Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Harry Potter

An orphaned thirteen-year-old convinced a mass murderer is hunting him — and furious enough to want revenge. By the end he has spared his parents' true betrayer, saved his godfather, and learned his own Patronus wears his father's shape.

Appears in:: Part 1: Aunt Marge Floats, and the Wizarding World Closes In; Part 2: An Omen of Death, a Slashed Portrait, a Broken Broom; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed; Part 4: The Lake, the Stag, and Three Hours Back
Themes:: Betrayal wears a familiar face; Fear and how you fight it; Found family; Growing up means gray areas

Sirius Black

Azkaban's most feared escapee, presumed Voldemort's loyalist — actually an innocent godfather who spent twelve years wrongly imprisoned. He escapes on a hippogriff, offering Harry the family he never had.

Appears in:: Part 1: Aunt Marge Floats, and the Wizarding World Closes In; Part 2: An Omen of Death, a Slashed Portrait, a Broken Broom; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed; Part 4: The Lake, the Stag, and Three Hours Back
Themes:: The failure of justice; Betrayal wears a familiar face; Found family

Remus Lupin

The kind Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher hiding a werewolf's secret, and the last link to Harry's parents. Snape's exposure forces him to resign, map returned, gone again.

Appears in:: Part 1: Aunt Marge Floats, and the Wizarding World Closes In; Part 2: An Omen of Death, a Slashed Portrait, a Broken Broom; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed; Part 4: The Lake, the Stag, and Three Hours Back
Themes:: Found family; Growing up means gray areas

Peter Pettigrew

Ron's pet rat Scabbers — and the coward who betrayed the Potters, framed Black, and faked his own death. Exposed in the Shrieking Shack, he wriggles back into rat form and escapes.

Appears in:: Part 2: An Omen of Death, a Slashed Portrait, a Broken Broom; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed; Part 4: The Lake, the Stag, and Three Hours Back
Themes:: Betrayal wears a familiar face; Growing up means gray areas

Hermione Granger

The friend who reports the Firebolt out of caution and carries a Time-Turner in secret all year. Her hourglass is what makes the rescue possible.

Appears in:: Part 1: Aunt Marge Floats, and the Wizarding World Closes In; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed; Part 4: The Lake, the Stag, and Three Hours Back
Themes:: Growing up means gray areas

Ron Weasley

Harry's loyal best friend, whose pet rat turns out to be the story's true villain. He loses Scabbers, gains a tiny owl named Pigwidgeon.

Appears in:: Part 1: Aunt Marge Floats, and the Wizarding World Closes In; Part 2: An Omen of Death, a Slashed Portrait, a Broken Broom; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed; Part 4: The Lake, the Stag, and Three Hours Back
Themes:: The failure of justice; Found family

Rubeus Hagrid

New Care of Magical Creatures teacher whose first lesson — Buckbeak the hippogriff — costs the creature its life sentence. His innocence condemned becomes part of what Harry must undo.

Appears in:: Part 2: An Omen of Death, a Slashed Portrait, a Broken Broom; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed

Severus Snape

The potions master who never stops suspecting Lupin, substituting into his class with werewolf essays and finally letting the secret slip. His vindictiveness costs Lupin his job.

Appears in:: Part 2: An Omen of Death, a Slashed Portrait, a Broken Broom; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed; Part 4: The Lake, the Stag, and Three Hours Back

Professor Dumbledore

The headmaster who shields Harry from the Dementors and, with a wink, points Hermione toward the one loophole that can save two innocent lives.

Appears in:: Part 2: An Omen of Death, a Slashed Portrait, a Broken Broom; Part 3: The Shrieking Shack: The Rat in the Bed; Part 4: The Lake, the Stag, and Three Hours Back

How they are connected

Key relationships

Sirius Black Harry Potter
He escapes on a hippogriff, offering Harry the family he never had.
Remus Lupin Harry Potter
The kind Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher hiding a werewolf's secret, and the last link to Harry's parents.
Remus Lupin Severus Snape
Snape's exposure forces him to resign, map returned, gone again.
Peter Pettigrew Sirius Black
Ron's pet rat Scabbers — and the coward who betrayed the Potters, framed Black, and faked his own death.
Peter Pettigrew Ron Weasley
Ron's pet rat Scabbers — and the coward who betrayed the Potters, framed Black, and faked his own death.
Ron Weasley Harry Potter
Harry's loyal best friend, whose pet rat turns out to be the story's true villain.
Rubeus Hagrid Harry Potter
His innocence condemned becomes part of what Harry must undo.
Professor Dumbledore Harry Potter
The headmaster who shields Harry from the Dementors and, with a wink, points Hermione toward the one loophole that can save two innocent lives.
Professor Dumbledore Hermione Granger
The headmaster who shields Harry from the Dementors and, with a wink, points Hermione toward the one loophole that can save two innocent lives.

Go deeper

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban themes & symbols

The failure of justice · Betrayal wears a familiar face · Fear and how you fight it · Found family

Themes explained

Read the full Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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