149 Fun Facts About Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Prisoner of Azkaban is which book in the Harry Potter series?

It covers Harry's third year at Hogwarts, the year without Voldemort.

Which publisher released Prisoner of Azkaban in the United States two months after it came out in Britain?

Scholastic published it in America two months after the British edition, the last time US readers had to wait: the fourth book came out in both countries on the same day.

Why was Prisoner of Azkaban's UK release held until 3.45pm?

So children would not skip school to buy it: the publisher set the unusually precise time so that the school day was over before a single copy went on sale.

Whose Beowulf translation beat Prisoner of Azkaban to the 1999 Whitbread Book of the Year?

Seamus Heaney's Beowulf carried the day only narrowly, after judge Anthony Holden protested that a children's book should not be held in the same regard as the poem.

Prisoner of Azkaban was the first Potter book shortlisted for which science-fiction and fantasy prize?

The Hugo Award for Best Novel went to Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky that year, but Goblet of Fire won it a year later, the only Potter book to do so.

Which relative does Harry accidentally inflate at the start of the story?

Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister, swells up and floats to the ceiling after insulting Harry's parents, and Harry storms out of Privet Drive that same night.

Where does the Knight Bus drop Harry after he runs away from the Dursleys?

The Leaky Cauldron: the Minister for Magic is waiting at the door, and instead of being punished for using magic at home Harry is given a room there until term starts.

Who plays Professor Lupin in the film of Prisoner of Azkaban?

David Thewlis had been up for Professor Quirrell in the first film but lost out to Ian Hart, so Lupin became his way into the series two films later.

When Neville's boggart appears as Professor Snape, whose clothes does Neville make it wear?

His grandmother's: Lupin has Neville picture her tall hat topped with a stuffed vulture, her green dress and her handbag, and the boggart Snape appears wearing the lot.

Rowling has said the Dementors grew out of her own experience of what?

Depression: Rowling has said the cold, hopeless feeling the creatures bring, which Ron describes as feeling he would never be cheerful again, is how it felt to her.

Which spell repels the guards of Azkaban?

The Patronus Charm (Expecto Patronum) conjures a silvery guardian from a happy memory that drives Dementors back; Lupin teaches it to Harry privately after he faints during the Quidditch match.

What is the name of the soul-sucking act performed by the guards of Azkaban?

The Dementor's Kiss takes the victim's soul through the mouth and leaves the body alive as an empty shell, the fate Sirius is minutes from when Harry and Hermione free him.

Which subject does Professor Lupin teach?

Defence Against the Dark Arts: Lupin follows Quirrell and Lockhart in the post and, unlike them, teaches practical lessons on boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas and Grindylows.

Which Hogsmeade joke shop sells Harry Dungbombs and a Nose-Biting Teacup?

Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade, packed with students, is where Harry buys Dungbombs, Hiccough Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap and a Nose-Biting Teacup while hidden under the Invisibility Cloak.

Hagrid takes over which teaching post in Harry's third year?

Care of Magical Creatures: Hagrid takes over from the retiring Professor Kettleburn, and his first lesson ends with Malfoy injured after insulting Buckbeak.

What kind of creature is Buckbeak?

A hippogriff is half eagle, half horse and easily offended: Hagrid warns the class never to insult one, then Malfoy does exactly that to Buckbeak and is attacked.

Who gives Harry the Marauder's Map?

Fred and George Weasley, who nicked it from Filch's office in their first year, hand the map to Harry so he can sneak into Hogsmeade.

What does the Marauder's Map do when Snape orders it to reveal its secrets?

Insults him in writing: its makers' nicknames appear on the parchment one by one to mock him, one calling Professor Snape an ugly git, and Lupin passes it off as a joke-shop toy.

In which pub does Harry overhear that Sirius Black is his godfather?

The Three Broomsticks: hidden under a table, Harry hears the Minister for Magic and three of his teachers tell the landlady that Sirius Black was his father's best friend and is his godfather.

What is the name of Ron's pet rat?

Scabbers, the elderly rat Ron inherited from his brother Percy, turns out to be Peter Pettigrew hiding in his Animagus form.

What is the name of Hermione's cat?

Crookshanks, the bandy-legged ginger cat Hermione buys at the Magical Menagerie, keeps going for Ron's rat, and when the rat vanishes Ron blames him and stops speaking to Hermione.

Ron is dragged by a large black dog into a tunnel hidden beneath what?

The Whomping Willow was planted the year Lupin started at Hogwarts, and not by chance: the violent tree was put there to guard the tunnel the dog drags Ron into.

Where does the big reveal about Sirius, Lupin and Pettigrew take place?

The Shrieking Shack is where Lupin and Sirius force Ron's rat to show himself, and Peter Pettigrew, believed dead for years, is suddenly standing in front of them.

How many Muggles did Peter Pettigrew kill when he faked his own death?

He left a severed finger behind and framed Sirius for the massacre.

Which Gryffindor Quidditch captain finally wins the Cup in his seventh year?

Oliver Wood, Gryffindor's Keeper and captain, gets there in his last match before leaving school, and he is sobbing as he hands Harry the Cup after the win over Slytherin.

What had Lupin forgotten to do on the night he turns into a werewolf in the school grounds?

Take his potion: the Wolfsbane Potion brewed for Lupin lets him keep his mind when he changes, but he rushed out without that night's dose, and Pettigrew escapes in the chaos.

What device do Harry and Hermione use to go back and save Sirius and Buckbeak?

A Time-Turner is the tiny hourglass Hermione was secretly given so she could sit classes held at the same hour; turning it lets her and Harry live the evening a second time.

Who exposes Lupin as a werewolf, forcing him to resign?

Snape, furious that Sirius has got away, makes Lupin's condition public, and Lupin resigns before the owls from parents can start arriving.

What does Hermione do to Draco Malfoy when he mocks Hagrid over Buckbeak's death sentence?

Hits him in the face: in the book it is a slap with all the strength she can muster, and the film turned it into a punch.

In Lupin's end-of-year exam, Hermione's boggart turns into a teacher telling her what?

She has failed everything: the boggart is the last obstacle in Lupin's exam, and for the hardest-working student in the year it becomes a teacher delivering her worst fear.

Which director, offered Prisoner of Azkaban, was put off because the first two Potter films were so 'bright and happy'?

Guillermo del Toro had pictured Potter as darker and more Dickensian, so he passed, then scolded his hesitant friend Alfonso Cuarón into reading the books and taking the job.

Michael Gambon took over as Dumbledore after which actor's death?

Richard Harris, Dumbledore in the first two films, died in October 2002; Michael Gambon gave his own reading of the part, but kept a little Irish twist in the accent as a nod.

Which actor turned down Dumbledore because the role's late first star had publicly disparaged his acting?

Ian McKellen said he could not take over a part from an actor who had not approved of him, and joked that he had already played the real wizard, Gandalf.

Which American comedian wanted a role in the Potter films but was ruled out by the British-only casting rule?

Robin Williams had his eye on Lupin by Chris Columbus's account and on Hagrid by the casting director's, and Columbus found it very difficult to tell him 'It's all British.'

Who plays Divination teacher Sybill Trelawney in the film?

Emma Thompson plays Sybill Trelawney, hidden behind huge magnifying spectacles and shawls; she returns as the Divination teacher in Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Who plays Peter Pettigrew in the film of Prisoner of Azkaban?

Timothy Spall plays Peter Pettigrew, the friend everyone thought dead who has been hiding as a rat, and it was not his first: he had voiced Nick the rat in Chicken Run.

Which young star never handed in the character essay Cuarón set his leads before filming Prisoner of Azkaban?

Rupert Grint explained that Ron wouldn't have done it either, and Cuarón took that as proof he understood his character; Emma Watson's essay was by far the longest.

For Prisoner of Azkaban, Cuarón wanted Michael Gambon's Dumbledore to look like what?

An old hippie, 'but still very chic': the costume designer swapped the heavy, majestic robes of the first two films for tie-dyed silk that floats behind him as he walks.

Which Scottish location hosted three sets for Prisoner of Azkaban, including Hagrid's hut and its pumpkin patch?

Glen Coe: the hut and two other sets went up on the hillside opposite the Clachaig Inn in spring 2003, then were taken away so the glen could return to its natural state.

Rowling let Cuarón add a sundial to Hogwarts' grounds but vetoed which addition because of a later book?

A graveyard: Rowling told him the castle's graveyard lay near another wing and would matter in book six, while a sundial made sense because Hogwarts stood on an ancient site.

How did the makers of the Prisoner of Azkaban film make the Knight Bus seem to do 100 mph?

Slowing everything around it: the bus did about 30 mph while the other cars crawled along at 8 and stunt pedestrians were trained to walk incredibly slowly.

Cuarón first tried to create the Azkaban guards using what, before switching to CGI?

Underwater puppets: Basil Twist's Dementor figures were filmed in slow motion in a huge water tank, and though the method proved impractical, the tests set how the CGI creatures drift.

Which composer scored Prisoner of Azkaban, his last Potter film?

John Williams bowed out after this third score, but his music never left the series: his 'Hedwig's Theme' can be heard in all eight films.

Prisoner of Azkaban received Academy Award nominations in which two categories?

Visual Effects and Original Score: it left the 77th Academy Awards empty-handed, losing the first to Spider-Man 2 and the second to Finding Neverland.

Where does Prisoner of Azkaban rank among the eight Potter films at the worldwide box office?

Lowest-grossing: its first run took about $800 million worldwide, less than any other film in the series, yet that was still enough to finish second among all the films of its year.

Which 2004 film beat Prisoner of Azkaban to the year's worldwide box office crown?

Shrek 2 took over $900 million worldwide to top 2004, but it owed that to its home crowd: outside the US and Canada, Prisoner of Azkaban earned more.

Prisoner of Azkaban was the first Potter film released in which format alongside standard cinemas?

IMAX: Warner Bros. put it on the eight-storey screens after its two Matrix sequels had drawn crowds there the year before.

Who replaced Elizabeth Spriggs as the Fat Lady portrait in the film of Prisoner of Azkaban?

Dawn French got the part only weeks after playing Harry himself in a Comic Relief send-up of the first two films, and gave the portrait a comically bad singing voice.

Who illustrated the original Bloomsbury cover of Prisoner of Azkaban?

Cliff Wright, the first artist to draw Buckbeak, refused to illustrate the fourth book after the publisher lost his original front and back cover artwork for this one.

What is Harry secretly writing his History of Magic essay about under the bedcovers?

Witch burning: the essay title is 'Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless – discuss', and Harry writes it by torchlight because Vernon has locked his schoolbooks away.

When the bus conductor asks his name, which classmate does Harry claim to be?

Neville Longbottom is simply the first name that comes into Harry's head, and the conductor goes on calling him Neville even after the Minister for Magic greets him as Harry Potter.

On the Knight Bus, fifteen Sickles buys a hot-water bottle and what else, in the colour of your choice?

A toothbrush, or in Stan's words 'a toofbrush in the colour of your choice': the plain fare to London is eleven Sickles, and the extras suit a bus that runs through the night.

How did the Weasleys pay for their summer trip to Egypt before Harry's third year?

A newspaper prize draw: Mr Weasley won the Daily Prophet's Grand Prize Galleon Draw, and the paper's photo of the family in Egypt is what sets Sirius Black on his way out of Azkaban.

What birthday present does Hagrid send Harry at the start of his third year?

The Monster Book of Monsters, a snapping, scuttling textbook that Harry subdues with a belt; only in Hagrid's first class does anyone learn that stroking its spine calms it.

Which school for 'incurably criminal boys' does Uncle Vernon tell his sister that Harry attends?

St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys is Vernon's cover story for Hogwarts; when his sister asks whether they use the cane, Harry has to say yes, all the time.

What do Fred and George alter Percy's Head Boy badge to read?

Bighead Boy: the twins bewitch Percy's new Head Boy badge and send up his pompous greeting the day before term starts.

What does Professor Lupin hand out after the hooded creature leaves the train compartment?

Chocolate: Lupin gives a piece to everyone in the compartment, and Madam Pomfrey approves when she hears, because it is the remedy for anyone overcome by a Dementor.

Which portrait character guides Harry and Ron to Divination and later guards Gryffindor Tower?

Sir Cadogan, a small knight with a fat grey pony, was the only painting brave enough to take the job after the Fat Lady was attacked, and plagued Gryffindors with ridiculous passwords.

What death omen does Professor Trelawney claim to see in Harry's tea leaves?

The Grim is a giant spectral dog said to haunt churchyards, the worst omen of death, and it rattles Harry because a huge black dog had stared at him in Magnolia Crescent weeks before.

What does a Pocket Sneakoscope do when someone untrustworthy is nearby?

Spins and whistles: Harry's goes off on the Hogwarts Express with Ron's rat close by, an early hint that the family pet is not what he seems.

What does the Transfiguration teacher turn herself into to demonstrate how Animagi change shape?

A cat: McGonagall transforms into a tabby with spectacle markings around its eyes, and is nettled when the class, shaken by Trelawney's prediction, barely applauds.

In Lupin's boggart lesson, what does Ron's boggart become?

A giant spider: when Ron shouts Riddikulus its legs vanish, while Seamus has to face a banshee, Parvati a mummy and Dean a severed hand.

Which house beats Gryffindor in the storm-lashed Quidditch match in which Harry falls off his broom?

Hufflepuff: their captain and Seeker Cedric Diggory catches the Snitch while Harry falls from his broom, then offers a rematch, which Oliver Wood refuses as a fair win.

Which teacher confiscates Harry's anonymous Christmas broomstick so it can be checked for jinxes?

Professor McGonagall, tipped off by Hermione, takes the Firebolt away to be stripped down for jinxes by Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick, who find nothing wrong.

Why does Professor Trelawney at first refuse to join the Christmas dinner table?

She would be the thirteenth diner, and she warns that when thirteen eat together the first to rise is the first to die; Harry and Ron later get up at the same moment.

Which happy memory finally works for Harry in his first private anti-Dementor lesson with Lupin?

Learning he was a wizard: two other memories fail first, then the moment he found out he would be leaving the Dursleys for Hogwarts produces a silvery shield that holds the boggart off.

Who plays Seeker for Ravenclaw against Harry in his third year, riding a Comet Two-Sixty?

Cho Chang, a fourth-year, keeps cutting across Harry's path until his captain roars that this is no time to be a gentleman, and the Firebolt then outruns her Comet to the Snitch.

Which Slytherin captain joined Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle disguised as Dementors at the Ravenclaw match?

Marcus Flint and the others hoped to make Harry fall again; instead his spell sent them sprawling in their hooded robes, and the stunt cost Slytherin fifty points and a detention each.

How did Sirius get into Gryffindor Tower on the night he slashed Ron's bed curtains?

With a list of the passwords: Neville had written the week's passwords down and the list went missing, so the portrait on guard let Sirius in, and Neville was banned from Hogsmeade and sent a Howler.

Where in Hogsmeade does the secret passage behind the One-Eyed Witch statue come out?

Honeydukes: tapping the witch's hump and saying 'Dissendium' opens a tunnel that ends at a trapdoor in the sweet shop's cellar, which is how Harry slips into the village unseen.

What phrase makes the Marauder's Map go blank again?

'Mischief managed' wipes the parchment blank; when Lupin rushes off without saying it, the map is left showing on his desk, and one glance at it is how he comes to be followed.

Why does Lupin stop Harry facing the boggart in class?

He feared it would become Voldemort and panic the room; Harry had in fact thought of a Dementor, which Lupin says suggests that what he fears most of all is fear.

Which pub landlady does Ron have a slight crush on in Hogsmeade?

Madam Rosmerta runs a crowded Hogsmeade pub, and Ron goes red in the face whenever he gets near her, a weakness Hermione is only too happy to point out.

Which Marauder nickname belonged to Peter Pettigrew?

Wormtail, after the rat he became as an Animagus; the others were Moony (Lupin), Padfoot (Sirius) and Prongs (James).

What is the Gryffindor common room password when the third year begins?

Fortuna Major: Percy calls the new password out at the portrait hole on the first night back, to the dismay of the one Gryffindor who can never remember them.

Why did James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew secretly become Animagi at school?

To keep a werewolf friend company: as animals they could stay with Lupin during his monthly transformations, and it took them the best part of three years to learn how.

According to Lupin, why was the 'most haunted building in Britain' really built?

To confine him during his transformations: Dumbledore had it built so the young werewolf could be shut safely away each month, and the 'ghosts' the villagers heard were his howls.

How does Hermione's cat freeze the violent tree that guards the tunnel?

By pressing a knot on the trunk: the cat slips between the flailing branches and presses it, the tree goes still at once, and he leads the way into the tunnel.

How does Sirius finally escape from his cell in Azkaban?

He slips through the bars as a dog: starved thin, he slides past the Dementors when they open his door to bring food, then swims all the way back to the mainland.

Who does Harry at first believe conjured the silvery guardian that saved him at the lake?

His father: Harry glimpses the caster across the water and takes him for James, then goes back in time, realises he had seen himself, and casts the spell.

Which teacher's office is Sirius locked in before Harry and Hermione fly Buckbeak up to rescue him?

Professor Flitwick's office, on the seventh floor, thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower; Hermione blasts the window open with Alohomora from Buckbeak's back.

What animal shape bursts from Harry's wand when he saves Sirius at the lake?

A stag: it takes the shape Harry's father took as an Animagus, which is why James was nicknamed Prongs, and it charges across the lake to scatter the figures closing in on Sirius.

Who is the executioner sent to behead Buckbeak?

Macnair holds the post of Ministry executioner, yet a year later he answers Voldemort's summons and is welcomed back among the Death Eaters.

What does Professor Trelawney predict in her trance after Harry's Divination exam?

Voldemort's servant will rejoin him: she comes out of the trance denying she said any such thing, and Dumbledore jokes that he should give her a pay rise for her second real prediction.

What is enclosed with Sirius's letter to Harry on the Hogwarts Express home?

A signed Hogsmeade permission form: as Harry's godfather Sirius signs it himself, and in the same letter admits he ordered the Firebolt and gives Ron the tiny owl.

Which subject does Hermione tell Ron and Harry she has dropped, letting her hand back the hourglass?

Muggle Studies, the class Ron never saw the point of her taking when her own parents are Muggles; with Divination gone too, no two of her classes clash and the hourglass goes back.

Which actor, cast as Sirius Black, admitted he accepted the part because he needed the money?

Gary Oldman, who had stepped back from films for several years to raise his sons, admitted he took the role of Sirius Black because he needed the money.

The choir piece 'Double Trouble' in the film of Prisoner of Azkaban takes its words from which Shakespeare play?

Macbeth: the filmmakers wanted a children's choir as a warm welcome back to Hogwarts, so the pupils sing the witches' chant, 'Double, double toil and trouble'.

Which Oscar-winning star of the 1960s plays a Hogsmeade pub landlady in the film of Prisoner of Azkaban?

Julie Christie, an Oscar winner for Darling, has only a brief cameo here; the same year she was in Finding Neverland, which beat this film on Oscar night.

How much did the Prisoner of Azkaban film make in its opening weekend in the US and Canada?

$93.7 million: opening on 4 June 2004, it took $93.7 million over its first three days in the US and Canada, the biggest opening of the three Potter films released by then.

Harry's flight on Buckbeak over the school's waters was filmed at which Surrey location?

Virginia Water, the lake on the edge of Windsor Great Park in Surrey, stood in for the Hogwarts lake when Harry's flight on Buckbeak skimmed the water.

Who was the production designer on Prisoner of Azkaban, as on every Potter film?

Stuart Craig, production designer of all eight Potter films, added Cuarón's clock tower and covered wooden bridge to Hogwarts for this film.

Who wrote the screenplay for Prisoner of Azkaban?

Steve Kloves wrote every Potter film but the fifth, which went to Michael Goldenberg, and his script for this one helped win its hesitant director over.

For Prisoner of Azkaban, the Hogsmeade sweet-shop set was a redress of which shop set from Chamber of Secrets?

Flourish & Blotts: the bookshop set from the second film was restocked with hand-labelled sweets for this one, and before that the same room had been Ollivanders in the first.

Why did Warwick Davis play the Hogwarts choir conductor in Prisoner of Azkaban?

Flitwick was absent from the script, so producer David Heyman rang Davis to offer him another character, and the conductor's younger look became Flitwick's from the next film on.

Which comedian voices the shrunken head on the Knight Bus in the film of Prisoner of Azkaban?

Lenny Henry voices the wisecracking shrunken head that hangs by the driver's mirror, a character invented for the film: the book's bus has no such thing.

What is the name of the bad-tempered bulldog that Uncle Vernon's sister brings on her visit?

Ripper, her favourite of twelve bulldogs, once chased Harry up a tree and kept him there until past midnight; on this visit he sinks his teeth into Vernon's leg.

According to Dumbledore, why has Hagrid's predecessor as a teacher retired?

To enjoy his remaining limbs: Professor Kettleburn had lost several over a reckless career, and Dumbledore announces Hagrid as his replacement in the same breath.

Before Prisoner of Azkaban, its director had made a 1995 film of which children's classic?

A Little Princess: he went from that gentle family film to the very adult Y Tu Mamá También, then took over Potter from the director of Home Alone.

Prisoner of Azkaban is the only Harry Potter novel in which what major villain makes no appearance at all?

Lord Voldemort is talked about but never shows up, which leaves the menace to an escaped prisoner and the prison's own guards. The 2004 film is likewise the only one of the eight without him.

In the Prisoner of Azkaban novel, what does Hermione do to Draco Malfoy when he sneers at a weeping Hagrid?

Hermione slaps his face, and afterwards the school's most rule-bound pupil misses her next class, blaming Malfoy for getting her so worked up. He and his two sidekicks beat a confused retreat.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, what does Peter Pettigrew cut from his own body to fake his death in a crowded street?

A finger was the largest piece of him ever found, because he had slipped into the sewer as a rat. The trick sent his old school friend to prison for killing a man who was still alive.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, whose dying screams does Harry hear whenever the hooded Azkaban guards come close?

His mother's last moments return because the creatures strip away every good feeling and leave a person's worst memory. Harry was a baby when she died, yet the sound makes him faint.

During a storm-hit Quidditch match in Prisoner of Azkaban, what does Hermione charm to repel water at a time-out?

Harry's glasses stop streaking with rain, and for the first time in the match he can see where he is flying. It does not save the game: he falls from his broom before he can reach the Snitch.

At the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, what does Sirius Black's letter give Ron to make up for his lost pet?

A tiny owl carries the letter to the train and is Ron's to keep, because Sirius feels responsible for the loss of his rat. Ron holds it up to Hermione's pet for approval before accepting.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which rival Seeker catches the Snitch as Harry falls, then sportingly asks for a rematch?

Cedric Diggory wanted the game replayed once he learned why Harry had fallen, but Gryffindor's own captain accepted the defeat. It is the first match Harry has ever lost.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which incantation does Lupin teach for defeating a boggart hiding in a wardrobe?

Riddikulus forces the creature into a shape the caster finds funny, because laughter is what finishes a boggart. The first pupil to try it dresses his most feared teacher in a grandmother's clothes.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, what does Sirius Black offer Harry once his name is cleared, as they leave the tunnel?

A home with him is the offer, since Sirius is Harry's guardian as well as his godfather, and Harry says yes at once. The plan dies that same night, when the real traitor escapes.

After Sirius Black slashes the Fat Lady's canvas in Prisoner of Azkaban, where do all the students spend the night?

The Great Hall becomes one vast dormitory, with prefects on guard while the teachers search the castle. Harry lies awake there and overhears the Potions master voicing doubts about a new appointment.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which spell hid Harry's parents by sealing their whereabouts inside one trusted Secret-Keeper?

The Fidelius Charm left the couple unfindable unless their Secret-Keeper talked, and everyone believed that keeper was Sirius. Dumbledore had offered to do the job himself and was turned down.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which birthday gift from Ron spins and whistles whenever someone untrustworthy is close by?

A Sneakoscope goes off on the school train and again at Christmas, and Ron writes it off as cheap and faulty. Each time, his own pet rat is close by.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which Hogwarts spirit reports to Dumbledore that Sirius Black attacked the Gryffindor portrait?

Peeves gives a straight answer for once, and delivers it in the most sensational way he can. His news sends every teacher off to search the castle through the night.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, from which Hogwarts employee was the Marauder's Map stolen years before it reached Harry?

Argus Filch had confiscated the parchment as a suspect object without ever working out what it did. It was lifted from a drawer in his office, with a Dungbomb set off as a diversion.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, where in Hagrid's hut does Hermione find Ron's rat, missing for months and presumed eaten?

In a milk jug is where the rat turns up alive, long after Hermione's own pet was blamed for eating him. He is frantic to stay hidden, and bites Ron on the walk back to the castle.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which drink does Ron fetch on Harry's first secret visit to a pub in Hogsmeade?

Butterbeer is on the table when a party of teachers and the Minister for Magic sit down nearby, so Harry is shoved underneath it. From there he overhears who his godfather is.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, why was Hermione lent a time-travelling hourglass at the start of the school year?

To take extra classes was her only permitted use: she sat lessons that ran at the same hour and was told to tell no one. It explains how she kept vanishing and reappearing all year.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, who does Harry at first think saved him at the lake as the Azkaban guards closed in?

James Potter, his late father, is who Harry thinks he glimpsed, until he travels back and realises the figure across the water was himself. Knowing he has already done it is what lets him cast the spell.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which Hogwarts matron checks Harry over after the train journey and approves of Lupin's remedy?

Madam Pomfrey backs the treatment Lupin handed out on the train. Harry then talks his way out of a night in her ward, so that Draco Malfoy has nothing more to tease him about.

Which British actor and comedian reads Prisoner of Azkaban and its six sister novels on the original UK audiobooks?

Stephen Fry recorded all seven books for British listeners, while Jim Dale voiced the American editions. Fry also narrated the Prisoner of Azkaban video game.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which Diagon Alley ice-cream seller gives Harry free sundaes and help with his homework?

Florean Fortescue happens to be an expert on medieval wizardry, and the tutoring pays off: Harry draws on it again months later in his History of Magic exam.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, in which Diagon Alley shop does Hermione go looking for an owl and leave with a ginger pet?

Magical Menagerie is where the animal launches itself from a stack of cages at Ron's rat, and Hermione buys it anyway. It had sat unsold in the shop for quite a while.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which dull creatures fill Hagrid's lessons after a pupil is injured in his very first class?

Flobberworms are the safe choice of a teacher who has lost his nerve. Even they go wrong: Hagrid's whole stock dies over the Christmas break from too much lettuce.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which classmate's pet rabbit is killed by a fox, seeming to prove a Trelawney forecast right?

Lavender Brown takes the death of Binky as proof of her teacher's gift, and Hermione wins no friends by testing the forecast's exact wording against what happened.

In the Prisoner of Azkaban exams, the Transfiguration paper asks third-years to turn a teapot into which animal?

A tortoise is the target, and most of the class find it hard. Hermione annoys everyone afterwards by fretting that hers came out looking more like a turtle.

On the train home in Prisoner of Azkaban, which summer sporting event does Ron invite Harry to come and watch?

The Quidditch World Cup is the promise that lifts Harry's spirits, since Ron's father can usually get tickets through work. The match opens the next book in the series.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which match commentator keeps drifting into praise of Harry's new racing broom mid-game?

Lee Jordan has to be reminded several times that he is there to describe a game, not to advertise a broom. Harry's new mount is the fastest model on sale, and half the school wants a look.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, in which country is Hermione on holiday with her parents when she posts Harry's birthday gift?

France inspires more homework, not less: Hermione's letter says she has rewritten a whole essay to fit in what she learned there. Ron is abroad too, so Harry's birthday post all arrives by owl.

By Rowling's own account, Hermione's ginger pet in Prisoner of Azkaban is a cross-breed with which magical creature?

A Kneazle can sense untrustworthy people, which explains why Hermione's pet hounds Ron's rat from the first day and makes friends with a stray black dog.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which water demon does Lupin show Harry in a tank over tea in his office?

A Grindylow has just arrived for the class's next lesson. Its long fingers are strong but brittle, so the trick Lupin teaches is simply to break its grip.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, what added protection does the Fat Lady demand before she will guard Gryffindor Tower again?

Security trolls are hired to patrol the corridor outside her frame once her canvas is restored. Her stand-in had been sacked for waving the intruder straight through.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry overhears that Sirius Black played which part at James and Lily Potter's wedding?

Best man at the wedding and then godfather to the couple's son: that closeness is why the wizarding world found the supposed betrayal by Sirius so shocking.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which elderly owl collapses while delivering Ron's birthday present all the way from Egypt?

Errol was not up to the long flight, so Harry's own owl and a school owl had to carry him in through the bedroom window. He belongs to Ron's family and is forever crashing into things.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which birthday present does Hermione post to Harry from her summer holiday abroad?

A Broomstick Servicing Kit shows how much flying means to Harry, and it turns out to be a bittersweet gift. His beloved broom is smashed to pieces before the year is half over.

Which artist painted the pictures for the fully illustrated edition of Prisoner of Azkaban published in 2017?

Jim Kay had already illustrated the first two books and went on to do two more. He then announced that he would stop, leaving the last two novels in the series without his pictures.

Which games company published the Prisoner of Azkaban video games, built by different studios for different machines?

Electronic Arts split the work by platform: one studio built the PC game, its own British team made the home console versions and another handled the Game Boy Advance edition.

In which village stood the Potters' ruined house, which Sirius Black describes rushing to in Prisoner of Azkaban?

Godric's Hollow is where Sirius understood that the friend trusted with the couple's secret had sold it. He had gone to check on that friend first and found his hiding place empty.

Which American artist drew the cover and chapter illustrations for the original US edition of Prisoner of Azkaban?

Mary GrandPré illustrated all seven novels for their first American editions and was one of the few people allowed to read each book before its release. Her Potter art also made the cover of Time magazine.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which password, supplied by the Marauder's Map, opens a statue's hump to reveal a tunnel?

Dissendium is spoken to a hump-backed stone figure in a third-floor corridor. Harry taps it with his wand, climbs inside and follows the passage all the way to a shop cellar.

In Lupin's obstacle-course exam in Prisoner of Azkaban, which marsh creature leads Ron astray with false directions?

A Hinkypunk is a small one-legged creature that looks like wisps of smoke and carries a lantern to draw travellers off the path. Harry clears the whole course with full marks.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which lesson topic does Hermione sleep through, only for it to appear in the exam?

Cheering Charms were the lesson she slept through, and they were exactly what the examiner asked for. Harry overdid his in the test and left Ron helpless with laughter.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which flame-loving creatures does Hagrid put in a bonfire for the first lesson after Christmas?

Salamanders live in fire and feed on it, so the class only has to keep the blaze stoked with sticks and leaves. It is Hagrid's first lesson with any spark since his disastrous debut.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, where in the castle stands the wardrobe where Lupin's class faces a boggart?

The staff room is where Lupin marches the class for a practical lesson, wands out and books away. The Potions master is sitting there and walks out with a sneer rather than watch.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, what is the name of the reckless driver of the purple triple-decker bus that rescues Harry?

Ernie Prang has a fitting surname, since prang is British slang for a car crash. Lampposts, postboxes and now and then whole houses have to leap out of the path of his bus.

Which prize from the Horror Writers Association did Prisoner of Azkaban win in its category for young readers?

The Bram Stoker Award, named after the author of Dracula, honours horror and dark fantasy. It went to a children's book whose villains are hooded prison guards that feed on despair.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, how does Hermione know the name of the stranger asleep in their train compartment?

It is on his case, embossed in peeling letters. She also works out which subject he must be about to teach, because only one post at the school was vacant.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, how do pupils get up into Trelawney's classroom at the top of the North Tower?

By a silver ladder that drops from a round trapdoor in the ceiling, the only way in. The space above is so stuffy and heavily perfumed that Harry struggles to stay awake in it.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, how do Harry and the Weasleys travel from the Leaky Cauldron to King's Cross station?

In Ministry cars, which Ron's father passes off as a favour from his employer. The real reason is to keep Harry under guard while an escaped prisoner is thought to be hunting him.

In Lupin's exam in Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione bursts out screaming when her boggart takes what form?

A teacher failing her in every subject is the top pupil's deepest fear, and it beats her. It is the only obstacle on the whole course that she cannot get past.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, which fortune-telling method does Trelawney's class take up straight after Christmas?

Palmistry gives her a fresh way to predict the same thing: she wastes no time telling Harry he has the shortest life lines she has ever seen. Crystal balls follow later in the year.