Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. It was published on 8 July 1999 by Bloomsbury.
Development and publication[]
Rowling found writing the book better fun and far easier than any other book in the series, which she thinks shows. At that point in her life, she was happy and comfortable, no longer in financial worry and yet to face the immense tension and need of writing the later books that came with the popularity of the series.
The book was immediately acclaimed, for being "brilliant", the "best book yet" and "a charm". Others claimed that the "Potter spell" was working well. It won many awards, including the Whitbread Book of the Year[1], American Library Association Notable Children's Book and the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Medal for children aged 9–11.
Plot[]
Sirius Black escapes Azkaban and goes into hiding. He is widely believed to be a loyal servant of Voldemort who betrayed James and Lily Potter, and now he wants to kill Harry. Harry begins the third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he meets Remus Lupin, who agrees to teach him the Patronus Charm which stops the Dementors placed at Hogwarts attacking Harry.
Hagrid is the new Care of Magical Creatures Professor. His first lesson goes awry when Buckbeak is provoked by Draco into attacking him, for which Buckbeak is sentenced to death. Harry is given the Marauder's Map which enables him to sneak around because it shows where people are. Hermione appears to be taking far too many subjects and keeps showing up out of nowhere.
Unfortunately, it appears Sirius truly wants to kill Harry when he breaks into the school. Then Harry notices a name on the Marauder's Map which shouldn't be there - Peter Pettigrew. Eventually, the truth is revealed.
Chapters[]
- Chapter 1: Owl Post
- Chapter 2: Aunt Marge's Big Mistake
- Chapter 3: The Knight Bus
- Chapter 4: The Leaky Cauldron
- Chapter 5: The Dementor
- Chapter 6: Talons and Tea Leaves
- Chapter 7: The Boggart in the Wardrobe
- Chapter 8: Flight of the Fat Lady
- Chapter 9: Grim Defeat
- Chapter 10: The Marauder's Map
- Chapter 11: The Firebolt
- Chapter 12: The Patronus
- Chapter 13: Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw
- Chapter 14: Snape's Grudge
- Chapter 15: The Quidditch Final
- Chapter 16: Professor Trelawney's Prediction
- Chapter 17: Cat, Rat and Dog
- Chapter 18: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
- Chapter 19: The Servant of Lord Voldemort
- Chapter 20: The Dementor's Kiss
- Chapter 21: Hermione's Secret
- Chapter 22: Owl Post Again
Dedication[]
- "To Jill Prewett and Aine Kiely, the Godmothers of Swing."
- — J.K. Rowling
Jill and Aine were two friends that Rowling lived with when she was teaching in Portugal. Jill's surname Prewett was later the maiden name given to Molly Weasley, and the surname of Molly's brothers, Fabian and Gideon Prewett.
Covers[]
