Recaps

Christopher worried that Allen Vane had stopped writing, but Barry discovered that the first half of the third Harry Potter book had arrived among the submissions. Christopher and Barry hurried to read it.

• Christopher paced at Bloomsbury Publishing, anxious that Allen Vane had sent no manuscript since June.
• Barry suggested Allen might have stopped writing after the success of the first two books, while Christopher argued that the unfinished story made that unlikely.
• Christopher considered sending someone to Allen’s last known address or placing a newspaper notice, but Barry reminded him that Allen had always avoided contact.
• Barry began reading a new submission titled Scotland Highlands Magic Chronicles and realized it was the first half of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
• Christopher saw that the manuscript contained eleven chapters and rushed to his office to read it, with Barry following.

Christopher and Barry read the first eleven chapters of Harry’s story, following his escape from the Dursleys, the threat of Sirius Black, and the dangers at Hogwarts. The manuscript ended with Hermione warning that Black might have sent Harry the Firebolt, leaving Christopher and Barry desperate to know what happened next.

• Harry fled Privet Drive after accidentally inflating Aunt Marge, and the Knight Bus took him to the Leaky Cauldron, where Cornelius Fudge let him stay.
• Mr. Weasley warned Harry not to seek out Sirius Black, and Lupin protected Harry from a Dementor on the Hogwarts Express.
• At Hogwarts, Harry met Buckbeak, faced a Dementor-shaped Boggart, and lost his Nimbus 2000 when Dementors attacked during a Quidditch match.
• Harry overheard that Black had betrayed his parents and killed Peter Pettigrew, then received an anonymous Firebolt that Hermione feared might be cursed.
• Hermione reported the Firebolt to Professor McGonagall, who confiscated it, and the manuscript ended with Hermione insisting Black might have sent the broom.
• Christopher and Barry discovered there was no more to read, complained about the abrupt ending, and both decided they wanted to read the manuscript again.

Bloomsbury and booksellers prepared for the September release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, while the announcement sparked public debate and drew the attention of a mysterious black dog. At Number Four, Privet Drive, Harry waited anxiously for Aunt Marge to arrive.

• Bloomsbury approved an eleven-chapter first part priced at three pounds, and bookstores across Britain planned prominent displays and large orders for its September 1 release.
• Newspapers announced the book, and Peter Thorne’s criticism of the Harry Potter frenzy prompted arguments among readers.
• A skeletal black dog studied the release announcement in a London alley, then headed north.
• Vernon prepared for Aunt Marge’s visit, ordered Dudley to tidy the living room, and told Harry to stay in his room as much as possible.
• Harry recalled Aunt Marge’s hostility toward him as he learned that Vernon would pick her up from the station at four.

Aunt Marge spent a week at the Dursleys’ house, repeatedly insulting Harry while Vernon and Petunia tried to keep the peace. At dinner, her drunken attacks on Harry’s parents finally prompted Vernon to throw her out, and she headed for the living room still making cruel remarks.

• Aunt Marge arrived at the Dursleys’ house and immediately mocked Harry, while Vernon told her not to speak about him that way.
• Over the following week, Aunt Marge treated Dudley warmly but repeatedly criticized Harry, and Vernon and Petunia often intervened.
• At the final dinner, Aunt Marge insulted Harry’s parents and claimed they had died in a car crash, so Harry stood up and defended them.
• Aunt Marge continued berating Harry until Vernon slammed the table and ordered her to leave at once.
• Aunt Marge refused at first, then agreed to go and walked toward the living room while insulting Harry and his parents again.

Harry accidentally caused Aunt Marge to swell and float, leaving the Dursleys’ home in chaos. He packed his belongings and fled into the night, leaving Aunt Marge near the ceiling and Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley in the wrecked dining room.

• Aunt Marge swelled and floated into the chandelier while Vernon and Petunia tried to catch her.
• Ripper bit Vernon, then chased Dudley around the dining room and wrecked the furniture and crockery.
• Harry realized his magic had caused Aunt Marge to inflate and feared the consequences of using magic outside school.
• Harry packed his suitcase and Hedwig’s cage with magic while Aunt Marge continued swelling.
• Harry kicked open the front door and fled into the night as Vernon shouted after him.

Harry fled Privet Drive without knowing where he would go, while Fudge informed Dumbledore that Dementors would patrol Hogwarts’ boundaries to search for Sirius Black. Dumbledore questioned the plan and wondered why Sirius had escaped now.

• Harry ran from Privet Drive through an alley and continued along an unfamiliar street with Hedwig and his trunk.
• Fudge told Dumbledore that Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban and might be targeting Harry.
• Dumbledore pointed out that Sirius had escaped despite twelve years under the Dementors’ guard, but Fudge said the Ministry lacked the staff to search for him effectively.
• Fudge said the Dementors would begin patrolling Hogwarts’ boundaries the next morning and promised they would stay outside the castle grounds.
• After Fudge left, Dumbledore wondered why Sirius had escaped at this time as Fawkes comforted him.

On September 1, bookstores across Great Britain opened for the release of "Prisoner of Azkaban," drawing enormous queues and selling books at a frantic pace. By afternoon, customers were reading the new book and speculating about the escaped prisoner, Black.

• Alfred, Simon, Duncan, and William prepared their bookstores across Great Britain for the release, with large stocks and long queues forming before opening.
• At nine o’clock, bookstores opened and customers surged in to buy copies, while staff struggled to keep the lines moving and orderly.
• Duncan let an elderly woman buy a copy for two pounds seventy-five when she was short of the full price.
• William arranged for two thousand additional copies to be sent to Liverpool’s flagship store after its first thousand sold out.
• By afternoon, readers discussed Black’s escape and debated whether he was good or bad while they waited to read the book.

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a compartment on the Hogwarts Express with the sleeping Professor R. J. Lupin, whom Hermione suspected was their new Defence Against Dark Magic teacher. The train stopped in sudden darkness and cold as a hooded creature entered, leaving Harry overwhelmed by a distant woman's scream begging it not to touch him.

• Harry, Ron and Hermione searched the crowded Hogwarts Express for a compartment and found Professor R. J. Lupin asleep in the last one.
• Hermione noticed Lupin's labeled trunk and guessed he was the new Defence Against Dark Magic teacher, and the three settled in quietly.
• Harry wondered why Minister Fudge had treated him kindly and recalled that Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban and was reportedly coming for him.
• The train jolted to a stop, its lights went out, and the compartment grew unnaturally cold.
• A hooded creature glided into the compartment, and Harry heard a woman's distant scream pleading for it not to touch him.

Harry collapsed when a Dementor searched the train, and Professor Lupin drove it away with a spell before giving Harry chocolate to recover. As Harry tried to understand what had happened, Malfoy arrived at the compartment with Goyle and Crabbe.

• Harry woke on the compartment floor after collapsing, while Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny checked on him.
• Professor Lupin gave Harry chocolate and explained that a Dementor from Azkaban had searched the train for Sirius Black.
• Hermione and Ron told Harry that Lupin had used a burst of silver light to make the Dementor leave.
• Malfoy came rushing into the compartment with Goyle and Crabbe behind him.

After Harry recovered from the Dementor attack, Malfoy mocked him before leaving the compartment, where Ron discovered Scabbers acting unusually frightened. Meanwhile, the newly opened Ferret Bookstore drew a long queue as wizards bought Prisoner of Azkaban, and readers in the Leaky Cauldron discussed its events, including Harry’s Firebolt.

• Malfoy visited Harry’s compartment, mocked him for fainting after the Dementor attack, and left with Crabbe and Goyle.
• Ron found Scabbers trying to escape from his schoolbag and calmed the frightened rat.
• A long queue formed outside the Ferret Bookstore as wizards came to buy books sourced from Muggle publishers.
• Wizards in the Leaky Cauldron read Prisoner of Azkaban and speculated about who had sent Harry the Firebolt.

Wizards in Diagon Alley discussed Sirius Black's escape, the threat to Harry Potter, and the Ministry's decision to send Dementors to Hogwarts. Rumors about Harry's past, his scar, and a death omen left the queue fearful for his fate.

• An old wizard and other people in the queue read the Daily Prophet's report that Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban.
• A gray-haired wizard recalled Black's friendship with James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, and the group condemned Black for betraying the Potters.
• The wizards discussed Black's escape and his rumored plan to kill Harry Potter, while explaining that the Ministry had placed Dementors around Hogwarts.
• A young witch wondered why Harry had reacted so strongly to a Dementor, and the queue speculated about his parents' deaths and his scar.
• A middle-aged witch said Professor Trelawney had seen the Grim in Harry's teacup, and the queue fell silent over whether Harry would survive the year.

Students and professors at Hogwarts worried about Sirius Black’s escape and the Dementors, while Harry questioned whether Black really intended to kill him. Harry suggested Black might not have come to Hogwarts to kill him at all.

• Seamus, Hannah Abbott, Ron, and Hermione received letters from their families asking whether they wanted to leave Hogwarts, but Hermione and Ron said they would stay.
• Ravenclaw and Slytherin students discussed Sirius Black’s escape, the danger to Harry, and whether the Dementors belonged at Hogwarts.
• Professor McGonagall assured Professor Flitwick that she would not let anything happen to Harry, while Professor Trelawney said she had seen the Grim in Harry’s fate.
• Snape watched the grounds and quietly said Black’s name.
• Harry showed Ron and Hermione a photograph of Azkaban and wondered why Black had not killed him earlier if that was truly his goal.
• Harry suggested that Black might not have come to kill him, leaving Ron and Hermione silent.

Dumbledore retrieved a confiscated blank parchment from Filch and activated it, revealing a map that tracked everyone inside Hogwarts. As he searched for Sirius Black, he found Peter Pettigrew’s name beside Ronald Weasley’s in the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory and froze in shock.

• Dumbledore visited Filch’s office and asked him to find an old, blank student-made map.
• Filch searched his confiscated parchments and handed Dumbledore the folded map he wanted.
• Dumbledore activated the parchment with the Elder Wand and saw Hogwarts, its secret passages, and the names of everyone inside.
• Dumbledore searched the map for Sirius Black but could not find him anywhere in the castle.
• Dumbledore spotted Peter Pettigrew’s name beside Ronald Weasley’s dot and stood motionless in shock.

Peter planted Crookshanks’s hairs in Ron’s bed to make his disappearance look like the cat had killed Scabbers, then fled Hogwarts because the Marauder’s Map could reveal his real name. He reached a spot near the Forbidden Forest, but a sharp whistle from the castle interrupted his escape.

• Peter hid Crookshanks’s hairs around Ron’s bed to make people blame the cat if Scabbers vanished.
• Peter saw the book about the Marauder’s Map and feared it would expose his identity by displaying his real name.
• Peter slipped out of the Gryffindor dormitory and crossed Hogwarts, avoiding a sleeping portrait.
• Peter escaped through a loose stone in the castle wall and headed toward the Forbidden Forest.
• Peter stopped beneath a stone beside the path, planning to live in hiding, when a sharp whistle sounded from Hogwarts Castle.

Peter hid as a rat near the Forbidden Forest while Dumbledore searched for the person whose name had appeared beside Ron’s on the Marauder’s Map. Dumbledore discovered Ron’s rat Scabbers was missing and learned it had been missing a toe and had belonged to Percy for years.

• Peter spotted Dumbledore hovering over the grounds and tried to act like an ordinary rat.
• Dumbledore recalled seeing Peter Pettigrew’s name nearly overlap Ron Weasley’s on the Marauder’s Map and went to check Ron’s identity.
• Dumbledore gently probed Ron’s mind and found no sign that he was an impostor.
• Ron noticed Scabbers was missing and blamed Hermione’s cat, Crookshanks, after finding rat and cat hairs on his bed.
• Dumbledore asked about Scabbers’s missing toe, and Ron explained Percy had given him the rat after keeping it for years.

Dumbledore deduced that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew and suspected Peter had hidden because the truth about Sirius Black's capture was different from what the Wizarding World believed. He searched for Peter at the Forbidden Forest and offered him safety, but Peter stayed hidden and Dumbledore threatened to use stronger search magic.

• Dumbledore connected the long-lived, maimed rat with Peter Pettigrew and concluded that Peter had fled after learning the Marauder's Map could expose him.
• Dumbledore questioned why Peter would hide if he were truly a hero, and suspected there was more to the events involving Sirius Black.
• Dumbledore flew outside Hogwarts and searched the grounds, while Peter hid in the grass at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
• Dumbledore used Sonorus to call Peter by name and promised he could leave Hogwarts safely and live without fear of Black.
• Peter heard Dumbledore but stayed disguised as an ordinary rat, convinced Dumbledore was lying.
• Dumbledore warned Peter that he would use more thorough search magic if Peter did not come out.

Dumbledore searched the grounds for Peter Pettigrew but could not distinguish him from the ordinary animals around the Forbidden Forest. After Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts, Peter emerged from hiding and hesitated before fleeing into the woods, wondering whether Dumbledore had truly left.

• Dumbledore admitted to himself that he had no reliable way to locate Peter while he was transformed into a rat.
• Dumbledore used Revelio to search the grass, but the spell found nothing because Peter had transformed too long ago.
• Dumbledore gave up and walked back toward Hogwarts Castle.
• Peter waited beneath a rock until Dumbledore's footsteps faded, then crawled out and considered escaping into the Forbidden Forest.
• Peter paused before running into the woods and wondered whether Dumbledore had really left.

Peter suspected Dumbledore was still watching him, so he pretended to search for food beneath a rock. Meanwhile, Richard Henry’s harsh review of the first half of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban sparked an uproar in Britain.

• Peter reasoned that Dumbledore might be bluffing and hiding nearby rather than giving up the search.
• Peter forced himself to remain beneath the rock and behave like an ordinary rat while staying alert.
• The first half of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban sold out its initial print run of eight hundred thousand copies in three days, prompting the publisher to print another million.
• Richard Henry published a Times article criticizing the book’s exposition, character conflicts, emotional scenes, magical set pieces, and suspense.
• Richard Henry said he hoped the second half would restore the appeal of the first two books, but warned that Allen Vane might have lost his talent.
• The article caused an uproar among British literary circles and readers.

Literary critics and editors debated whether the first eleven chapters of Allen Vane’s third Harry Potter book showed declining ability or were laying groundwork for later developments. The argument ended with Charles urging critics to wait for the book and time to deliver a fuller judgment.

• Philip Handsworth and Margaret Thorne agreed with Richard Henry’s criticism that the third book’s opening chapters were weaker and suggested Allen Vane’s success shielded him from editorial scrutiny.
• Harold Larkin argued that eleven chapters were not enough evidence to claim Allen Vane had run out of talent, and he pointed to the book’s unresolved mysteries.
• James Carter defended the changes in perspective and the realistic quarrels between Ron and Hermione, praised the Dementors, and said he would wait for the second half before judging.
• Two literary editors discussed the opening chapters’ trade-offs, agreeing that some flaws existed while arguing that ideas such as the Boggart and Knight Bus showed Allen Vane had not lost his ability.
• Charles told a colleague that Richard Henry had judged too hastily, since the first half was meant to lay groundwork, and recalled the Times Literary Supplement’s call to wait and see what endured.

Readers across Britain debated whether the first half of the third Harry Potter book showed a decline in quality, while Allen awaited the settlement for its release. The system rewarded Allen with a limited James Potter character card, which granted James’s peak strength for five minutes.

• Readers in Cambridge and London argued over Henry’s criticism of the third book’s first eleven chapters, with some defending its pacing and new ideas.
• Allen complained to the system about releasing the book in halves, then asked the black diary whether publishing half an article was reprehensible; it refused to answer.
• The system announced that the release response settlement for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Part One) was complete and offered Allen rewards.
• Allen received a limited James Potter character card with two uses, each granting James’s peak strength for five minutes.
• Allen read James’s profile, considered his abilities and role in the third book, and looked forward to the remaining rewards.

Allen examined the first-person-only Pensieve he had received and questioned whether reliving his own memories would be useful. He entered a memory of the Battle of Hogwarts and discovered that it let him experience his past sensations and thoughts with startling clarity.

• Allen read the System's explanation that the Pensieve let him relive his memories from his own perspective, including his thoughts and senses.
• Allen questioned the Pensieve's usefulness because it limited him to what he had seen and thought at the time.
• Allen summoned the Pensieve, extracted a memory of the Battle of Hogwarts, and entered it.
• Allen relived his arrival at Hogwarts as Death Eaters aimed their wands at him, experiencing his sensations and panicked thoughts again.

Allen discovered that the Pensieve let him relive the spellcasting insights he had gained through Quirrell's character card, and repeated visits improved his understanding despite straining him. He then started his third draw from the limited Prisoner of Azkaban prize pool, watching the wheel spin past familiar names.

• Allen relived Quirrell's memories in the Pensieve, including casting the Composite Spell over the Black Lake.
• Allen realized that revisiting the memories could let him learn from the peak spellcasting abilities of character cards.
• Allen returned to the Pensieve and studied the casting of Stupefy, Protego, and the Composite Spell, gaining deeper understanding but feeling dizzy.
• Allen praised the Pensieve reward to the system and chose to use his third limited-pool draw.
• The wheel began spinning, displaying names including Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.

Allen drew Rubeus Hagrid's Magical Creature Affinity and then used the Pensieve to study spells, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione settled into a calmer routine at Hogwarts. The trio left Hagrid's Flobberworm lesson, with Ron and Harry neglecting their worms as Hermione fed hers carefully.

• Allen received Rubeus Hagrid's Magical Creature Affinity, which made magical creatures naturally trust him and helped him understand their needs.
• Allen focused on the Pensieve and plunged in again to study the Levitation Charm and the Blasting Curse.
• Ron stopped arguing with Hermione about Crookshanks after Dumbledore privately warned him that Scabbers was not what he seemed.
• Crookshanks began roaming freely in the Gryffindor Common Room while Ron avoided discussing Scabbers.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned from Hagrid's Flobberworm lesson, where Harry and Ron neglected their worms and Hermione fed hers diligently.

Harry and Ron discovered their Magic Cards were missing and returned to the grounds at night with Hermione to retrieve them. As they prepared to head back, a vast tide of Dementors appeared and surged toward the Forbidden Forest.

• Ron and Harry searched the common room for their missing card decks, with Hermione helping them.
• Harry remembered that they had played cards during Care of Magical Creatures and likely left them by the crooked tree.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione used Harry's Invisibility Cloak to sneak outside and found both decks in the grass.
• As the three prepared to return to the castle, countless Dementors emerged and swept across the grounds toward the Forbidden Forest.

Peter Pettigrew struggled to survive in the Forbidden Forest while centaurs and other creatures hunted for him on Dumbledore’s orders. As Peter roasted a rat, Sirius Black appeared in the form of a black dog, leaving Peter terrified.

• Peter roasted and ate a rat while hiding in the Forbidden Forest.
• Peter recalled fleeing Hogwarts and learning that Dumbledore had prompted the forest creatures to find him and drive him back onto the grounds.
• Peter remained trapped between the Hogwarts grounds and the dangerous depths of the forest, unable to travel safely in human form.
• Sirius Black appeared as a black dog, and Peter recognized him from their past and froze in terror.