Azkaban

Warning! At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in:Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery &Harry Potter: Magic Awakened &Hogwarts Legacy. As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

Azkaban

Azkaban was a fortress on anisland in the middle of theNorth Sea. It served themagical community ofGreat Britain as a prison for convicted criminals. Azkaban was built in the15th century and it had been in use as a detention facility since1718. Using certaincharms, Azkaban was hidden from theMuggle world, and wasUnplottable.^[1]

As ofEldritch Diggory's visit in the1730s or1740s,^[2] agraveyard had been established on the island to accommodate those who had died in the prison. Most of the prisoners inside its walls died of despair, having lost the will to live. This was due to the presence ofDementor guards on the island.^[1] Dementors drained people of all happiness and left them with their worst memories. Long-term exposure usually led to insanity and evendeath. However, as of1998, Dementors no longer dwelled in Azkaban, andAurors replaced them as guards.

While other wizarding prisons existed, such asNurmengard (which was used exclusively to hold its creatorGellert Grindelwald's enemies and eventually himself), Azkaban was the only known fortress to be the "official" holding ground for British wizarding criminals.

Wands were not allowed in Azkaban, given the nature of the criminals kept there.^[3] Visitors had to weigh their wands with aWand Weigher and then hand their wands over to the security desk as per the Dementors' wishes, as there could be no possibility a prisoner could take a wand and use it to escape.Broomsticks or any otherflying devices were also forbidden entry into the prison, and had to be left in the security entrance.^[4]

History[]

The island in the North Sea on which the wizard prison was built had never appearedon any map, wizard orMuggle. Its first known resident,Ekrizdis, practised the worst kinds ofDark Magic and constructed a fortress on the island, luring Muggle sailors there to torture and murder them. After his death, the variousConcealment Charms he had cast on the island faded away, and theMinistry of Magic became aware of the mysterious site's existence. Those who entered the deserted fortress to investigate discovered, among other horrors, an infestation ofDementors. The wizarding authorities of the time considered destroying the fortress, but, fearing reprisal by the Dark entities or the island itself, decided against such action, and the Ministry allowed the sizeable colony to remain; the island was thus left unmolested and unchecked for many years, perhaps decades, until theInternational Statute of Secrecy was established.^[1]

Due to the impracticality of using small, local prisons, which could result in bangs, smells and light shows if inmates escaped, plans for a single, purpose-built wizarding prison on some remoteHebridean island were made at the passing of the International Statute of Secrecy. However, whenDamocles Rowle was elected Minister for Magic in1718, he insisted on using Azkaban instead, seeing the Dementors as a potential asset: putting them to work as guards would save expense, time, and lives. This plan was eventually put into motion and, despite protests, Azkaban remained the magical prison of Great Britain until the end of theSecond Wizarding War, primarily due to its seemingly zero breakout rate. From that point on, the Dementors served the Ministry as the guards of Azkaban, as the arrangement allowed them to feed on the emotions of the prisoners within its walls. Opposition to the use of Azkaban did manifest, however.^[1]

Somewhere between1733 and1747 MinisterEldritch Diggory visited Azkaban, and was horrified at the inhumane levels of despair and insanity that the Dementors induced in the prisoners. He formed a committee to find alternative solutions or mitigating measures, the least of which was to remove the Dementors; even this, however, met opposition from those who feared a mainland invasion if the Dementors were deprived of their food source. Diggory died ofDragon Pox while in office, and thus the campaign to find an alternative to Azkaban's Dementors stalled.

Reversing his predecessor's position, when MinisterHesphaestus Gore took office, the prison was renovated and reinforced.^[1] No serious opposition to the continued use of the prison arose in the next few centuries, and no Minister considered closing the prison until the Minister of MagicKingsley Shacklebolt began major reforms of the entire Ministry in1998.

Since1717, using any of the threeUnforgivable Curses on another human being has carried the punishment of a life sentence in Azkaban (unless there is sufficient evidence that the caster did so under the influence of theImperius Curse, or legal exceptions made by theMinistry of Magic as in the case of Aurors in theFirst Wizarding War).^[5]

It was during theFirst Wizarding War thatBartemius Crouch Senior, Head of theDepartment of Magical Law Enforcement at the time, sentenced many suspects to Azkaban without a trial. While this allowed many Death Eaters to be imprisoned without giving them a chance to escape by manipulating courts, it also resulted in wrongful imprisonment of innocents, such as Sirius Black. Many citizens of the magical community supported this move, due to the terror of Lord Voldemort gripping the nation; it was only after the war ended and peace began to sink in that people began to see Crouch's actions as too harsh. It was also during the first war thatAlastor Moody, famous Auror, captured many Death Eaters, it was stated that "half the cells in Azkaban are full thanks to him".^[5]

During theSecond Wizarding War, in which the Death Eaters took over the Ministry, the prison also fell into their usage. They released all of their comrades and falsely cleared them, while sentencing many innocentMuggle-borns and other enemies of theirs to Azkaban under sham trials and trumped-up charges. Also, the Dementors were given more areas to reign upon than simply guarding the inmates.^[6] Some Muggle-borns did not survive the ordeal in Azkaban, a reason whyDolores Umbridge was given a life sentence after the Death Eaters andLord Voldemort were defeated.^[7]

Azkaban earned a reputation as a horrific place, mostly due to theDementors. Because of these creatures, most prisoners eventually wentinsane and slowlydied under the Dementors' depressive influence, having lost their will to live and even stopped eating. Even those who survived to be released would remain traumatised by their experiences within the prison:Marvolo Gaunt was left heavily weakened during his six-month sentence, which may have been a contributing factor to his early death, while Rubeus Hagrid could remember how miserable he was there even long after his release. EvenSirius Black andBellatrix Lestrange's physical appearances were telltale signs of their deterioration within the prison, losing most of their great aristocratic looks.

The Dementors' primary concern was their supply of human emotions to feed upon and, disregarding the prisoners' release terms, seemed unhappy to let them go. However, many denizens of the wizarding community remained happy that it was the Dementors who were guarding the prisoners, believing that they were what kept these dangerous people inside the remote fortress. On the other hand, there had been many who opposed the idea of keepingLord Voldemort's most dangerousfollowers in the hands of such Dark creatures, fearing that their loyalty could easily be swayed to Voldemort's side through bargains of which the Ministry could not compete with, perhaps one day handing the prisoners the key to their unjust freedom.

Being an unregisteredAnimagus was punishable by a sentence in Azkaban, asHermione Granger threatened to exposeRita Skeeter as one to the authorities.^[5]

Being in possession of a "true"Time-Turner, one that allowed the user to travel back into the past beyond the five-hours safety boundary, was punishable by a sentence in Azkaban, asTheodore Nott was placed in Ministry custody upon being found in possession of a prototype, andHarry Potter noted thatDraco Malfoy in possessing the finalised version would have been sentenced as well had the Ministry found out.^[8] It is unclear if the relevant laws directly referred to uncontrolled time-manipulation, or if the ban was on using experimental artefacts of great power in general.

During the1990–1991 school year,Alastor Moody took Jacob's sibling, then aseventh-yearHogwarts student, to Azkaban to speak with convictKazuhiro Shiratori, aDark wizard affiliated with 'R'.^[4] He had previously requested to speak to Jacob's sibling specifically in Azkaban to give them incriminating information aboutBurke, another Dark wizard and 'R' member at theMinistry headquarters.^[3] While speaking to him caged in theInterrogation Room, Shiratori allowed Jacob's sibling toread his mind withLegilimency, where they learnt that Burke was located in theRomanian Dragon Sanctuary. After completing this assignment however, Jacob's sibling was requested back to Azkaban.^[4]

Later when they and Moody visited Azkaban again, Azkaban was placed into an emergency lockdown, in which the facility was completely shut off with the Dementors on patrol, asPatricia Rakepick, an inmate, had escaped her cell. Jacob's sibling was separated from Moody when a portcullis closed between the entrance, and was told to hide from the Dementors by Moody before he could rescue them, as they were still holding theirwand and would be deemed a foe by the Dementors. They found Rakepick, their formerprofessor and nemesis in the Interrogation Room and was forced to escape with her from the Dementors.

After escaping into the cell blocks, Jacob's sibling repelled a Dementor with thePatronus Charm before Rakepick did the same using their wand. After a dishevelled Rakepick refused to re-enter Azkaban and was determined to escape, Jacob's siblingdisarmed her withwandless magic and left her in the prison, after she admitted she had to pay for her failures. They were found by Moody after the lockdown ended and Rakepick was returned to her cell. They also heard a weird howling noise in the prison during the incident.^[9]

During theCalamity in the late2010s or early2020s, aCalamity Investigator working for theStatute of Secrecy Task Force visited Azkaban withDark Detectors to assess the level of inmate misbehaviour after reading a scathingDaily Prophet article regarding "uncontrollable inmates." Their investigation found that, while newer inmates were viciously scheming, the older inmates, who had previously been guarded by the Dementors, remained docile.^[10]

Security[]

Pre-1998[]

Azkaban was guarded byDementors until most of them revolted and joinedLord Voldemort. As a result, Voldemort'sDeath Eatersescaped together to rejoin their master in both1996 and1997.^[11]

There was most likely anAnti-Apparition Charm orAnti-Disapparition Jinx on Azkaban; if there hadn't been, wizards and witches could simply have Apparated from the prison to the outside world. However, since it is debatable that most witches and wizards needed a wand to Apparate, this might be irrelevant, as none of the prisoners maintained possession of their wands. Most of the prisoners would barely have had enough strength to Apparate anyway, as the mere presence of Dementors, particularly in large numbers, inhibited the use of magical powers.

Before the Dementors' revolt, the only people ever toescape the prison wereBarty Crouch Jnr andSirius Black, in1982 and1993, respectively. Barty Crouch Jnr was smuggled out by his father,Barty Crouch Snr, and replaced by his dyingmother usingPolyjuice Potion,^[5] while Sirius was able to escape by changing into hisAnimagus form of a dog.^[12] Another mass breakout occurred in 1997 (most likely in the summer) but was covered up by the Ministry for political reasons.^[6] Attempted escapes did occur, asPatricia Rakepick did, but she failed and lost hope.^[9]

Whenever an escape attempt was discovered, green lights lit up the hall and heavy, magically protected gates sealed the few entrances and exits. Dementors swarmed the building, attacking anyone with a wand, regardless of if they were the escapee or not. Such an event happened whenJacob's sibling visited Azkaban for the second time during the1990–1991 school year, and they found themselves locked in the prison with Rakepick, the escapee, with Dementors attacking them both.^[9]

There was a graveyard on the island outside the wall of Azkaban where the Dementors buried prisoners who had died. However, if the dead prisoner had a relative who was not a criminal, the relative in question had the right to pick up the corpse for a proper burial, asBarty Crouch Snr had the right to pick upthe body that was disguised ashis son, though he chose not to due to fear of being exposed of committing a jailbreak.^[5]

Although the prison was in the middle of the ocean with iron walls protecting it, it was unnecessary to keep prisoners inside, asRemus Lupin stated, because the prisoners were already trapped in their own heads due to the intense depression caused by the Dementors.^[12] As Sirius indicated, most prisoners went insane after a short while, and some even stopped eating, preferring death to their lives within Azkaban.

Visits to the island were heavily restricted, as only respectable Ministry officials were noted to be allowed to visit with any possible relatives. An example is when Barty Crouch Snr and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit to their imprisoned son due to the former's high status in the government; they took advantage of this privilege to smuggle Barty Jnr out of prison.^[5] TheMinister for Magic was also allowed to visit the prison, as to check out on certain prisoners on their conditions, asCornelius Fudge did onSirius Black.^[12] Otherwise, Ministry officials were only allowed to visit inmates to interrogate them, however this process was highly controlled, with said officials having to participate in the mandatoryAzkaban Orientation programme before visiting the prison, and having to surrender their wands upon entering the prison.^[4]

Additionally, any information gained from interrogating prisoners was treated as suspect, since prisoners were often so desperate to reduce their sentence that they were known to lie.^[4] Despite this, information gained from captives was still valid evidence in court, since it was on the advice of the captiveIgor Karkaroff thatAugustus Rookwood was investigated and eventually revealed to be aDeath Eater, which secured Karkaroff's release.

Azkaban prisoners were brought to the prison by Aurors, making Aurors the only officials who regularly visited the prison but only to hand over prisoners (before they replaced the Dementors as guards).John Dawlish was one official said to have been escorting prisoners during the Death Eater's reign over the Ministry.^[6]

Escaping from Azkaban was a serious offence, punishable by the worse-than-deathDementor's Kiss.Sirius Black was fated to this, if he had not been rescued beforehand,^[12] andBartemius Crouch Jnr suffered from it when his escape became public.^[5] Such a punishment was probably because the escaped prisoners in question were too dangerous to be simply re-confined into the prison, as they could easily escape again.

Post-1998[]

After the end of theSecond Wizarding War andKingsley Shacklebolt's appointment asMinister for Magic in1998, those who had been prosecuted and imprisoned by theMuggle-Born Registration Commission were set free. The Dementors, which had proved untrustworthy and brought about excessively inhumane living conditions for the prisoners, were removed fromAzkaban's island and replaced by Aurors, who from that point took turns guarding the prison and regular fieldwork.

A number of surviving Voldemort supporters and Death Eaters were imprisoned in the aftermath, and any Ministry officials who knowingly and willingly went with Voldemort's ideologies during the time when the Ministry was under his control were sentenced to Azkaban, the most prominent beingDolores Umbridge, for her crimes against humanity (and, more specifically, Muggle-borns).^[1] Even with the Dementors being replaced by human guards, it remained a rather grim place in which to serve out one's sentence, withDaniel Page describing it as "cold, silent, lonely." after he visited his mother there in the summer of2010.^[13]

While the new security system was said to be proven effective, and that no breakouts had occurred since it was implemented, this was revealed to be incorrect as two known escapes occurred:Kaleena Page was rescued byElliot Evers in2012^[14] andRodolphus Lestrange the Death Eater escaped, for a third time, seemingly without outside help in2020.

Known Azkaban inmates[]

Etymology[]

The nameAzkaban is inspired by the Hebrew wordAbaddon, meaning 'place of destruction' or 'depths of hell'. It also draws inspiration from Alcatraz Prison, built on an island off the coast of San Francisco, known for being inescapable.^[1] The name of Azkaban shows more similarities with the name of Alcatraz: Same word structure, same number of syllables and the same vowels. AZ KA BAN ~ AL CA TRAZ. It may also derive from the name of the Russian townAbakan, which has historically been occupied by various groups of exiles.

Behind the scenes[]

• In the books, Azkaban is perhaps the most detailed location to never appear. It was referenced often in the books, but except the cover of one copy of the third book, it never appeared in an image in the books. This is because, unlike the films, the books were told almost exclusively through the eyes ofHarry Potter, who never visited or had been in Azkaban.
• There is an added scene in thefilm adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in which the1996mass breakout at Azkaban is shown. This scene marks the first of Azkaban. The prison has since reappeared in some video games.
• In thefilm adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Azkaban is on an island, but the island cannot be seen due to the stormy sea surrounding the tower.
• In the front cover of the adult Bloomsbury edition of thethird book, Azkaban is shown to be a rectangular castle-like fortress, but in thefifth film it is more of a triangular monolithic tower.
• It is likely that if Sirius's status as anAnimagus was known, the Ministry would have taken precautions to prevent him from transforming to escape. This would mean that Azkaban's security measure is not fully enforced for every situation at all times, assuming that the protection with Dementors is secure enough.
• In the film adaptations, the prisoners of Azkaban have their place card numbers tattooed on their neck and have pictures of them taken with their official number.
• There are no human personnel (guards, officials etc.) shown in Azkaban other than prisoners. All prisoners, as seen in the films, wear white shirts with grey stripes. This is because Dementors are mentioned to be enough to contain the prisoners in the walls of the prison and likely no human personnel would manage to bear working in such a depressing place. However, Kingsley Shacklebolt purged Azkaban entirely of Dementors and replaced them with Aurors.^[1]
• As being an unregistered Animagus is an offence worthy of imprisonment, this also enforces the possibility of Azkaban taking special precautions to Animagi only if they are aware of their unauthorised ability, as Sirius was not given such a precaution.
• There is a song by Alfons calledGanjaman which references Azkaban, in which the person that the song is about is the "biggest man" from there.
• InHogwarts Legacy theunidentified 19th-centuryHufflepuff student andHelen Thistlewood were able to enter and exit Azkaban through Apparition, with possession of their wands despite security measures preventing them.^[29]

Appearances[]

The Harry Potter Wiki has 70 images related toAzkaban.

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets(First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)(First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)(Mentioned only)
• J. K. Rowling's official site(Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• HarryPotter.com
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault(Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World(Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World(Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4(Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy
• The Art of Harry Potter: Mini Book of Graphic Design
• The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac

Notes and references[]

See also[]

• Azkaban escapes
• Nurmengard Castle
• Unforgivable Curses
• Unplottability

External links[]

• Azkaban at theHogwarts Legacy Wiki

Azkaban
Azkaban's island,North Sea
Non-imprisoned inhabitants
Dementors(two known Dementors) ·Ekrizdis ·Azkaban Security Officials and Very Important Wizards
Convicts
Alderton ·Arkie Alderton's alleged son ·Avery II ·Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde ·Eustace Burke ·Joseph Button-Jones ·Alecto Carrow ·Amycus Carrow ·Jane Court ·Crispin Cronk ·Delphini ·Calvin Farrell ·Wilhelmina Farrell ·Penelope Fawley's mother ·Marvolo Gaunt ·Morfin Gaunt ·Ginger Witch ·Antoine Grimalkin ·Bedilia Grimalkin ·Gareth Greengrass's brother ·Victor Gridley ·Rubeus Hagrid ·Theophilus Harlow ·Jugson ·Igor Karkaroff ·Barnaby Lee's father ·Barnaby Lee's mother ·Xenophilius Lovegood ·Elspeth MacGillony ·Cassandra Mason ·Patricia McManners ·Tarquin McTavish ·Jeremiah Muldoon ·Kaleena Page ·Carlotta Pinkstone ·Sturgis Podmore ·Patricia Rakepick ·Kazuhiro Shiratori ·Merula Snyde's father ·Merula Snyde's mother ·Anne Thisbe ·Dolores Umbridge ·Unidentified Metamorphmagus Dark wizard ·Yubert Thorne
Escapees
Sirius Black ·Bartemius Crouch Junior ·Antonin Dolohov ·Mundungus Fletcher ·Bellatrix Lestrange ·Rabastan Lestrange ·Rodolphus Lestrange ·Walden Macnair ·Lucius Malfoy ·Mulciber II ·Nott ·Augustus Rookwood ·Scabior ·Stanley Shunpike ·Travers ·Unidentified Azkaban escapee ·Corban Yaxley
Buried inAzkaban burial ground
Bartemius Crouch Junior's mother ·Percival Dumbledore ·Morfin Gaunt