The Agreement
Harry and Uncle Vernon come to an agreement that if Harry "behaves" and doesn't cause any "funny stuff" while Aunt Marge visits for a week, that Uncle Vernon will sign his permission form. It is especially hard on Harry as he has to send Hedwig away, plus Uncle Vernon has told her that he is attending "St. Brutus' Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys," and Harry must uphold that story. When Aunt Marge talks to Harry, she is vicious, and when she starts insulting Harry's parents, Harry finally gets so upset that he inadvertently blows her up like a balloon and she floats to the ceiling.
On the Run
Realizing that he is not only in major trouble with the Dursleys but probably going to be expelled from Hogwarts for breaking the "Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry" again, he grabs his trunk and runs away. While stopping to catch his breath, Harry is startled by something big and dog-like in the bushes, and trips - sending his wand arm into the air.
His action has unintentionally flagged down the wizarding "Knight Bus," which Harry rides to Diagon Alley. While on the bus, Harry sees in the Daily Prophet that an escaped convict, Sirius Black, had escaped from the wizarding prison, Azkaban, and is dangerous to everyone - having murdered 12 Muggles and a wizard with a single curse. Stan, the conductor, tells him that it is the first time that anyone has ever escaped from Azkaban.
When they stop at the Leaky Cauldron, it is Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, who nabs Harry as he gets off the bus. Instead of arresting, expelling, or even punishing Harry, Fudge only tries to let him know everything is alright and seems intensely concerned about Harry's safety and comfort - which confuses Harry. He gets Harry a room at the Leaky Caldron, where Hedwig has just arrived.
Adventures at the Leaky Cauldron
Harry really enjoys staying at the Leaky Cauldron and walking around Diagon Alley where his favorite shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, is displaying a new state-of-the-art racing broom - the Firebolt. While in the bookstore, Harry sees a book about death omens which shows a picture of a huge black dog with gleaming eyes - similar to the one he saw in the bushes.
On the last day before school, Ron shows up with a new wand, and Hermione is looking to buy an owl. Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to the Magical Managerie where Ron has the shopkeeper look at Scabbers who has seemed ill since his trip to Egypt. A big ginger cat suddenly lunges at Scabbers, spitting madly. Harry and Ron chase Scabbers who dashes out in fright, and when they return, they are dismayed to see that Hermione has bought the cat, called Crookshanks.
They all stay in the Leaky Cauldron that night, where Harry overhears Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing over whether they should tell Harry that Sirius Black is specifically out to kill Harry. He thinks about the big black dog he thought, he saw and the reference he had read about death omens.
Dark Arts, Dementors, and Divination
On the Hogwarts Express, Harry, Ron, and Hermione take a compartment with Professor Lupin, their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who looks rather sickly and is sound asleep. As they get near Hogwarts, the train suddenly stops and the lights go out. Neville and Ginny come in, stumbling over everyone - waking Lupin, who suddenly jumps up - holding a magical flame for light. A hooded figure enters their compartment - forcing an intense cold over everyone and causing Harry to faint. Lupin gives Harry some chocolate, which makes him feel better while explaining that it was an Azkaban Dementor.
At the welcoming feast, Dumbledore announces that, due to Sirius Black, there will be dementors guarding all entrances, and that they will be in danger if they try to leave Hogwarts without permission. He also introduces two new teachers - Lupin and hagrid, the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher (who got the job when the Harry, Ron, and Hermione cleared his name concerning the Chamber of Secrets).
Ron sees Hermione's list of classes and thinks there is a mistake as several of her classes are scheduled at the same time, but she says she worked it out with Profressor McGonagall. They go to their first Divination class, and Professor Trelawney who is a stereotype of fortune tellers, keeps making predictions of disasters and sees the dog-like "Grim" omen in Harry's tealeaves. Professor McGonagall explains that Divination is an inexact science, and although Trelawney predicts a student death every year, no student has died since she has been there.
Hagrid's Hippogriff
Hagrid's first ever Care of Magical Creatures class is with Gryffindor and Slytherin, and he has brought the hippogriff, Buckbeak (half horse, half eagle with wings), for them to encounter. He teaches them that to approach a hippogriff, they must make eye contact and bow, and if he bows back, they can approach him, however, they should never insult a hippogriff - it can be dangerous. While everyone else is fearful, Harry greets Buckbeak and flies once around the paddock on his back. Malfoy, who did not care to pay attention to Hagrid, insults Buckbeak and is slashed on the arm by his talons.
After dinner, Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit Hagrid and let him know that Malfoy is exaggerating his injury and that they were witnesses to his negligence. Hagrid is still upset about his new teaching job - as Malfoy's father has a lot of influence.
Boggarts and Black Attack
In Professor Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, he teaches them how to blast a boggart - a shape-shifter that lives under beds, in closets, and other dark places. The boggart takes on the form of Snape and tries to attack Neville - but Neville bravely casts his spell, and "Snape" is suddenly wearing Neville's grandmother's dress, hat, and handbag - the class breaks into laughter, and they all help to blow it away. For some reason, Lupin does not let Harry try it.
On Halloween, while the rest of the third-years go to Hogsmeade, Harry talks with Professor Lupin, who says the reason he did not have Harry confront the boggart was that he tought it would take on the shape of Lord Voldemort and panic the other students. Harry is surprised to hear Lupin, like Dumbledore, use Voldemort's proper name. Snape brings in a smoking goblet which Harry watches in horror as Lupin drinks it.
When the Gryffindors return from their Halloween feast, they find the portrait at the entrance to the common room has been slashed and mutilated, and the fat lady had run off to hide. Peeves tells Dumbledore that Sirius Black had done it when she wouldn't let him in. the portrait of Sir Cadogan is substituted while repairs are made.
Dementors and Quidditch Don't Mix
Gryffindor plays their Quidditch match agaist Hufflepuff, whose Seeker, Cedric Diggory, is supposed to be really good. During the tournament, Harry is distracted when he thinks he sees the big Grim omen in the stands, and as Cedric dives for the Snitch, the dementors flood the field while Harry hears his mother's screams in his head, faints, and falls off his broom. Harry recovers in the hospital where Ron and Hermione come to tell him how Dumbledore was furious, and shot silvery stuff out of his wand at the dementors and they left. Ron and Hermione also bring him the splinters of what is left of his broom that kept going when he fell off, hitting the Whomping Willow.
Lupin explains to Harry that the reason he is so affected by the dementors is that they drain people's happy feelings - leaving on the bad ones - and that Harry's bad experiences are far worst than most. In Azkaban, most prisoners go mad from living with only their worst thoughts - and the prisoners are so trapped within their own emotions that no walls are needed for security. Lupin is amazed that Black could have escaped since the dementors will drain a wizard of his powers after awhile. Lupin agrees to show Harry how to make a dementor back off.
The Magical Marauders' Map
Right before the last Hogsmeade visit before the holidays, Fred and George give Harry an early Christmas present. It is called the Marauder's Map, and is authored by four people who call themselves "Moony," "Wormtail," "Padfoot," and "Prongs." It is a map of Hogwarts and shows two unkown passageways to Hogsmeade - one under the Whomping Willow, and one behind a statue of a one-eyed witch. The most powerful part is that the map shows the name and location of every person and ghost as they move around the castle and grounds. Harry sneaks off to Hogsmeade under the one-eyed witch, and shocks Ron and Hermione.
Sirius Crimes
As they drink butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, Hermione has to magically move a decorated tree to camoflage them as McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, Cornelius Fudge, and the pub owner sit down at a table next to theirs. Ron and Hermione shove Harry under the table while they listen to Fudge recount how Sirius was best friends with James Potter, was best man at his wedding, and named godfather to Harry. When Voldemort was coming after the Potters, they used a Fidelius Charm to hide them, where Sirius became their "Secret keeper," but then betrayed them. Peter Pettigrew, another friend, tracked Black down, but Black murdered him and all those Muggles in the street. Although he went to Azkaban, Fudge says that during his last inspection, Black casually asked to read his newspaper.
Ron and Hermione go with Harry to Hagrid's cabin to ask why no one ever told him that his parents died because their best friend betrayed them, but when they get there, Hagrid is sobbing uncontrollably. Although Hagrid has been cleared of charges concerning Buckbeak's incident, the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures has requested an inquiry. Harry, Ron, and Hermione assure Hagrid that they will help him with his defense.
Firebolts and Fakes
For Christmas, Harry receives an anonymous gift of a Firebolt broomstick. Hermione is sure that Black sent it to him, and Professor McGonangall takes it away to test for jinxes, while Harry and Ron fume at Hermione for reporting it.
Harry takes anti-dementor lessons with Professor Lupin, who teaches him the "Patronus Charm," which produces a misty, silver shape that acts as a shield and chases away the dementors. It is very advanced magic, and requires extreme concentration and very happy thoughts. Lupin tells Harry that the dementors suck peoples' souls out through their mouths by administering the "dementor's kiss," which the Ministry has given permission to perform on Black when they find him.
In Quidditch, Ravenclaw demolishes Hufflepuff and then Slytherin barely beats Ravenclaw - so if Gryffindor can beat Ravenclaw, whose Seeker (Cho Chang) Harry likes, they will be in second place. Professor McGonagall returns the Firebolt to Harry - letting him know it is safe. During the match while racing for the Snitch, three hooded "dementors" appear on the field and Harry casts a huge Patronus at them, and feeling fine, grabs the Snitch to win. After the game, Harry sees Professor McGonagall deducting 50 points and giving detention to Malfoy and his Slytherin buddies who had disguised themselves as dementors and been zapped by Harry's Patronus.
Ron's Traumatic Events
Ron is very upset to find that Scabbers is missing, plus his sheets have blood and cat hairs on them. It is obvious that Crookshanks has eaten Scabbers so he is very distraught, while Hermione is stressed from work and hurt by Ron. Ron wakes to find his curtains ripped and Sirius Black standing there with a knife. When he yells, Black escapes before anyone else sees him. Professor McGonagall finds out from Sir Cadogan of the portrait that he let a man in who had a list of all the week's passwords which Neville had written down.
Hagrid talks to Harry and Ron about their on-going feud with Hermione. but Ron is still upset about Scabbers and thinks Hermione does not care enough. Hagrid also informs them that as overworked as Hermione is, she still had time to help Hagrid with this case for Buckbeak.
Height of Emotion
Hermione shows them a tear-stained letter from Hagrid saying that Hgrid lost his case and Buckbeak will be executed. Ron is so upset about poor Buckbeak that he insists on helping Hermione with an appeal and Hermione breaks down and cries as they both make up.
When Professor Trelawney does some clearly bogus predictions, and again sees a Grim in Harry's crystal ball, Hermione refuses to continue taking the class and storms out of the classroom.
'Twas the Night Before Quidditch
The night before the final Quidditch match, Harry wakes in the middle of the night and looks out the window to see Crookshanks prowling the grounds alongside the big black dog. Clearly Crookshanks can see it so it isn't a Grim omen, but they disappear before he can wake Ron to look.
The final Quidditch tournament is between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and Oliver Wood constantly reminds Harry that he cannot catch the Snitch until Gryffindor is over 50 points ahead or they will win the match but lose the Cup. It is a dirty game with lots of fouls, but when they are 60 points up, Harry beats Malfoy to the Snitch with his Firebolt, to finally win the Cup for Wood.
The Prediction
At the end of Harry's Divination exam, Professor Trelawney goes into a trance-like state, and predicts that before midnight "…the servant will break free and…the Dark Lord will rise again…."
Everything Goes Wrong
Hagrid sends an owl saying that Buckbeak lost his appeal and will be executed at sunset. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all go to see Hagrid and Buckbeak under the invisibility cloak. Hagrid is so distraught that he breaks a jug. When Hermione finds another one, she screams as she finds Scabbers alive and hiding in it. They see Fudge, Dumbledore, and McNair, the executioner, headed toward the cabin, so they quickly exit out the back and head toward the castle. They then hear Hagrid scream and the swoosh of McNair's axe, and are stunned with grief.
Scabbers is squirming in Ron's pocket when Crookshanks suddenly appears and Scabbers bolts/takes off… Ron throws off the Invisibility Cloak tearing after him, followed by Harry and Hermione. They chase Ron all the way to the Whomping Willow where the big black dog bounds out, grabbing Ron and dragging him down (breaking his leg) to the passageway under the tree. Harry and Hermione track the dog and Ron all the way to the end of the passage - which emerges inside the Hogsmeade Shrieking Shack. They find Ron upstairs on a bed with Crookshanks purring next to him - as he blurts out that it's a trap…!
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