BACKGROUND
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book and film, was to be a turning point in the Harry Potter series, for various reasons.
Book Three was the point where the story became a lot darker. Here, Harry encounters people from his parents’ past, learns secrets and mysteries about their death, and comes face-to-face with some more terrifying beings in the Wizarding World. As well as dealing with all of this, Harry is still being tormented with the potential return of Lord Voldemort, who murdered his parents, and has to deal with that most dreaded of time: puberty. Yes, even witches and wizards have to endure those awkward teenage years!
Film Three was going to deal with these topics, but had some changes of its own. The director who had created the whimsical, enchanting Hogwarts that we had seen in the first two films decided not to return for the third film, and was replaced with Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, who had a history of making coming-of-age movies and delving into the realm of fantasy, making him a good choice to take the helm for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which had to be darker and more mature. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, along with introducing more new characters to the franchise, had to cope with a difficult recasting too, that of Richard Harris as Dumbledore after Harris’ passing in 2002. The role of Dumbledore passed over to another legendary British actor, Sir Michael Gambon, who made the character his own, becoming more eccentric, but still commanding.
With all these changes going on, and a lack of interest in the novels, although a love for the second film, it’s not much of a surprise that eleven-year-old me completely ignored the cinema release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Instead, my dad, my sister, and I watched it on DVD months later, and honestly, I thought very little of it. I didn’t understand the time-travelling sequence, even though it’s not all that complicated, so I can’t have been paying much attention, and there were just too many dark elements to it for me.
Having rewatched this film multiple times as an adult though, I have found parts of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that I like, and luckily, I have worked out the time-travelling and how it relates to the sequence of events that takes place. And yet, despite this third film and book being a fan-favourite, I would consider it my least favourite of the films. This does sometimes swap positions with the fifth film, but Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix does at least involve lots of my favourite villains, making it more interesting for me.
PLOT
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban begins with Harry Potter secretly practising magic in his room at night, specifically the Lumos spell. Harry is still staying with the Dursleys, and his aunt Petunia, uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. Uncle Vernon keeps hearing noise from Harry’s room and keeps coming into his room to find out what Harry is up to, but every time Harry just pretends to be asleep.
On a new day, Harry finds that Uncle Vernon’s sister Marge is coming for a visit. Harry tries to get Vernon to sign a permission slip for school, so he can visit the town close to Hogwarts School, Hogsmeade. Vernon says he will only sign it if Harry behaves himself. Harry retorts he will behave if Marge does. At dinner that night, Marge tells Harry he’s lucky that her brother chose to take him in and not send him to an orphanage, and continuously insults Harry’s parents, saying Harry’s father was a lazy drunk, but that Harry’s real issues no doubt stem from his mother. Harry angrily tells Marge to shut up, and the glass Marge is holding shatters in her hand. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia start to worry, knowing this was Harry’s magic, but Marge believes it was just her strong grip. As Marge is about to respond to Harry, she sees her finger is swelling up. Soon, her whole body has swollen up like a balloon. Marge bounces out of the dining room, out of the conservatory, and out of the Dursleys’ house entirely. Uncle Vernon tries to hang on to Marge, but after receiving a bite from Marge’s dog Ripper, he lets go. Marge flies away into the night sky…
Knowing he’s in trouble now, Harry packs up all of his things and tries to leave the house. Uncle Vernon demands Harry bring Marge back now, but he refuses. In actual fact, I don’t think he knows how! Harry threatens Vernon with magic, making Vernon step away. However, Vernon reminds Harry that he won’t be allowed back at Hogwarts now, after doing magic whilst he is still under the age of 17, a highly enforced law in the Wizarding World. Harry pretends not to care and leaves, walking into the night with no plan.
Harry makes his way to the local playground and sits on the curb with his trunk and cases, and his owl Hedwig. As he waits, Harry sees movement in the bushes opposite and looks up to see a large black dog staring at him. Suddenly, a triple-decker purple bus pulls up in front of him. The bus conductor gets off and introduces the bus as the Knight Bus, an emergency form of transport for stranded witches and wizards. Harry is told to get on the bus, and it’ll take him where he wants to go. Harry wants to go to The Leaky Cauldron, a wizarding pub and inn in London. The bus travels at great speed making for a bumpy ride, with the elderly driver Ernie at the helm, and his sarcastic Shrunken Head assistant providing ongoing commentary on the journey. Harry sees the conductor reading the latest edition of the wizarding newspaper, The Daily Prophet, and notices the front page talking about a man who has escaped the wizarding prisoner Azkaban. The conductor tells Harry that man is Sirius Black, a convicted murderer, and they should all be concerned.
After a near-miss with an elderly woman crossing the road, and almost crashing into two regular double-decker buses, the Knight Bus gets Harry to The Leaky Cauldron, where he is promptly sent to a meeting with the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. Harry fears he is about to get expelled for using magic on Aunt Marge, but Fudge reassures Harry that all is well, Marge has been found and her memory has been wiped; Harry will still be attending Hogwarts this year. Fudge has even brought all the equipment and books for Harry’s Third Year at school to inn. Harry is taken to his room to await the new school year.
The next day, Harry looks over his new school stuff, and is particularly interested by The Monster Book of Monsters, that has a furry cover with eyes. And yet, this book is not fluffy and friendly. The book gets quite bitey when it is opened and goes on a rampage through the room, hiding under Harry’s bed. Harry coaxes it out and hits it with his shoe so it can be closed! Harry then goes downstairs to the pub and is happily surprised to see his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Grainger standing there, although they are arguing about Hermione’s new cat, Crookshanks, and its interest in Ron’s rat Scabbers. Ron then tells the two all about his family’s trip to Egypt. Ron’s father, Mr. Weasley, takes Harry aside and asks him what he knows about Sirius Black. Mr. Weasley tells Harry that Black is still a loyal follower of the dark wizard Voldemort and is eager for his return. He has likely escaped Azkaban because he plans to kill Harry. He warns Harry not to look for Black, to which Harry responds: why would he go looking for someone trying to kill him? Good point.
Soon after, Harry and his friends board the Hogwarts Express to start their new school year, and end up sharing a carriage with a sleeping man, who turns out to be Professor Lupin, a new teacher at Hogwarts. Harry tells Ron and Hermione all he knows about Sirius Black, and they share their concern. Suddenly, the train stops and everywhere starts to feel cold with surfaces frosting over. The three see a skeletal, cloaked figure come to their carriage. It comes in and starts to attack Harry, causing him to faint. Professor Lupin wakes up at this point and repels the attacker. He explains to Harry, when he regains consciousness, that the figure was a Dementor, and was likely searching the train for Sirius Black. He tells Harry to eat some chocolate to feel better and leaves to talk to the train driver. Harry asks if either Ron or Hermione fainted, or heard a scream, like he did. They say they didn’t, only that they felt they’d never be happy again when the Dementor was near them.
At Hogwarts, the students are all assembled in the Great Hall for their usual start-of-term assembly. Professor Dumbledore introduces the students to their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Lupin and explains that Hagrid is the new Professor for Care of Magical Creatures. He also tells everyone that there will be Dementors stationed at Hogwarts this year as they continue their search for Sirius Black. Dumbledore warns the students not to get in the way of the Dementors, as they do not differentiate between real criminals and those who get in their way. And just to boost the mood, he also tells them that happiness can be found if one remembers to turn on the light. So, another fun year then…
The next day, classes begin and Harry and Ron’s first one is Divination class with the spiritual Professor Trelawny. She has the class read each other’s tea leaves. Ron is asked to read Harry’s tea leaves, but struggles to understand them. Professor Trelawny takes the cup, and immediately puts it down, with a little scream. She tells Harry he’s got The Grim. Woah, sounds terrible – and contagious. Another student explains that The Grim is the omen of death, which takes the shape of a large black dog, like the one Harry saw as he was waiting for the Knight Bus. Harry begins to fear for his safety.
As Ron and Harry, and Hermione, who randomly popped up towards the end of Divination class, walk to Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, they talk about the class, with Hermione seeing it as a complete joke. Harry forgets about it – for now. At Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid introduces the class to a Hippogriff, a half-bird, half-horse creature, named Buckbeak. Harry is asked to meet Buckbeak first. He gains the creature’s trust and respect so Hagrid puts Harry on its back and Buckbeak takes him on a flight around Hogwarts. On his return, Draco Malfoy doesn’t believe that Buckbeak is dangerous, despite what Hagrid says, and struts up to the creature. It takes an instant disliking to Malfoy and kicks its leg out at him, injuring his arm. Hagrid takes Malfoy to the school hospital.
The next day, Draco milks his injury for all its worth to anyone who will listen, annoying Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hermione says Draco’s father is furious and will not let the incident go. Other students then start discussing the new front page of the newspaper, saying that Sirius Black was spotted in Dufftown, which is not far from Hogwarts. But there’s no time to dwell on that as it is time for their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Professor Lupin. Here, Lupin teaches the students about Boggarts, a creature that shape-shifts into whatever the person looking at it fears the most. He gets the students to line up and use the spell “Riddikulus”, which will turn the Boggart into something funny. The class do well, with Neville Longbottom making his Professor Snape-shaped Boggart show up wearing his grandmother’s clothes, and having Ron turn his spider into a roller-skating spider. However, on Harry’s turn, Professor Lupin pushes in front of him and the Boggart turns into the moon. With Lupin’s spell, it becomes a balloon, blowing into the wardrobe it was kept in.
Later that day, all of Harry’s year are heading out to Hogsmeade, the town where Hogwarts is located, however, Harry did not get his permission slip signed and is not allowed to go. Instead, Harry speaks to Lupin. Lupin apologises to Harry for what happened in class, fearing that the Boggart was going to turn into Lord Voldemort. It actually began to turn into a Dementor, Harry’s newest fear now. Lupin also says he knew Harry’s mother and father, and says Harry is very much like both of them, with Lily’s eyes and James’ talent for trouble.
On returning to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry finds a commotion outside their portrait entryway. The Fat Lady, who would normally allow students entry into the Common Room, has gone, and the portrait is scratched up. Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Filch, the caretaker, arrive to investigate. They find the Fat Lady in another portrait, cowering behind a hippo. She tells Dumbledore that Sirius Black was here, in the castle. Dumbledore orders the castle be secured and searched, whilst the Gryffindor students are made to sleep in the Great Hall. Dumbledore and Snape discuss the risk this poses to Harry, with Snape saying another teacher, like Lupin, may’ve helped Black enter the castle. Dumbledore dismisses this theory. Snape asks if Harry should be warned. Dumbledore says later, not realising that Harry has been awake through all of this and heard everything.
The next day, during Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry is shocked to find that Professor Snape is covering the class. They are told they will be learning about werewolves and Animagi, and the differences between the two. Hermione pops up to class, late again, and says they weren’t due to start learning about these creatures for weeks. Snape assigns an essay on the creatures and how to recognise them. Harry says he can’t possibly have time to write this essay with the Quidditch match going on tomorrow. He tells Harry then he’d best be careful, because even loss of limb won’t excuse him from it.
The Quidditch match takes place in stormy, thundery weather and Harry ends up having to fly high above the stadium to search for the Snitch. He sees an image of The Grim reflected in the clouds during a lightning strike, distracting him. Dementors then start to surround Harry, and despite his attempts to evade them, more and more appear. They attack him, and Harry faints, falling off his broom. The pupils and teachers watch in horror as Harry falls into view. Dumbledore saves him from certain death. Harry wakes up in hospital to find his broom blew into the Whomping Willow and is no more. Harry says to Lupin that he wants to learn how to fight Dementors. Lupin says he will teach him, after the holidays.
To make things even worse, once again, the students are sent off to Hogsmeade, and Harry is still unable to join. He decides to take his Invisibility Cloak there, but is stopped by Ron’s older brothers, Fred and George, who see Harry’s footsteps in the snow. They tell him they want to help him, and proceed to give him the Marauder’s Map, which they stole from Filch’s office. The map shows secret passageways and the movements of individuals in the school, like Dumbledore pacing in his office. Fred and George tell Harry to use the secret passageway that ends up in the Honeydukes sweet shop basement to get to Hogsmeade.
Harry arrives and quickly finds Ron and Hermione who are by the Shrieking Shack, being teased by Draco Malfoy and his friends. Harry, still in the Invisibility Cloak, messes with Draco and the others, getting them to leave, fearing they are being haunted. Harry then hears that Cornelius Fudge and Professor McGonagall need to speak to Madam Rosmerta about Sirius Black. Harry sneaks into the pub to overhear the conversation. Inside, he learns that Sirius Black is the reason that Harry’s parents are dead, as he told Voldemort where they were hiding during the Wizarding War all those years before. They also say Black murdered one of their friends, Peter Pettigrew, who was attempting to warn Harry’s parents what Black had done. Only a single finger of Pettigrew’s was found after Black destroyed him. Harry is horrified to hear that the escaped prisoner is the reason his parents are dead, and to land the killer punch, he learns Black is actually his godfather. Harry storms off, upset. Hermione and Ron find him. Harry says he wants Black to find him, so he can kill him first.
With all this anger inside him, now seems to be a good time for Harry to learn how to repel Dementors. Using a Boggart, Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus charm to do this, however, it requires a strong, happy memory to do this. Harry’s first attempt fails and he faints again, as he uses a simple memory of when he first learnt to fly. Harry asks to go again, choosing a different memory. This time, it works and Harry successfully repels the Dementor-shaped Boggart, using a memory of hearing his parents speaking to him.
Later, Harry learns that Ron and Hermione are fighting again because Scabbers has gone missing and Ron blames Hermione’s cat Crookshanks for it. They head off to see Hagrid as he had a meeting about the “Buckbeak incident”. Hagrid is upset because Buckbeak has been sentenced to death, thanks to testimony from Draco Malfoy’s father.
That night, Harry is looking at the Marauder’s Map as everyone else is asleep. He sees the name “Peter Pettigrew” on there. Confused, Harry leaves his dormitory and starts to follow the movements of Pettigrew, not understanding how he can be in the castle when he is dead. Harry doesn’t find anything though, and is actually found by Professor Snape. Harry tries to hide the map, but Snape sees a piece of parchment and puts a spell on it to reveal its “secrets”. Harry is ordered to read what it says. It turns out to be an insult to Snape. Lupin arrives just in time, and is given the parchment to investigate by Snape. Lupin takes Harry back to his office, telling Harry the map was a silly thing to have in his possession because it would be a map to Harry should Sirius Black find it. Harry apologises for not handing it in, but says the map doesn’t seem to work anyway. Lupin asks why he thinks that and Harry reveals that the deceased Peter Pettigrew was spotted on it.
The next day, in Divination class, Professor Trelawny is trying to inspire her students again, but Hermione tries to make a mockery of the class by referencing The Grim again. Trelawny tells Hermione she has no aptitude for this class, having a shrivelled dry soul like an old maid. Hermione walks off in a huff, and knocks over one of the crystal balls which rolls out of the room. On leaving the class, Harry sees the ball and returns it to the classroom. Harry then sees Sirius Black in the ball, and Trelawny appears in some sort of trance. She says he will return to tonight; he who betrayed his friends and whose heart rots with murder shall break free, innocent blood will be spilt, and servant and master shall be reunited once more. Harry is terrified, but Trelawny doesn’t remember a thing!
That evening, Hermione, Ron, and Harry go to Hagrid’s Hut as support because this is the day that Buckbeak is to be executed. Before they get there, they see Draco and his friends wanting to watch the execution. Hermione threatens Draco for his role in all this, and punches him in the face. They run away. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spend time with Hagrid and want to set Buckbeak free but know they cannot, and besides, Dumbledore, Fudge, and the executioner are already here. They are told to leave, and just before they do, Hagrid returns Scabbers to Ron. They sneak out the back door and run back up the hill. They see the executioner raise his axe and bring it down, as birds scatter. It is done.
Randomly, Scabbers then chooses that moment to bite Ron and runs to the Whomping Willow. Ron manages to retrieve him, but then sees a black dog behind Harry and Hermione. It jumps over them and goes straight for Ron, biting his leg and dragging him into the tree. Hermione and Harry go after him, but the Whomping Willow’s branches start attacking them. After a bit of a struggle, they go into the trunk of the willow and see it is a secret passageway, heading to the Shrieking Shack. They eventually find Ron, who tells them the dog was actually Sirius Black – he is an Animagus, someone who can transform into an animal at will. Sirius Black approaches them, causing Harry to attack him, trying to strangle him, but Black simply laughs. Professor Lupin then arrives and quickly shows himself to be on the side of Black. Black says they have to kill him now. Hermione is shocked to find that Lupin is on Black’s side, and reveals that she knows Lupin is a werewolf. Lupin explains that it was not Black who betrayed Harry’s parents, but was actually Peter Pettigrew. Lupin realised Pettigrew must’ve faked his death after Harry said he saw the name on the map. Snape then arrives and says he looks forward to bringing Black to the Dementors, and is pleased with himself for knowing Lupin was the one helping him.
However, Harry wants to know more about what Black and Lupin are saying so disarms Snape instead. They say that Pettigrew is in this room and points to Ron. Ron thinks they’ve gone crazy, but they say Pettigrew is the rat. Ron says that can’t be true as Scabbers has been in his family for about twelve years, which is a very long lifespan for a common garden rat. “Scabbers” tries to escape the room, but his true form is revealed before he can do so. Black and Lupin want to kill Pettigrew now for betraying their friends, but Harry says they should take him to the Dementors.
They all head to the castle, with Ron needing some help after getting a nasty bite from Black whilst he was in his dog form! Outside of the Whomping Willow, Black becomes distracted by the fresh air, admiring Hogwarts. He asks Harry if he would like to live with him instead of the Dursleys, once this “misunderstanding” has been cleared up. Harry says he’d like that. All of a sudden, they notice the full moon and see Lupin transforming into a werewolf. Pettigrew takes the opportunity to turn himself back into a rat and run off. Lupin then starts to attack the group. Snape comes out of the tree to have a word with Harry but sees Lupin, and tries to protect the children. Black turns back into a dog and fights Lupin. They hear a wolf call and Lupin runs off into the forest to follow it. Black turns back into his human self and tumbles down a hill. Harry follows him, finding Black unconscious by the side of a lake. A large group of Dementors come to attack Black, and Harry as he is seemingly an accomplice. Black’s last breath appears to be taken, but then, Harry sees a powerful Patronus charm being cast from across the lake. The Dementors vanish. Harry passes out.
Harry wakes up in hospital and proclaims it was his dad who cast the Patronus charm. Hermione tells Harry to listen to her: the Dementors are going to perform their “kiss” on Sirius Black soon, which will suck out his soul. Dumbledore comes in and Harry, Hermione, and Ron, who is also in a hospital bed with his bad leg, tells Dumbledore that Black is innocent. Dumbledore believes them but knows it is not enough to persuade anyone else. He starts talking about time and retracing their steps, and that more than one life could be spared tonight, saying “three turns ought to do it”, before leaving. Confused, Harry looks to Hermione, who has already wrapped a necklace with a pocket watch on it around his neck. Hermione turns the watch three turns and Harry sees they have gone back in time. It is now 7:30pm. Hermione asks what they did at that time last night. Harry says they were going to Hagrid’s. Hermione and Harry go there.
Harry witnesses Hermione punching Draco and can’t understand what is going on. Hermione pulls Harry into a hiding place and explains that the necklace she has is a Time Turner. Professor McGonagall gave it to her on the first day of term so she could attend all the classes she wanted to that year. She warns Harry that they cannot be seen by their past selves. She tells Harry to follow her to Hagrid’s.
They hide behind the pumpkins by Hagrid’s Hut, and wait for themselves to leave, because they cannot take Buckbeak right away, as they need Fudge and Dumbledore to see it first so they don’t suspect Hagrid. Hermione wonders why they aren’t leaving, and sees a pebble on the pumpkins that looks like one she saw in the hut that night. She realises she must’ve thrown the two that hit a pot and then Harry, prompting them to look out the window and know that they had to leave right that minute. Hermione does just that and she and Harry hide in the forest, as their past selves take their place by the pumpkins. They wait for their past selves to leave, before coaxing Buckbeak into the forest with dead ferrets. They are successful, despite being spotted by Dumbledore, who distracts Fudge. Fudge then turns around to find Buckbeak has vanished. He wants to search for Buckbeak but Dumbledore tells him not to bother and asks Hagrid if they can stay for a drink. The executioner instead uses his axe to split a pumpkin.
Harry and Hermione then wait in the forest close to the Whomping Willow. They see Lupin and Snape enter the tree, so wait for the events to play out. Whilst they do, Harry reiterates that his dad performed that Patronus charm and tells Hermione that Sirius asked Harry to live with him. All of a sudden, they see everyone leaving the Whomping Willow and watch as Lupin transforms into a werewolf and starts to attack them all. Hermione makes a wolf call, learning that she was the one to do that and get Lupin away from them. However, this means that this has now drawn Lupin to them. Harry and Hermione are chased through the forest, with Buckbeak coming to their rescue to fight off Lupin. They then watch as the Dementors come to the lake and see the attack on past Harry and Sirius across the lake. Harry says they just need to wait for his dad to come and perform the charm. Hermione says no-one is coming and fears that the past Harry and Sirius are about to die. Harry stands up and casts the very powerful Patronus charm himself, making the Dementors flee. The two then fly on Buckbeak to free Sirius from the Dark Tower. They take Sirius to the courtyard.
In the courtyard, Harry is told he must stay at Hogwarts but that he and Sirius will be reunited soon. Sirius tells Harry what he is always being told: that he looks so much like his father but has his mother’s eyes. On this occasion, Harry doesn’t mind being told that for maybe the hundredth time! Sirius says that the ones that love us never leave us, and flies away on Buckbeak to lie low for a while.
Hermione and Harry run back to the hospital to be back at the point where they went back in time. They tell Dumbledore that they succeeded in their mission; Dumbledore feigns ignorance and wishes them a goodnight. They arrive back in the hospital and see Ron looking very confused about what just happened! They don’t let him in on the secret.
Harry goes to see Lupin and realises that Lupin is leaving Hogwarts. Lupin says he has decided to leave before any of the parents can complain that they have a werewolf teaching their children at Hogwarts. Harry is sad, both that Lupin is leaving as they had a bond, but also that he sees last night as making no difference because Pettigrew escape. Lupin reminds Harry that he made a world of difference, not least because he spared an innocent man from death. Now that Lupin is no longer his teacher, he also allows Harry to have the Marauder’s Map back, telling him goodbye.
Harry finds his friends in the Great Hall and they excitedly tell him he has a parcel. Sadly, Ron has already half-opened it, blaming it on the poor wrapping, so it is obviously revealed to be a new broomstick, a Firebolt no less. It didn’t come with a note; however, it did come with a Hippogriff feather, meaning it was sent by Sirius. Encouraged by his friends, Harry takes the Firebolt for a quick spin around Hogwarts!
CHARACTERS & CAST
To go alongside the variety of teachers, and actors, we met in the first two stories, such as Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Rubeus Hagrid, in his new role as Professor for Care of Magical Creatures, who all return here, and the large quantity of students who walk the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, like Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, Draco Malfoy, Fred and George Weasley, and of course, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Grainger, who are also back for this film, numerous new characters are introduced to us in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
After Professor Lockhart’s departure at the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts needs a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. This time, Professor Remus Lupin was hired. Harry, Ron, and Hermione first meet him on the Hogwarts Express, and luckily find out that he is actually a very competent teacher – unlike Lockhart – because he successfully repels a Dementor that is attacking Harry. Lupin also proclaims chocolate to be the great healer of all ills, so that’s another reason to trust him! Lupin is kind and supportive to his students, most of all Harry, who he bonds with over their conversations about Harry’s parents. However, Lupin is hiding a dark secret – that he is actually a werewolf. When Lupin transforms into a werewolf, he is not himself, and attacks anyone close to him without realising what he is doing. Because of this, it makes Lupin a danger to his students, and makes his position as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher untenable. His departure from Hogwarts signals the end of his time as a professor, but does not mean a goodbye from the series; Lupin would later return in a different role: as part of “the Order”.
David Thewlis was cast as Lupin, having originally been considered for the part of Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Early in his career, Thewlis won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, amongst others for his role as Johnny Fletcher in the film Naked (1993). Other film roles Thewlis secured after this include the part of Knox Harrington in the crime comedy film The Big Lebowski (1998) and a voice role as Mr. Earthworm in James and the Giant Peach (1996), based on the Roald Dahl novel. After his role in the Harry Potter films, Thewlis went on to appear in many other films, including as Nick Davies in The Fifth Estate (2013); as Dennis Sciama in The Theory of Everything (2014); as Sir Patrick / Ares in Wonder Woman (2017); and as Peylak in Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). More recently, Thewlis has been cast in a variety of television series. For his performance in Season 3 of Fargo (2014-24), where he was cast as V. M. Varga, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice Awards, and the Primetime Emmys. Thewlis was also nominated for a BAFTA for his role as Christopher Edwards in the true crime series Landscapers (2021), with Olivia Colman as his co-star. He has also been cast as Norbert Fagin in the Disney+ series The Artful Dodger (2023-present), with Thomas Brodie-Sangster in the title role, and co-starred with Jason Watkins to play Ash Smith in Dirty Business (2026), a miniseries for Channel 4.
When the audience first hears about Sirius Black, we only know him as a murderer who has escaped from Azkaban prison, a notorious prison in the Wizarding World. We later learn that Black was the reason that Harry’s parents were discovered and killed by Lord Voldemort when Harry was just a baby, and that he killed one of his friends, Peter Pettigrew. All of this led to Black’s detention in Azkaban. During the course of events in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban though, we realise that Black was falsely accused, and had been left to take the blame. Black was always loyal to Harry’s parents and always against Voldemort, revealing that Pettigrew was the one who betrayed them, and then faked his own death, which Black was convicted of. Black shows himself to be a highly loyal person, and not an insane killer, only wanting Pettigrew to pay for all those years Black spent in Azkaban. We also discover that Sirius Black is Harry’s godfather, who later invites Harry to live with him, so he can be away from his awful aunt and uncle. Harry finally gets a real father figure in his life, but knows that he and Sirius must be separated until the heat dies down on Sirius.
Sirius Black was played by Gary Oldman, whose career has spanned film, television, and stage work. On stage, Oldman was cast in performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1980s. In 2025, Oldman starred as Krapp in Krapp’s Last Tape in York. In film, Oldman has been cast in a variety of films, such as playing Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990); portraying Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991); Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992); and for playing James Gordon in the Batman films. Oldman has also been nominated for countless awards for his roles in other films. For portraying Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017), Oldman won the Academy Award, the SAG Award, the BAFTA, and the Golden Globe in the Best Actor category. He would also be nominated at the Academy Awards, amongst others, for his roles as George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Solder Spy (2011) and as Herman J. Mankiewicz in Mank (2020). In television, Oldman has become well-known for starring as Jackson Lamb in the Apple TV series Slow Horses (2022-present), for which he has been nominated at the SAG Awards, the BAFTAs, the Emmys, and the Golden Globes. Oldman has also had voice roles in some animated movies, including as Lord Shen in DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), as Lord Ruber in Quest for Camelot (1998), and as Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, and Tiny Tim in Disney’s A Christmas Carol (2009), which involved motion capture.
To round out this dysfunctional trio, we have Peter Pettigrew, described by Professor McGonagall as a “lump of a boy”, who used to follow Sirius Black and James Potter, Harry’s father, around when they were at school together. The teachers believe that Pettigrew was “destroyed” by Sirius Black, with only a finger left as evidence of his existence, however, it turns out Pettigrew faked his death, cutting off his own finger to frame Sirius for his murder, before disappearing by shape-shifting into a rat. This rat would end up with the Weasley family being named Scabbers. How weird must it have been for Ron to find out that the rat he has been holding on to for years was actually a man in his mid-30s… Pettigrew is forced to confront his past by Black and Lupin as they make him regain his human form. Here, Pettigrew admits he did give away Harry’s parent’s location to Voldemort out of fear. Black wants to kill Pettigrew for this act of cowardice but Harry says they should let the Dementors deal with him. Sadly, Pettigrew gets away as the group become distracted by Lupin’s werewolf transformation and scurries off in his rat form. Nowhere knows where he ends up.
Timothy Spall was cast as Peter Pettigrew. One of Spall’s earliest film roles was as Harry in Quadrophenia (1979), going on to be cast as Barry Spencer Taylor in the British comedy series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983-86, 2002-04). He was BAFTA-nominated for his roles as Maurice Purley in Secrets & Lies (1996), and as Richard Temple in Topsy-Turvy (1999). Spall has been cast in various films of different genres, including as Rosencrantz in the Kenneth Branagh-directed Hamlet (1996); voicing Nick in Aardman’s Chicken Run (2000); being cast as Mr. Poe in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004); and playing Nathaniel in Disney’s Enchanted (2007); and Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Spall would have further success with his role as Peter Taylor in The Damned United (2009), and for his portrayal of artist J. M. W. Turner in Mr. Turner (2014), winning numerous awards including the Cannes Film Festival’s award for Best Actor. Spall also portrayed Winston Churchill in the critically-acclaimed The King’s Speech (2010). More recently, Spall was cast as Equerry Major Alistair Gregory in Spencer (2021), and as Bernie Cheshire in Netflix’s Goodbye June (2025). In series, Spall won a BAFTA television award for his performance as Peter Farquhar in the BBC true crime series The Sixth Commandment (2023), going on to be cast as the Duke of Norfolk in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (2024), which starred Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell. Currently, Spall stars as John Chapel in the BBC crime series Death Valley (2025-present).
Professor Trelawny is the Divination teacher at Hogwarts, who we first see in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, although she is not a new teacher to the school. Trelawny’s Divination classes consist of teaching the students about interpreting signs around them, such as through tea leaves or through crystal balls. Many students don’t take Trelawny’s classes very seriously, especially Hermione who doesn’t believe in auras, and seeing into the future. Trelawny, however, does prove to be useful, as she does predict that Harry is in danger, although her prediction of The Grim, which would’ve meant imminent death to him, was not quite right, and she delivers a prophecy to him that does turn out to be true, as the truth of what happened to Harry’s parents is revealed in the Shrieking Shack with Sirius Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Trelawny is a bit strange but she means well.
Dame Emma Thompson was cast as Professor Trelawny. In the 1990s, Thompson won the Academy Award for Best Actress in Howards End (1992) for her role as Margaret Schlegel and was nominated the next year in the same category for The Remains of the Day (1993) where she played Miss Kenton. In 1995, Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995), playing the part of Elinor Dashwood, where she was once again nominated for Best Actress, and won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Thompson later became known for her roles of Karen in Love Actually (2003); and as Nanny McPhee in the 2005 movie of the same name and its 2010 sequel. Thompson has been cast in both live-action and voice roles for numerous Disney movies as well. She voiced the character of Captain Amelia in Disney Animation’s Treasure Planet (2002) and voiced Queen Elinor in Pixar’s Brave (2012), before starring as P. L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks (2013) alongside Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, and was cast as Baroness von Hellman in Cruella (2021). Recently, Thompson played Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical (2022); Nancy Stokes in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022); and Dame Katherine Newbury in Late Night (2019), receiving nominations at the Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for the latter two roles. Currently, Thompson stars as Zoë Boehm in Down Cemetery Road (2025-present) for Apple TV. Thompson was made a Dame in 2018. Allegedly, Tilda Swinton was up for the role of Professor Trelawny, however, she was not cast due to scheduling conflicts, although some report she simply did not want to be involved[1].
There was also a new addition to the Dursley family, as Uncle Vernon’s sister, Marge, came to visit the family at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with her bulldog, Ripper. Marge had previously been alluded to in the first Harry Potter film, after Vernon reads out a postcard from her. Aunt Marge is rude and insensitive, simply saying what she thinks without any care for who is around her. She says that Harry is lucky that her brother didn’t send Harry off to an orphanage after his parents died, whereas she wouldn’t have kept him, and then goes on to check that Harry is being disciplined at his school. The final straw for Harry is when Marge starts discussing Harry’s mother and father, saying that Harry’s father must’ve been a deadbeat because he didn’t work, and that perhaps that is why Harry is the way he is. She moves on to Harry’s mother, saying that is really where the problems would stem, which naturally riles Harry up, leading to him inadvertently using magic to make her swell up and fly off into the sky. Luckily, Harry doesn’t see her again, although she is found and dealt with so she has no memory of the incident.
Pam Ferris was cast as Aunt Marge. For those watching the Harry Potter films in the 2000s, they’d likely have known Ferris from her role as Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda (1996), the non-musical and original adaptation of the Roald Dahl film. Ferris was actually nominated at the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her terrifying portrayal of the character. She was also known for starring as Florence “Ma” Larkin in The Darling Buds of May (1991-93) on ITV, with David Jason being cast as “Pop” and Catherine Zeta-Jones playing their on-screen daughter Mariette. Also in the 1990s, Ferris starred as Peggy Snow from Series 1 until Series 4 of the ITV drama Where the Heart Is (1997-2006), being nominated at the National Television Awards for Most Popular Actress for her role here. In the 2000s, Ferris was cast as Cath Smith, Smithy’s mum, in the popular comedy series Gavin & Stacey (2007-24), and as Laura Thyme in ITV’s Rosemary & Thyme (2003-07), co-starring with Felicity Kendal. She played Sister Evangelina in the BBC’s drama series Call the Midwife (2012-present) up until Series 5.
Now, for some smaller roles. The Knight Bus sequence features a few characters who only appear for that section. They are the Bus Conductor, who seems quite bored and irritated by his job! He begrudgingly lets Harry onto the bus, wanting him to hurry up and get on, and then struggling to carry his luggage on to it. He just wants to get going with as little chat as possible, although he does tell Harry who Sirius Black is after Harry sees him on the front of the newspaper, albeit rather dramatically. The attitude of the Bus Conductor is quite a contrast to the magical experience of being on the Knight Bus, but I do love his line: “What’cha fell over for?”, when he sees Harry lying on the curb as the bus picks him up.
The Bus Conductor was played by Lee Ingleby. Ingleby went on to be cast as Mole in the 2006 BBC TV adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, going on to have roles in numerous television series after that. Some of these include DS / DI John Bacchus in BBC’s Inspector George Gently (2007-17); George Mottershead in the drama series Our Zoo (2014); and as DI Tony Myerscough for the Netflix series Criminal: UK (2019-20). Recently, Ingleby was cast as DSI Jim Hobson in The Long Shadow (2023); as DCS Neil Adamson in The Hunt for Raoul Moat (2023); as David Leigh in The Hack (2025), all for ITV.
The Knight Bus is being driven by the elderly Ernie, who doesn’t seem to be able to see very well, so uses his talking Shrunken Head next to him to be his eyes. The Shrunken Head alerts Ernie to the fact they are about to run over an old lady crossing the road, and that the bus is about to crash with two double-decker buses, leading to Ernie braking sharply in the first instance and then slimming the bus to get in between the two buses. Ernie might be an erratic driver, but the Knight Bus certainly gets people where they need to fast!
Ernie was played by actor Jimmy Gardner. Gardner was cast as Con Lynch in 10 Rillington Place (1971), which starred Richard Attenborough. Around the time of his casting in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gardner appeared as Mr. Snow in Finding Neverland (2004). He passed away in 2010. The voice of the Shrunken Head was provided by comedian and actor Sir Lenny Henry. Henry went on to voice other characters in film, such as Peg-Leg Hasting in Aardman’s The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists (2012); Mr. Convenience in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024); and The Great Know-All in The Magic Faraway Tree (2026). Recently, Henry appeared as Sadoc Burrows in the Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-present) and wrote the drama television series Three Little Birds (2023) which aired on ITV, also appearing as Remuel Drake. He had also previously written and starred as Samson in the television film Danny and the Human Zoo (2015). Henry was later revealed to be Blob in Series 2 of The Masked Singer UK (2020-present). He received the Special Recognition Award for his work at the National Television Awards in 2022.
At The Leaky Cauldron, Tom, the innkeeper, welcomes Harry after his arrival of the Knight Bus, also having to turn his car alarm off after the Knight Bus hits into his car! Tom shows Harry to his meeting with Cornelius Fudge, before taking Harry to his room. Tom was played by Jim Tavaré, who was part of the ITV sketch comedy show The Sketch Show (2001-04) around this time, appearing with other comedic actors like Lee Mack, Tim Vine, and Ronni Ancona. He later appeared as The Dog Catcher in Pudsey the Dog: The Movie (2014). Tavaré is also a stand-up comedian.
At Hogwarts, the Fat Lady is the portrait that is the entryway to the Gryffindor Common Room. For Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Fat Lady seems to have had a makeover and a personality transplant, as she looks completely different to the regal woman who guards the Common Room in the first film. In this third film, the Fat Lady is too distracted trying to prove her singing abilities to let the students in on one occasion, irritating Harry, and on another, she is seen hiding in a completely different portrait after she sees Sirius Black in the castle; she is terrified. We don’t actually know what happened to her after that, but I can only assume she went back to her regular duties after some time off to reset!
Dawn French was cast as the Fat Lady here. French is known for her comedy sketch show French and Saunders (1987-93, 1994-2005) with fellow comedienne Jennifer Saunders. The two were awarded the BAFTA Television Fellowship in 2009 for their work. French is also known for her role as Geraldine Granger in the comedy series The Vicar of Dibley (1994-2007). She starred in other series too, like as Rosie Bales in Jam & Jerusalem (2006-09) and as Joy Aston in Psychoville (2009-11), before being cast as Gina Benelli in the Sky drama series Delicious (2016-19), which also starred Emilia Fox. She also played Maggie Cole in the ITV series The Trouble with Maggie Cole (2020), starring alongside Mark Heap. Recently, French and Heap appeared together as husband and wife once again in a new comedy series called Can You Keep a Secret? (2026-present), playing Debbie and William Fendon respectively. In film, French voiced the part of Miriam Forcible in Coraline (2009) and played Mrs. Bowers in Death on the Nile (2022).
Then we have Madam Rosmerta, the pub landlady of The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. She is annoyed with Cornelius Fudge for sending Dementors into her pub as they search for Sirius Black, and then is asked to have a meeting with him and Professor McGonagall where she learns more about Black and his complicated past with Harry Potter. The three don’t realise that Harry has snuck in and overhead all of this. This is the only appearance of Madam Rosmerta, though we also learn that Ron fancies her!
Julie Christie was cast as Madam Rosmerta. Early in her career, Christie was cast as Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago (1965); as Diana Scott in Darling (1965); and as Clarisse / Linda Montag in Fahrenheit 451 (1966), earning her numerous award wins and nominations, including a BAFTA and Oscar win for her role in Darling. Christie was cast as Gertrude in Hamlet (1996), and starred as Phyllis Hart in Afterglow (1997). She received another Oscar nomination for her role in Afterglow, gaining two others during her career: one as Fiona in Away from Her (2006), for which she won the Golden Globe and SAG award for Best Actress amongst others, and another for McCabe & Miller (1971), being cast as Constance Miller alongside Warren Beatty, and another She collaborated with Beatty on other films, including Shampoo (1975), playing Jackie Shawn, and Heaven Can Wait (1978) playing Betty Logan. Christie is played Mrs. Emma du Maurier in Finding Neverland (2004).
Two new students make appearances in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban too, only showing up for this film. One of these is Bem, a student who we meet in Divination, one of the few who seems to take the class seriously as he tells the class just what The Grim is and what it means. Bem was played by Ekow Quartey, who went on to be cast as James in This Way Up (2019-21), a Channel 4 series, created, written and starring comedian Aisling Bea, and appears as JJ in the comedy series Amandaland (2025-present).
Another is Pike, seemingly Malfoy’s new friend, who appears in some scenes with him, when either Crabbe or Goyle, his usual two goons, do not, like when Harry uses his Invisibility Cloak to mess with the group after they start on Ron and Hermione. Pike was played by Bronson Webb. He went on to appear in films such as being cast in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) as Cook; Victor Frankenstein (2015), appearing as Rafferty; and in Pan (2015), where he was cast as Steps. In television, Webb later appeared as Evan Duffield in Series 1 of the crime drama series Strike (2017-present), and more recently, appeared as Jeremy in the Apple TV series Ted Lasso (2020-23).
Finally, I will just mention Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore was first introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, where he was played by Richard Harris. Harris sadly passed away in 2002, forcing the character to be recast. Many actors were considered for the part. One of which was Ian McKellen, who at the time had recently finished playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. He turned down the chance to play Dumbledore as McKellen knew that Harris had previously made negative comments about his acting ability and felt it would not be appropriate to take the part[2]. Chris Columbus also stated that he had had long conversations with Peter O’Toole about taking the part, who Harris’ family very much approved of due to his and Harris’ friendship. O’Toole declined to fulfil the role of Professor Dumbledore, so ultimately, Michael Gambon was chosen for the part, with his portrayal of a more intense and eccentric Dumbledore[3]. Knowing what I know now about how the character of Dumbledore progresses, I’m not sure how Harris would’ve tackled that progression, and I like how Gambon played the character.
Sir Michael Gambon’s career spanned both stage and screen and multiple decades, so will be known for a multitude of roles. He played Baltus Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow (1999), Sir William McCordle in Gosford Park (2001), Alexander Flyte in Brideshead Revisited (2008), and portrayed King George V in The King’s Speech (2010). In his later years, Gambon voiced the character Uncle Pastuzo in the Paddington franchise; played Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army (2016), based on the sitcom, and was cast as Billy “The Fish” Lincoln, alongside Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, and Tom Courtenay in King of Thieves (2018). He was also cast as Bernard Delfont in the biopic Judy (2019), which starred Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland, and was also appearing in television series in the 2010s. Examples of these are playing Howard Mollison in the BBC/HBO miniseries The Casual Vacancy (2015), based on J.K. Rowling’s novel; and appearing as Henry Tyson in Season 1 of Sky Atlantic’s Fortitude (2015-18). Throughout his lifetime, Gambon won numerous awards, including four BAFTA Television Awards for Best Actor in series like The Singing Detective (1986) in the role of Philip Marlow, and Perfect Strangers (2001) as Raymond, as well as winning three Olivier Awards for his roles in the stage productions of A Chorus of Disapproval in 1984; A View from the Bridge in the 1987 revival, and Man of the Moment in 1988. Sir Michael Gambon will also always be remembered for his legendary lap of the Top Gear (2002-22) track as part of the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment, as he took one of the last corners on two wheels, having the corner renamed for him after that. Sir Michael Gambon was knighted in 1998, and sadly passed away in September 2023.
MUSIC
Legendary composer John Williams, who had composed the scores for both Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was back to compose the score for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Williams is known for composing music for such movie franchises as Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park, winning numerous awards, including Grammys and Academy Awards, during his career.
Since Williams composed it and included it in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the track “Hedwig’s Theme” has become iconic, and the music immediately links back to the Harry Potter films. It always makes an appearance in the opening titles of any Harry Potter film. In this case, it is used as Harry practises the Lumos spell late at night, with the track titled “Lumos! (Hedwig’s Theme)”.
Other pieces of music I like within the score include the jazzy “The Knight Bus”, which mimics the crazy ride that the bus takes Harry on through London; the magical “Buckbeak’s Flight”, accompanying Harry’s ride around Hogwarts on Buckbeak the Hippogriff; and “A Window to the Past”, which is used when Harry and Lupin are discussing his parents on the footbridge. The ethereal voices that feature in “The Patronus Light” are also very fitting for the almost miraculous moment when Harry casts the Patronus that saves his and Sirius’ lives from the Dementors. It’s quiet, but powerful. “Forward to Time Past”, playing as Harry and Hermione travel back in time, is also a good one, although the ticking clock sounds can get a bit irritating if you listen to it too many times!
There are many scarier moments in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban too, so these are conveyed through the music. Any scene with the Dementors is tense, as they replace happiness with darkness, and this is reflected in both “Apparition on the Train”, when Harry is attacked by a Dementor on the Hogwarts Express, and “The Dementors Converge”, when they swarm around Harry and Sirius by the lake. Lupin turning into a werewolf is also quite terrifying so “Lupin’s Transformation” and “The Werewolf Scene” express that feeling.
There is also one actual song in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, performed by the Hogwarts students and their “Frog Choir”, with Professor Flitwick conducting. This takes place as the students are welcomed back to Hogwarts for their first day of term. It is called “Double Trouble”, with the lyrics being inspired by the Three Witches in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. I very much like this song, and feel that it sounds quite mysterious and creepy, matching the darker tone of this film.
As with both the previous two films, Williams was recognised for his work on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, returning to the Academy Awards with a nomination for Best Original Score. Williams had not received a nomination at the Oscars for his score on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. At the Oscars, Williams did not win, with Jan A. P. Kaczmarek winning for his work on Finding Neverland (2004). Williams’ score was also nominated at the Grammys, for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. The winner turned out to be Howard Shore and John Kurlander for their music in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), the final film in the trilogy. However, Williams did win a BMI Film Music Award in 2005 for his score on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and won the Public Choice Award at the World Soundtrack Albums for it. He was also nominated at those awards for Soundtrack Composer of the Year and Best Original Score of the Year. The winner of both categories was Gabriel Yared for Cold Mountain (2003).
PRODUCTION
After the success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, their director Christopher Columbus was rightly exhausted.
The two films had been filmed quite close together, with filming on the second film starting as the first one was released to theatres. Columbus had assumed he’d have the energy to complete the full series, but found after the second film that he couldn’t. The filming schedules had been intense, more intense than anticipated, and Columbus knew he could not repeat that over and over for another seven, or eight years.
Although stepping down as the director, Columbus did continue to have a presence and an input in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as a producer[4]. But this meant that a new director for this third film would need to be found, with plenty to choose from.
Some names that were considered were Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker famed for his work on fantasy and horror films like The Shape of Water (2017) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and more recently, Frankenstein (2025), and M. Night Shyamalan, whose early films included The Sixth Sense (1999) and Signs (2002). However, Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón was hired to lead Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Cuarón had previously directed the film adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel A Little Princess (1995) before making Y tu mamá también (2001), which was nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, and won this award at the Venice Film Festival. No doubt with his experience from these two films in particular, of dealing with fantasy and coming-of-age themes, Cuarón was seen to be well-placed to tackle the more serious events that play out in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, propelling the series forward into darker territory, where danger lurks around every corner, and the feeling is more of melancholy than triumph. Apparently, Guillermo del Toro encouraged Cuarón to take the offer of directing this third Harry Potter film, despite Cuarón having not read the books beforehand. Cuarón went on to direct movies such as Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018), winning the Academy Award for Best Director for both. Roma also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and Cuarón won BAFTAs for Best Direction for both films.
For a third time, Steve Kloves was tasked with adapting Rowling’s third novel in order to write the screenplay for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Whereas Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were seen to be quite faithful to their respective source material, with this being both praised and criticised by viewers, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban did not strictly follow all the elements of Rowling’s novel, which was, again, both criticised and praised by fans.
Despite the third novel having quite a complex story, Rowling said that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was the easiest one to write, of the five novels she had written by 2004. Rowling had creative input into the story of all the Harry Potter films, especially the earlier ones that were being made without the full series having been published. This was to ensure continuity and adherence to the rules of the Wizarding World she had created. For example, there were location ideas for some scenes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that had to be vetoed due to them not fitting into the universe. However, Rowling was well aware that her entire novel could not be adapted word-for-word and scene-by-scene for the screen, so at times, she understood the need for certain moments to be dropped for the films. She also appreciated the creation of new moments for the films, such as the Shrunken Head on the Knight Bus, wishing she’d come up with that herself[5]!
I haven’t’ read the books, but in my opinion, the most important story points within Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that were required to understand later plot points were included in this film. Some examples are the backstory into Harry’s parents’ deaths, and the dynamic between those involved, i.e., Lord Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. and the introduction of characters that would make a return in later films, with those three and Lupin being the main ones. If you can understand the conversation in the Shrieking Shack, then the rest of the series will be understandable. We also got to see new elements of the Wizarding World in this film, like the Knight Bus, Hogsmeade village, and the Shrieking Shack, along with the Marauder’s Map, which is referenced in later films.
Outside of that, there might have been moments that fans of the book may’ve liked to see, but that aren’t all that important to the films, like how characters got certain items. For example, in the book, you’d discover that Professor McGonagall sought special permission from the Ministry of Magic to allow for Hermione to use the Time Turner, in order to attend all her classes. In the film, we are just told that McGonagall gave it to Hermione. Hermione also has a cat in this film, named Crookshanks. We aren’t told how she got it in the film, but in the book, Hermione purchases Crookshanks whilst out in Diagon Alley that summer. In the film, Harry spends his time in The Leaky Cauldron and does not go out, but in the book, he enjoys his summer in Diagon Alley with his friends. There is also more about Ron and Hermione’s feud over their pets in the novel[6].
There were a few other story points that were omitted that fans might have liked to see. One of these relates to the Quidditch Cup. In the book, Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup, and there are additional Quidditch matches, where the character Cho Chang is actually first introduced, as Ravenclaw’s Seeker. In the film series, Cho Chang is not introduced until the fourth film. In the third film, we only see the one match, where Harry is attacked by Dementors and his broom ends up destroyed. Speaking of brooms, in the film, Harry receives a gift of a new broom, the Firebolt, at the very end, with this being a gift from Sirius, only known to Harry and Hermione as they see it came with a Hippogriff feather. In the book, the Firebolt is actually sent to Harry earlier in the year, and as Hermione suspects it was sent by Sirius Black, who they still believed wanted to kill Harry, she reports it to Professor McGonagall who confiscates it for testing, before returning it to Harry later. Sirius would also sign Harry’s permission slip, allowing him to go to Hogsmeade in later stories, which is not mentioned in the films, and Sirius gifts Ron an owl named Pigwidgeon to replace Scabbers.
Lastly, there is one story point that might’ve been useful to viewers who were unfamiliar with the books, and that is around the Marauder’s Map. It is possible to piece together the creators of this map from references in later films, but it isn’t something that is outwardly talked about in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. The map was created by four people who call themselves Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. In the book, Lupin reveals to Harry and his friends that he was in fact Moony; Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew – with this nickname being used in later films; Padfoot was Sirius Black – again, we hear this name again later; and Prongs was James Potter. The four created it so they could know where Filch was at all times to stop themselves getting into trouble, although Filch did eventually confiscate the map from them. These nicknames refer to their Animagus forms, with Padfoot being a dog, Wormtail a rat, and Prongs a stag. The three students became Animagi to help Lupin during his werewolf transformations. This would’ve been good backstory to have at this time, but it’s not hard to connect the dots later[7]. We also don’t hear how Sirius escaped from Azkaban – by transforming into his Animagus – in the film, but again, it might have been nice to know, although not relevant to the unfolding story.
Some have also been annoyed about Harry’s opening scene of practising the Lumos spell at night, because this ignores the underage magic law, with this technically being illegal use of magic as Harry is under the age of 17 and not at school. Yet, Harry doesn’t become worried about being expelled until he accidently blows up Aunt Marge. This was an oversight I presume, and was just an opening shot to take the viewer right into the magical world.
It was decided that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban had to feel darker, more dangerous, and show the child actors growing up, because they are thirteen in this story, so teenagers, and teenagers behave more erratically and are more emotional. This meant Cuarón wanted to treat his actors like adults, even giving Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint an essay assignment in order to get them to think about their characters and how they are evolving, also giving Cuarón further insight into how the actors see their characters, since they knew the characters better than he did. In this case, Watson and Radcliffe both completed the assignment, however, Grint did not. When asked by Cuarón about why he did not do it, Grint simply said he felt that Ron just wouldn’t do it!
This film could also be seen as a turning point in terms of the three main actors’ acting abilities. Columbus had said himself how it had been a bit of a struggle at times to get the child actors to focus whilst on set due to their young age. For Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Watson, Radcliffe, and Grint were no doubt starting to take their acting more seriously, and bringing in further brilliant British actors was a good opportunity for the three to learn from some of the best. Radcliffe in particular was a big fan of Gary Oldman’s work and the two got on very well, with Oldman even teaching Radcliffe had to play the guitar. This friendship between the two actors was no doubt helpful to translate that dynamic on screen for the scenes between Harry and Sirius; you can see the bond on screen. Radcliffe also remembers the Shrieking Shack scene, with the confrontation between Lupin, Pettigrew, Black, and Snape, thinking it was like watching a major acting masterclass play out before them between David Thewlis, Timothy Spall, Gary Oldman, and Alan Rickman.
Cuarón wanted to put his own stamp on the Harry Potter franchise with this film and to do that, he wanted to focus some attention on making Hogwarts and its grounds feel like a living entity. This is obvious by some of the sequences that simply focus on the landscape, like the one of the bird as it flies around Hogwarts – only to fly straight into the Whomping Willow. Cuarón wanted the viewers to be able to connect different areas of Hogwarts together from this film. He also wanted to create a certain mood and atmosphere in this film, with darker skies, more rain and mist, adding to the already tense story moments[8].
So, where do you go if you want rain and moody landscapes? Scotland, of course! Apparently, they chose to film in May hoping for nice weather but it rained almost every day. This turned out to be a good look for the film though with those overcast grey skies. I actually have a longstanding joke where I compare the weather to which Harry Potter film the sky best represents that day, and it is all thanks to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that I can really do that, because it signalled a gradual darkening of the landscapes and backgrounds of the Harry Potter films as the series progressed.
There were many moments within this story that take place outside, so the natural landscape and the grandeur of the Scottish Highlands were seen to be perfect for this movie. Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands was a specific filming location, with shooting taking place here between May and June 2003. Sets were built near the bottom of Clachaig Gully, overlooking Torren Lochan and Signal Rock forest. These sets included Hagrid’s Hut, complete with its pumpkin patch garden, and the footbridge, or “Bridge to Nowhere”, where Lupin and Harry talk about his parents[9]. Loch Shiel was another location, this being the setting of Harry riding Buckbeak over the water, called the Black Lake in the film.
Other familiar locations were used again too, including the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which the Hogwarts Express goes along, and the Hogwarts Express itself. The train was actually targeted by vandals, who sprayed graffiti on it back in 2003 whilst it was stationed in Scarborough. It cost £3,000 to repaint the affected carriages[10]. Filming also returned to the streets of London, for example, for the location of The Leaking Cauldron near Borough Market, after Leadenhall Market was used in the first film, and the filming of the Knight Bus sequence, with the double-decker bus moment happened on Lambeth Bridge[11].
As with the previous two Harry Potter films, a mixture of special and practical effects were used to achieve the magical moments that appear in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. There are numerous physical transformations in this film, for example.
For Lupin’s, David Thewlis was covered in prosthetics, on his eyes, face, and hands in particular, and put in a split jacket to filmed this scene. Then, the rest of the transformation was moved to the computer to fully animate the full wolf transformation. It would also seem there was some sort of puppetry work with someone dressed up as a wolf on set, which may’ve been a visual marker for the actors or reference material for the computer work.
Peter Pettigrew also has to transform from rat to human and back again. In behind-the-scenes footage, Rupert Grint is seen to be holding an animatronic rat, and Timothy Spall then appears in a rat-like wig with scaly skin and bald patches, and claw-like nails, with the in-between work no doubt being completed digitally.
Aunt Marge swelling up is another transformation, which seems to have been done with the use of prosthetics and inflatable fat suits. There were different versions of these to show the swelling progression, and then flying harnesses were used to get Marge to “fly” outside. This was apparently done with no CGI at all.
Cuarón had hoped to not have to use CGI for the Dementors, and originally wanted to use flying puppets, to show them as floating beings with flowing dark robes. This was attempted but it didn’t quite work, so they shot the puppetry underwater and got more of the look they were hoping for but knew this was not practical for the shoot, so they had to go with CGI. After some trial and error and a lot of imagination, they came up with the look of the Dementors, which are basically skeletons in black robes. They look like the personification of Death, like the Grim Reaper, which perfectly matches their demeanour, as they seek to suck out souls and drain all the happiness and hope from their victims.
Another new character for this film was Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Animatronic figures of Buckbeak were created for close-ups and interactions with the actors, which took months to create and were a logistical nightmare to get on set too, but a CGI version was also created for some scenes. Since Hippogriffs are mythological creatures that are half-bird, half-horse, there was a framework to use when determining how Buckbeak would move, as they studied bird and horse bones and movements, discussing with physiologists and veterinarians. For the flight sequence, Daniel Radcliffe was placed on a rig that was set up to match the animation sequences that had already been shot, so Radcliffe’s reactions would fit perfectly when the two were combined. The team also confirmed that Buckbeak even does a CGI poop on screen, as Harry edges towards it during the Care of Magical Creatures class. This was added to give Buckbeak an authentic horse-like behaviour! The team decided this was probably the first time something like that had been done on screen.
Numerous sets were also built for shooting on this film, like the interior of the Knight Bus, with the bus being constructed from parts of actual double-decker buses to make this triple-decker bus and souping it up to be speedier than a regular London bus, and of course, the Shrieking Shack, which was built to look like a wooden, rickety and unstable structure, and was even placed on a moving platform to make the scenes look realistic, to make it seem like the Shack was moving in the wind[12].
The Wizarding World also features numerous animals. The crows in Hagrid’s garden were African pie crows, raised in California and trained. Hagrid’s Hut also has bats flying around it, so these were flown at intervals to go through the hut and back again, much like how owls have been used in the Harry Potter films. Two new pets were brought in for this film as well. A cat named Crackerjack became Crookshanks for this film, but it needed to look dishevelled and “manky”. To do this, its shed hair was used, by rolling it into a ball and clipping it on to the fur to make the cat look scruffy, with a small amount of jelly being put on its face to make it look “weepy”. A bulldog was on set too, becoming Marge’s dog Ripper, and it was trained to be fake-aggressive for its scenes[13].
There were also some funny moments to mention from the filming. One is a prank that was played on Daniel Radcliffe. During the scene of Dumbledore and Snape discussing the break-in at the castle by Sirius Black and Harry’s safety, all the students are sleeping in the Great Hall as the two teachers walk between them. All the actors were in sleeping bags. Radcliffe had apparently asked Cuarón if he could position his sleeping bag next to one of the extras that he had a bit of a crush on. With this in mind, it was the perfect opportunity for a prank, so a fart machine was placed inside Radcliffe’s sleeping bag. And the person with the controller to set this machine off was none other than Michael Gambon! He took this as an opportunity to prank Radcliffe and make him look bad in front of the girl he liked. Cuarón was in on the prank too, and there is actually footage of this online for anyone interested[14]!
To add to that, there was apparently a swear jar on the set to limit the amount of cursing around the young actors, which was a decision made by Cuarón to dissuade himself from swearing in front of the young cast! Also, instead of Hermione slapping Draco in the book, Tom Felton and Emma Watson felt a punch would be more intense for the scene, and had a lot of fun with that scene – even if Watson’s punches were harder than anticipated[15]!
There are some interesting cameos in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban too. One of these is former frontman of the Stone Roses Ian Brown, who can be seen magically stirring a cup whilst reading Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time. Brown is a friend of Alfonso Cuarón, so that is why he is in this film in particular. Cuarón’s then-wife and child also make a cameo in one of the portraits that are to the left of the Fat Lady’s portrait. Comedian and actor Paul Whitehouse also made an appearance as Sir Cadogan, an eccentric knight who takes over from the Fat Lady as the entryway to the Gryffindor Common Room, however, this scene was deleted from the final cut of the film. Finally, in the highly detailed Marauder’s Map, you can see Newt Scamander on the map. Scamander was the fictional author of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, later becoming the protagonist of the Fantastic Beasts prequel spin-off film series. The Marauder’s Map is also used for the End Credits scene, showing more secret locations, like a Stink Bomb store.
RECEPTION
After holding its world premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on 23rd May 2004, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then released in the UK on 31st May 2004, to coincide with the school half-term dates, with international release dates taking place within the next few weeks in many countries. For example, the US release date was 4th June. This film was also released in IMAX theatres.
This means Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a summer release, whereas the previous two films had both made it to cinemas for November and the festive season. Both Summer and Thanksgiving or Christmas are popular times for movie studios to show their new films. I think the tone of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was more suited to a summer blockbuster than a magical festive film, but really, a movie can be a success or a failure regardless of what time of year it is released.
In the case of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it did not live up to the financial figures of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001 or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002, although its final box-office total was still decent.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ended its initial theatrical run with just over $795 million, putting it in the No. 2 spot in the Worldwide Box Office for 2004, behind DreamWorks’ Shrek 2, which made just under $930 million. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was just ahead of two other big films of 2004: Spider-Man 2 and Pixar’s The Incredibles, which took $786 million and $631 million respectively. It also beat out other family-friendly films of the year by some margin, such as DreamWorks’ Shark Tale, Warner Bros.’ The Polar Express, and Disney Animation’s Home of the Range. Taking subsequent theatrical re-releases into account, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’s box-office total just over $810 million to date.
In terms of reviews, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was highly rated. Many liked the additions to the cast, of powerhouse talent like Michael Gambon, Emma Thompson, David Thewlis, Gary Oldman, and Timothy Spall. These actors would return to their roles in later Harry Potter films as well. It was appreciated that the tone of this film was darker and went some way to make the franchise feel more mature, as the lead characters became teenagers. Due to this shift in tone, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, both the film and the book, is considered the fan-favourite of the entire series. The special effects were also praised, and viewers particularly enjoyed the Time Turner sequence, which ties all the events together to make for an exhilarating and dramatic ending to the story.
However, there will always be negative reviews for any film, and some of these relate to the film being too dark, both in regards to the storyline as well as in the overall look of the movie, especially when compared to the brightness of the first two. Some also commented that the movie was too long, which meant some parts of the story were slow and a bit boring at times. I personally can agree with this, as my attention wanders during some portions of this film, which is why I don’t like it as much as other Harry Potter films. The time-travelling sequence was also considered to be potentially confusing specifically for younger viewers. There is further debate on whether Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is faithful enough to the original books, as some feel that the film strayed away from the book too much, with sections of important plot points completely absent from the film, whereas others liked that the film was not as faithful to the book as the first two had been.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is considered to be the most critically-acclaimed of all the Harry Potter movies, although I would debate that, with critics seemingly liking the final film more. Regardless, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is beloved by the fandom, however, this film turned out to be the lowest-grossing of the entire film series. It is not clear why this was the case, however, it could have had something to do with the film being released 18 months after the second film came out, instead of just having a one-year gap between films, as had been the case with the first two. Others may have also been concerned by the darker elements of the film, feeling it was not going to be as magical or as whimsical as the previous ones, as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban begins the descent into a deeper and more complicated storyline that is all-encompassing.
Awards might not be everything but they do provide another examination of how well a film was received. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban saw the film return to the Academy Awards nominations list, after Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had been snubbed, although Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban did only get two nominations this time, and not the three that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had achieved. At the Academy Awards, along with John Williams’ nomination for Best Original Score, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for Best Visual Effects, losing to Spider-Man 2. The special effects team would get their deserved credit though at the Visual Effects Society Awards, where they won for Outstanding Visual Effects and Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture for Buckbeak, and were nominated in three other categories, including for Outstanding Models and Miniatures, and for Best Single Visual Effect of the Year, for the Dementor Train sequence. Stuart Craig was also recognised for his Production Design on this film, by winning Production Designer of the Year at the Hollywood Film Awards.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban would also receive numerous nominations at the BAFTA awards, in categories like Best Makeup and Hair, and Best Production Design, losing out to The Aviator; Best Special Visual Effects, with The Day After Tomorrow taking the win; and Outstanding British Film, which was won by My Summer of Love. It did, however, win the Orange Film of the Year here, a category voted for by the public.
The third Harry Potter film also picked up multiple nominations at the Saturn Awards, which honours the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was up for Best Fantasy Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Visual Effects losing to Spider-Man 2 in all cases; Best Supporting Actor for Gary Oldman, which David Carradine won for his role in Kill Bill: Volume 2; and Best Young Actor/Actress for Daniel Radcliffe, with Emmy Rossum winning for her leading role in The Phantom of the Opera. They were also nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Make-Up.
Other award ceremonies where Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban picked up some wins and nominations including the Kids’ Choice Awards, the Teen Choice Awards, and the People’s Choice Awards. At the Kids’ Choice Awards, Harry Potter was nominated for Favorite Movie, losing to The Incredibles, and Favorite Book, which was won by A Series of Unfortunate Events. At the Teen Choice Awards, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban won Choice Movie: Action Adventure, but did not win Choice Summer Movie; Spider-Man 2 did. At the People’s Choice Awards, it lost to Shrek 2 in the Favorite Sequel category.
LEGACY
The early Harry Potter films were being released alongside the publication of the remainder of the Harry Potter book series, meaning that readers were able to know what was going to happen in the rest of the film series. This might make many think that this would decrease the level of interest in the films or the books, but actually, it only increased it, with readers excited to see how their favourite scenes and moments would play out on screen.
In 2003, J.K. Rowling’s fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix was published, becoming the fastest-selling book in history at the time, surpassing that of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’s publication in 2000. In 2004, there was no new Harry Potter book for readers to get their hands on, although the sixth book’s publication date was confirmed in December 2004. There were still seven months to wait though, as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would not come to bookshops until July 2005.
So, the new film would have to satisfy the Potter fans until then. A video game based on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film was released in 2004, and it was just as much fun as the previous two films’ games in my opinion. Other merchandise was also available to purchase, such as movie posters, LEGO sets, clothing, and figurines.
Most interesting though was that around 2004, discussions were taking place between Warner Bros., J.K. Rowling and certain theme park companies to bring the Harry Potter franchise to fans in a whole new way. Rumours swirled around just who Rowling was talking to, and where the potential Harry Potter attraction might end up. Well, obviously being the industry leader, Disney were the most likely to get the go-ahead from Rowling…Right?
It is true that Rowling was in discussions with Disney, and the Harry Potter attractions would potentially have filled an area of Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Florida. There were talks of two different attractions and a themed restaurant. Apparently, one of these attractions was to be an Omnimover-style shooter ride, kind of like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, which already existed at this park, but instead of shooting lasers, guests would be casting spells with wands. The other attraction was said to be a magical creature petting zoo. However, despite Disney’s reputation for creating magical lands that engage and captivate guests from all over the world, Rowling was said to be less than impressed with Disney’s plan, despite signing a letter of intent with them in 2004. Rowling also did not like the idea of outside brands being featured in this “Harry Potter land”, so negotiations stalled, before being terminated, leading Rowling to look elsewhere to discuss her theme park dreams[16].
Most everyone knows that Rowling turned to Disney’s major competition, Universal Studios, who did end up building whole Harry Potter worlds at their theme parks, beginning at their Universal Studios Orlando property, mere miles from Walt Disney World. The discussions around that are a story for another time, but I do still want to mention a couple of attractions that exist in these theme parks spaces that specifically relate to the events and characters within Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The first Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Park features a recreation of Hogsmeade, which Harry and his friends first visit in this third film. The theme park land includes places like Honeydukes sweet shop, where guests can purchase Wizarding World-inspires sweets, and the pub The Three Broomsticks, for guests to have a drink or meal. You can also find the small rollercoaster Flight of the Hippogriff here, which was a simple redesign of the former coaster Flying Unicorn. An animatronic of Buckbeak is sitting at the start of the ride. The Hogwarts Frog Choir also does performances throughout the day. At the other Harry Potter area, at Universal Studios’ main park, a recreation of Diagon Alley was created. Here, you can have a bite to eat at The Leaky Cauldron, and then go and see the Knight Bus parked up just by the entrance to the alley. You might even be able to have a conversation or your photo taken with the Bus Conductor and the Shrunken Head. The Diagon Alley area is only in Orlando.
Flight of the Hippogriff is also an attraction at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas at Universal Studios Hollywood, Japan, and Beijing though. The Buckbeak animatronic also features at these other parks. The Frog Choir exists at Universal Studios in Japan and Beijing. The Hogsmeade version of the Wizarding World exists at the parks in Hollywood, Japan, and Beijing, along with the same locations.
In 2024, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban celebrated its 20th anniversary. A special summer event was held that year at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London, where new sets were able to be viewed, such as the Divination classroom, the interior of the Knight Bus, and a newly transformed Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, set up for Lupin’s lesson on Boggarts. The Hogwarts Frog Choir was also on display in the Great Hall set. Harry’s bedroom in The Leaky Cauldron was set up too, complete with the Monster Book of Monsters going on a rampage under the bed[17]!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban saw a rather big change from the enchanting locations and sequences we saw in the first two Harry Potter films.
Although both of those stories had elements of danger and dark magic to them, they were surrounded by bright and fun sequences, to keep away too much of the threat. Rightly or wrongly, these first two films feel more fun and less dangerous than any Harry Potter film to come after it, simply setting the stage and the atmosphere of the Wizarding World.
But as Harry and his friends get older, and a darkness starts to overshadow their magical schooling, there is no getting away from the fact that there is soon to be a battle between good and evil, light and dark. This movie was a huge jump forward towards that, and, although unsettling for some, it was a necessary shift in tone that had to be done.
The possibility had already been alluded to and prophesised before in the earlier films, yet, by the end of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the return of Lord Voldemort was starting to feel like a very real and imminent threat to Harry and his friends.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ’10 Actors Who Were Almost Cast In Harry Potter Movies’, ScreenRant.com, 28th April 2020.
[2] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ’10 Actors Who Were Almost Cast In Harry Potter Movies’, ScreenRant.com, 28th April 2020.
[3] Credit: Debanjali Bose, ‘‘Harry Potter’ director reveals Peter O’Toole turned down being the new Dumbledore because he ‘didn’t feel it was right’ to step into Richard Harris’s shoes’, BusinessInsider.com, 14th November 2021.
[4] Credit: Lexy Perez, ‘‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ Turns 20: Director Chris Columbus Reflects on Pressures to Adapt Book and Hopes to Direct ‘Cursed Child’’, HollywoodReporter.com, 11th November 2021.
[5] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Creating the Vision’, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).
[6] Credit: Kelvin Kwao, ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’s Biggest Changes From Book to Film’, CBR.com, 2nd September 2022.
[7] Credit: Matthew Rudoy, ‘Harry Potter: 10 Differences Between The Prisoner Of Azkaban Book & Movie’, ScreenRant.com, 21st August 2020.
[8] Credit: HBO Max, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).
[9] Credit: Glencoe Scotland, ‘Harry Potter In Glencoe’, GlencoeScotland.com, date unknown.
[10] Credit: BBC News, ‘Potter train attacked by vandals’, BBC.co.uk, 23rd March 2007.
[11] Credit: Visit Britain, ‘Visit Harry Potter filming locations’, VisitBritain.com, date unknown.
[12] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Conjuring a Scene, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).
[13] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Care of Magical Creatures’, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).
[14] Credit: Joshua Nelken-Zitser and Eammon Jacobs, ‘Michael Gambon, the actor who played Dumbledore, used to prank Daniel Radcliffe on the set of ‘Harry Potter’’, BusinessInsider.com, 28th September 2023.
[15] Credit: Dan Morris, ‘Harry Potter: 23 Crazy Details Behind The Making Of The Prisoner Of Azkaban’, ScreenRant.com, 4th September 2018.
[16] Credit: Brian Delpozo, ‘How ‘Harry Potter’ Almost Ended Up at Disney World – And Why the Deal Fell Apart’, Allears.net, 7th June 2020.
[17] Credit: Carlo Simone, ‘Harry Potter Studio Tour shares Prisoner of Azkaban exhibit’, WatfordObserver.co.uk, 20th February 2024.
The Disney Purist 