Prisoner of Azkaban Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia
By Hamuza on 23-Sep-23. Waypoint GCADP5C

What an epic puzzle! We needed some help to unlock the map, but that was only the beginning as we encountered obstacles and false starts that had us beaten and frustrated at times. We finally managed to work our way through those and thought we had finally conquered the task only to again be in trouble at GZ. We spent a long time looking and were feeling beaten at the final hurdle until we uncovered a vital clue, and there it was.Family matters have brought us to Melbourne for a period of time yet to be determined. As we spend time here however it gives us the opportunity for some caching in areas we would not usually get to.We chased a wide variety of caches and Labs with some great puzzles and Labs in some beautiful spring weather.Thank you for your efforts in creating and maintaining the cache Hamuza.**SKI Pair****

Lyn had unlocked the map to reveal the waypoints and we started the search on the 21/8. Initially we approached the first spot from the wrong direction and released we couldn't get close to the coordinates. I relocated and eventually made my way to the posted coordinates - but what was I looking for. After searching for a few minutes without luck we moved on. Lyn quickly spotted the required information at the next waypoint. We had a slight debate at the next waypoint with two possible answers. Oh well on the the next - we thought we had spotted something which didn't make sense. At the final we spotted the required info. So we had 3 of the 5 answers but due to time commitments we moved on. We contacted a previous finder re one answer to give us 4 of the 5. With this Lyn was able to determine the final location. Today we are back again and checked the first spot we visited and this time I found the required info very quickly. We also rechecked the spot we had help with and this time we were able to find the info. Anyway on to the final and a quick search located the prisoner. However, after making our presence known we departed to leave the prisoner in place. (It was a pity about the rubbish in the area! Council advised.) Thanks to Humuza for the puzzle and cache. A favourite is on the way.

Now If Hamuza continues caches related to the Harry Potter books then Im not sure how he can top this cache. Ive done the other ones in the series and saw this one when it came out. Knowing it was quite involved I finally had some time over the last 2 weekends to commit to following it through. The first hurdle I hadnt done properly and can be better on a PC. So last weekend the stage was set to go searching with a map in hand. . Like others I did not quite know what I was looking for but I solved 3/5 locations and time ran out. I reached out to the CO to let them know my progress and to check my thoughts about the puzzle. They were very obligingly and gave a lot encouragement. This weekend I went back to the area and found the 2 remaining waypoints. I had all the information and finally clicked as to what to do with it. I had a lunch date so had to leave the area after a cursory look at the final GZ as I worked it out on the spot. Mmm I had time before dark to return the area and complete the cache this afternoon Armed with my own wand, and dodging the dementors close by - I searched for the prison cell. With a few possible objects I stood back and went for the area I originally thought suited. With a muggle lookout, I took a gamble at my hunch and presto - log signed and prisoner released. Favourite point - good luck with the nomination. Can report all parts of the cache in tact ready for the next 1st year wizard or witch to try. (Image care-off Wikipedia. )

I had solved the first part of this quest some time ago, but had never had the chance to complete the field component.Putting together the various pieces of information in the puzzle, I worked out that I had some searching to do in places, but not sure what I was looking for.I stumbled at the first location, initially assuming I could not get there. I soon spotted a father and his son playing near where I needed to be and discovered my path.Unsure what I was looking for it took me a while to work out what I needed. I continued on my quest and found that what I was initially looking for was not it. By sheer luck I inspected something that led me to the next location.There was no flick of the wand required at the next few locations with the answers flowing a little easier (albeit a miscount thanks to a lack of lumos).After doing some sleuthing I had the final coordinates and the search began. It continued, and continued, and continued. It was bloody cold and I wanted nothing more than to get back to the warmth of the GeoRanger, but I was not leaving without a smiley.I rechecked everything and then found a final clue that I had overlooked due to its obscure placement. What could this mean. There were things nearby that could fit the clue, but they seemed out of bounds. It was then that I noticed something I had not searched.Surely not? I inspected closer and indeed it was. WOW that was sneaky.Once this quest got going I absolutely loved it and the hide at the end was sneaky and in keeping with the story. A huge amount of effort has gone into this one and it is clear why it has been nominated for the Victorian Cache of the Year Awards. Very well deserved!A big thanks goes to Hamuza for taking the time to add Prisoner of Azkaban to the geocaching map for us all to find and enjoy.----------------------------------------------------------Are you ready for Victorias next big event?Join us for Victorias first ever *Block Party* to celebrate 25 years of geocaching.**When:** March 22 - 23, 2025**Where:** Hume Global Learning Centre, SunburyLog your will attend at [**GCAP417: The Sunbury Event** ](https://coord.info/GCAP417) Visit our [**Block Party website** ](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/the-sunbury-event) for more details on the exciting lineup of events and activities as they are released!

*16 Jun 2024, Found @3:30PM, Find # 3822.*Well, this one certainly got the brain working trying to work out all the different clues at the various waypoints. Back for a second look today and I must say my eyesight was very much spot on. **Thanks to Hamuza for placing this cache.**

Checked on cache today and can confirm its still safely locked away behind bars.

Somehow got confused by this multi/puzzie , with the info )hidden) in the waypoints, rather than in the cache description really threw me. Only discovering out there after many messages. Usually Id come prepared on a cache like this but just arrived at the previously discovered waypoints and went from there.The patience of the CO was tested over the course of the journey, a complex but very well put together cache. Unfortunately the cache was missing at gz Thanks Hamuza for Prisoner of Azkaban

We both love a bit of Harry Potter, so have been eyeing off this cache for a few months. We finally had some time in the area today to give it an attempt. Quickly had the information needed to find each waypoint, and made a relatively quick find at each location. Whomping Willow challenged us a bit, but came up with the goods eventually. Making our way to GZ, we looked in what we thought were the obvious spots before paying better attention to the cache page and then realising where it would be. Searched for a second and BINGO, cache in hand. Thank you Hamuza for creating such an amazing cache. This is right up there with our favourite caches ever! Will keep an eye out for more of your caches if this is the standard you set

# ***Congratulations*** #Your geocache has been nominated for the **Best Mystery Cache Award** in the *****2023 Victorian Geocache of the Year Awards*****.With your nomination, your geocache has been placed in a geocaching.com list with all other nominees so that the community can more easily find the nominated geocaches. You might expect to see a little more activity over the next several months leading up to the voting period.You should feel free to add a nominee banner to your cache page, as well as a badge for your profile if you like, all of which are available [here](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/2023-victorian-cache-of-the-year-awards-resources/).I hope you can make it along to the Awards Ceremony later in 2024 at a time still to be determined. More information will be available on the event page when it is published, you will find a list of upcoming Victorian events [here](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/events/upcoming-events/).You can find out more about the awards on the Geocaching Victoria webpage [here](https://geocachingvictoria.com.au/victorian-cache-of-the-year-awards/)*Thanks for contributing to the Victorian geocaching community.***Geocaching Victoria Inc.**

I solved the puzzle quite a while ago, and searched for the cache last week, but it was hot and I was tired and did not look hard enough. I returned today armed with a bit of intel and the cache was found in no time. An excellent puzzle and an excellent hide.

As a huge Harry Potter fan, I convinced Steve to join me on this quest, despite his complete lack of wizarding knowledge. As soon as we arrived, 'He who knows nothing' asked me what do we do now? (off to a flying start ). Checking our map, we made our way to WP/1, where 'He who knows nothing' immediately located the first clue. Despite reading from the logs that WP/2 could be tricky, Steve managed to uncover the clue in under a minute. This trend continued through each waypoint, leaving me wondering if 'He who knows nothing' was somehow under an enchanted spell.At GZ, the charm obviously wore off. After an hour of searching in vain, we finally sent a message to the CO. Naturally, as soon as I hit the send button, Steve made the find. I dont think Hogwarts will be accepting me after my complete lack of contribution for this smiley.These are the types of caches we love. Fun, making excellent use of the space designated for each waypoints theme. Thank you so much Hamuza. A well deserved favourite point heading your way.

We found Prisoner of Azkaban on a hot day in between visits to specialists.Working our way through this adventure with my Potter tragic conspirator, we eventually discovered GZ and making an initial hash of recovery, was soon signing the log.Thanks Hamuza for hiding this cache so that we could come and enjoy ourselves

TFTC! 10 December 2023 9:14:06pm 6505Solved the first part the moment it come out, as we had been fans of HP! Finally in the area after sports and need a cache today for a streak. Off we set from the car, made light work of the first way point which is a really lovely spot. Wp2 took a good hour and only after waypoint 3 we can back. Wp4 was tough, and we made light work for the remaining stages. The other half was keen. To go home as it ws getting quite dark, but with Sirius on the line, we powered through quickly.The GZ was a great finish, loved how you used the environment to spin the narrative! Thanks for the adventure and lucky us, fireworks were going off in a nearby location as we were signing at the gz!

Had some time and decided to se show far I could get with this one. I dredged up my Harry Potter knowledge to gain access to the map and I was on my way. At WP1 I didnt exactly know what I was looking for but had a hunch on where to look and stumbled upon the first clue. At WP2 I got a little luck and chanced upon a wand shaped object relatively quickly. At WP3 I was able to find the relevant information with a bit of guess work. I was unable to find the clue at WP4 and elected to find the information at WP 5 which was quickly found. At this point I still hadnt found the information at WP4 but figured I had enough information to go for GZ. I had a long look at GZ but nothing was found. A quick message to the CO was made and I quickly made the find (thanks for the quick response). An enjoyable cache and deserving of a favourite point. TFTC Hamuza

Quiet1_au and I decided to do this cache of an evening. We had done some preparation but still managed to mix things up a bit. I am not sure the WP2 was as intended hoever we found the clue quite quickly. WP3 took us a while before I remembered to check the questions on hte cache page. After that everything went smoothly. At Gz the cache page note helped and we found the cache. This was a well constructed and thought out cache. Thanks HamuzaGJMMelb

Out for a caching run with G of GJMMelb this evening, we met up at the first waypoint where we found the clue without any trouble. Off to WP2 and this one was harder but G located the clue. WP3 and we searched and searched and eventually PAFed, only to discover we had missed the information provided (I just thought the WPs were obtained from the Marauder's Map)!... Wasn't sure if Prongs was meant to be found or merely his tree but it was clearly the right one so we headed off once more. This time we knew what we were looking for and the coordinates were spot on and I found the required information without any trouble. Off to Azkaban and ick! I didn't like this one much but G located the required information (I skipped the unlit one). The final clue decoded and checked and we were off to GZ where we searched before I asked G if there was a clue for this one (I knew it wasn't the hint) Ah... Much easier when you can concentrate your search area - G spotted it and with a little bit of a squeeze soon had our names in the logbook. A fun multi-puzzle that reminded me to check the waypoint information on the cache page in future! TFTC - a favourite point from me

spiffy- challenged me to solve this puzzle as I am a Harry Potter fan. However I put us on the wrong path for hours trying to work out what to do as I chatted with family and friends about the wonderful Hogwarts and Potter world. The creative story and WPs were cleverly interwoven. WP2 defeated us and another WP I made an incorrect assumption that left the prisoner in Azkaban until a second visit. We had 2 PAF moments to guide us before we eventually freed the prisoner.thanks for the clever story.

I am hopeless with Harry Potter so with KristysAdventures on board it made this easier but it was still hard and we had trouble at 2 of the way points so in the end we ran out of time after randomly trying a dozen or more character names in the checker and left it. A PAF soon gave us the missing information we needed and so we headed out tonight and when arriving at GZ I found the cache in the first place I looked. Thanks Hamuza for the cache, the adventure, the hunt and the fun.

Wow, I don't think I have ever struggled so much for a smiley. OHC and I had done the preliminary work and found ourselves in the right area today to attempt to complete this one. After only one U turn, we found where we needed to be to get started.Balance is something that I struggle with, even if it is only two inches from the surface (don't get old). With that stage completed we made our way onto the next. We struggled and a PAF was used. It wasn't until a further call to the PAF that we were shown the error we had made. The difference between a computer screen and a phone was our issue and from there, everything fell into place and it was plain sailing for the rest. We managed to free the Prisoner without any major issues. We got what we needed and made sure the Prisoner was well secured before leaving. This was a cache that I won't quickly forget. I thoroughly enjoyed this but wouldn't have made it without OHC's help and that of our PAF. Thank you for this great cache. A favourite for me.

Arrived with Geoturtle37 this afternoon to tackle this interesting cache. We had pre-solved enough to get started, and began visiting various locations in search of clues.Getting totally stuck at the 2nd wp, we resorted to a PAF who mentioned the notes in the waypoints. Faceplant moment!You see, I had manually created wps and we were naviating using these. Never thought to look back at the existing ones! Doh!OK, NOW we see what we need to do. It all makes sense.A flawless effort to get a gz, then struggled a little to retrieve the cache, but got there in the end.Thankfully not many muggles about today.Thanks for bringing us here by placing this cache, Hamuza A fav point heading your way. ~~

Chook travelled down to Melbourne this weekend for a uni reunion, so of course some caching was planned with her son LazyAde as well. With Chook having read this book to LazyAde many many moons ago when he was a child, this cache was the main target for today.Pre-adventure preparation of unlocking the Marauder's Map had been successfully done, so we were off to the first waypoint to see what we could find. Initially thwarted by a couple of muggles at the access point, we waited them out, and eventually got to our destination. Unsure what we were looking for, we hunted around for about 15 minutes until LazyAde spotted what we needed. Buoyed by this success, we made our way to the subsequent destinations, gathering all the clues, thankfully each one not taking as long as the first one did, the second one in particular being a lucky quick spot by Chook, which in hindsight could have taken us a lot longer. As we gathered the clues, it started to fall into place as to what we needed to do with them. Once all were gathered, we found a restful area where LazyAde put all the pieces together and we soon had our final GZ.We had a little difficulty spotting what we needed at GZ and time was getting away on us, so a call was put out to the CO who took pity on us long distance travellers and helped us focus on our target. Aha - there it is - all good, or so we thought. A small mishap with retrieval had us momentarily panicking and thinking laterally about solutions until LazyAde worked out what to do. Not sure if this was a good way to do things, but it worked for us in the tricky situation we had got ourselves into. Eventually it was all sorted and the journey completed, with all our various obstacles just adding to the story of our day.Overall this was a really fun and entertaining adventure, beautifully themed and constructed, in a fitting environment. TFTC and puzzle Hamuza. A definite favourite point from us! And it's in the black book for a potential cache of the year nomination next year.

Found at 16:07Finally back for another look after a couple of failures and even with a tip from the CO it still took me a while to find the sneaky hide.Thanks Hamuza for the adventure and the cache. A fav for me

What a fun cache! We really enjoyed this one. Each waypoint and the puzzles were cleverly done but not difficult. We were glad to free the prisoner of Azkaban by the end! A favourite from me.

Great fun to find this cache on a sunny Sunday. Took all the wizarding powers of Flukey71 and myself to gather the clues move through the waypoints and locate GZ. Once there we were a bit stumped for a while, dementors were circling but we finally freed the prisoner! Thanks for this cache, a favorite from me.

omegaman1971Caches Found: 12551First To Find Number: 114Sidetracked Cache Finds: 101Prisoner of Azkaban GCADP5C 4.0 2.0Roaming Melbourne with Rebel Acts, adding smiles to the map on a perfect day. A fun day of geocaching, filled with laughter and adventure. Cheers for the cache

Out and about with My good caching mate Omegaman1971, there are always plenty of laughs while we are turning caches into smiles.This is one of the caches found today. Not sure what to think of this one, we eventually got it all unraveled and were soon extracting the cache from its prison, that was a saga in its self, it was a rather tight fit.Thanks Hamuza for the cache.

Not Found at 11:29I went out when this was published and ran into some of the FTFers but when I had collected all of the information, I couldn't get the code to work. Back at home later that night after double and triple checking my answers I saw an error in the puzzle? and got a green tick on the checker.I was back in the area this afternoon but after a long search, I wasn't able to find the cache.

After working a bit earlier today, I got home, sat down and decided to check out the state's recent publications.This one is out of my usual email radius but an as-yet-unfound 4/2 mystery from a CO I knew was likely to deliver something impressive was enough to pique my interest.The map was unlocked through memory alone, and I realised there was a lot more to this one than met the eye.It would be a fair drive to get there though, and for some reason I read the checker's 24-hour time incorrectly in a way that made me think I was an hour behind everyone else.It was only once I reassessed the standings of the leaderboard that I realised that my delay was only about 15 minutes tops.That was enough to convince me that I was in with a chance, and I hopped on the freeway to hightail my way to gz.The local drivers up this way were not especially nice to little me, but after navigating around the streets up to the recommended parking waypoint, I was pleasantly surprised to see a distinct lack of any other cars parked there!I took a stroll over to the nearest waypoint where a very familiar (three-headed?) dog seemed to be waiting for me!Sure enough, his owner was up in the adjacent tree so I said hello and took up the important job of minding the dog so he didn't end up in the creek.As to not make any powerful enemies who could end me with a simple spell, I joined forces with beckNmonts and ahomburg (and Manfred, of course) and started hunting around with the former in the whomping willow.Beck ended up spying the telltale sign with her eagle eyes to identify the wand's owner.With the others having already visited the great lake, we went via the forbidden forest to meet back up with ahomburg at the secret passage.A bit of hunting around ensued before we took the instructions into account and soon identified a clever little waypoint in a style I hadn't yet seen applied to a cache.From there, it was on to Azkaban where another very novel method of information concealment was quickly revealed (now with the whole following the instructions thing downpat). I do wonder what prompted the discovery of this! I doubt I'd otherwise go near it Beck was working on filling in the various codewords in the meantime and we met back with her and Manfred to string our magic words together.A reasonably coherent sentence seemed to be forming, but a few misaligned letters needed to be sorted out before the checker finally smiled!We then ventured off to gz where the info provided steered us to a possible hiding place, and it was my eyes that this time picked up on that usual telltale sign!A fresh logbook was soon revealed and the group's monikers were all written as part of a joint [FTF]This is a very well-themed adventure all around that's clearly had a lot of thought and care put into it.I thoroughly enjoyed the components here and certainly hope that more folks get to experience this magical cache!Certainly earns a favourite point from me.Thanks to Hamuza for putting this all together!

Date: 24 September 2023 Time: 4:58 pmFind #14214 {FTF} With beckNmonts, Manfred Wolfgang and brain.After a trip to Bendigo with beckNmonts and Manfred Wolfgang, we were on the way home and noticed this new one still had not been found, so a bit of a detour later we were in place working through the waypoints we eventually bumped into brain and now with all needed info assembles, the clever 2 worked out the final coords without too much trouble and a short time later we were at gz where a well hidden container was soon spotted, signed and returned. Massive thanks go to Hamuza for placing this one. ??

##Published - thanks for contributing to Geocaching with this Listing.##*Don't forget that regular visits to check on this cache will keep it healthy as well as keep seekers happy. Be sure to log an Owner Maintenance log each time you visit to check on the cache.*>***The challenge for any Cache Owner is to place the largest possible container . . . . . . . not the smallest.***

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For those playing at home, "." translates to "FTF gone between ManfredWolfgang, beckNmonts, ahomburg and Brain at 5pm"