Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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Wikipedia-Article "Harry Potter"
- This article is about the Harry Potter series. For information about the character, see Harry Potter (character).
Harry Potter is the name of a series of fantasy novels by British writer J. K. Rowling. Six of seven planned books have been published to date. The books depict a society of witches and wizards, the main character being a young wizard named Harry Potter. The first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States), was released in 1997. The first four books have been made into films, and the fifth movie is due to start filming in February 2006, with an expected release in 2007.
As of 2005, Rowling has written the last chapter of the seventh book. Rowling has also mentioned that the last word of the book would be "scar," which remains to be seen. However, she is unsure whether that will be in the final draft in the book, as she was asked about it in an interview conducted by fan sites Mugglenet and The Leaky Cauldron.
The Harry Potter books have achieved a profile unparalleled by any other series of books, with worldwide sales exceeding 300 million copies. They have been praised for encouraging children and indeed even adults to read, while also drawing criticism from some quarters. The books are published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Scholastic Press and Raincoast Books.
Please note, most links lead to spoilers. Those that are noted will carry the following tag (if you don't notice a tag please tag it):
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Overview
Publishing history
The books have fans of all ages. J. K. Rowling says she did not have any particular age group in mind when she started to write the Harry Potter books; her publishers, however, initially targeted them at young readers aged 8 to 15. The books have more recently been released in two editions, one with the original "children's" cover artwork, and one with artwork more consciously aimed at adult readers. Additionally, as the series has developed, Rowling's writing has become more sophisticated and the content of the books has matured as the lead character, Harry Potter, has grown older. For instance, relationships are discussed as an issue for the teenage characters in later books. Accordingly, the reading age for the books, both in terms of content and style, is rising as the series goes on.
The first book was published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury, a fairly small independent publisher, in July 1997. Its initial success was based on some positive reviews and word of mouth. The first three books, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, all won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for the 9 to 11 age group. By the time the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was published in 2000 the series had become very high-profile, and the launch received much wider publicity in the general media than was usual for a new book. At around the same time Warner Brothers began work on the series of films based on the books. The involvement of a global media conglomerate led to more concerted efforts to maximise the value of the Harry Potter franchise. The first film, based on the first book, was released in 2001, and was accompanied by video games and other branded merchandise.
The hype escalated with the publication of the next two books in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with midnight launch parties at hundreds of bookshops in the UK, simultaneous launch events around the English-speaking world, and intense media interest, leading to unprecedented first-day sales in the UK, U.S. and elsewhere. The series is immensely popular around the world in its many translations. Such was the clamour to read the book around the world that the English-language edition of Order of the Phoenix became the first English-language book ever to top the bookseller list in France.
According to the author, the main character Harry Potter appeared in her head whilst she was on a train from Manchester to London in 1991. Her favourite place to write the first book was at an Edinburgh café table while drinking endless cups of coffee. Sales from the books as well as royalties from films and merchandise have made Rowling a billionaire and the 620th wealthiest person in the world [1]. Rowling is assumed to be richer than Queen Elizabeth II (see J.K. Rowling for an explanation).
Each book chronicles approximately one year in Harry's life at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he learns to use magic and brew potions. Harry also learns to overcome many obstacles — magical, social and emotional — as he struggles through his adolescence.
Rowling has announced that seven books are planned, each a little darker than its predecessor as Harry ages and his nemesis, Lord Voldemort, gains power. As of December 2005, six books have been published. The latest, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was published in its English-language version on 16 July 2005. Since the publication of book five, Rowling has revealed hints about the plot of future books on her personal website.
Content and writing style
The books are written in third person limited omniscient mode, with Harry as the central character. The books are generally written from Harry's point of view, with short exceptions in Philosopher's Stone, Goblet of Fire and Half-Blood Prince. The telling of the story through Harry Potter's perspective is perhaps one of the reasons that many readers feel so close with the character.
Rowling's main strengths as a writer include her ability to drive elaborate and largely seamless plots over a very wide canvas, the convincing internal logic of her fantasy world. However, while there is much moral subtlety in many scenes in the books, the central clash between good and evil is drawn in largely black-and-white terms. Nevertheless, as the series develops, several characters have faced a choice between doing what is right or what is easy (a central theme), and moral "shades of grey" have been presented. This is especially relevent to characters such as Dolores Umbridge, some Ministry of Magic employees and Severus Snape.
Rowling lets the ideas of racism, genocide, anti-establishment and prejudice find their way in; these are the trademark of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but also occasionally shown in the relationship between wizards, the non-magical (or "Muggle") population, and Magical Creatures in the Wizarding world who contain some prejudicial baggage, such as werewolves, giants and centaurs (branded 'half-breeds' by the more bigoted of the wizarding world).
The books have been compared to many well-known works, including C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia and J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. They also fit into a British genre of novels about boarding school life (such as Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's Schooldays), and sections involving the Dursleys, Harry's relatives, are reminiscent of the works of Roald Dahl. Echoes of Charles Dickens, particularly in the naming of characters, and Douglas Adams have been pointed out by other readers. At root, Harry's origin story is a mythical archetype known around the world: the destined hero sent away as a baby for safekeeping and raised by common folk until he is of an age where he can be told who he really is and what he must do (a motif most famously epitomised in the myth of Oedipus). Readers who are unfamiliar with traditional cultural myths will still recognise the theme; it is the basis for Star Wars and Superman, among others.
Aspects of the Harry Potter series have even entered the real world, such as Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, which inspired an actual product of that name marketed by the Jelly Belly Company. Also, knitting patterns have been created for the Quidditch Sweater and elf socks.
The series
The books
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Story time:1926, 1960, 1970, 1996 to 1997
- Release: July 16, 2005 (UK/US)
- US Sales: 20 million. 7 million in 24 hours, initial printing 10.8 million copies.
- Title unknown
- Story time: 1997 to ???? (possibly 1998)
- Release: unannounced date (probably worldwide)
The books have become popular enough that bookshops worldwide now hold simultaneous "release parties" on the day Harry Potter books are released, since the earliest time the books can be sold at retail is 12:01 a.m. GMT (or the equivalent local time at the point of sale).
- Further information: List of titles of Harry Potter books in other languages, Harry Potter in translation series
The Harry Potter books have been translated into many languages. For the English language, there exists an adapted American English version of each book, with lexical changes like "football" to "soccer", "video recorder" to "VCR", "do his nut" to "go ballistic" and "rubbish bin" to "trash can".
In 2001, two slim spin-off volumes called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander and Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp were published. These were supposedly reproductions of two Hogwarts textbooks owned by Harry, complete with notes scribbled in the margins by Harry and his friends. These were written by J. K. Rowling with proceeds going to Comic Relief.
Regarding the existence of Harry Potter novels beyond the seventh, Rowling has said that she might write an eighth book some day. If she does, she intends it to be a sort of encyclopaedia of the wizarding world, containing concepts and snippets of information that were not relevant enough to the novels' plots to be included in them. She has also said that she will not write any sort of "prequel" to the novels, since by the time the series ends all the necessary back story will have been revealed. It is currently unknown, despite rumours, if Rowling will allow other authors to write novels set in the Harry Potter Universe not concerning Harry.
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
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 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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The films
- Further information: Harry Potter cast
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States)
- Release: November 16, 2001
- Director: Chris Columbus
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Release: November 15, 2002
- Director: Chris Columbus
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Release: UK: May 31, USA: 2004 June 4,
- Director: Alfonso Cuarón
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Release: 2005, Philippines and Indonesia: November 16; Singapore, Malaysia, Sweden : November 17; UK, USA, and other countries: November 18; Australia: December 1; Hong Kong: December 22; Russia: December 23, the last country to release Goblet of Fire.
- Director: Mike Newell
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Release: Expected June 1, 2007
- Director: David Yates
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Release: Expected Autumn 2008 (November)
- Director: Unknown
- Harry Potter 7 (title unknown)
- Release: Approx. Summer 2010
- Director: Unknown
The first three films ranked 1st [2], 2nd [3], and 2nd [4] respectively in worldwide box office grosses for their years of release. They grossed a total of over $2.6 billion worldwide. [5]
Controversy
The books have provoked various kinds of controversy.
Accusations of promoting the occult
Some religious groups have attacked the books for allegedly promoting witchcraft or undermining Islam and Christianity. Most of this controversy has occurred in the parts of the United States where religion plays a prominent role in public life. Some claim that children who read the books may begin to view the miracles of God as simply another form of magic. In the United Kingdom, Harry Potter's country of origin, the controversy has been minor.
According to the American Library Association, the Harry Potter novels have been among the 100 most frequently challenged in United States libraries between 1990-2000. The complaints allege that the books have occult or Satanic themes, are violent, and are anti-family.
Some highly conservative Christian groups in the United States have denounced the series for promoting witchcraft and Satanism. "It contains some powerful and valuable lessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of good over evil," said Paul Hetrick, spokesman for Focus on the Family, a national Christian group based in Colorado Springs. "However, the positive messages are packaged in a medium — witchcraft — that is directly denounced in Scripture." [6]. The official exorcist of Rome, Father Gabriele Amorth, believes that the Harry Potter books can be a bad influence on some children by getting them interested in the occult of witchcraft (see Christian views on witchcraft).
Chick Publications produced a comic book tract called "The Nervous Witch" about two teenaged girls who get seriously involved in occult witchcraft and become demonically possessed as a direct result of reading Harry Potter books.[7]
It has been argued that when Pope Benedict XVI was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he also condemned the books in a letter expressing gratitude for the receipt of a book on the subject, stating they are "a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly." [8] (It can be noted here Pope John Paul II was reputed to like Harry Potter and also promoted it; see further down.) However, no evidence is provided that those "they" which are "a subtle seduction" actually refer to the Harry Potter books, nor is this at all clear from the original German text of the Cardinal's letter, which in any case shows signs of being dashed off in rather a hurry. Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a Vatican priest, wrote that these remarks were misinterpreted, and that the letter was likely to have been written by an assistant of the then-cardinal. [9]. Indeed, the letter appears to have been written by an underling, but was issued under the Cardinal's signature. This letter and a second that allowed publication of the first have been posted to the Internet by Gabriele Kuby, who had sent her book, Harry Potter - Good or Evil, attacking J.K. Rowling's best-selling series about the boy wizard, to the Cardinal.
However, other Christian readers have pointed out themes in the Harry Potter books which reflect values exemplified or preached by Jesus. Lily Potter sacrificed her own life to save her child (John 15:13). Harry's Muggle guardians attempt to keep him from knowing of his gifts, yet he is taken away and sent to learn to use his powers responsibly (Matt. 5:13–16). Harry comes close to death in several stories, yet is more determined than ever to fight evil. It is also said in the books that love is the strongest magic (1 Cor 13:13). Some Christian bookstores even sell the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling is on record saying she did not emphasise Christian ideals in the book because her goal was never to preach or dictate a philosophy of life, but to tell a story; besides, if she had, intelligent readers would be able to guess important plot details.
Other members of the Catholic Church gave the series their approval, saying that it is imbued with Christian morals, and that the good versus evil plot is very clear. The late Pope, Pope John Paul II, praised the books for their message about the evils of racism and genocide. Christian Congregationalist minister John Killinger also argued that rather than corrupting children's minds, the novels encourage young readers to follow the teachings of Jesus. The book The Hidden Key to Harry Potter: Understanding the Meaning, Genius, and Popularity of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter Novels, written by John Granger, a Reader in the Orthodox Church, claims to uncover Christian themes in its analysis of the story. Granger also cites the fact that Rowling is a professed member of the presbyterian Church of Scotland.
The controversy was spoofed on the television show The Simpsons. In one episode, ultra-Christian Ned Flanders "reads" Harry Potter to his sons and says, "…and Harry Potter and all his wizard friends…went straight to Hell for practicing witchcraft". His sons cheer and Ned throws the book into the fireplace. Harry Potter was also parodied in The Onion, when an article titled "Harry Potter Books Spark Rise in Satanism Among Children" satirically reported the thousands of children attracted to the dark arts and denying religion due to the books. As reported on Urban Legends Reference Pages, some who were unaware that the article was a pastiche employed it as evidence in the demonisation of the books. The entire action and reaction is recorded on this page.
Accusations of plagiarism
Rowling prevailed in a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement, filed by Nancy Stouffer, writer of The Legend of Rah and the Muggles and allegedly of Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly. "Muggle" is wizarding jargon for non-magical people. U.S. District Judge Allen G. Schwartz rejected Nancy Stouffer's claims that she was plagiarised, and fined Stouffer $50,000 for "submission of fraudulent documents" and "untruthful testimony", but stopped short of having Stouffer criminally charged with perjury. Stouffer was required to pay a portion of the attorney's fees incurred by Rowling, her U.S. publisher Scholastic Press, and Warner Bros. Films.
While no known legal action has been taken, a Bollywood (Indian) film called Aabra Ka Daabra: School of Magic, was released in 2005 and was claimed to have been "inspired" by Harry Potter. The film follows very closely to Rowling's story, as it too follows a young wizard as he enters magic school following the apparent death of his wizard father. Additionally, many of the sets and costumes are strikingly similar to those of the Potter series.
The American television programme, "UBOS", could also be said to have taken many of its ideas from the Harry Potter series. Its strict Headmistress is remarkably similar to the strict Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall, and it just so happens that both teachers can transform themselves into cats. The combination of two boys, one witty, the other not, and a girl with remarkable talent for magic, is the same in both Harry Potter and UBOS. There are also strong similarities between the old, wise guardian of Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter, and the old, wise guardian of UBOS in "UBOS", and rather than "Muggles", "UBOS" has "Morties".
Injunction against purchasers of early copies
A grocery store in Canada accidentally sold several copies of the sixth Harry Potter book before the authorized release date. The Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction (PDF copy) from the Supreme Court of British Columbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books in their possession. This sparked a number of news articles questioning the injunction's restriction on fundamental rights [10] [11]. Canadian law professor Michael Geist has posted commentary on his weblog [12]. Richard Stallman has posted commentary on his weblog calling for a boycott until the publisher issues an apology [13]. Some versions of this creed have been circulated by email including a spoiler for one of the major plot points in the novel; whether this was actually the original posted version and was modified by Stallman is as yet unclear, though the tone of the sentence is substantially the same as that of the rest of the message.
Other analogous works
Comic book fans have noted that a comic book series first published in 1990 by DC Comics called The Books of Magic, by Neil Gaiman, shares many similarities to Rowling's book. These include a dark haired young boy with glasses, named Tim Hunter, who discovers his own potential as the most powerful wizard of his age after being approached by magic-wielding individuals, the first of whom makes him a gift of a pet owl. Rowling officially denies being aware of this series, and Gaiman has gone on record stating that he believes similarities to be either coincidence, or drawn from the same fantasy archetypes.
Many people, notably Harry Potter narrator Stephen Fry, have commented on the similarities between the series and Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes. Both stories involve an average boy sent off to boarding school at eleven, who is better at sport than he is at academics. Tom gains a best friend upon arrival, named East, who helps him adjust to the new environment (an analogue to Ron Weasley). They are soon set upon by an arrogant bully named Flashman (an analogue to Draco Malfoy). Eventually Tom becomes the guardian of a shy and sensitive boy, named Arthur, whom he is ultimately willing to fight for (similar to Neville Longbottom).
Recent viewers of the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes, scripted by Chris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter movies, have noticed similarities between its characters, setting, events and tone, and those of the Harry Potter series.
Readers of classic fantasy fiction have noted a very strong resemblance between the premise of Harry Potter and Ursula K. LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), in which a boy with unusual gifts of magic is recognised and sent to a special school for wizards. A school rival in the book is almost a dead ringer for Draco Malfoy.
LeGuin was not the first to propose a special school for witches and wizards. Eleanor Estes was apparently the first, in her book The Witch Family (1960), and The Worst Witch series follows the same line. A young adult book by Jane Yolen entitled Wizard's Hall, which takes place in a more overtly fairy-tale-esque world, also predates Harry Potter and has as its basic premise a school of wizardry and a boy protagonist with magical talents. By analogy, the mutants of the X-Men world, with their seemingly magical powers attend Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Children, with Xavier serving a Dumbledore-like role. In the long-running 1960s TV series Bewitched, several of the older witches are very like those described in the Potter books, and Samantha Stephens's Aunts Hagatha and Enchantra are explicitly described as running a school for witches. Hogwarts-like witches — one of whom is played by stage actress Hermione Gingold — also appear in the 1958 film Bell, Book and Candle.
John Bellairs's Lewis Barnavelt books have many points in common with the Harry Potter series. They concern a young boy, orphaned when his parents die in a car crash, who is sent to live with his peculiar uncle Jonathan and his housekeeper Mrs Zimmermann. Both are actually wizards and their house is a Hogwarts-like construction of moving pictures and secret passageways. Big, bearded Uncle Jonathan is only somewhat magical, while the shrewder, stricter Mrs Zimmermann is actually a powerful sorceress. Like the Harry Potter world, the series parallels the fantastic and the mundane; combining the trevails of growing up in small town USA with a hidden realm of magic. There are a number of surprising points of concordance between the two series, including a wand disguised as a purple umbrella.
There are also echoes of Rudyard Kipling's classic The Jungle Book, which opens with an attack by villain Shere Khan on year-old baby Mowgli and his parents. Shere Khan is unable to kill Mowgli because Mother Wolf, the novel's mother figure, is willing to die to protect him. Mowgli grows up a virtual orphan until he is eleven, when he learns that either he must kill Shere Khan or Shere Khan will kill him. Other tenuous similarities include Bagheera, a black panther, who, like Sirius Black, is an escaped prisoner and acts as an uncle figure to Mowgli.
Harry Potter as a brand
The Harry Potter brand is very strong due to its devoted fan base. In addition to the aforementioned adjunct books, Harry Potter merchandise related to the books and movies is abundant.
On September 7, 2005, Apple Computer announced that it would release a limited edition iPod with the Hogwarts logo engraved on the back. This limited edition iPod would be dubbed the Harry Potter Collector's iPod [14]. This iPod would also come preloaded with all of the Harry Potter audiobooks to date as well as J. K. Rowling's biography. On October 12, 2005 Apple Computer reintroduced the Harry Potter Collector's iPod [15] which comes with all the books and the engraving on the back like the original Harry Potter Collector's iPod but just updated, with the iPod line to match the look of the 5G iPod. The Harry Potter Fifth-Generation Collector's iPod [16] comes with all the features as the other 5G iPods including the feature to watch videos. No word yet if Apple Computer is going to strike a deal with Warner Brothers to preload the Harry Potter films in the future.
Harry Potter In Popular Music
In 2005 The Flaming Lips did a cover of The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army". They used the lyrics from The Butthole Surfers song "Moving to Florida" and renamed it Seven Nation Army: Harry Potter's and George W. Bush's Severed Head Arm Mix" it's available on the Late Night Tales: Flaming Lips compilation album.
Wyrd Sisters incident
Warner Brothers planned on changing the name of the band in the book from the Weird Sisters to the Wyrd Sisters and that has caused problems. A band of the same name has sued to ban the release of the film in Canada because they claim that the group in the movie could be mistaken for them.[17] It should be noted however that Warner Brothers is fighting back and claims that the band in the movie is not named.
Update: The case has been thrown out due to the fact the band is not named and that they only appear for about 6 seconds. The judge also agreed that the band in the film could not be mistaken for the actual Wyrd sisters.[18].
See also
- All Wikipedia articles about Harry Potter
- Wizarding world
- Blood Purity in Harry Potter
- Dates in Harry Potter
- Harry Potter (statistics)
- Harry Potter fandom
- Harry Potter Parodies
- Harry Potter Trivia
- List of characters in the Harry Potter books
- List of fictional books within the Harry Potter series
- List of places in the Harry Potter books
- Magic in Harry Potter
- Money in Harry Potter
Harry Potter in Foreign Languages
- Harry Potter in translation
- Harry Potter in translation series
- List of titles of Harry Potter books in other languages
Notable Harry Potter fansites
Filming locations
References
- "'Potter books are Pagan Discipleship' says author". Retrieved Nov. 8, 2005.
- "Pottermania in London". (Nov. 8, 2005). New Straits Times, p. 30.
Further reading
- Beahm, George W. Muggles and Magic: An Unofficial Guide to J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter Phenomenon.
- Chippendale, Lisa A. Triumph of the Imagination: The Story of J.K. Rowling. 2002, 2003.
- Fraser, Lindsey. Conversations with J.K. Rowling. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2001.
- J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001.
- Lawrence, Daniel. The Ultimate Unofficial Harry Potter Trivia Book: Secrets, Mysteries and Fun Facts Including Half-Blood Prince Book 6.
- Rowling, J.K. Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them. Sagebrush, 2001.
- --. Quidditch Through the Ages. Sagebrush, 2001.
- Shapiro, Marc. J.K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter. St. Martin's Press, 2000.
- Smith, Sean. J.K. Rowling: A Biography. Michael O'Mara Books, 1999.
- Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter (Analysis of Books 1-4). No location: Wizarding Press, 2003.
- David Colbert The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter. Penguin Books, 2001.
External links
Official sites:
- Harry Potter on Bloomsbury.com (International publisher)
- Harry Potter on Scholastic.com (U.S. publisher)
- Harry Potter on Raincoast.com (Canadian publisher)
Fan sites and other resources:
- Wikicities has a wiki about HarryPotter: Harry Potter
For further fandom links, including "unofficial" websites, see Harry Potter fandom.
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| Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone in USA) |
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| Chamber of Secrets | book | film | game |
| Prisoner of Azkaban | book | film | game |
| Goblet of Fire | book | film | game |
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| Half-Blood Prince | book | (film) | |
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Wikipedia-Article "the Prisoner of Azkaban"
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This article is about the book. See Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game) for other formats.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in the Harry Potter series of children's books by J. K. Rowling. The book was published on July 8, 1999. A film based on the book was released on May 31st, 2004, in the United Kingdom (released early due to popular demand) and June 4th in the United States and many other countries.
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Editions
- Bloomsbury (United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada etc.)
- ISBN 0747542155 Hardcover
- ISBN 0747546290 Paperback
- ISBN 074757362X Hardcover (adult edition)
- ISBN 0747574499 Paperback (adult edition)
- ISBN 074757376X Paperback ("celebratory" edition)
- ISBN 0747545111 Hardcover (special edition)
- Scholastic (United States etc.)
- ISBN 0747542155 UK hardcover
- ISBN 0439136350 US hardcover
See: Harry Potter in translation for foreign language editions.
Plot overview
Plot Summary
The book begins, as usual, during the summer holidays, where Harry is again at the Dursleys', celebrating his birthday alone. This time however, he has received gifts and cards from his friends at Hogwarts, among them is a book from Hagrid, The Monster Book of Monsters, which is literally, a monster. With it is a note saying he may find it useful in the coming school year. He also receives a newspaper clipping from Ron; Ron's father had won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw, and the family were using the money to travel to Egypt.
The news is filled with warnings about an awful-looking, mad, escaped prisoner named Sirius Black, though the news Harry finds most horrifying is the news that Aunt Marge, Vernon Dursley's sister, is coming to stay. As Harry is now in his third year, he is allowed to make occasional visits to Hogsmeade, a village close to Hogwarts, provided he can provide a signed permission slip. To get this, he bargains with Vernon, who expects him to say he attends "St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys". Though Harry attempts to play along with this, Marge enrages him with the suggestion that his father was drunk in the "car crash" that killed his parents, and inadvertently causes her to swell like a balloon and rise to the ceiling.
Having received a warning from the Ministry of Magic over underage use of magic in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (though it was a house-elf, Dobby, and not he who had used magic), and fearing both his expulsion from Hogwarts and Vernon's retribution, he gathers his things and runs away from the Dursleys' home. As he puzzles over what he is to do, he feels he is being watched. As he uses his wand to provide light, he is startled to see a large black dog staring at him, and as falls he is again startled by the appearance of the Knight Bus, the wizard bus. While he is on the bus, he notices that the wizarding news also features Sirius Black, but Black was not a common muggle criminal. He was a follower of Lord Voldemort — a death eater — who has escaped from Azkaban, where he was sent for killing thirteen people.
The Knight Bus takes Harry to Diagon Alley, where he runs head-long into Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic himself. Harry is surprised by Fudge, who shrugs off the suggestion of punishment and suggests that Harry take a room in the Leaky Cauldron. Harry spends the remainder of his holidays around Diagon Alley, before he is joined by the Weasley family and Hermione. While shopping for their school things, Ron decides to get something for Scabbers, who had been sick since returning from a holiday in Egypt. While in the magical creatures shop, Hermione buys a cat, Crookshanks, who takes an immediate dislike to Scabbers.
On the night before returning to Hogwarts, Harry overhears Arthur and Molly Weasley arguing; Arthur wants to tell Harry that Black is after him. The next day, Arthur calls Harry aside to tell him this, but Harry explains that he overheard this. Arthur then asks Harry to not go after Black.
On board the Hogwarts Express, Harry, Ron and Hermione share a coach with a sleeping Professor Lupin, who they presume to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The journey goes as normal at first, but the train comes to an unexpected stop, and hooded figures enter their compartment. After getting a brief glance at the creature, Harry faints; when he comes to he is told that while everyone else felt as though they would never be happy again, no one else had fainted. Professor Lupin, while handing out pieces of chocolate, informs them that they were dementors.
At the feast, Professor Dumbledore announces that the dementors will be standing guard at the gates of Hogwarts while Sirius Black is on the loose. He also welcomes two new teachers—Professor Lupin, who receives a look of loathing from Snape, and Hagrid, as the Care of Magical Creatures teacher.
Harry, Ron and Hermione begin some new subjects chosen at the end of the previous school year, though Hermione has chosen to take all of the available subjects. Her timetable is a conundrum to Ron and Harry, listing several subjects for the same time periods. The first new class they attend is Divination, with Professor Trelawney. Hermione takes an instant dislike to both professor and subject, while Harry begins to fear that the black dog he had seen is a Grim — an omen of death.
Their first lesson with Hagrid is a failure—Hagrid attempts to teach them how to approach a hippogriff, but Draco Malfoy is bitten by one after insulting it, despite Hagrid's warning. Malfoy plays up this injury, and Harry is given the task of preparing his ingredients in potions class. As he is doing this, Malfoy tells Harry if he were Harry he'd want revenge on Black. Harry doesn't know what he's talking about as he dosen't know that it "was" Black who betrayed his parents to Voldemort. More successful was their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor Lupin, a practical lesson, where the class learn how to banish a boggart. Harry is disappointed when Lupin prevents him from facing the boggart, which turns into a floating white orb for him, leading some of the students to wonder why Lupin is afraid of crystal balls.
Harry gets his chance to ask why he was prevented from facing the boggart when the first Hogsmeade visit comes up, when Lupin invites him to have a look at a grindylow; Lupin replies that he assumed it would appear as Voldemort for Harry — this would have been upsetting for all of the students, defeating the purpose of the exercise. While there, Snape comes in with a potion for Lupin; Harry is shocked to see Lupin drink it, thinking that Snape would try to poison him. After the visit, later in the evening, the Gryffindors find themselves locked out, the Fat Lady's portrait has been shredded by Sirius Black, and she has fled to another portrait. While Black is on the loose, the Fat Lady's place is taken by Sir Cadogan, a slightly mad knight.
The class are surprised one day to find Snape teaching in place of Lupin, who has taken ill. They are also shocked when he skips to the end of the book to make them study werewolves, setting them an essay on the ways of recognising and killing them.
Gryffindor's first quidditch match, against Hufflepuff, ends in a loss when Harry falls from his broom — the dementors were drawn to the game — though the Hufflepuff captain, Cedric Diggory insisted on a rematch, because of the circumstances. Worse still for Harry is that his broom was destroyed by the whomping willow. Lupin promises to teach Harry how to drive dementors away.
When the next Hogsmeade visit comes up, Fred and George Weasley come to Harry's rescue by providing him with the Marauder's Map and showing him a secret passage from Hogwarts to Hogsmead. Using his Invisibility cloak, Harry goes to the Three Broomsticks with Ron and Hermione. While there they overhear a conversation between Fudge, Hagrid, Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, and Madam Rosmerta, proprietor of the Three Broomsticks. Fudge reveals that Black had been James Potter's best friend, best man at his wedding and Harry's godfather — and the Potter's secret keeper at the time Voldemort was looking for them. He also tells that Black killed Peter Pettigrew, another friend of the Potters.
Over the Christmas holidays, Harry, Ron and Hermione are reassured to hear that Hagrid will not be charged over the Hippogriff's biting Malfoy; Hagrid, however, is distraught because of the decision that the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, is to be destroyed. They vow to help him in his appeal. On Christmas Day, Harry is surprised to receive an anonymous gift of a Firebolt, the most advanced broomstick available. Hermione, however, feels it may have been sent by Black as a trap, and Professor McGonagall takes it away to examine it. This leads to a rift, with neither Harry nor Ron speaking to Hermione.
As the new term begins, so do Harry's anti-dementor lessons with Professor Lupin. Harry learns how to use the Patronus charm, though his progress is slow. Eventually his Firebolt is returned to him, and he prepares for his next quidditch game. The rift with Hermione is healed, but temporarily; Ron finds blood stains on his sheets, and Scabbers missing, and blames Crookshanks. During the game against Ravenclaw the dementors make a reappearance, but this time his Patronus is strong enough to allow him to win the game — he later finds out that it was Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle dressed as dementors. All seems well, but later Ron wakes in the middle of the night, seeing Black standing over him with a knife, having gained entry using a list of passwords Neville had lost.
At the next Hogsmeade visit, Harry narrowly avoids being caught by Snape. He visits a local haunted house, the Shrieking Shack, with Ron when Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle turn up. Under his Invisibility Cloak, he throws mud at them, but the cloak slips, revealing Harry's head. When he returns to Hogwarts, Snape calls him aside. Snape tells him that his father was arrogant, and Harry loses his temper, telling him that he knows his father saved Snape's life. Snape tells Harry that his father saved him from a joke played by his friends, which would have led to his death. Snape tells Harry to turn out his pockets, and finds the Marauder's Map along with some items from the joke shop. When he tries to determine the map's purpose, he receives a list of insults from the map's creators: Padfoot, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail.
- Moony told Snape that he should keep his protuberant nose out of other people's business.
- Padfoot told Snape that he is an idiot and that Padfoot was shocked to know that Snape was actually a professor.
- Prongs told Snape that he is an ugly git.
- Wormtail told Snape to wash his hair and called him a slimeball.
On seeing this, he calls in Professor Lupin, who tells him it's a probably a trick parchment from a joke shop. At this, Ron bursts into the room, saying he bought the items for Harry; Lupin declares the matter closed, calling Harry and Ron to follow him. Lupin then admonishes Harry for using the map, and that he thinks the creators would find it amusing to lure him out of Hogwarts with it.
After Lupin leaves them, they bump into Hermione, who tells them that Hagrid has lost his case. Ron offers to help her with the appeal, ending their fight. Harry and Ron are surprised when she misses Charms; having walked with them to the class. Later in Divination, she has an argument with Professor Trelawney, and quits the Divination class.
The night before the game against Slytherin, Harry spots Crookshanks with the Grim, though both disappeared before he could rouse Ron. The game itself was won by Gryffindor, though Harry had to refrain from catching the Snitch, as Gryffindor needed to beat Slytherin by a large margin to win the Quidditch Cup.
Exam time comes, and the day of the final exam is also the day of Buckbeak's appeal. Harry's final exam is Divination, where he has to use a crystal ball. He makes up a prediction about a Hippogriff flying away free. As he turns to leave, Professor Trelawney speaks, but in a different voice, and predicts that Voldemort's servant will return to him, and aid his return; when he asks her about it, however, she insists he must have fallen asleep. After the exam, Harry is told that Hagrid lost his appeal, and that Buckbeak is to be executed. Using the Invisibility Cloak, they go to Hagrid's house. While they are there, Ron finds Scabbers, alive and unharmed, just before they hear the executioners approach. As Hagrid lets them out the back door, they hear the axe fall.
Walking away from the hut, Scabbers escapes, and Ron runs after him, and both Harry and Hermione follow him, discarding the cloak. As they gain on him, the Grim appears again, leaping on Harry. The dog grabs Ron, dragging him away through a gap in the roots of the Whomping Willow, followed by Harry and Hermione. At the end of the tunnel, they find themselves in a house — the Shrieking Shack. They hear movement upstairs, and find Ron, who tries to tell him that the dog was Black, an animagus. Though Black gets their wands, Harry catches him by surprise; as the three surround him, he tries to get Harry to listen to the whole story of what happened to his parents.
While facing him, considering what to do, they are startled — Professor Lupin has entered the room. At first relieved to see him, they are shocked when he disarms them. He starts speaking to Black, asking "Where is he?"; Black points to Ron. Lupin continues speaking to Black, puzzling out loud, before embracing Black, shocking Harry, Ron and Hermione, who instantly begin accusing him of being Black's accomplice. Hermione in particular felt betrayed, she had been hiding Lupin's secret, which she had known since doing Snape's essay — that he is a werewolf. Lupin explains that he had seen them go to the Shrieking Shack using the Marauder's Map, the map he had helped write as "Moony."
Lupin tells them that Pettigrew is an animagus, but Hermione points out that animagi are registered with the Ministry of Magic; Lupin counters that there were three illegal animagi during his time as a student at Hogwarts — James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They became animagi after learning that Lupin was a werewolf, so they could keep Lupin in line enough to go on adventures. He then tells them of his regret, for leading his friends to break the law, and of deceiving Dumbledore, who had trusted him, and given him chances others would have denied him; to become a student, and by giving him a job. As he tells them this, Snape enters the room using Harry's cloak, casting it aside with his wand aimed at Lupin and Black — he had seen the map on Lupin's desk. Hermione tries to explain that he hasn't heard the whole story, but he is interested only in revenge against his school time foes. Harry tries arguing with him, but realises that it's in vain, so disarms him — both Ron and Hermione had decided to do this at the same time, the force of their combined charms leaving Snape unconscious.
Black and Lupin continue to explain about Pettigrew/Scabbers; Black explains that he saw Scabbers in the picture accompanying the article about the Weasley's prize and recognised him. Lupin notices that Scabbers has a missing toe — the largest part that had been found after Pettigrew's "death" was a finger, which he had cut off himself. The pair prove Scabbers' true identity by forcing Pettigrew to resume his human form. Once restored, he attempts to keep the finger of blame pointed at Black. Black explains that, at his suggestion, the Potters switched secret keepers to Pettigrew, as it would have been too obvious that he, James' best friend, was their secret keeper. Though Harry now believes Black, he won't allow Black and Lupin to kill Pettigrew; his father wouldn't have wanted his best friends to become murderers over Pettigrew.
They leave the Shrieking Shack, Ron and Lupin tied to Pettigrew, the still-unconscious Snape floating, being carried magically. Sirius tells Harry that, as godfather, his parents appointed him Harry's guardian, and asks if Harry would like to move in with him, an offer Harry eagerly accepts. As they leave the tunnel, the clouds part, revealing the full moon, and Lupin, not