Harry Potter Storylines That Disappeared Without Explanation

"Prisoner of Azkaban" features some big changes for Harry, Ron and Hermione, as they face their third year at Hogwarts. New lessons are introduced, such as Professor Trelawney's (Emma Thompson) study of Divination and Care of Magical Creatures classes led by Hagrid. Both classes prove difficult in different ways: Harry rides a hippogriff in his first lesson with Hagrid, while Trelawney frequently predicts Harry's imminent death after seeing the Grim during a Divination class.

Buckbeak, the hippogriff Harry flies on, plays a small but significant role in the third installment. Draco Malfoy purposefully provokes the beast into attacking him, and Buckbeak is sentenced to death thanks to Draco's father, Lucius. Thanks to the Time-Turner, Harry and Hermione manage to rescue Buckbeak before his extinction. Harry saves Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) from the Dementors, before his godfather departs with the hippogriff, both of them fugitives from the Ministry of Magic.

In the films, Buckbeak's story ends there. The books revisit this storyline: Buckbeak is renamed Witherwings to protect his identity. The hippogriff goes into hiding with Sirius, appearing in "Goblet of Fire" when the trio meet Sirius in a cave near Hogsmeade, as well as "Order of the Phoenix," when Harry finds him in Sirius' mother's room at Grimmauld Place. Buckbeak/Witherwings has a happy ending: the hippogriff reunites with Hagrid, per Harry's request, after Sirius dies.