The Prisoner of Azkaban is a tale of misdirection and shocking reveals. In a world full of disguises and misinformation, Harry struggles to understand the difference between what is true and what is false. Rowling uses a wide range of characters in The Prisoner of Azkaban to show that things aren’t always what they seem.

Three characters—Lupin, Black, and Pettigrew—prove this point. Lupin, who is portrayed as exceptionally kind and trustworthy at the beginning of the novel, is revealed to be a werewolf. Although Lupin is a good person in his human form, he acknowledges that he is extremely dangerous in his werewolf form. Lupin notes that parents “will not want a werewolf teaching their children” (423), and he acknowledges that he and his friends were “young, thoughtless—carried away with our own cleverness” (355). They took too many risks with his werewolf form. Lupin’s character shows a great duality between gentleness and brutality—trustworthiness and bloodthirstiness—and his appearance doesn’t initially betray the dangerous beast that lurks within him.

For Black, the opposite is true. Black is widely presented as a convicted murderer and follower of Lord Voldemort, but despite his frightening, corpse-like appearance and rough demeanor, Black turns out to be innocent.