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Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
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Chapters 14-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary
Security continues to tighten at Hogwarts. Harry and Ron wonder how Black got into the castle again, and why he fled before killing Harry. Hagrid invites Ron and Harry to have tea with him, and he confronts the boys about how they have been treating Hermione. He says that he expected them to value their friend “more’n broomsticks or rats” (274). On the next Hogsmeade weekend, Harry takes his Invisibility Cloak, sneaks into the village again, and meets up with Ron. As they are admiring the Shrieking Shack, “the most haunted dwelling in Britain” (279), Malfoy and his friends appear and begin to mock Ron’s family and Hagrid. Still wearing his Invisibility Cloak, Harry throws mud at them, but part of the cloak slips and Malfoy sees Harry’s head floating in Hogsmeade.
The Slytherins run away, and Harry quickly returns to the castle, where he is confronted by Snape. Harry tries to feign innocence as Snape retells the story of what happened outside of the Shrieking Shack. Snape remarks that “Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to, with no thought for the consequences,” and that “[Harry’s father] too was exceedingly arrogant” (284). Snape tells Harry that his father and his friends played a joke on Snape when they were students at Hogwarts, and it could have cost Snape his life. Snape then orders Harry to turn out his pockets, and he discovers the Marauder’s Map. As Snape tries to read the map, the mysterious map creators—Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs—insult him. Furious, Snape summons Lupin and shows him the map. Lupin seems stunned but then laughs, suggesting that “it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it” (288). Lupin leaves with Harry, then scolds him for using the Marauder’s Map because it could be used to break into the castle. He confiscates the map and reminds Harry that his parents died to keep him safe and being reckless is a poor way to repay them. Back at Gryffindor Tower, Hermione tells Ron and Harry that Hagrid lost his case, and that “Buckbeak is going to be executed” (290).
Chapter 15 Summary
Ron and Hermione set aside their differences and agree to work together to prepare an appeal for Buckbeak. Hagrid can barely keep himself composed during Care of Magical Creatures class, and when Malfoy and his friends laugh and call Hagrid pathetic, Hermione snaps and “slap[s] Malfoy across the face with all the strength she [can] muster” (293). Everyone is stunned that Hermione would do something so out of character. Hermione also misses Charms class, and in Divination she loses her temper again. She storms out of class after Professor Trelawney calls her “hopelessly mundane” (298) when it comes to the art of Divination. Professor Trelawney, who often predicts Harry’s demise, claims to see The Grim in his crystal ball, leading Harry to wonder if he is in for another near-fatal accident. The final Quidditch game against Slytherin approaches, and the night before the match, Harry looks out his window and sees Crookshanks walking with “a gigantic, shaggy black dog” (302). On the day of the Quidditch match, tensions are high, and it becomes “the dirtiest game” Harry has ever participated in. The Slytherins attack Gryffindor players and try to cheat, but Harry still catches the golden snitch and Gryffindor wins the match and the Quidditch Cup. Harry is so happy that he feels “he could have produced the world’s best Patronus” (313).
Chapter 16 Summary
As the end of the school year approaches, the Hogwarts students prepare for their final exams. Again, Ron notices that Hermione is scheduled to take two exams at once for several of her classes. Hagrid’s appeal is set, though the Ministry of Magic is bringing an executioner, which “sounds as though they’ve already decided” (316) that Buckbeak is guilty. Final exams begin, and on the day of the Divination exam, Harry must look into a crystal ball and make a prediction. He makes up a prediction about Buckbeak flying away to safety, much to Professor Trelawney’s disappointment. As he starts to leave, Trelawney goes into a strange trance and predicts that “THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT’S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS” (324). Harry is confused and disturbed, but Professor Trelawney snaps out of her trance and doesn’t seem to remember anything she said. Hagrid sends word to Harry, Ron, and Hermione that he lost the appeal, and Buckbeak will be executed at sunset. They ignore his command to stay away, and using the Invisibility Cloak, they sneak down to comfort Hagrid. Hagrid tells them that Dumbledore tried to intervene, but Malfoy’s father has the committee members so frightened that there’s no stopping this execution. Hermione discovers Scabbers hiding in Hagrid’s milk jug, “thinner than ever” (329) and struggling to get away. Hagrid hears the Ministry officials and the executioner coming, and he urges Harry, Ron, and Hermione out the back door, despite their pleas to try to help. As they walk away, Scabbers continues to fight Ron and tries to escape. Delayed by his struggling, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hear “the unmistakable swish and thud of an axe” (331) as Buckbeak’s sentence is carried out in the pumpkin patch.
Chapters 14-16 Analysis
Without Hermione as a voice of reason, Harry and Ron continue to push their luck and make poor choices, especially when Harry enters Hogsmeade without permission. The incident outside the Shrieking Shack shows a lack of planning and responsibility on Harry’s part. He knows that he isn’t supposed to be there, and he knows that getting caught might result in serious consequences, but he doesn’t think about any of that once Malfoy starts badmouthing the Weasleys and Hagrid. Harry lets his pride get the best of him, and it takes Lupin’s intervention to remind Harry that his irresponsible decisions have consequences.
After an entire school year of uncertainty, the subplot of Buckbeak’s hearing, appeal, and execution appears to reach its end. Buckbeak is found guilty, and his sentence is carried out. Despite their best efforts to help Hagrid, the Ministry of Magic has already made up their mind, and frequent mentions of Malfoy’s father hint at coercion. Mr. Malfoy is a man of great wealth, powerful connections, and a track record of threatening people to get what he wants. Buckbeak’s disposal was never about eliminating a dangerous creature or getting justice for Malfoy; it was a targeted campaign meant to break Hagrid’s spirit and destroy his confidence as a teacher. Hagrid has a genuine love for magical creatures, and that love makes him an easy target for bullies like the Malfoys.
Up until this point in the novel, Professor Trelawney’s status as a fraud has remained unchanged. Although she considers herself to be gifted with the ability to see into the future, all of her “predictions” are vague, malleable, and easily adjusted to fit any situation. While her past predictions have been circumstantial at best, Chapter 16 holds a dramatic turn of events: Professor Trelawney makes a real prediction, far more specific and terrifying than anything she has “predicted” thus far: Voldemort will return with his servant’s help, and his servant will set out to find him that very night. Rowling utilizes foreshadowing and irony in this moment: Trelawney, who proudly calls herself a Seer, has spent the entire school year making inaccurate predictions. Yet when she makes a real, accurate prediction, she has no memory of the event. This grim foreshadowing— that Lord Voldemort will return to power— signals a shift into darker times and fuels the action of the later books in the Harry Potter series.
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By J. K. Rowling
