punished for the incident with Aunt Marge, and asks him to stay in Diagon Alley for the remaining three weeks before the start of the school year. Hermione and the Weasleys keep him company. The night before he is expected to leave for Hogwarts, he learns from Mr Weasley that Black is a convicted murderer in the wizarding world; he will most probably target Harry next. A Dementor [ a soulless creature that sucks hope and happiness out of people] boards the train, causing Harry to faint; he is revived by the gentle, serene new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin. Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn that the Dementors will be patrolling the school in an attempt to catch Black.  Lupin’s Defence Against the Dark Arts classes prove to be much, much better than Lockhart’s; everyone is intrigued by his unconventional, pleasant teaching style [besides, it’s obvious that he’s really knowledgeable]. However, he unexpectedly falls ill, causing Professor Snape [remember the nasty Potions master?] to temporarily fill in for him, much to Harry’s dismay.

Harry has several run-ins with the Dementors, including a particularly horrible incident during a Quidditch match [he hears a woman’s voice screaming inside his head, falls off his broomstick, and faints.] His broom is smashed by the Whomping Willow. Worried about Harry’s vulnerability, Lupin teaches him the special Patronus Charm [ a very high-level charm that can repel Dementors.] On an unauthorised visit to the village of Hogsmeade [the only “non-Muggle settlement in England”, according to Hermione], Harry overhears some of his teachers and Fudge talking about Black. They reveal that Black was a close friend of Harry’s parents, as well as his godfather; however, he betrayed them and sold his soul to Voldemort [not literally, just figuratively] and gave him access to their house—in other words, they wouldn’t be dead now if not for him. He also killed twelve Muggles and his friend, Peter Pettigrew, while escaping. Shocked and hurt, Harry vows to kill Black.

Soon after, Ron and Hermione’s friendship suffers when Ron believes that Hermione’s pet cat, Crookshanks, ate his rat, Scabbers. Shocked at the unjust accusation, Hermione temporarily cuts off ties with both Harry and Ron. At Christmas, Harry receives a mysterious present, a late-model Firebolt broom. Fearing it might be cursed, Hermione reports the broom to Professor Mcgonagall, which leads to more bad feelings between her and Ron and Harry [ she was only acting with their best interests at heart!] However, this quarrel is soon patched up when the trio join Hagrid’s campaign in an effort to save his pet hippogriff, Buckbeak, from being executed for attacking that snotty little Draco, who provoked him. Sadly—their efforts are unsuccessful. Scabbers reappears shortly after they hear the sickening thud of the executioner’s axe.  Ron chases Scabbers, only to be bitten by a huge, ferocious black dog, which Harry has seen on several occasions before. The dog drags Ron through a tunnel under the Whomping Willow into the Shrieking Shack [a shack in Hogsmeade which is believed to be haunted.] Harry and Hermione follow, of course, and imagine their shock when the unfriendly beast transforms into Sirius Black! Lupin enters and explains the situation to the trio: he is a werewolf [Hermione had this figured out already], which led to his friends James Potter [Harry’s dad], Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew becoming Animagi [ humans that can turn into animals at will.] Another big reveal—Scabbers is Pettigrew’s animal form; he had framed Black for the Potters’ murder, while it was actually him all along [I know what you’re thinking. Traitor! Coward! Right?] Snape arrives to apprehend Black, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione wave their wands at the same time, knocking him unconscious. Lupin and Black transform Pettigrew back into human form and prepare to finish him off, but Harry stops them, claiming that the cowardly traitor’s death is not what his father would have wanted. He convinces them to let the Dementors have him instead.

As they move back towards Hogwarts [with the unconscious Snape and Pettigrew in tow], the full moon’s light falls directly on Lupin, who transforms into a werewolf and goes berserk, unable to distinguish friend from foe [he had forgotten to take his usual draught of Wolfsbane Potion, which Snape had prepared for him. The Potion made his transformations less painful and helped him retain his human intelligence.] Black transforms into dog form to hold him off, distracting him and allowing Pettigrew to escape by turning into Scabbers. In the midst of all this chaos, some Dementors approach the trio. Just before losing consciousness, Harry catches a glimpse of a stag Patronus, cast by someone who looks exactly like his late father. When they wake up in the infirmary, the trio are told that Black has been sentenced to receive the Dementor’s Kiss, which removes the soul of its recipient. Pettigrew, the proof of his innocence, has escaped to god knows where. Dumbledore advises Harry and Hermione to use the latter’s time-turner [she’d selected too many subjects and had to use a Ministry-approved time-turner to double-up on classes; this permits them to go back in time and save Buckbeak, who carries Black to safety. Two birds, one stone!]

In his frustration at Black’s daring escape, Snape “accidentally” lets slip that Lupin is a werewolf, leading to the latter’s resignation. Harry visits Lupin before he leaves, and as they say goodbye, Lupin is certain they will meet again. Not a very happy ending, but at least Black escaped; plus, we haven’t seen the last of him or Lupin!

Thank you! 

I hope you enjoyed my article!