The wizarding prison of Azkaban

The prison of Azkaban is a fortress built in the 15th century on a tiny islet in the middle of the North Sea. It serves as a prison for the criminal witches and wizards of Great Britain.

Description and Location

Azkaban is located on an islet in the middle of the North Sea. This islet has a fortress that serves as a prison. Behind it is a small cemetery where the prisoners who died there are buried.

Security

Azkaban prison is known for its excellent security record. There are several advantages to using this building as a prison. Firstly, it is isolated in the middle of a sea with violent currents, which is an effective bulwark against prisoners who would try to escape and would therefore have to face the sea to reach land.

The hostile atmosphere of the prison also has an impressive side that can have an effect on the morale of the prisoners, an impression that was reinforced until 1998 by the Dementors who acted as guards at the prison. The evil power of the Dementors allowed these creatures to feed on the happy feelings of the prisoners, leaving them with nothing but despair and making them weaker.

Each prisoner’s magic wand is also confiscated to prevent them from using magic to try to escape. It can also be assumed that Azkaban is protected by many protective spells, such as anti-apparition spells, to restrain the prisoners and prevent them from escaping.

History

Origin

The fortress was built in the 15th century. Magically created or enlarged according to the legend, it was subjected from the day of its construction to numerous powerful spells.

The first resident at the Azkaban fortress is a black mage named Ekrizdis who used Azkaban as his home and attracted Muggle sailors to torture and kill them. Upon his death, the camouflage charms to which he had subjected the island dissipated, allowing the Ministry of Magic to discover the island and the fort.

The sorcerers sent to examine the place refused to describe what they found there, but still declared that the presence of the Dementors infesting the building is one of the least frightening things about the fortress.

Subsequently, the fortress is left abandoned for many years because of claims by experts in buildings constructed using black magic that the building would be capable of avenging itself against those who would try to destroy it, not to mention the presence of the Dementors, from whom sorcerers fear revenge if something happened to their living environment.

Prison for sorcerers

It was only when Damocles Rowle was elected Minister of Magic in 1718 that Azkaban found its usefulness again: the new minister proposed using the fortress as a prison, claiming that the Dementors could be used as guards to save the ministry trouble, time, and money.

Despite the opposition of many wizards, including experts on Dementors and others on buildings constructed by black magic, the Azkaban Fortress becomes a prison and is quickly filled with prisoners.

The prison is left in place without any changes for the rest of Rowle’s term and during the term of Perseus Parkinson, who was also in favor of using Azkaban as a prison. It was finally during the mandate of Eldritch Diggory, the minister in 1733, that the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic became fully aware of the living conditions of the prisoners.

Most of them had lost their minds and a cemetery had been built behind the fortress to house prisoners who had died of despair. Back in London, Diggory set up a commission to try to find alternatives to Azkaban or at least to rid the island of the Dementors.

The experts explained to him that if these creatures remain on the island, it’s because they find in there a constant source of souls to feed on. If they were deprived of the prisoners, the Dementors would invade the populated areas.

Eventually, Diggory dies from the Dreadnought before a solution could be found. The following ministers turned a blind eye to the living conditions in the prison and point to the good results of using the prison to justify its existence.

Evasions

In 1983, the first escape from Azkaban Prison took place: a young man named Barty Croupton Jr., who was extremely weakened by the prison, received a visit from his father and his dying mother and took the opportunity to swap places with her. His mother died shortly afterward and the Ministry had no idea what had happened. The Dementors, who are blind creatures devoided of feelings and emotions, did not detect the escape as one healthy person and a dying person entered then left the prison.

In 1993, a second escape took place, that of Sirius Black. One evening, when the Dementors opened the door of his cell to bring him food, Black used his Animagus form to transform himself into a dog and slip between the bars of his cell. Black used the Dementor’s weakness, being blind and not focusing on animals.

Mass escape from Azkaban in 1996.

Two mass escapes followed one another during the Second Wizarding War. Lord Voldemort, promising the Dementors more freedom and privileges as they never had before, convinced them to let many Death Eathers escape easily.

Exile of the Dangers
In 1998, Kingsley Shacklebolt was elected Minister for Magic and rid Azkaban of the Dementors with the support of Harry Potter. Since then, the fortress continues to be used as a prison, the guards being now Aurors who make rounds from the mainland. No escapes have been reported since then.