The Year 1993
Overview
The year 1993 was a tumultuous period marked by the resolution of the Chamber of Secrets crisis and the dramatic escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban. The first half of the year saw Harry Potter confront a memory of a young Lord Voldemort and destroy his first Horcrux, Tom Riddle's Diary. The second half of the year was dominated by the fear and paranoia surrounding Black's escape, the introduction of Dementors to Hogwarts, and Harry's discovery of painful, misleading truths about his parents' deaths. This year was pivotal in Harry's third year at Hogwarts, introducing key figures like Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew (as Scabbers), and foundational elements such as the Marauder's Map and the history of the Marauders.
Chronology of Major Events
Spring Term (January – June) This period covers the second half of the 1992-1993 Hogwarts school year, as chronicled in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
- Rubeus Hagrid is arrested under suspicion of opening the Chamber of Secrets and imprisoned in Azkaban. Lucius Malfoy arranges for Albus Dumbledore to be suspended as Headmaster.
- Following Hagrid's advice, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley enter the Forbidden Forest where they meet Aragog and his colony of Acromantulas. They learn that Hagrid is innocent but narrowly escape being eaten.
- Harry and Ron discover that the student killed by the Basilisk fifty years prior was Moaning Myrtle.
- Ginny Weasley is taken into the Chamber of Secrets. A message on the wall reads, “Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.”
- Harry and Ron, with a fraudulent Gilderoy Lockhart, find the entrance to the Chamber in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom. Lockhart attempts to erase their memories, but Ron's broken wand causes the spell to backfire, wiping Lockhart's own memory. The resulting explosion traps Ron, allowing Harry to proceed alone.
- Harry finds an unconscious Ginny and a memory of a sixteen-year-old Tom Marvolo Riddle preserved in his diary.
- Riddle reveals he is Lord Voldemort and that he used Ginny to open the Chamber. He sets the Basilisk on Harry.
- Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, arrives with the Sorting Hat. Harry pulls the Sword of Gryffindor from the Hat.
- Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, and Harry kills the serpent with the sword. He is poisoned by a basilisk fang but is healed by Fawkes's tears.
- Harry stabs Tom Riddle's Diary with the basilisk fang, destroying the memory of Riddle and the Horcrux. Ginny awakens.
- Harry, Ron, Ginny, and a memory-wiped Lockhart return from the Chamber. Dumbledore and Hagrid are exonerated and reinstated.
- Harry learns the diary was a Horcrux and that he can speak Parseltongue because Voldemort transferred some of his powers to him.
- Professor Sprout's Mandrakes mature, and a potion is brewed to revive all Petrified victims.
- End-of-year exams are cancelled as a school treat, and Gryffindor wins the House Cup for the second year in a row.
Summer This period covers the events leading up to the 1993-1994 school year, as chronicled in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
- On Harry's thirteenth birthday, he receives news that Sirius Black, a convicted mass-murderer and supporter of Lord Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban.
- Aunt Marge visits Number Four, Privet Drive and repeatedly insults Harry's parents. An enraged Harry accidentally causes her to inflate like a balloon.
- Fearing expulsion, Harry runs away from the Dursleys and is picked up by the Knight Bus.
- He is taken to the Leaky Cauldron, where he is met by the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Fudge pardons Harry for the use of underage magic and encourages him to stay in Diagon Alley for the remainder of the summer.
- Harry learns that the wizarding world believes Black has escaped to hunt him down and kill him.
- The Weasley family, having won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw, appears in a photograph from their trip to Egypt. This photograph is seen by Sirius Black in Azkaban, who recognizes Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form as Ron's rat, Scabbers, prompting his escape.
Autumn Term (September – December) This period covers the first half of the 1993-1994 Hogwarts school year.
- The Hogwarts Express is stopped and boarded by a Dementor from Azkaban. The Dementor attempts to perform the Dementor's Kiss on Harry, who faints. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, repels it with the Patronus Charm.
- Rubeus Hagrid begins his tenure as the Care of Magical Creatures professor. In his first class, Draco Malfoy provokes a Hippogriff named Buckbeak, who injures him.
- In their first Divination class with Professor Trelawney, Harry's tea leaves form the shape of the Grim, an omen of death.
- In their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Lupin teaches the third-years how to repel a Boggart. Harry's Boggart takes the form of a Dementor.
- On Halloween, Sirius Black successfully infiltrates Hogwarts Castle by slashing the portrait of the Fat Lady to gain entry to Gryffindor Tower.
- During a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, numerous Dementors invade the pitch. Harry faints and falls from his broom. His Nimbus Two Thousand is blown into the Whomping Willow and destroyed.
- Fred and George Weasley give Harry the Marauder's Map, a magical document showing every person and secret passage within Hogwarts.
- Using the map and his Invisibility Cloak, Harry sneaks into Hogsmeade. In The Three Broomsticks pub, he overhears a conversation between Minister Fudge, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Madam Rosmerta.
- From this conversation, Harry learns that Sirius Black was his parents' best friend, their Secret-Keeper, and his godfather. He is led to believe that Black betrayed James and Lily Potter to Voldemort and murdered their friend Peter Pettigrew along with twelve Muggles.
