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Harry Potter: What Is The History Of Azkaban? Explained
The Ministry of Magic turned Azkaban into the main prison for wizards, fearful of angering the Dementor colony that lived there. Read on to learn more about the history of Azkaban.
The Harry Potter series literally grew up with its cast, showing more and more of the increasing dangers that Harry had to face in the world of wizards. Harry faced many magical threats during his life; however, he never went to the worst place in the world: Azkaban. While he had heard about Azkaban as the worst place to be imprisoned, the series did not fully encapsulate the true horror of what it is. The series attempted to give an understanding of the world at a deeper level.
Azkaban was the lair of some especially powerful, ancient dark wizard, conducting experiments quite inhumane in nature. It puts into context the history of it all-the place of torment that it was to be for several centuries thereafter. Azkaban's appearance is not certain.
Azkaban became the worst prison in the Wizarding World
Dangerous witches and wizards prompted the Ministry of Secrecy to attempt to keep the secrecy in their society. They did not want to attract public attention, so a larger prison was built called Azkaban. They wanted to make it the perfect prison with the renovations. Dementors would act as guards and would feed the prisoners just enough to keep them docile. Despite disagreement, Azkaban became the prison that it would be when Harry Potter spent time there in 1718.
The prison had troubled many wizards not only because it utilized the work of a dark wizard but also because of the well-documented effects of Dementors. Minister Eldritch Diggory was horrified by the inhumane conditions of the prison and sought alternatives to it. He felt that the cruel treatment of prisoners by the Ministry made them as bad as the people whom they sent to Azkaban. Diggory sought alternative ways of maintaining the prison or find another solution.
Eldritch died before his changes could be implemented, and his successor renovated and fortified the prison at Azkaban. This was probably done from a pressing fear of a Dementor attack on the mainland. After his death, organized opposition to the Ministry's application of Azkaban waned, and for centuries it was the Wizarding World's only prison. No efforts were made to set straight the functioning of the prison, or to consider any of the ramifications on its inmates.
Azkaban was built by an ancient dark wizard
Azkaban is said to be an island fortress built in the 15th century by the dark wizard Ekrizdis, who wanted an isolated lair on an uncharted North Sea island. He cast charms of concealment over it, protecting it from the eyes of Muggles and Wizards alike. Truthfully, Ekrizdis was infamous for indulging in the worst sorts of dark magic and needed a place where his dark curiosity could operate undisturbed in an environment suitable for its needs.
His work would begin with the kidnapping of muggle sailors, subjection to torturous experiments, practice of the dark arts. What's really disturbing in this story is that nobody actually ever found out what Ekrizdis was doing; he got to spend his whole life sating his dark desires, torturing and murdering whatever poor soul was unlucky enough to sail across the waters anywhere near Azkaban. Because of this isolation, it is said that Ekrizdis also went mad, which no doubt only furthered the suffering of those imprisoned.
When Ekrizdis died, the concealment charms that had maintained the island's secrecy disappeared, and the Wizarding World became aware of Azkaban. A party dispatched by the Ministry of Magic investigated the island, which, due to Ekrizdis' depravity, was crawling with Dementors. The Ministry floated the idea of destroying Azkaban, but the large colony of Dementors created a risk of their wrath. Thus, the fortress was left alone until the creation of the International Statute of Secrecy of the Ministry. The horrors they beheld were not unique to Azkaban's original purpose.
Azkaban is now guarded by Aurors instead of Dementors
Azkaban is a torture house which has traumatized many even for the shortest period of time with its fearsome reputation. The psychological damage that lowers one to depression and insanity can be caused by long-term dementor presence. The cold, unendurable cold of the dementor's presence attacks your mind and makes it hard to get away from them. Allowing Azkaban to fester in darkness for hundreds of years made the Ministry of Magic allow a place of torture rather than a prison.
Azkaban was a pretty notorious form of prison that held all kinds of major and minor criminals. Lord Voldemort quickly recruited the Dementors to his side with the offer of more food than they were getting in prisons. Once the Ministry fell into his hands, Azkaban was used for imprisoning enemies of Voldemort's regime-most of them not even deserving of that fate. Many of them died owing to the poor prison conditions.
Azkaban was finally reformed after the Second Wizarding War: better conditions and no more Dementors acting as guards. Dementors were replaced by a rotation of Aurors who act as wardens. The change was successful, though what happened with the Dementors is still unknown. For the first time in centuries, Azkaban, though foreboding, dark, and isolated, has gained a touch of humanity to the place and some sort of hope to its occupants.
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