Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter Twenty-Two:
Owl Post Again

Synopsis by William Silvester
Notes and links by Michele L. Worley

U.S. hardcover edition: pages 416 - 435
U.K. paperback edition: pages 448 - 468
Timeframe: 6 - xx June 1994 [Y14]

In which Harry and Hermione safely return to the hospital wing, where Snape arrives to blame them for Black's escape but cannot prove it. Lupin resigns, returning the invisibility cloak and Marauder's Map to Harry. Term ends, HRH return home on the Hogwarts Express, Harry gets owl post from Black, and Ron gets a new owl.

Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:

The chapter title refers back to that of chapter 1, Owl Post.

They slipped through the doorway behind them and down a tightly spiralling stone staircase.

...then started to run in the opposite direction. Down one staircase, then another, along a new corridor -

They had reached the end of the corridor with the hospital-wing entrance.

"HE DID IT, I KNOW HE DID IT -"

"Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further."

"When one wizard saves another wizard's life, it creates a certain bond between them..."

"But trust me...the time may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life."
Harry couldn't imagine when that would be.

"Yeah...I bet the Dursleys would be pleased to let me come...especially after what I did to Aunt Marge..."

Characters introduced in this chapter:

• Pigwidgeon (not yet named)

Characters returning in this chapter:

• Clearwater, Penelope

• Crookshanks

• Dumbledore, Albus (as Headmaster)

• Dursley, Vernon

• Finnigan, Seamus

• Fudge, Cornelius

• Granger, Hermione

• Hagrid, Rubeus

• Hedwig

• Lupin, Remus (as Moony)

• Malfoy, Draco

• Peeves

• Pomfrey, Poppy

• Potter, Harry

• Snape, Severus

• Thomas, Dean

• Weasley, Arthur (as Ron's dad)

• Weasley, Molly (as Ron's mum)

• Weasley, Percy

• Weasley, Ron

Characters mentioned in this chapter:

• Black, Sirius (as Padfoot, Harry's godfather; also corresponds with Harry but is not actually present)

• Brown, Lavender (as one of Harry's DADA class)

• Buckbeak (as Beaky)

• Dursley, Dudley (as one of the Dursleys

• Dursley, Marge

• Dursley, Petunia (as one of the Dursleys

• Longbottom, Neville (as one of Harry's DADA class)

• Macnair, Walden

• McGonagall, Minerva

• Patil, Parvati (as one of Harry's DADA class)

• Pettigrew, Peter (as Wormtail, Voldemort's servant)

• Potter, James (as Prongs)

• Potter, Lily Evans (as one of Harry's parents)

• Riddle, Tom Marvolo (as Voldemort)

• Trelawney, Professor

• Weasley, Fred

• Weasley, George

• (not named) all the students currently in Slytherin House

Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:

• Hogwarts Express

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

  • DADA office

  • Great Hall

  • grounds

  • hospital wing

  • West Tower, the top of

• King's Cross Station

  • platform nine and three-quarters

Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:

• Azkaban

• Hogsmeade

  • Shrieking Shack

• lake

• number four, Privet Drive (as Harry's uncle's house)

Exceptional character moments:

• Fudge, whose reaction to the capture of a supposedly dangerous and insane murderer is relief - not at the end of a public danger, but that he can now boast about the capture to the Daily Prophet. He has no qualms at all that we can see at the idea of having the Kiss administered.

• Lupin, resigning from a job he badly needs (and wants) because the precautions protecting others from his werewolf state have been shown to be inadequate.

• Lupin's opinion that James would have been "highly disappointed if his son had never found any of the secret passages out of the castle".

• Ron, who asks for Crookshanks' opinion of Pigwidgeon before committing to keeping him.

Spells:

• Apparition (mentioned)

• Patronus Charm (mentioned indirectly)

Links and Resources:

• Animagi

• Bestiary, the

  • Dementors

  • dragons

  • grindylows

  • owls

  • squid, giant

  • vampires

  • werewolves

• butterbeer

• Divination

• essays

  • The Changing Image of Grownups in the Harry Potter Books

  • D'you Really Think They're Suited?

  • Harry's Things

  • N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s

  • Partners and Friends: The Developing Relationship Between Harry and Hermione

  • Those DADA Teachers

  • A View of the Map

• food

• Hogwarts academics

• Hogwarts classes

• items and devices, magical

  • Firebolt

  • Invisibility Cloak

  • Marauder's Map

  • Snitch

  • Time-Turner

• nicknames

• Order of Merlin

• Slytherin House

Memorable lines:

• "Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further." [Dumbledore]

• "Fellow seems quite unbalanced. I'd watch out for him, if I were you, Dumbledore." [Cornelius Fudge]

• "I was worried this mornin', mind...thought he mighta met Professor Lupin on the grounds, but Lupin says he never ate anythin' las' night..." [Rubeus Hagrid]

• "Who'd have thought it? That brings her total of real predictions up to two." [Dumbledore]

• "Hasn't your experience with the Time-Turner taught you anything, Harry? The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed..." [Dumbledore]

• "You haven't got a godfather!"
  "Yes, I have," said Harry brightly. "He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though...keep up with my news...check I'm happy..." [Vernon] and [Harry]

Strictly British:

• blimey

• mum

• pay rise

• tea trolley

• timetable

Timelines/Calendar:

This chapter begins immediately after the previous chapter, although in this case that statement is more complicated than it at first appears to be.

• The End of PA

• The End of PA: Chart Showing the Events of the Evening of June 6