Prisoner of Azkaban
"I'd blow meself up before I set foot in that place...Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles."
-- Ernie Prang?
"They don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. Most go mad within weeks."
-- Remus Lupin
"Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited."
-- Sirius Black
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement maintains a prison on a tiny island far out in the icy waters of the North Sea. It's called Azkaban Fortress or simply Azkaban.
Azkaban is a terrible place. Dementors, horrible creatures who have been described as �souless fiends�, guard the prisoners there. They feed on positive emotions, which means that after spending much time in the prison, the prisoners lose all hope and all good feelings and thoughts. They prisoners are forced to relive the darkest, most horrible memories of their lives. Some go mad; others simply despair and die.
Barty Crouch Sr. was head of this department during the Voldemort years and he prosecuted many suspected Death Eaters and other supporters of Voldemort. As the struggle with the Dark forces became more and more desperate, Crouch advocated very strict countermeasures, until the Aurors under his command used methods not much different from those of the wizards they were trying to capture. Crouch sent people to Azkaban without proper trials; Sirius Black, for one, was sent there even though he was innocent. Many Death Eaters have been imprisoned there under the watchful eye of the dementors.
The dementors of Azkaban stay there unless allowed to leave by the Ministry, but in early 1996, they revolted and joined Voldemort's forces. They allowed ten infamous Death Eaters to escape in the process.
Known prisoners in Azkaban, past and present: Black, Sirius
Captured and sent to Azkaban without trial c. November 1981. Escaped late July 1993 by slipping past his guards in his Animagus form when they brought him food; they lost him because animal emotions are harder for them to sense than human emotions.
Crouch Jr, Bartemius "Barty"
Convicted of participating in the torture of the Longbottoms c. 1981 and sentenced to a life term in Azkaban (the penalty for the use of the Cruciatus Curse as one of the 3 Unforgivable Curses). Escaped disguised as his mother, who died in his place c. 1981.
Dolohov, Antonin
Sentenced c. 1981, escaped during the mass breakout of January 1996.
Hagrid, Rubeus
Held there for some weeks without trial in the spring of 1993, then released.
Karkaroff, Igor
Captured by Alastor Moody after 6 months' pursuit, but released c. 1981 when he cooperated with the Ministry and gave them the names of other Death Eaters.
Lestrange, Bellatrix Black
Sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for use of the Cruciatus Curse on the Longbottoms c. 1981; escaped during the mass breakout of January 1996.
Lestrange, Rabastan
Sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for use of the Cruciatus Curse on the Longbottoms c. 1981; escaped during the mass breakout of January 1996.
Lestrange, Rudolphus
Sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for use of the Cruciatus Curse on the Longbottoms c. 1981; escaped during the mass breakout of January 1996.
Rookwood, Augustus
Turned in to the Ministry of Magic by Igor Karkaroff c. 1981, having been a spy for Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries. Escaped during the mass breakout of January 1996.
Sturgis, Podmore
Sentenced to six months in Azkaban in late 1995 after being caught in an attempt to break into a restricted area at the Ministry of Magic.
Wilkes
Captured c. 1981, possibly sent to Azkaban. Deceased.
Cast
