Harry Potter returns for his third year at Hogwarts to find the school guarded by soul-sucking Dementors. A dangerous prisoner named Sirius Black has escaped from the fortress of Azkaban and is believed to be hunting Harry to finish the work of the Dark Lord. As Harry masters advanced magic to defend himself against the Dementors, he unravels dark secrets about his parents' past and discovers that the traitor who betrayed them might be closer than he ever imagined.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United Kingdom United States |
Premiere date |
June 4, 2004 |
Running time |
142 minutes |
Genre |
Fantasy Adventure Mystery Family |
Budget |
$130,000,000 |
Box Office |
$796,907,323 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Alfonso Cuarón |
Produced by |
David Heyman Chris Columbus Mark Radcliffe |
Written by |
Steve Kloves |
Music by |
John Williams |
Cinematography |
Michael Seresin |
Edited by |
Steven Weisberg |
Production Co. |
Warner Bros. Pictures Heyday Films 1492 Pictures |
Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #03 in Harry Potter Collection
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The Plot
A Volatile Summer and the Aunt Marge Incident
In the summer of 1993, following his second year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter spends a dissatisfying holiday at the Dursleys' home. While his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger enjoy vacations in Egypt and France respectively, Harry is forced to study magic covertly at night to avoid detection by his anti-magic relatives. He is desperate to visit the wizarding village of Hogsmeade during the upcoming school term, but he requires a permission form signed by his guardian, Uncle Vernon. On August 31, Vernon agrees to consider signing the form only if Harry behaves perfectly during a visit from Vernon's domineering sister, Marge. Harry attempts to tolerate Marge's presence, but at dinnertime, she begins to viciously insult him and his parents, calling James Potter "a drunk" and referring to Lily Potter as "a bitch."
Triggered by these slurs, Harry's anger inadvertently unleashes his magical powers, causing Marge to inflate like a balloon and float out into the garden sky. A livid Vernon demands Harry fix her, but Harry refuses, declaring she deserved it. When Vernon lunges at him, Harry instinctively draws his wand, threatening his uncle. Believing he has been expelled for using magic outside of school, Harry gathers his belongings and flees into the night, leaving the Dursleys behind.
The Fugitive and the Grim
Alone on the streets, Harry is startled by the appearance of a large, shaggy black dog watching him from the shadows. Before he can investigate, the Knight Bus violently materializes, offering him transport to the Leaky Cauldron in London. Upon arrival, Harry is met by the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who surprisingly informs him that he will not be expelled for the incident with Aunt Marge. During his stay, Harry learns a troubling truth: Sirius Black, a deranged prisoner and alleged supporter of Lord Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban prison. The following day, amidst the chaos of a cat chasing a rat, Harry reunites with Ron and Hermione. The rat is revealed to be Ron’s long-lived pet, Scabbers, while the cat is Hermione’s new companion, Crookshanks. Before they depart, Arthur Weasley pulls Harry aside to warn him that Black is likely hunting Harry specifically, though Harry is confused as to why a stranger would want to kill him.
Dementors on the Express
The trio boards the Hogwarts Express, sharing a compartment with a sleeping man revealed to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin. The journey is interrupted when the train abruptly stops and the lights fail. A hooded, wraith-like creature known as a Dementor boards the train in search of Sirius Black. When the creature approaches Harry, it has a profound physiological effect on him, causing him to hear a woman screaming before fainting. Lupin awakens and repels the creature with a Patronus Charm. Later at school, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore announces that Dementors will be stationed around Hogwarts for protection until Black is captured. As the term begins, the students notice Hermione’s bizarre schedule; she seems to appear out of nowhere, attending multiple classes simultaneously.
In their first Divination class, Professor Sybill Trelawney reads Harry’s tea leaves and horrifiedly predicts he has "The Grim," an omen of death. Conversely, Lupin’s classes prove popular as he teaches students to face their fears using a Boggart. However, Rubeus Hagrid’s first lesson as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher ends in disaster. Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes a Hippogriff named Buckbeak, leading the beast to scratch him. Capitalizing on the injury, Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, successfully petitions for Buckbeak to be sentenced to death.
Secrets of the Past
When the third-year students visit Hogsmeade, Harry is forced to stay behind as Uncle Vernon never signed his permission slip. He spends time on the Wooden Bridge with Professor Lupin, who reveals he was a friend of Harry's parents, describing them as "two great individuals." Upon returning to Gryffindor Tower, the students find the portrait of the Fat Lady slashed and empty. She is found hiding in another frame, terrified, revealing that Sirius Black had entered the castle seeking entry to the tower. The school is locked down, and students sleep in the Great Hall. During a subsequent Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Snape substitutes for Lupin, calling him "incapable of teaching" and instructing the class on the difference between werewolves and Animagi—humans who can transform into animals at will.
During a stormy Quidditch match, Dementors swarm the pitch, causing Harry to lose consciousness and fall from his broomstick. Dumbledore slows his descent, but Harry's broom blows into the Whomping Willow and is destroyed. Determined to protect himself, Harry asks Lupin to teach him how to fight the Dementors. Lupin agrees to private lessons after the holidays but notes he is currently too unwell.
The Marauder’s Map and a Betrayal Revealed
Near Christmas, Harry attempts to sneak into Hogsmeade under an Invisibility Cloak but is caught by Fred and George Weasley. They gift him the "Marauder's Map," a magical document showing the location of everyone in Hogwarts and secret passages out of the castle. Using the map, Harry enters Hogsmeade and heads to the Three Broomsticks pub. There, hiding under his cloak, he eavesdrops on a conversation between McGonagall, Fudge, and Hagrid. He learns the devastating truth: Sirius Black was his father’s best friend and Harry’s godfather. Black allegedly betrayed the Potters' secret location to Voldemort and murdered their mutual friend, Peter Pettigrew. Enraged and heartbroken, Harry tells Ron and Hermione that he hopes Black finds him so he can kill him in retaliation.
The Patronus and the Impossible Name
After the holidays, Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus Charm, a spell that conjures a shield of positive energy to repel Dementors. Lupin explains that a Patronus feeds on the happiness the Dementor tries to steal. After struggling, Harry manages to produce a wisp of a Patronus by focusing on a memory of his parents. Later, while viewing the Marauder's Map at night, Harry sees the name "Peter Pettigrew" moving through the castle, despite Pettigrew being presumed dead. Harry investigates but finds no one. He is caught by Snape, who interrogates him about the map. Lupin intervenes to save Harry, confiscating the map. In private, Lupin scolds Harry for gambling his safety but is visibly shaken when Harry mentions seeing Pettigrew's name, staring quietly at the map after Harry leaves.
The Shrieking Shack
Tension mounts as Buckbeak’s execution date arrives. In Divination class, Professor Trelawney falls into a genuine trance, predicting that "the Dark Lord's servant" will return to his master that very night. The trio visits Hagrid to console him, where they discover Scabbers, who had been missing, alive in the hut. As they leave, they witness the executioner’s axe fall, implying Buckbeak’s death. Suddenly, the large black dog Harry saw earlier attacks, dragging Ron and Scabbers into a tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione follow them to the Shrieking Shack.
Inside, the dog reveals himself to be Sirius Black, an Animagus. Lupin bursts in and, to the trio's shock, embraces Black as an old friend. Hermione confronts Lupin, revealing she figured out he is a werewolf based on Snape’s essay and his absences during full moons. Snape arrives to apprehend Black, but Harry knocks him out with a spell, desperate for answers. Black and Lupin reveal the truth: Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew in Animagus form. It was Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters and framed Black for the crime. They force Pettigrew back into human form. Lupin and Sirius prepare to execute him, but Harry intervenes, insisting that his father would not have wanted his two best friends to become killers. They decide to turn Pettigrew over to the Dementors instead.
The Dementor’s Kiss
As the group exits the tunnel, the full moon rises. Lupin, who forgot to take his potion, violently transforms into a werewolf. In the chaos, Pettigrew transforms back into a rat and escapes. Sirius transforms into a dog to protect the trio from the werewolf. Lupin is eventually distracted by a howl from the forest and flees. Sirius, wounded and human again, is pursued by Dementors down to the Black Lake. Harry follows and finds Sirius surrounded. As the Dementors prepare to administer the "Kiss"—sucking out Sirius's soul—Harry attempts to cast a Patronus but fails. As his consciousness fades, Harry sees a figure across the lake cast a powerful, stag-shaped Patronus that scatters the Dementors, saving them both.
Time Turner
Harry wakes in the hospital wing to hear that Sirius has been captured and awaits the Dementor’s Kiss. Dumbledore listens to their story and believes Sirius is innocent but explains that their word alone cannot save him. He turns to Hermione, cryptically suggesting that "three turns" should suffice to save two innocent lives. Hermione reveals a Time-Turner, a device she has been using to attend her extra classes. She wraps the chain around herself and Harry, turning the hourglass back three hours.
Harry and Hermione watch their past selves from the shadows. They realize the "two innocent lives" are Sirius and Buckbeak. They sneak to Hagrid’s hut and lure Buckbeak away moments before the executioner sees him, saving the creature. Later, in the Forbidden Forest, they watch the werewolf confrontation. Hermione mimics a werewolf howl to lure Lupin away from their past selves, but this endangers them as Lupin attacks. They are saved just in time by Buckbeak, who drives the werewolf off.
The True Patronus
As the timeline converges, Harry and Hermione reach the edge of the lake where the Dementors are attacking the past Harry and Sirius. Harry, who had believed his deceased father cast the stag Patronus, realizes that "he" was the one he saw. Stepping out, he casts a powerful corporeal Patronus, scattering the Dementors and saving his past self and godfather. With Sirius safe from the Dementors but imprisoned in the Dark Tower, Harry and Hermione fly Buckbeak to the tower cell. They break Sirius out, allowing him to escape on the Hippogriff.
Mischief Managed
Before flying away, Sirius shares a heartfelt moment with Harry. Although Harry's dream of living with his godfather is shattered because Sirius remains a wanted fugitive without proof of innocence, he takes comfort in knowing Sirius is free. Harry and Hermione race back to the hospital wing, arriving just seconds after Dumbledore leaves, successfully closing the time loop. Ron is left utterly confused by their sudden reappearance. At the end of the term, Lupin resigns, knowing parents will not accept a werewolf teaching their children. He returns the Marauder's Map to Harry. Later, Harry receives a package containing a Firebolt, the fastest racing broom in the world, sent by Sirius. He takes it for a flight, ending the year on a high note.
