Azkaban

Location : The North Sea

Owner : Ministry of Magic

Affiliation : British Ministry of Magic

Permanent residents : Dementors (until late 1997) and convicted wizard criminals

First appearance : Chamber of Secrets (first mentioned)

Order of the Phoenix film (actually seen).

Azkaban, is the fictional wizard prison in the Harry Potter series of books by J. K. Rowling. Wizards who violate the laws of the British wizarding world are sent there. Only one other such prison, Nurmengard, is known to exist. By the start of the series, Azkaban is guarded by the Dementors, working under the British Ministry of Magic. Generally, only very severe crimes are punished with a term in Azkaban. Many of the prisoners were supporters of Voldemort, though some misunderstandings have resulted in others' imprisonment. Hagrid, for example, was sent there in Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts because of a crime he did not commit.

According to Half-Blood Prince, Azkaban is located "in the middle of the North Sea".

Azkaban has a reputation of evil and fear throughout the series. The large presence of Dementors renders the inmates incapable of happiness and forces them to relive their worst memories, as they become gradually helpless and often severely insane. According to Sirius, many inmates simply stop eating and eventually die of starvation. As Dementors are extremely difficult even to injure - the only spell effective against them is the Patronus Charm - Azkaban was long considered impossible to escape, until Sirius escaped (although Barty Crouch Jr had previously broken out with the help of his parents); however, Dumbledore claimed he could break out of Azkaban if he wished to do so.

Performing any of the Unforgivable Curses on a human is punishable by an automatic life sentence in Azkaban, although several characters throughout the series have performed the curses and not been punished accordingly. Other crimes which merit imprisonment here include assaulting the Ministry (for example, the Death Eaters detained in Order of the Phoenix), being an unregistered Animagus[HP5] and impersonating an Inferius.[HP6]

In Order of the Phoenix, ten of Voldemort's most dangerous and loyal followers escape, including Bellatrix. Dumbledore was always vocal in declaring that it was a mistake to guard Voldemort's greatest supporters with Dementors, who have the most to gain if Voldemort returned to power. He is proven right as the Dementors leave their posts at Azkaban and join ranks with Voldemort. The prison is still in use, but greatly weakened by the revolt of its wardens. Presumably, Aurors are the only ones who stand between the convicts and their freedom. By the start of Deathly Hallows, there had been another mass breakout from Azkaban, and several Death Eaters escaped.

Following Voldemort's ultimate demise, Kingsley Shacklebolt sees to the end of use of Dementors at Azkaban, their use having always been a mark of the underlying corruption of the Ministry.