J.K. Rowling's third book opens with Harry Potter enduring another summer at the Dursleys', which is broken only by a visit from Vernon's sister, Marge. When Marge viciously insults Harry's family, he loses his temper and inadvertently inflates her causing her to float away. Furious and distressed, Harry decides to run away. While resting, the Knight Bus appears and takes him to the Leaky Cauldron. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge is waiting for Harry at the door of the Leaky Cauldron, to his surprise, and he proclaims Harry to be in no trouble at all. While staying at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry overhears Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing over whether he should or should not be warned about Sirius Black, a fugitive from Azkaban, the wizarding prison, because they believe that Black is hunting Harry, intending to kill him. There are a few changes at Hogwarts as Harry begins his third year. Hermione is taking a double course load, including some that are taught simultaneously. Two new teachers join the staff: Professor Remus Lupin for Defence Against the Dark Arts and, to Harry, Ron and Hermione's delight, Rubeus Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures.
Black is still at large, and so Dementors patrol the school. Dementors drain happiness from anyone nearby, and Harry is particularly affected as the dementors are drawn to him. Professor Lupin informs him that, as Harry has endured some particularly horrible things, his memories make him more vulnerable to the dementors' presence. Harry perceives this as a weakness, but Lupin assures him it is not, and teaches him the Patronus charm to repel the Dementors should they attack him again.
Tension grows between Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley because Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, continually torments Ron's rat, Scabbers. When Ron discovers Scabbers is missing, he blames Crookshanks. The Weasley twins give Harry their Marauder's Map, a magical document that shows every person's location within Hogwarts as well as secret passageways in and out of the castle. As Harry has no willing guardians to sign his permission slip to visit the village of Hogsmeade, Harry uses one of these passageways to sneak into the village. While there, he overhears a private conversation that Black was his parents' best friend and is his godfather and legal guardian. Harry also hears that Black supposedly divulged the Potters' secret whereabouts to Lord Voldemort and murdered their friend Peter Pettigrew, as well as twelve Muggle bystanders.
After Harry completes his Divination Exam, Professor Trelawney enters a trance and makes a prediction that the Dark Lord's servant will return to him that night. Harry is puzzled, but goes to bed. A while later, the trio learn that Buckbeak, Hagrid's beloved hippogriff, will be executed for attacking student Draco Malfoy. When they visit Hagrid to console him, Scabbers appears, bites Ron, and Ron chases him to the Whomping Willow. A large dog then attacks Ron and drags him and Scabbers into a hole at the tree's base. Harry and Hermione follow, finding a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack.
Inside, Harry confronts Sirius Black, who, he discovers, is an unregistered, and therefore illegal Animagus, a person who can transform into an animal at will. Lupin, who spotted the group on the Marauder's Map, suddenly bursts in and embraces his old friend Black. Confronted by Hermione, Lupin admits to being a werewolf and the Map's creator, along with Black, Pettigrew, and James Potter, the latter two also being illegal Animagi (a rat and a stag, respectively). Lupin and Black explain that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. They claim that Pettigrew is Voldemort's servant, and that he betrayed the Potters, framing Black for the crimes. Pettigrew was also revealed to be the murderer of the muggles Sirius was convicted of killing. Harry is skeptical until Black and Lupin force Pettigrew back into his human form. Black explains that when he discovered that Pettigrew was still alive, he escaped Azkaban to seek revenge. Harry prevents Black and Lupin from murdering Pettigrew, believing that his father, James, would not have wanted his two best friends to become killers. Snape then enters and tries to capture Black, but is blasted into unconsciousness by three simultaneous disarming charms from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
As the group heads back to the castle, Sirius Black asks Harry to come to live with him, as he is Harry's rightful godfather, allowing Harry to escape his aunt and uncle's home forever. However, the full moon rises, causing Lupin to turn into a werewolf. During the ensuing commotion, Pettigrew escapes in his animugus form of a rat. Black turns into his dog form to protect the others from Lupin in his werewolf form. Lupin flees, leaving Black badly injured. As Dementors move in to attack Black, Harry sees a mysterious figure in the distance cast a powerful stag-shaped Patronus, scattering the vicious creatures. Harry becomes convinced it is his father, or at least his father's spirit, who produced the Patronus. He then passes out along with Black. They are found by Snape, and Black is taken to the castle where the Dementors intend to perform the Dementor's Kiss on him, thus sucking out his soul.
While Harry recovers in the infirmary, Hermione reveals to Harry that she was entrusted with a time-travelling device called a Time-Turner, which is how she was able to attend simultaneous classes at the same time. Prompted by Dumbledore, she and Harry travel three hours into the past, watching themselves go through the night's previous events. They set Buckbeak free and return to the Whomping Willow. As the Dementors are about to attack the "other" Harry and Black, Harry realizes that the mysterious figure he saw earlier was actually himself. Armed with the new memory of his talk with Black, he casts the powerful Patronus that repels the Dementors. Harry and Hermione free Black, who escapes on Buckbeak as the two return to Dumbledore and resume their normal timeline.
Remus Lupin resigns as an angry Severus Snape, who has a childhood grudge against the Marauders, tells the whole of Slytherin House that Lupin is a werewolf. After Harry says good-bye to Lupin, Dumbledore tells Harry that Pettigrew is now in his debt, a fact for which he may one day be grateful.
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