Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, written by J.K. Rowling in 1999, is the third novel in the Harry Potter series.
Summary Of The Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
While trying to complete his summer homework on medieval witch hunts, Harry Potter has to work secretly at night so as not to wake his uncle and aunt, Petunia and Vernon Dursley. Harry realizes it is past midnight – it is now his birthday. He looks out his window and sees three owls flying towards him. These owls are carrying gifts from Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid. Additionally, he receives a permission form that needs to be signed by a guardian to allow him to visit Hogsmeade during the school year. The next day, Harry sees a news report about a prisoner named Sirius Black and learns that Aunt Marge will be visiting.
Marge treats Harry very badly. Harry endures Marge’s visit by remembering the deal he made with Vernon: Vernon will sign the Hogsmeade permission form if Harry behaves. On Marge’s last night, Harry loses his temper, inflates Marge like a balloon, and leaves the house. He sees a large black dog and accidentally summons the Knight Bus. The bus conductor, Stan, explains that Sirius Black has escaped from the wizard prison Azkaban. When the bus drops Harry off at the Leaky Cauldron, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, meets him and does not expel him for using magic in front of Muggles.
Harry spends three weeks at the Leaky Cauldron and explores Diagon Alley. Eventually, he meets Hermione and Ron and accompanies them to a magical creature shop where Hermione buys a large orange cat named Crookshanks, who tries to catch Ron’s rat, Scabbers. After dinner, Harry overhears Mr. and Mrs. Weasley discussing how Sirius Black is after him.
The next day, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ride the train to school, sharing a compartment with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, who is asleep. Hours later, the train stops, and dementors board. One dementor enters their compartment, causing Harry to faint and hear a woman scream. Lupin drives the dementor away and distributes chocolate. McGonagall calls Harry and Hermione to her office, but Harry does not know why.
Hermione’s schedule seems strange because she has multiple classes at the same time. First, they attend Divination, taught by Professor Trelawney, who predicts Harry’s death by seeing the Grim in his tea leaves. Later, they attend Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, who introduces them to hippogriffs. Malfoy insults Buckbeak, a hippogriff, who attacks him. Malfoy exaggerates his injuries. The next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Lupin involves fighting a boggart, which turns into everyone’s worst fear. Lupin stops the lesson before Harry’s turn.
Quidditch practice starts, and the school announces the first Hogsmeade weekend. Harry discusses Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione while Crookshanks tries to catch Scabbers. Ron and Hermione visit Hogsmeade the next day, while Harry roams the corridors. Lupin finds Harry and invites him for tea, explaining he did not let Harry fight the boggart because he feared Voldemort would appear. Snape brings Lupin a suspicious potion.
The first Quidditch match is against Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin. The weather is terrible, and Harry has a hard time: he sees the black dog again and faints as dementors swarm the field. He wakes up in the hospital wing to learn that he fell off his broom and Hufflepuff won. Hermione reveals that the Whomping Willow destroyed Harry’s broom. Lupin later explains why dementors affect Harry so strongly and agrees to teach him to fight them.
The next Hogsmeade visit is planned for the Saturday before Christmas. After saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione, Fred and George give Harry the Marauder’s Map, showing everyone in Hogwarts and its secret passages. At the Three Broomsticks, Harry overhears that Sirius Black betrayed his parents and is his godfather. Harry is furious and confides in Ron and Hermione. They later visit Hagrid and learn that Buckbeak’s case will go to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, controlled by Lucius Malfoy.
Long Synopsis of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
On Christmas, Harry receives a Firebolt broomstick without a note. Crookshanks tries to attack Scabbers again, and Hermione tells McGonagall about the broom, believing it is from Sirius Black. McGonagall confiscates the broom to check for jinxes. Ron believes Crookshanks killed Scabbers, ending their friendship with Hermione.
Harry struggles to produce a Patronus. Things improve slightly when McGonagall returns the Firebolt. During the next Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, Harry performs a Patronus to repel dementors, who are actually Malfoy and his cronies in disguise. That night, Sirius Black breaks into Gryffindor Tower, and Dumbledore assigns Sir Cadogan to guard the portrait hole. Snape teaches a Defense Against the Dark Arts class about werewolves.
The next Quidditch match against Slytherin is dirty, but Gryffindor wins the Cup. Buckbeak’s final appeal coincides with exams. During Harry’s Divination exam, Trelawney predicts Voldemort’s servant will return to him. Hagrid informs them that Buckbeak lost the appeal. Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit Hagrid, disguised under the Invisibility Cloak. They find Scabbers in Hagrid’s hut, but as they leave, a black dog drags Ron into the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione follow to the Shrieking Shack, where they confront Sirius Black.
Lupin arrives and reveals he is a werewolf. He and Black explain that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew, an Animagus who betrayed Harry’s parents. Snape interrupts but is overpowered. Lupin and Black force Pettigrew to reveal himself. As they return to the castle, Lupin transforms into a werewolf, and Pettigrew escapes. Dementors attack Harry and Sirius by the lake, but a mysterious Patronus saves them.
Harry and Hermione use a Time-Turner to save Buckbeak and Sirius. Harry realizes he cast the Patronus that saved them. They rescue Sirius, who escapes on Buckbeak. The next day, Lupin resigns after Snape reveals his condition. Harry learns more about his parents from Lupin. As Harry heads home, he receives a letter from Sirius, granting him permission to visit Hogsmeade and gifting Ron a small owl.