What’s it about?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the thrilling third book in J.K. Rowling’s iconic fantasy series. This time, Harry faces new dangers as a notorious prisoner escapes from Azkaban, the wizarding world’s most feared prison, and sets his sights on Hogwarts. The year is full of secrets, suspense, magical creatures, and the unraveling of old betrayals and new friendships.

Detailed Summary
Harry starts his thirteenth birthday at the Dursleys’ house. When Aunt Marge insults his parents, Harry accidentally inflates her like a balloon and runs away. He’s picked up by the Knight Bus and whisked to the Leaky Cauldron, where the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, oddly lets Harry off with just a warning. Harry learns that Sirius Black, a dangerous prisoner, has escaped Azkaban and is supposedly after him.

Before term starts, Harry reunites with Ron and Hermione. There’s tension between the friends: Ron’s pet rat Scabbers is unwell, and Hermione’s new cat, Crookshanks, keeps chasing him. At Diagon Alley, Harry receives the powerful Firebolt broom as a mysterious gift, which is later confiscated for safety checks.

On the train to Hogwarts, the trio encounters Dementors—dark, soul-sucking guards sent to protect the school from Black. Harry faints in their presence and is helped by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin.

At Hogwarts, lessons include magical creatures with Hagrid (now a teacher), Divination with Professor Trelawney, and more. Harry learns Dementors will guard the school, making him feel increasingly uneasy. Malfoy taunts him about Sirius Black. Gryffindor loses its first Quidditch match after Harry is attacked by Dementors and falls from his broom, which is destroyed by the Whomping Willow.

Fred and George Weasley gift Harry the Marauder’s Map, a magical map of Hogwarts showing secret passages and everyone’s location. It helps Harry sneak into Hogsmeade village, even though he doesn't have permission. There, he overhears a shocking secret: Sirius Black was his parents’ best friend and is believed to have betrayed them to Voldemort.

Tension grows as Hermione struggles with a heavy class load—she’s secretly using a Time-Turner to attend multiple classes at once—and rows with Ron over her cat and Scabbers’ fate. Hagrid’s hippogriff Buckbeak is sentenced to death after injuring Draco Malfoy, adding to the year’s stress.

After another Quidditch win and a terrifying encounter with a black dog (the Grim), exams approach. Then, Ron’s pet Scabbers goes missing. That night, Ron is dragged into the Whomping Willow by the black dog. Harry and Hermione follow and discover a secret passage to the Shrieking Shack, where the truth is revealed: the black dog is Sirius Black, an Animagus (wizard who can transform into an animal), and he is not the villain everyone thinks.

Lupin arrives and, with Sirius, explains everything: Peter Pettigrew, thought to be dead, is alive and has been hiding as Ron’s rat, Scabbers, for years. Pettigrew is the true traitor who betrayed Harry’s parents to Voldemort. Before Sirius and Lupin can prove the truth, Pettigrew escapes, and Sirius is captured by the Dementors.

With Dumbledore’s advice, Hermione uses the Time-Turner to travel back in time with Harry. They save Buckbeak and, in a daring rescue, help Sirius escape on the hippogriff. Harry learns more about his father and the power of his own Patronus, which saves him from Dementors.

At year’s end, the truth about Sirius remains hidden from the public, but Harry and his friends know what really happened. Harry returns to the Dursleys with hope and the promise of a better future—and the joy of a new broomstick, the Firebolt, gifted to him by Sirius.