Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter books
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.jpg
Author J. K. Rowling
Illustrators Cliff Wright (UK)
Mary GrandPré (US)
Genre Fantasy
Publishers Bloomsbury (UK)
Arthur A. Levine/
Scholastic (US)
Raincoast (Canada)
Released 8 July 1999 (UK)
8 September 1999 (US)
Book no. Three
Sales ~180 million (Worldwide)
Story timeline 31 July 1993- 12 June 1994
Chapters 22
Pages 317 (UK)
435 (US)
ISBN 0747542155
Preceded by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Followed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. The book was published on 8 July 1999. The novel won the 1999 Whitbread Book Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the 2000 Locus Award,[1] and was short-listed for other awards, including the Hugo.[1] This placed the novel among the most-honoured works of fantasy in recent history.[2] A film based on the novel was released on 31 May 2004, in the United Kingdom and 4 June 2004 in the U.S. and many other countries. This is the only novel in the series that does not feature Lord Voldemort in some form.

Contents

Plot

Having lost his temper with his Aunt Marge and inadvertently caused her to magically inflate, Harry Potter takes the Knight Bus to The Leaky Cauldron, where he meets Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Fudge informs Harry that Aunt Marge has been deflated and that he will not be punished. The Ministry of Magic is simply concerned about Harry's safety due to the escape of mass-murderer Sirius Black from the wizarding prison Azkaban. Black was a great friend of the Potter family and was Harry's godfather, but betrayed the family to the evil Lord Voldemort. Voldemort killed Harry's parents but mysteriously vanished when he tried to kill Harry. Afterward, Black murdered the Potters' friend Peter Pettigrew along with 12 bystanders.

Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and find security has been tightened because of Black's escape. The grounds are now guarded by Dementors, dark, sinister beings that drain the happiness of anyone nearby and guard Azkaban prison. They also cause Harry to hear his parents' last moments and pass out. Remus Lupin, the school's new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, tells Harry he is more vulnerable to the Dementors because he has seen genuine horrors in his past. He agrees to teach Harry the Patronus Charm, a shield against the Dementors.

Harry is depressed to learn he will not be allowed to visit Hogsmeade, the local village, because Uncle Vernon refused to sign Harry's form. He is also angry with Draco Malfoy for ruining Hagrid's first lesson as Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Malfoy causes himself to be attacked by Buckbeak, Hagrid's beloved Hippogriff, and his father ensures that Buckbeak is sentenced to be executed at the end of the school year. Over the course of the year, Hermione uses a Time-Turner to travel in time and attend classes held at the same time. Black manages to break into the castle twice, but is unable to reach Harry. Fred and George Weasley show Harry a secret passageway to Hogsmeade and give him the Marauder's Map.

Ron discovers that Scabbers, his rat, has disappeared and believes he has been eaten by Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, causing a falling-out between him and Hermione. Hermione later finds Scabbers in Hagrid's hut when the three of them visit him before Buckbeak's execution. On their way back from the hut, Ron is suddenly attacked by a large black dog and dragged into a passage beneath the Whomping Willow, a magical tree. Harry and Hermoine receive a brutal beating from the Whomping Willow before moving on into the passage.

Harry and Hermione follow the sounds of Ron's screams and find themselves in an old, boarded-up shack known as the Shrieking Shack. They also discover that the dog is Sirius Black, who is an Animagus. Harry attempts to attack Black when Lupin arrives. Hermione confronts Lupin about habits she has observed during her classes with him, and Lupin admits to being a werewolf. Lupin explains that he, Black, Pettigrew, and James Potter, Harry's father, were great friends and wrote the Marauder's Map. To make Lupin's transformations more enjoyable, his friends all became Animagi, humans who can turn into animals at will. The Marauders remained friends after growing up, and when they learned Voldemort was after the Potters, Black became their Secret-Keeper. However, Black then reveals that he had secretly switched this duty with Pettigrew in order to serve as a decoy. Black states Pettigrew is the betrayer and, rather than being murdered by Black, is actually Scabbers. Professor Snape suddenly barges in on the scene and threatens Lupin and Black with his wand, and taunts Black with threats of turning him over to the Dementors. However, Harry knocks Snape out, allowing Lupin and Black to take Scabbers from Ron and revert him back into Pettigrew.

Pettigrew admits to the story, but Harry stops Black and Lupin from killing him and becoming murderers themselves. Instead, Harry persuades them to take Pettigrew back to Hogwarts in order to clear Sirius's name. However, as they return to the castle, the full moon emerges and Lupin transforms into a werewolf. Pettigrew transforms back into a rat and escapes while Black holds of Lupin in his dog form. Black is knocked out by Lupin, who is about to kill Harry when a strange howl alerts Lupin and lures him away from Harry. Harry finds an unconscious Sirius lying by a pond, where Dementors suddenly descend on the pair and nearly kill them. They are saved at the last minute by a strange figure using the Patronus Charm. Harry believes was cast by his father, and then passes out.

Harry awakes in the castle to learn that Black has been captured. To save him, Harry and Hermione use the Time-Turner to travel back in time and prevent his capture. Harry and Hermione rescue Buckbeak and re-watch the scenes of the night, until they see the Dementors cornering Harry and Sirius. Harry is determined to see who sent the Patronus, only to realize that it was himself. Sirius is rescued and flees on Buckbeak; Lupin, outed as a werewolf, resigns. Harry is worried that Pettigrew may help Voldemort to return, but Dumbledore says Harry may be grateful that he helped save Pettigrew's life.

Pre-release history

Of the first three books in the series, Prisoner of Azkaban took the shortest amount of time to write - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone took five years to complete and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets needed two years, while Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was written in one year.[3] Rowling's favorite aspect of this book was introducing the character Remus Lupin.[3]

Film adaptation

Main article: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)

The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released in 2004. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplay, and Alfonso Cuarón was the director.[4] The movie débuted at number one and held that position for two weeks.[5] The Prisoner of Azkaban made a total of $795.6 million worldwide,[6] which made it the second highest-grossing film of 2004 behind Shrek 2 but is the lowest grossing film of the Harry Potter series. [7] The film also ranks at number 471 in Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[8]

See also


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "2000 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2000. Retrieved 22 July 2009. 
  2. ↑ "Honor roll:Fantasy books". Award Annals. 15 August 2007. http://www.awardannals.com/wiki/Honor_roll:Fantasy_books. Retrieved 15 August 2007. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 1999: Accio Quote!, the largest archive of J.K. Rowling interviews on the web
  4. ↑ "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)". IGN Entertainment, Inc.. 1998-2009. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_prisoner_of_azkaban/. Retrieved 12 December 2009. 
  5. ↑ "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". IGN Entertainment, Inc.. 1998-2009. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_prisoner_of_azkaban/numbers.php. Retrieved 12 December 2009. 
  6. ↑ "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=harrypotter3.htm. Retrieved 5 February 2009. 
  7. ↑ "2004 WORLDWIDE GROSSES". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2004&p=.htm. Retrieved 24 September 2007. 
  8. ↑ http://www.empireonline.com/500/6.asp

External links