The Ending Of Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban Explained – Looper

As the action ramps up toward the ending of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Scabbers reappears just in time for the Golden Trio to seemingly witness Buckbeak’s execution. But then Scabbers escapes from Ron and hightails it for the Whomping Willow. Chasing Scabbers, the three find that the tree contains a secret passage to the Shrieking Shack, and, once there, they are confronted by Sirius Black. He turns out to be the dog that’s been portending doom this whole time. Sirius is an unlicensed Animagus, and he’s also apparently BFFs with Lupin. The Defense Against the Dark Arts prof finds the gang in the Shack and embraces Sirius as a long-lost chum. After a confusing 30 seconds or so for the three kids, the adults explain that Sirius was framed for the crimes against Harry’s family. The person who actually snitched to Voldermort was Peter Pettigrew, aka unlicensed Animagus Wormtail, aka Scabbers the rat.

The kids learn that Lupin, Sirius, Peter, and Harry’s dad James were all besties in school. When Lupin was attacked and turned into a werewolf as a teen, the other three became Animagi so that they could keep him company during his time of the month. The gang gave themselves nicknames based on what they transformed into: Moony (Lupin, werewolf) Wormtail (Peter, rat), Padfoot (Sirius, dog), and Prongs (James, stag).