Calendar of Events

Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban

"D'you get the feeling Hermione's not telling us something?"
     -- Ron Weasley

NOTES:
The dates on this calendar are figured as precisely as possible from the text of the book. In most cases, these dates can be determined with a high degree of accuracy. However, there are a few huge discrepencies. For example, there is a difference in June between the dates as they actually occured and as given in the book. June 6, the last day of exams, when Sirius and Lupin expose Pettigrew and when Harry and Hermione use the TimeTurner, is supposed to be a Thursday. In 1994, however, it was a Sunday. I have placed both dates on the calendar for that week: the actual date followed by the date as given in the book in parentheses.

Also confusing is the date given for Buckbeak's first hearing. It's supposed to be on April 20, but in the story it clearly happens well before the Easter holidays, which would have happened around the first of April. In fact, we are told that it happens just after four weeks into the term. It would seem that for some reason the hearing was moved up a few months. This would account for Harry and Ron's surprise when Hagrid told them on a February afternoon that it was going to be coming up that Friday. Undoubtedly Lucius Malfoy, after the embarrassing diary fiasco of the last school year, wasn't willing to wait until April and moved the whole thing up to February.

One more minor inconsistency is that Fudge says that Harry will stay in Diagon Alley for the last two weeks before the new school year, but it's clearly THREE weeks. Aunt Marge only stayed one week beginning on Harry's birthday, leaving three weeks to go before Harry and his friends needed to board the Hogwarts Express. I suppose we can just pass this off on Fudge having had a very rough night, worrying about Harry and not knowing where he was. UPDATE: In June, 2004, Rowling issued a correction to the book so that the text now says three weeks intead of two.