Goofs for
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) More at IMDbPro »

• Revealing mistakes: In opening scene in Harry's bedroom, it can be seen in one shot that Harry is lying on a sheet of glass (to allow magical lighting effect) rather than on a sheet.
  
  
• Continuity: When Dudley is watching television, he is watching _"Generation Game, The" (1971)_. We see a contestant put some headphones on, and in the next shot we see the same clip.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: After the class has finished dealing with the boggart, Harry's scar appears to be on the wrong side. We are seeing his reflection in the mirror on the door of the wardrobe that holds the boggart.
  
  

• Continuity: When Harry, Ron, and Hermione are talking to Hagrid about Buckbeak's execution we see Harry get up and walk away from the rock he is sitting on. But in the next shot, Harry is sitting back down on the rock.
  
  
• Continuity: During his conversation with Fudge, Harry's arm switches position on the back of the chair.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harry is interrogated by Professor Snape about the Marauder's Map in the darkly-lit hallway, the drawstrings on Harry's sweatshirt change position. In one shot, they fall parallel, but in the next shot, they criss-cross. Also, when Lupin is talking to Harry in his classroom minutes later, the drawstrings switch from being cris-crossed to falling parallel between shots.
  
  
• Continuity: Ron's pimples move about his face from one shot to the next.
  
  
• Continuity: The spot on Harry's shirt in the finale moves from a large, dark spot over his breastbone to a less distinct spot over his right ribcage.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When Harry is bowing to Buckbeak in the pumpkin patch near the end of the movie, you can see the bulge of his microphone battery pack, which is under the back of his sweatshirt.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: You can sometimes see lighting devices reflected in the characters' glasses. As Harry is telling Hagrid "It'll be fine" as they are hurrying out the door, you can see lighting equipment reflected in Harry's glasses. Also, in Trelawney's first class, you can see similar lighting equipment reflected in her glasses.
  
  
• Continuity: In Hagrid's hut the first time, Hermione opens the back door to leave and sticks her head out before Hagrid opens the front door to let in Dumbledore and Fudge. When time is turned, you can clearly see that Hagrid opens the front door before Hermione opens the back door.
  
  
• Continuity: When they're in the Shrieking Shack, Ron is pointing as he says "He's an animagus!" however, his hand then goes from pointing to holding Scabbers between shots.
  
  
• Continuity: On the train, the bottle of water is on the left-hand side of the tray. However, when the bottle of water starts freezing, it is in the center of the tray. After the Dementor attack, it is on the left of the tray again.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When the Whomping Willow hits Harry and Hermione, they land on the grass hard. However, as Hermione gets up, she pushes down on the grass they are on, and you can tell that it is separate from the rest of the grass around them. They obviously landed on a softened mat rather than the regular ground.
  
  
• Continuity: In the hut, when the rock comes flying in the window, it breaks the urn into three large pieces. When we see it broken again later, it breaks into several small pieces.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When Lupin is talking to Harry about Harry's parents a piece of lighting equipment is reflected in Harry's glasses.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When Harry blows up his aunt, you can see the cables that she is attached to.
  
  
• Continuity: When the DADA class lines up to each have a go at the Ridikkulus Charm, Seamus is clearly behind Ron in the queue, followed by Harry. Once Ron ends his turn, Parvati is then next (not Seamus), followed by Harry.
  
  
• Continuity: The mud on Hermione's trousers changes throughout the time-turner scene.
  
  
• Continuity: During the night, when Harry goes looking for the Peter Pettigrew he saw on the Marauder's Map, when Snape catches Harry, Harry puts the map in his front pocket, the shape of the map being in his pocket changes from shot to shot.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: As Harry and the others run up the stairs to the Fat Lady picture for the first time, you can see the markers on the floor where characters have to stop for focus/lighting reasons. They're white crosses on the floor with gaffer tape.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Both times that the Marauder's Map is activated visibly, Moony is spelled 'Mooney' when the text appears on the parchment. The spelling in the book has no e. However, this is a deliberate in-joke, made in tribute to the film's visual effects supervisor, Karl Mooney.
  
  
• Continuity: The length of the chain used for Hermione's Time Turner varies throughout the film - sometimes it's quite long and other times it's barely longer than a normal necklace.
  
  
• Miscellaneous: In the closing credits, "Book of Monsters Repair Shop" is misspelled "Book of Monster's."
  
  
• Continuity: During the first Divination lesson, Professor Trelawney picks up Neville's cup from the table in front of Dean Thomas, comments on it, puts it back on its saucer and moves on. Immediately afterwards Neville grabs the same cup now standing directly on the tablecloth.
  
  
• Continuity: When Snape is filling in for Lupin in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Hermione's Time Turner changes from hanging over her robe, to under, then over again between shots.
  
  
• Continuity: On the Knight Bus, as Stan Shunpike holds the newspaper in his hands the position of the hat on his head changes between shots.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: In the later part of the movie, when a cloud moves to reveal the full moon, Harry and Hermione's faces light up as though a light shines directly in front of them. The moon however, is to their right.
  
  
• Continuity: In the CoMC class, when Harry is approaching Buckbeak, Ron is behind him. Sometimes he has his "Monster Book of Monsters" under his left arm, and sometimes the book is missing.
  
  
• Continuity: At Hagrid's hut, after Harry, Ron, and Hermione sneak out the back and are hiding behind the pumpkins, when Hermione turns and looks over her shoulder at the sound of the breaking branch, as they go to leave, she turns back around to face the cabin before heading off to her left. When 'time turned Harry and Hermione' are watching themselves, when Hermione turns and looks behind her, she continues turning to her right to leave, never facing the cabin.
  
  
• Continuity: Lupin changes position between shots shortly before Harry takes his turn to fight the boggart.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harry and Hermione are hiding from the werewolf, and they back away from a tree, Hermione is 2-3 steps behind Harry and closest to the werewolf. In the next shot, she is in front of Harry as he puts his arm around her to protect her.
  
  
• Continuity: In the finale, when Harry passes out (the first time), he stays conscious long enough to see the light of the patronus fade, therefore, he sees himself. When time-turned, however, he passes out before the light of the patronus fades.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: (In the Widescreen Edition only) In the Leaky Cauldron, when Mr. Weasley pulls Harry aside to talk to him about Sirius Black, the number 301 briefly flashes in the bottom left side of the screen below the "Have you seen this wizard?" poster.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: During the boggart scene when they show the front view of Parvati you can see that Daniel Radcliffe's stand-in is standing in line and not him.
  
  
• Continuity: Harry's grip on Buckbeak when they fly early in the movie changes between shots when they pull in for a close-up.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When Hermione jumps over the branch of the Whomping Willow, you can see the cables pulling her up.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When Hermione angrily knocks over the crystal ball during the last Divination scene, a red and black tube can be seen jutting out of its side.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harry is bowing to the hippogriff, his tie is done up wrong - the thin part is much longer than the front part. But when he is riding the hippogriff his tie is done up properly.
  
  
• Continuity: When Neville is being scared by Trelawney, his hands are alternately above table level and below table level.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harry is under the invisibility cloak and throwing snowballs at Malfoy and his cronies, there is a point at which he pulls down the pants of Crabbe and kicks him. In the next shot, Crabbe who was previously on the ground is now standing up, perfectly fine, while the other one is on the ground in the position of the first.
  
  
• Continuity: While Harry (hiding under the Invisibility Cloak) is attacking Malfoy, Crabbe and the third thug in Hogsmeade, he leaves no footprints behind in the snow. However, in all other Hogsmeade scenes, Harry leaves footprints in the snow.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harry is in Lupin's office in the second to last scene, the Marauder's Map is on the desk in one shot and isn't in the next, however, there is no indication that Harry has picked up the map.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: During the first shot inside the Leaky Cauldron, you see a waiter make a bottle disappear. If you look closely, you can tell that not only was the bottle tipped on its side to appear as though it had disappeared, but it's still visible under the cloth used to wipe down the table.
  
  
• Continuity: When the line forms to battle the Boggart, there is a boy between Ron and the girl that fights the snake. After Ron's turn, he is still there for a brief shot, but she then goes next and he is no longer seen.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When Neville tries to open his Monster Book of Monsters and gets attacked by it, you can see that a large amount of the paper supposedly shooting out of the book is coming from nowhere near the book.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The first time we see Buckbeak, Harry's scar is on one side of his forehead. The camera shot then cuts to Buckbeak, and back to Harry, and we see his scar is on the other side of his forehead.
  
  
• Continuity: Hermione's hair length grows back and forth all along the movie, often between chronologically adjacent scenes, in a manner not consistent enough to suppose that she gets haircuts.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: In many scenes either Harry Potter's scar is on the left, then the right and sometimes there is no scar.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: At the beginning of the film, when Aunt Marge enters the Dursley's, she is closely followed by a camera under a umbrella, just before it cuts to a shot from behind Aunt Marge.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): On the Knight Bus, when the shrunken head is counting while the old woman crossing the street it says ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, three and a half, two... when is supposed to say three and a half, three, two... clearly this was deliberate joke, matching the counting with the old woman's slow pace.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: After Harry comes out of the pub when he finds out that Sirius is his god-father, just before Hermione takes the cloak off, you can see some snow on the green sheet used to make the cloak.
  
  
• Continuity: The windows in Hagrid's house are closed when Harry, Ron and Hermione visit him but they are open when the stones are thrown through it.
  
  
• Miscellaneous: During one scene when Harry is walking through Hogsmeade in his Invisibility Cloak, his footprints show up directly in between the very solid legs of someone walking.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When Malfoy is hit by the first snowball, he flinches before the snowball actually hits him, which is supposed to be done by surprise.
  
  
• Continuity: The position of Uncle Vernon's hand on the stair banister whilst confronting Harry after Aunt Marge blew away.
  
  
• Continuity: In the scene where Hermione punches Malfoy in the face, you see her point her wand to his neck with her right hand. When she turns around you can still see the wand in her right hand. When she actually punches him, she uses her right hand, but there is no wand in it.
  
  
• Continuity: While Harry and Hermione ride Buckbeak to go rescue Sirius his Scar changes positioning on his head several times.
  
  
• Continuity: When Professor Trelawny takes Harry's tea cup and looks at the tea leaves, she sets the cup down quickly in shock, onto the saucer. In the next shot, Ron is seen taking the cup which is placed on the tablecloth.
  
  
• Factual errors: When the Dementor attacks Harry on the train to Hogwarts, the windows freezes followed by the bottle on the table. Even though the freezing is magical in nature, liquids usually expand while freezing, but the level of the liquid in the freezing bottle does not change.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): It is stated many times in both the book and movie that underage wizards are not allowed to do magic outside school. Uncle Vernon even states this to Harry as he leaves the house. But in the very first scene, Harry is underneath his bed-sheets using his wand.
  
  
• Plot holes: Just before he sends her and Harry to help Sirius and Buckbeak, Dumbledore warns Hermione that they "must not be seen." In other words, no one must see the future Hermione and Harry once they use the Time Turner to travel back in time. However, Hermione's been using the Time Turner the whole school year to take simultaneous classes; presumably, she was seen in all of them.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When Dumbledore reaches the landing where the Fat Ladies Painting Had been ripped, we are put into the door's view, as he rubs the loose paper up so the screen goes black for a short time. In the next scene you can see the small camera and the camera hole on the door.
  
  
• Continuity: When Sirius is lying beside the lake (with Harry beside him) after fighting with werewolf Lupin, his eyes pop open and he gasps in fear as the dementors start circling. However, when the shot changes to a from-above view, his eyes are closed.
  
  
• Continuity: When Stan Shunpike hands Harry his ticket on the night bus he gives it to him using his forefinger and middle finger in the front shot but when the shot is on his back (facing Harry) he is clearly using different fingers to hand the ticket to Harry.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: In the scene where Harry attacks Malfoy and his cronies from underneath his Invisibility Cloak, you can clearly see a snowflake in Harry's hair as soon as he takes off the Cloak. This would not be possible as Harry has had the Cloak on the entire time.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harry and the gang are back in Hogsmeade after tormenting Malfoy, Harry is shown wearing the hood of his hoody. However, we see him a second time with the hood on and the next shot he is invisible. When he goes into the pub to listen to the conversation with Fudge, he is under the Cloak with no hood on.
  
  
• Continuity: The Whomping Willow has moved between the second and third movie. In the second movie, it is located in a courtyard and the enchanted car must leave through a corridor to pass Hagrid's hut and go into the forbidden forest. In Azkaban, the willow is planted outside the castle wall, much closer to Hagrid's hut and on a hill.
  
  
• Continuity: There are inconsistencies in the way that the "Time-Turner" works. When Harry and Hermione use it in the Hogwarts infirmary at the end, they suddenly "appear" in the infirmary 3 hours later. However, during lessons, including one particular divination lesson, instead of suddenly disappearing, Hermione suddenly reappears. The only way for Hermione to suddenly appear in the divination classroom was if she went there after class and "time-turned" in the exact spot where she suddenly appeared. Thus, she should suddenly "disappear" from lessons, not "reappear".
  
  
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Hermione brings attention to the moon after they've left the Shrieking Shack the first time, you can clearly see she is still talking to Ron sitting in the background as Harry and Sirius talk. You hear her say "Harry!" but she is still talking to Ron. In the next shot, she's standing away from Ron and pointing towards the moon.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: In the scene where Lupin is packing up his office, as the camera pans you can clearly see the Boom in the reflection of the glass cabinet.
  
  
• Plot holes: When Snape covers one of Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons, he states that a werewolf only responds to a call of its own kind. However, later on, Hermione howls while in hiding with Harry, and Lupin-werewolf follows the call.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the time-turner sequence, Hermione notes that once they go back, the time is 7:30. She gave the time-turner three turns, making their return time 10:30, if one turn is equal to one hour. When Hermione and Harry return, the clock strikes twelve times, with the last two being faint. There's nothing to say that the Hogwarts clock uses the standard chimes, so this can be interpreted as an alternate way of rendering 10:30. As such the first, louder chimes represent the hour (10) while the fainter chimes represent the quarters past the hour (2 quarters past = half past).
  
  
• Plot holes: In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) it is established that only one wand will function for each individual, yet in this movie (and several times throughout the Harry Potter series) someone takes someone else's wand and uses it as his or her own. In this movie, Harry takes Hermione's wand and successfully casts the Expelliarmus spell against Professor Snape in the Shrieking Shack.
  
  

• Continuity: SPOILER: When Pettigrew changes from rat to human, his clothes transform with him. When he changes back to a rat, only his body transforms. Sirius repeatedly uses what is supposed to be the same transformation method to go from dog to human and vice versa, and his clothes always transform with him.
  
  
• Plot holes: SPOILER: On several occasions Hermione appears out of nowhere at the start of lessons, due to using her Time Turner to go to multiple classes at once. One time she appears just as a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson is about to begin. However, D.A.D.A. is a compulsory subject during the first 5 years at Hogwarts, so there would be no other classes scheduled at the same time.
  
  

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