This Dark Harry Potter Fact Explains What Azkaban is Actually For

The Harry Potter franchise introduced audiences to the Wizarding World, a universe that's filled to the brim with magical humans, secret communities, and enchanted creatures. Harry Potter is also rich with interesting locations, including the sentient Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the bustling and vibrant Diagon Alley, and the top-secret Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station. But one of the most compelling places is Azkaban, which is shrouded in mystery.

Azkaban is a desolate, five-century-old fortress that serves as the Wizarding World's only prison. It's located in the middle of the North Sea, surrounded by Dementors, and imprisons high-risk criminals. However, with inconsistencies and plot holes littered throughout the fantasy franchise, little made sense about the prison, but interestingly, further reading suggests Azkaban has another purpose that most fans missed. It serves to further flesh out the Wizarding World and offer an interesting spin on what Harry Potter fans think they know about the franchise.

The History of Azkaban, Explained

Harry Potter viewers don't get as much information about Azkaban as those who read the books, but either way, it's still a very elusive place. In the 15th century, a wizard named Ekrizdis traveled to a deloate island in the North Sea, where he built a fortress to practice his Dark Magic and lure Muggle sailors to kill or torture them. He used concealment charms to prevent the island from appearing on maps, but after his death, those spells faded and the Ministry of Magic finally became aware of the fortress's existence.

When Ministry authorities discovered the building and the terrifying existence of Dementors, they considered destroying it all. However, since they weren't entirely sure what they would be destroying and whether they'd face any retaliation from dark forces, they ultimately decided to just leave it. For decades, or perhaps even centuries, an early version of Azkaban stood completely untouched. With the Statute of Secrecy establishing in the late 1600s, it made no sense for wizards to utilize multiple, smaller jails, so Damocles Rowle (the Minister for Magic at the time) decided that Azkaban would be a better, more effective facility.

Rowle had even elected to retain the Dementors. After all, they served as effective guards, could save time and money, and they acted as a great crime prevention tactic. In return for their guarding, the Dementors would feed on the inmates' souls. Though this decision was widely opposed and even protested, especially in the 18th century when Eldritch Diggory tried to find an alternative facility, Azkaban remained England's main prison until the end of the Second Wizarding War.

Azkaban was designed to break a person's spirit, and the Dementors enacted that purpose. Sirius Black was completely deteriorated after his false imprisonment; many inmates "went insane" and died there; Eldritch Diggory was horrified by the inhumane conditions and violent cruelty. It left viewers and readers wondering: why would the Ministry use such cruelty to keep their inmates in line? Why is the in-universe justice system so riddled with inconsistencies? Luckily, some other Harry Potter reading gives fans an interesting answer, which they likely won't expect.

Azkaban Isn't Actually Just a Prison For Wizards & Witches

Azkaban is described as a prison for the worst, most violent criminals in the Wizarding World. It's no surprise that people like Dolores Umbridge and Barty Crouch Jr. were sentenced to time in the facility. However, using Dementors as guards was a transactional arrangement: the Dementors only stayed because Azkaban provided an easy and regular supply of souls. It quickly becomes clear that, if the Dementors didn't have such an easy or big feeding supply, they'd be looking toward the general public for victims. Voldemort eventually gets them on side, but until that point, Azkaban actually acts as a prison for Dementors. It prevents them from going anywhere near the mainland for food, and instead, successfully isolates them away from other potential victims.

Dementors are one of the biggest threats in the Wizarding World. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Dementors defect to Lord Voldemort and abandon their posts in Azkaban to join him, which leads to the mass-breakout of imprisoned Dementors and violent criminals like Bellatrix Lestrange. Meanwhile, the Ministry falsely imprisoned Muggle-borns with rigged legal proceedings and bogus charges. When they invade Hogwarts, the Dementors even begin attacking children.

Only the Patronus charm can really take them down, which has only been mastered by a small percentage of witches and wizards. There's no way to remove, kill, or eliminate Dementors en masse, so the Ministry haven't got many options. Their best bet is to sacrifice criminals in Azkaban, and with so many corrupt officials in government, they could keep sending souls to the prison, where the Dementors lay in wait. It's a disturbing way to look at the law and order of the Wizarding World, but it makes sense. When corrupt officials are in charge, it's no wonder that innocent souls like Hagrid or Sirius Black, who are firmly in the good fight, get sent there for a time.

J.K. Rowling Expanded the Harry Potter Universe Significantly

Harry Potter is a hotly-debated pop culture phenomenon that has opened the door to many theories, fan fictions, and head canons. Numerous fan theories have presented an even darker look at the franchise, and some of these are pretty compelling, but J.K. Rowling also took the time to significantly expand the franchise after The Deathly Hallows: Part 2's release.

With sites like Pottermore, Rowling provided further commentary, details, and backstory for the audiences who were hungry for more. She released a full list of all the students in Harry's year at Hogwarts, explained that Hermione and Ron experienced marital difficulties in their adult life, fleshed out McGonagall's backstory, and even revealed that Neville Longbottom went on to become Hogwarts' Herbology professor. But giving further detail to Azkaban finally answered some of the most pressing Harry Potter questions.

It makes total sense that Azkaban served two purposes: to imprison criminals and to isolate the Dementors from the Wizarding World's general public. The only way to contain such a horrific threat was to sacrifice the most violent witches and wizards, and it wouldn't be surprising if the Ministry of Magic officials occasionally imprisoned innocent wizards in order to keep the Dementors at Azkaban. If too many inmates died, or the prison ever emptied, the Dementors would no longer be interested in keeping their posts. The Ministry were more than motivated to keep handing out guilty verdicts, which finally offers a logical solution to Azkaban's biggest inconsistencies.