Third year

A third year is a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who is in their third year of magical education. Third years are typically 13 to 14 years of age.

The third year is an important one for students, as it is the first year that they are permitted to sit elective courses. Each student in their third year must select at least two elective courses to pursue in addition to the core classes.

Classes
Third year classes consist of Potions, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, Charms, and two or more electives.

Electives
Students have to do two or more electives during this year. The electives students can choose from are: It teaches methods of divining the future, or gathering insights into future events, through various rituals and tools. The magic taught in this class, as well as the ability to say prophetic things is a branch of magic referred to as "divination." It is apparently a more accurate (or at least more accepted) way of predicting the future, similar to an obscure but existing hobby of numerology - the belief that number patterns existing in real life can be calculated to give information regarding the future. Ancient Runes is a mostly theoretical subject that studies the ancient runic scripts of magic. In the class, students learn about a wide range of magical creatures, from flobberworms to Fire crabs, and even unicorns and thestrals. Students are taught about feeding, maintaining, breeding, and proper treatment of these various creatures. It is exactly what the name implies - the study of the daily lives of Muggles and how they cope with not being magical.
 * Divination
 * Arithmancy
 * Study of Ancient Runes
 * Care of Magical Creatures
 * Muggle Studies

Timetable

 * Monday
 * Care of Magical Creatures (first period)
 * Divination (second period)
 * Transfiguration (third period)
 * Potions (fourth period)
 * Defence Against the Dark Arts (fifth period)
 * Tuesday
 * Care of Magical Creatures (morning)
 * Potions (afternoon)
 * Astronomy (midnight)
 * Wednesday
 * History of Magic (morning)
 * Herbology (afternoon)
 * Thursday
 * Divination, Muggle Studies and Study of Ancient Runes (first period)
 * Transfiguration (second period)
 * Potions (third period)
 * Defence Against the Dark Arts (fourth period)
 * Care of Magical Creatures (fifth period)
 * Friday
 * Potions (first period)
 * Charms and Study of Ancient Runes (second period)
 * Defence Against the Dark Arts (third period)

Hogsmeade
Hogsmeade weekend trips are special trips that the students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry can take on certain weekends to Hogsmeade village. Only third year students and above are allowed to go with the permission of a parent or guardian.

Harry's third year (1993-1994)
There were a few changes at Hogwarts as Harry begins his third year. For one, Hermione Granger was taking nearly twice as many classes, including some taught at the same time. In addition, two new wizards joined the staff: Professor Remus Lupin for Defence Against the Dark Arts and Rubeus Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures. While Lupin's lessons were enjoyable, Hagrid's soon become dreary. During the first class, Draco Malfoy deliberately provoked the hippogriff Buckbeak, a half-horse, half-bird creature, into attacking him. Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, filed a complaint against Hagrid.

Rising tensions
Because Sirius Black was still at large, Dementors, the inhuman Azkaban prison guards, patrolled the school. Dementors drain happiness from anything they approach, though they tend to choose human emotions over those of animals. Harry was particularly affected, and Professor Lupin tought him the Patronus charm that repelled them after several Dementors approached Harry during a Quidditch match, causing him to faint and fall off his broomstick. Albus Dumbledore stopped Harry's fall, but his Nimbus 2000 flew into the Whomping Willow and was destroyed, much to Harry's dismay.

Meanwhile, tensions grew between Hermione and Ron because Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, continually tormented Ron's rat, Scabbers. At Christmas, Harry received a new, superb Firebolt broomstick, although Hermione suspected Black was the anonymous donor. She reported it to Professor Minerva McGonagall, who confiscated the broom for testing. Harry and Ron were furious with Hermione and they stopped speaking to her. When the broom was returned some months later, the two boys tried to make up with Hermione, but it went wrong when Ron discovered Scabbers was missing; Ron blamed Crookshanks because he found cat hairs and blood on his dormitory floor.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, & Prongs
Shortly before Christmas, the Weasley twins gave Harry their Marauder's Map, a magical document that shows every person's location within Hogwarts, what they're doing, and secret passageways in and out of the castle. Harry used a tunnel to sneak into Hogsmeade village where he overheard a disturbing conversation that Black was his parents' best friend as well as his godfather and legal guardian. He was the Potters' Secret Keeper and he supposedly divulged the Potters' secret whereabouts to Lord Voldemort and murdered their friend Peter Pettigrew, as well as twelve Muggle bystanders. Peter left a finger to prove that he has been killed with the twelve Muggles.

After Harry completed his Divination Exam, Professor Trelawney entered a trance and predicted that the Dark Lord's servant would return to him that night. Harry and Ron finally made peace with Hermione, but the trio soon learned that Buckbeak would be executed. When they visited Hagrid to console him, Scabbers appeared, and Ron picked him up. Cornelius Fudge, Albus Dumbledore and the executioner were making their way to Hagrid's hut, and Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way out the back door. As they were walking up the path, they thought they heard Buckbeak executed, when all of a sudden, Scabbers bit Ron, and Ron chased him to the Whomping Willow. A large dog attacked Ron and dragged him and Scabbers into a hole at the tree's base. Harry and Hermione followed, finding a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. Inside, Harry confronted Sirius Black, who, as an unregistered, and therefore illegal, Animagus, could transform into an animal at will.

Confrontation in the Shrieking Shack


Lupin, who spotted the group on the Marauder's Map, suddenly burst in and embraced his old friend Black. Confronted by Hermione, Lupin admitted to being a werewolf and also the Map's creator, along with Sirius, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter, the latter two also being illegal Animagi (a rat and a stag, respectively). Remus Lupin and Black explained that Scabbers was actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. He was Voldemort's servant, and he betrayed the Potters, framing Black for the crimes. Harry was sceptical until Black and Lupin forced Pettigrew back into his human form. Black explained he discovered that Pettigrew was still alive and escaped Azkaban to seek revenge as well as make sure that Pettigrew couldn't harm Harry. Harry stopped Black and Lupin from murdering Pettigrew, believing that his dad, James, wouldn't have wanted his two best friends to become killers.

Saving the innocent
As the group headed back to the castle, the full moon rose, causing Lupin to turn into a werewolf. During the ensuing commotion, Pettigrew escaped. Sirius turned into his dog form to protect the others from werewolf Lupin. Lupin fled, leaving Black badly injured. As Dementors moved in to attack Black, Harry saw a mysterious figure in the distance cast a powerful stag-shaped Patronus, scattering the vicious creatures. Harry became convinced it was his father, or at least his father's spirit, who produced the Patronus. Black was then captured and taken to the castle where the Dementors intended to suck out his soul.

Hermione revealed to Harry that she was entrusted with a time-traveling device, called a Time-Turner, which was how she was able to attend so many classes. Prompted by Dumbledore, she and Harry traveled three hours into the past, watching themselves go through the night's previous events. They freed Buckbeak and returned to the Whomping Willow. As the Dementors were about to attack the "other" Harry and Sirius, Harry realised that the mysterious figure he saw earlier was actually himself. He cast the powerful Patronus that repelled the dementors. Harry and Hermione freed Black, who escaped on Buckbeak, as they rushed back to where they were before. As they saw Dumbledore exiting the hospital wing, they completed their journey.

After Sirius was revealed to have once again escaped, Severus Snape burst into the hospital wing and blamed Harry, but left when he was unable to convince anyone without any proof. Fudge said he would remove the Dementors because they tried to perform their kiss on Harry. Draco Malfoy was furious that Buckbeak escaped while Hagrid was ecstatic. Professor Lupin resigned after Snape "accidentally" revealed that he was a werewolf.

When Harry told Dumbledore about Professor Trelawney's prophecy, Dumbledore tells him to not feel guilty about letting Pettigrew live. On the train back, Harry received a letter from Sirius. It tells him that he sent him the Firebolt, and includes a letter saying that he gives Harry permission to visit Hogsmeade. The letter was delivered by a small owl, which Sirius gives to Ron as a replacement for Scabbers. The owl was later named Pigwidgeon.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4