Harry's third year at Hogwarts is marked by the escape of the notorious Sirius Black from Azkaban prison, forcing him to confront dark secrets about his family's past while avoiding soul-sucking Dementors.
Synopsis
Harry Potter returns for his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under a cloud of fear. Sirius Black, a deranged mass murderer believed to be a loyal servant of Lord Voldemort, has escaped the inescapable prison of Azkaban and is rumored to be hunting Harry. To protect the school, Azkaban's spectral guards, the Dementors, are stationed at Hogwarts, but their soul-draining presence affects Harry more than anyone else. With the help of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, Harry learns to defend himself while unraveling the true story of Black's betrayal of his parents.
Information |
|
|---|---|
Language |
English |
Country |
United Kingdom
United States |
Premiere date |
May 31, 2004 |
Running time |
142 minutes |
Genre |
Adventure
Fantasy |
Budget |
$130,000,000 |
Box Office |
$808,000,000 |
Crew |
|
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. |
Heyday Films 1492 Pictures |
Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
Top Cast |
|
|
|
Official Trailer |
|
Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #03 in Harry Potter Collection
|
The Plot
Accidental Magic and the Flight from Privet Drive
In the summer of 1993, following his second year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter endures another miserable break 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 by wand-light late at night. His primary goal for the summer is to persuade his Uncle Vernon to sign a permission form allowing him to visit the wizarding village of Hogsmeade. Vernon agrees to sign the form only if Harry behaves himself during the upcoming visit of Vernon's sister, Marge. On August 31, Marge arrives and immediately begins to antagonize Harry.
The tension culminates at dinnertime when Marge viciously insults Harry’s parents, calling James Potter "a drunk" and referring to Lily Potter as "a bitch." Consumed by rage, Harry loses control of his magical abilities, causing Marge to inflate like a balloon and float out of the conservatory into the evening sky. A furious Vernon demands Harry fix her, but Harry refuses, declaring that she deserved it. When Vernon lunges at him, Harry instinctively draws his wand, threatening his uncle. Realizing he has violated the decree against underage wizardry and believing expulsion is imminent, Harry gathers his trunk and flees into the night.
The Knight Bus and the Fugitive from Azkaban
Alone on a dark street, Harry is startled by the appearance of a large, shaggy black dog watching him from the shadows. As he stumbles back, the Knight Bus, a chaotic triple-decker emergency transport for stranded witches and wizards, violently materializes. Harry is whisked away to the Leaky Cauldron in London. En route, he learns from the conductor that Sirius Black, a notorious supporter of Lord Voldemort, has become the first prisoner to ever escape the fortress of Azkaban.
Upon arrival at the pub, Harry is greeted not by law enforcement, but by the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. To Harry's surprise, he is not expelled for the incident with Aunt Marge. Fudge installs him in a room at the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry is soon reunited with Ron and Hermione. He finds them arguing over their pets; Hermione has purchased a large ginger cat named Crookshanks, which seems intent on chasing Ron’s scrawny pet rat, Scabbers. Before they depart for school, Arthur Weasley pulls Harry aside to issue a grave warning: Sirius Black has escaped specifically to find and kill Harry. Mr. Weasley makes Harry promise not to go looking for Black, leaving Harry confused as to why he would ever seek out a man who wants him dead.
Dementors on the Express and a New Term
The journey to school on the Hogwarts Express takes a dark turn when the train stops abruptly halfway to the castle. The lights fail, and the air turns freezing cold as a Dementor—a wraith-like prison guard of Azkaban—glides into the trio's compartment searching for Black. The creature's presence drains all happiness from the air, causing Harry to hear a woman screaming before he faints. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, who had been sleeping in the compartment, wakes up and repels the creature with a Patronus Charm, giving Harry chocolate to recover.
At the start-of-term feast, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore announces that Dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds to protect the students from Black, though he warns that the creatures are merciless and cannot distinguish between the prey they hunt and those who get in their way. The academic year brings new challenges; in Divination, Professor Sybill Trelawney reads Harry’s tea leaves and predicts his death, seeing the "Grim"—an omen in the shape of a spectral dog. Meanwhile, Rubeus Hagrid takes over the Care of Magical Creatures class. His first lesson goes awry when Draco Malfoy deliberately insults a Hippogriff named Buckbeak, provoking the beast to attack him. Although Malfoy's injury is minor, his father Lucius threatens the school's board, eventually securing a death sentence for the innocent creature.
Secrets of the Map and the Truth About Black
As winter approaches, third-year students visit Hogsmeade, but Harry, lacking a signed permission slip, is forced to stay behind. He spends time on the wooden bridge with Professor Lupin, who fondly recalls Harry’s parents as "two great individuals." The danger escalates on Halloween when the Fat Lady’s portrait guarding Gryffindor Tower is found slashed and empty. She is discovered hiding in another painting, terrified, revealing that Sirius Black has entered the castle. Dumbledore orders the students to sleep in the Great Hall for safety. During this time, Professor Snape expresses suspicion to Dumbledore about Lupin's appointment, though Dumbledore dismisses his concerns.
During a stormy Quidditch match, Dementors invade the pitch, causing Harry to lose consciousness and fall from his broomstick. Dumbledore slows his fall, but Harry’s broom blows into the Whomping Willow and is destroyed. Determined to fight back, Harry asks Lupin to teach him how to repel Dementors. Before Christmas, Fred and George Weasley gift Harry the Marauder's Map, a magical parchment showing every corner of Hogwarts and the location of everyone in it. Using a secret passage shown on the map, Harry sneaks into Hogsmeade under his Invisibility Cloak.
Inside the Three Broomsticks pub, Harry overhears a conversation between McGonagall, Fudge, and Hagrid. They reveal that Sirius Black was James Potter’s best friend and Harry’s godfather. The group explains that Black betrayed the Potters’ secret location to Voldemort and subsequently murdered their mutual friend, Peter Pettigrew, leaving only a finger behind. Enraged and heartbroken, Harry vows to his friends that he hopes Black finds him so he can kill him in retaliation.
The Patronus and the Prediction
In the new term, Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus Charm, a difficult spell that requires a powerful happy memory to create a shield against Dementors. After several attempts, Harry manages to produce a corporeal Patronus. Later, while scanning the Marauder's Map, Harry is shocked to see the name "Peter Pettigrew" moving through the corridors, despite the man being dead for twelve years. He investigates but is caught by Snape. Lupin intervenes to save Harry from punishment but confiscates the map, rebuking Harry for gambling his safety. When Harry mentions seeing Pettigrew's name, Lupin is visibly shaken but insists it is impossible.
Tensions rise in Divination class when Professor Trelawney suddenly enters a genuine trance. In a harsh, rasping voice, she delivers a prophecy: "The Dark Lord's servant will return to his master tonight." That evening, Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit Hagrid to comfort him before Buckbeak’s execution. While there, Hagrid returns Ron’s missing rat, Scabbers. As the executioner’s axe falls outside, the trio flees back up the hill, but Scabbers bites Ron and escapes. When Ron chases the rat, a large black dog bursts from the shadows, dragging both Ron and Scabbers into a tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow.
The Shrieking Shack and the Traitor Revealed
Harry and Hermione follow the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack, where they find Ron terrified. The black dog transforms into Sirius Black, an Animagus. Harry attacks Black, threatening to kill him, but is disarmed when Professor Lupin bursts in. To the trio's horror, Lupin embraces Black like a brother. Hermione exposes Lupin as a werewolf, a fact he admits. Just as they begin to explain, Snape arrives, intending to hand both men over to the Dementors. Harry, desperate for answers, knocks Snape unconscious with a spell.
Lupin and Black reveal the truth: Scabbers is not a rat, but Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. Pettigrew, not Black, was the Secret-Keeper who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, framed Black for the crime, and faked his own death. They force Pettigrew back into human form. Lupin and Black prepare to execute the traitor, but Harry intervenes, insisting that his father would not have wanted his two best friends to become killers. He decides Pettigrew should be handed over to the Dementors to clear Sirius's name.
The Werewolf, the Lake, and Time
As the group exits the tunnel, the full moon rises. Lupin, who has forgotten his wolfsbane potion, undergoes a violent transformation into a werewolf. In the chaos, Pettigrew transforms back into a rat and escapes. Sirius shifts into his dog form to protect the children from the werewolf. After a brutal fight, Lupin is distracted by a howl from the forest and runs off. Sirius, wounded and human again, is pursued by Dementors down to the Black Lake. Harry rushes to help him, but they are overwhelmed. As the Dementors prepare to suck out Sirius’s soul, Harry sees a figure on the opposite bank cast a blindingly powerful stag-shaped Patronus that scatters the creatures. Harry collapses next to his godfather, believing he saw his deceased father.
Harry wakes in the hospital wing to find that Sirius has been captured and awaits the Dementor’s Kiss. Dumbledore listens to their story but explains that without proof, Sirius is doomed. He cryptically suggests to Hermione that "three turns should suffice" to save two innocent lives. Hermione reveals her Time-Turner, a device she has been using to attend multiple classes. She and Harry travel three hours into the past.
Changing the Past
In the past, Harry and Hermione hide and watch the evening's events unfold. They distract the executioner and Minister, allowing them to rescue Buckbeak moments before the axe falls. Waiting in the forest, they watch the group emerge from the Whomping Willow. When the werewolf Lupin prepares to attack the past versions of Harry and Hermione, the future Hermione howls to lure him away, saving their past selves but endangering themselves. As the werewolf corners them, Buckbeak intervenes, fighting off the werewolf and allowing them to escape.
They race to the lake as the Dementors descend on the past Harry and Sirius. Harry realizes that the "father" he thought he saw was actually himself. Stepping out from the trees, he casts the powerful Patronus that saves them. With Sirius safe from the Dementors but imprisoned in the Dark Tower, Harry and Hermione fly Buckbeak to the cell window. They break Sirius out, and he bids Harry an emotional farewell. Sirius tells Harry that while they cannot live together yet, he is safe. He flies away on Buckbeak into the night sky.
The Mischief Managed
Harry and Hermione sprint back to the hospital wing, arriving seconds before Dumbledore exits, successfully closing the time loop. Ron remains confused as to how they are suddenly standing there. The school year concludes with Lupin resigning his post, knowing parents will not accept a werewolf teaching their children. He returns the Marauder's Map to Harry. Shortly after, Harry receives a package containing a Firebolt, the fastest racing broom in the world, sent by Sirius. The film ends with Harry taking his new broom for a joyous flight, finally finding a sense of freedom.
