After two movies of sunny skies, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a major turning point for the franchise. It's where things begin to dark turn and gritty, with the seeds of Lord Voldemort's return to full power firmly planted within this blockbuster due to Peter Pettigrew's escape at the end.
The movie did a brilliant job at capturing the bleak tone of the book but, inevitably, changed some details from the core material. We now take a look at 10 big changes that were made by Warner Bros for the third installment of the Harry Potter franchise.
10 The Opening
In the book, things begin with Harry Potter celebrating his birthday. He's sent presents from Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, while Mrs Weasley and Hagrid give him some gifts as well.
But the movie starts off with Harry practicing magic under his bedsheets - despite it being prohibited. Any students who use their wand at home risk being thrown out of Hogwarts so it was a rather big oversight that the movie had him practicing spells from the comfort of his own bed. It's like the scene where Hermione Granger repairs Harry's glasses in the Chamber of Secrets. Fans know you can't use magic until you're of age...
9 Draco Malfoy's Prank Has Consequences
Draco Malfoy wastes no time in Harry Potter shortly after they're reunited at Hogwarts following the Boy Who Lived's bad reaction to seeing the Dementors of Azkaban for the first time. In the film, he and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle mock him by putting their hoods up and pretending to be the dastardly creatures.
The same thing happens in the book - but with bigger consequences. The trio choose to do it while Harry's playing Quidditch and, in his blind panic, he sends a feeble Patronus back at them. While it wouldn't have been enough to make a real Dementor disappear, it still did a perfect job at sending Draco, Crabbe and Goyle crashing to the floor.
8 Avoiding Punishment
The Dementor incident isn't the only time Harry and Malfoy clash during their third year at Hogwarts. In the book the former makes a prohibited trip to Hogsmeade where he pelts his enemy with snowballs. Things go wrong, however, with his Invisibility Cloak slipping to reveal his face.
This then sees Harry frantically rush to beat Malfoy back to Hogwarts and his antics are nearly uncovered before Remus Lupin comes to his rescue. None of this happens in the movie, though, with Harry instead having a good old laugh with Ron and Hermione after the incident.
7 No Mention Of Sirius Black's Escape
Breaking out of Azkaban is thought to be impossible. That is, until Sirius Black does it at the beginning of the Prisoner of Azkaban, going on the run and leaving witches and wizards around the world confused - and fearful - about his escape.
In the books it's established that he's only able to escape because he's so thin and able to turn into a giant shaggy dog. Dementors can't sense animals like they can humans and, preying on the fact the creatures are blind, Sirius seizes his opportunity. However, despite it being a pretty big and crucial detail, the movie chooses to omit any mention of how he escaped. Which, to us, seems like a missed opportunity...
6 No Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs Story
And that takes us onto our next point. Not only is the whole story of Sirius' dramatic escape from Azkaban omitted, Warner Bros also chose to skip any mention of the fact that, as well as the former jail inmate, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew became Animagus' as well.
The core material explains how Sirius, James and Peter all chose to illegally become Animagus' to keep Remus Lupin company during his time as a werewolf. This leads to them giving each other the nicknames of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, who then create the Marauders Map. But while Lupin reveals he was behind the creation of the map, the rest of the story is left out.
5 No Quidditch Cup Triumph
Quidditch is farely prominent in the first two Harry Potter movies but, in the third, the sport is limited to a brief showdown between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. That means there's no showing of one of the Boy Who Lived's standout moments from his time at Hogwarts - winning the Quidditch Cup.
In the book, Gryffindor lose the Hufflepuff showdown but go on to beat Slytherin and Ravenclaw to bring the trophy home. Despite being the best Seeker at the school, Harry wins the cup just once during his time at the castle. In his fourth year it's not on, the fifth he gets taken off the team, the sixth he's in detention and the seventh he's way too busy fighting Lord Voldemort.
4 The Firebolt
While we're on the subject of Quidditch, it's time to talk about the Firebolt. The best broomstick of its generation, Harry acquires it in the book from an unknown source, This prompts Professor McGonagall into putting it through numerous tests for curses and hexes and, only towards the end of the novel, we learn it was a present from Sirius Black to replace the teenager's old Nimbus 2000.
Yet in the movie, it's the closing shot. Harry gets it - it's already been unwrapped over his overzealous peers - and then flies off.
3 Sirius And Crookshanks
In the movie, Harry and Hermione go after Ron when he's captured by Sirius Black and dragged towards the Shrieking Shack. They do this by managing to cling onto the branches of the Whomping Willow but, in JK Rowling's book, they rely on Crookshanks instead.
It's then later explained that Crookshanks and Sirius have struck up a rapport but this is another detail that the movie leaves out. Crookshanks only pops up at the beginning and, while it's a detail that doesn't make a big difference to the blockbuster, it still seems a rather random thing to alter. It would have certainly been less costly than having to CGI a tree coming to life.
2 Harry Attacking Snape
As the truth begins to unravel, Severus Snape turns up at the Shrieking Shack determined to bring old bully Sirius Black to the Dementors. In the movie, before he can do this, he's suddenly hit by spells from Harry, Ron and Hermione. The very force of it should be enough to kill - particularly as Snape seems to take all of the shots to his chest.
But in the book, it's just Harry who attacks him - forcing Hermione to exclaim in shock as a result. Perhaps Warner Bros chose to alter things to make the Boy Who Lived look better. There is safety in numbers, after all...
1 Time Travel Rules
In the movie, Hermione is strict with Harry when it comes to time travel. She explains how you shouldn't interact with past or future versions of yourself because that could lead to chaos. Yet that doesn't stop her from throwing a rock at Harry's head and risking everything in the process - contradicting herself along the way.
In the book, no such thing happens, Instead, Harry and Hermione abide by the rules and their plan to save Sirius, for the most part, goes without a hitch.
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