Half-Blood Prince becomes
fastest-selling DVD of 2009 in United Kingdom
Half-Blood Prince
becomes fastest-selling DVD of 2009 in United Kingdom Having been on
sale, the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince DVD is the
fastest-selling DVD in the UK. UPI reports:
More than 840,000 copies of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
were sold its first day on DVD, making the British flick the year's
fastest-selling video. More...
Azkaban is the wizard
prison. Wizards who violate the laws of the British wizarding world are
sent there. Only one other such prison, Nurmengard, is known to exist.
According to Half-Blood Prince, Azkaban is located "in the middle of
the North Sea". Sirius Black mentions that when he (as a dog) swam to
Britain from Azkaban, he then travelled northwards to get to Hogwarts.
This implies that Azkaban is located at a lower latitude than Hogwarts,
which is in Scotland. Although Azkaban's appearance is not really
mentioned in the books, in the movie adaptations, it appears to be a
tall, triangular building, somewhat hollow in the middle.
Azkaban has a reputation of evil and fear throughout the series. By the
start of the series, Azkaban is guarded by the Dementors, working under
the British Ministry of Magic. 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.
In Order of the Phoenix, ten of Voldemort's most dangerous and loyal
followers escape, including Bellatrix Lestrange. 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. By the start of
Deathly Hallows, there had been another mass breakout from Azkaban, and
several Death Eaters escaped. Upon Voldemort's takeover of the
Ministry, many political prisoners are sent to Azkaban by Ministry
traitor Dolores Umbridge, including Xenophilius Lovegood and
Muggle-borns persecuted under Voldemort's implementation of anti-Muggle
legislation. Such victims are released following Voldemort's downfall,
and Umbridge herself is imprisoned there, along with whichever Death
Eaters survived the Battle of Hogwarts.
More...
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