Harry Potter: What Happened To Everyone Who Escaped Azkaban

Azkaban is an effective deterrent against crime. Unlike Muggle prisoners in Britain, those inside Azkaban are forced to live in a medieval environment. The prison is located on an island in the middle of the North Sea, and it’s essentially one massive fortress.

To make matters worse, the inmates are kept in cells guarded by one of J.K. Rowling’s most terrifying creations – the Dementors. These creatures drain happiness and hope out of anyone who gets too close to them. Consequently, many of the prisoners go mad, stop eating, and then slowly wither away.

Despite such difficult conditions, there were a number of escapees during the Harry Potter series. Sirius Black and Barty Crouch Junior are perhaps the most well-known examples, but many Death Eaters also escaped the prison in January 1996. And though almost all of them were imprisoned again at the end of The Order of the Phoenix, there was yet another mass breakout in the summer of 1997.

Whilst most Harry Potter fans will be aware of what happened to some of these escapees, there are plenty of others whose stories are not common knowledge…

Avery, Crabbe, and Nott’s storylines follow a similar pattern. All three of them were lucky enough to avoid capture after the First Wizarding War, but they reunited with the Dark Lord when he returned during the climax of The Goblet of Fire.

What’s more, they all participated in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries at the end of Harry’s fifth year. And thanks to the actions of Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix, they were soon rounded up and sent to Azkaban.

However, the mass breakout in the summer of 1997 led to many Death Eaters returning to the Dark Lord, including Avery, Crabbe, and Nott. The details of how the breakout occurred are never revealed in The Deathly Hallows, but it’s fair to assume the Dementors’ fondness for Voldemort’s plans had a lot to do with it.

Likewise, the specifics of what Avery, Crabbe, and Nott did after they escaped have never been revealed. If they remained loyal to Voldemort, chances are they were imprisoned again or forced to go into hiding once the Battle of Hogwarts had concluded.