The Harry Potter universe contains numerous settings for the events in the novels, films and other media. These locations are divided into four categories: Residences, Education, Commerce, and Government.
The home of the Weasley family is known as the Burrow. It is located outside the village of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon, England, near the homes of the Lovegoods, the Diggorys and the Fawcetts.[1] The Burrow is used as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix in Deathly Hallows. The dilapidated house has seven floors and remains standing only through the use of magic.
Godric's Hollow is a fictional West Country wizarding village where Lily and James Potter lived with their infant son Harry.[2] [3] [4] It has been a home to Albus Dumbledore, Bathilda Bagshot and Godric Gryffindor, for whom it was named. At the centre of the village square is a war memorial that magically transforms into a monument to the Potter family. At the end of the main street are the remains of Harry's old home. In Deathly Hallows, Harry discovers that the Godric's Hollow cemetery where his parents are buried also contains the grave of Ignotus Peverell.[5]
Little Hangleton is a fictional Muggle village some 200 miles from Little Whinging. It contains the graveyard where Voldemort is restored to bodily form in Goblet of Fire. On a hill above the village is the former estate of the Riddle family, where Voldemort killed his father, his grandparents and the Muggle gardener Frank Bryce. Also nearby is the former home of the Gaunt family.
Little Whinging is a fictional town located to the south of London in the county of Surrey.[6] Harry is raised from infancy by his aunt Petunia Dursley and his uncle Vernon Dursley at Number 4, Privet Drive. Albus Dumbledore explains to Harry that when his mother sacrificed herself to save him, an "ancient magic" was created that protects Harry while he lives with her sister Petunia. Unbeknownst to Harry, his neighbour Arabella Figg is a Squib who was placed in Little Whinging by Dumbledore to keep an eye on Harry.
Scenes set at the Dursley residence in the film adaptation of Philosopher's Stone were filmed at 12 Picket Post Close in the city of Bracknell.[7] Filming for subsequent films took place on a constructed set at Leavesden Film Studios, which proved to be cheaper than filming on location.[8]
Malfoy Manor is the home of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and their son Draco. The novel Order of the Phoenix states that the manor is located in Wiltshire. In Deathly Hallows, Voldemort uses Malfoy Manor as his headquarters and imprisons Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Mr. Ollivander and Griphook in the basement. When Snatchers capture Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they are also imprisoned in the manor. Some scenes set at Malfoy Manor in the Harry Potter films were shot at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire.[9]
Number 12, Grimmauld Place is the London home of the Black family. In the fifth novel, it is selected as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. A house-elf named Kreacher inhabits the house. In Half-Blood Prince, Harry learns that he has inherited the property from his deceased godfather Sirius Black, and he donates it to the Order. In Deathly Hallows, Grimmauld Place becomes a sanctuary for Harry, Ron, and Hermione while they are hiding from Voldemort.
Shell Cottage is the home of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour after they get married. It overlooks a beach outside the village of Tinworth in Cornwall county. The cottage serves as a hiding place for Harry and his companions after they escape from Malfoy Manor. After Dobby dies, Harry buries him in the garden. The scenes set at Shell Cottage in the film adaptations of Deathly Hallows were shot on Freshwater West beach in Wales.[10]
Spinner's End is a Muggle street, on which sits the house of Severus Snape.[11] It is described as one of several streets of identical brick houses. The street is located near a dirty river, the bank of which is strewn with litter. A mill with a tall chimney is close by. From the description of its surroundings it is likely that this is the house Severus Snape grew up in, thus making the place the fictitious town of Cokeworth.
Snape's front door opens directly into a sitting room that has the feeling of a dark, padded cell, containing walls filled with books,[12] threadbare furniture, and a dim, candle-filled lamp that hangs from the ceiling. A hidden door leads to a narrow staircase. Spinner's End first appears in Half-Blood Prince, when Snape is visited by Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. In Deathly Hallows, it is revealed that Snape lived at Spinner's End as a young child and that Lily Potter and Petunia Dursley lived in the same town.
See main article: Beauxbatons. The Beauxbatons Academy of Magic (French: link=no|Académie de Magie Beauxbâtons) is a French magic school first introduced in Goblet of Fire.
Castelobruxo is the South American school of magic, based in Brazil. The exact location of the school is unknown as of yet, but is said to appear to Muggles (non-magic folk) as nothing more than ruins. To magic folk, it resembles a golden temple.
The school is guarded by small mischievous magical creatures called Caipora. The school's specialties are Magizoology and Herbology. The student attire is green robes. Famous alumni of the school include Libatius Borage (author of multiple potions books) and João Coelho (captain of a professional Quidditch team).[13]
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Ron mentions that his brother Bill had a penfriend at this school.[14]
The Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning is a magic school that makes its first appearance in Goblet of Fire. The school has existed for at least 700 years, when they began participating in the Triwizard Tournament. Dumbledore welcomes Durmstrang's students as "our friends from the North", and J. K. Rowling is said to have located the school somewhere in Northern Scandinavia. Durmstrang students wear heavy furs with blood-red robes. The students of Durmstrang mentioned by name are Russians and Bulgarians. Durmstrang is portrayed as an all-boys school in the film, but according to the book, it is co-ed.[15] Several female students are mentioned, though not by name.
Durmstrang is known for placing an emphasis on the study of the Dark Arts. While other schools of magic in the series limit the study to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Durmstrang students actually learn them. In Deathly Hallows, it is revealed that the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald attended Durmstrang. He also carved the symbol of the Deathly Hallows onto the school's stone walls. Although Durmstrang teaches the Dark Arts as part of its curriculum, apparently the experiments performed by Grindelwald were considered too extreme even by the school's standards as he was expelled because of them.
The name "Durmstrang" is likely to be an allusion to the German phrase Sturm und Drang, meaning storm and stress.[16] [17] [18] [19]
The contrast between Durmstrang and Hogwarts can be interpreted as an allusion to the war of the West with the bad from the East, as described in the gothic fiction of the nineteenth century.[20]
See main article: Hogwarts. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a British school of magic for students aged eleven to seventeen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.[21]
Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, shortened Ilvermorny, is an American school of magic, which serves as the school for the North American continent.[22] It first appeared in a short story by J. K. Rowling on Pottermore on June 28, 2016, and its first onscreen mention was in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The school was founded in the seventeenth century in Adams, Massachusetts, on Mount Greylock, the highest natural point in the state.[23] It is concealed from the non-magic world by enchantments which may sometimes appear as a cloud surrounding the peak.[24] Modeled after Hogwarts, the school has four Houses into which the students are sorted upon arrival.[22]
Ilvermorny was founded by Isolt Sayre after she travelled from Ireland via England to North America on the Mayflower in 1620 and named after the cottage in which she had been born. She had not had the opportunity to attend Hogwarts during her childhood, and partially modelled Ilvermorny after what she had heard of Hogwarts, as well as her own imagination. Her first students were her own adopted children, Chadwick and Webster Boot.[22]
Ilvermorny is divided into four houses: Thunderbird, Horned Serpent, Pukwudgie, and Wampus, each said to represent a different part of the ideal wizard. The names were chosen by Isolt Sayre and her family after their favourite magical creatures. Chadwick being "intelligent but also temperamental"[22] chose the Thunderbird, his brother Webster "argumentative and fiercely loyal" chose the Wampus. Isolt herself was a Parselmouth and chose the Horned Serpent, and her No-Maj (Muggle or non-magical) husband James Steward picked the Pukwudgie, since Isolt's stories about one made him laugh. Ilvermorny has no house colours, but every student wears blue and cranberry robes, fastened by a gold Gordian Knot.[22]
The Sorting process is also different to that of Hogwarts. Unlike Hogwarts, more than one Ilvermorny house can claim a student; when two or more carvings react, the student is entitled to choose their house.[22]
Uagadou is the oldest of several African wizarding schools, and the largest in the entire world. Its address is 'Mountains of the Moon'. Students are informed of their acceptance to the school by Dream Messengers.[25]
Mahoutokoro is the smallest wizarding school, and is situated in Japan. Students wear enchanted robes, which grow in size with the wearer, and change colour in response to the wearer's increased magic knowledge, from faint pink to gold.[26]
The Leaky Cauldron is described as a dark and shabby pub and inn, located on the Muggle street Charing Cross Road in London. During the events of the novel series, the barman and innkeeper is a wizard named Tom. The Leaky Cauldron is a way of entering Diagon Alley from the Muggle world. The rear of the pub opens onto a courtyard, in which a particular brick must be tapped three times to open a path to Diagon Alley.
Diagon Alley is a high street located in London. It is accessible to the wizarding world, to which it is something of an economic hub, but hidden from Muggles (non-magical people). However, Muggles are allowed access to it if they need to accompany their Muggle-born magical children. If a wizard or witch needs something, chances are that it can be found in Diagon Alley.
One entrance to Diagon Alley can be reached on foot by passing through the Leaky Cauldron (a wizarding pub/inn). The inn, which is invisible to Muggles, lies in between a bookshop and a music shop. To enter Diagon Alley, one must go through the Leaky Cauldron to a rear courtyard and tap a brick in the wall, found by counting three up and two across, three times. In the film, the tapping of five bricks around a hole in the wall opens the doorway to Diagon Alley. Given the busy nature of the area, travelling to and from Diagon Alley is typically done by more magical means such as Apparition or by using the Floo Network, both of which are means of wizarding transportation[27] It contains shops that offer a wide range of magical supplies, as well as the goblin-run Gringotts Bank.
The DVD of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets includes a video "guided tour" of Diagon Alley, apparently shot on the original film sets. In the first film, the Leaky Cauldron's entrance was filmed in Bull's Head Passage, near Leadenhall Market. In the sixth film, it was inserted into the actual Charing Cross Road, between a book store and a surveyors' storefront.
The name Diagon Alley is a near homophone of the word "diagonally", which is used as a plot device when Harry mispronounces the phrase near the beginning of the second book.
Eeylops Owl Emporium sells owls and supplies such as owl treats and cages. Inside, it is dark and full of soft hooting, rustling, and the flickering of "jewel-bright eyes". It is here that Rubeus Hagrid purchased Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig, as a birthday gift in The Philosopher's Stone.
Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, under the management of the owner Florean Fortescue (founder and shopkeeper), sold ice cream and other treats, which could be enjoyed at outdoor tables. Harry spent pleasant hours there working on homework assignments before his third year at Hogwarts in Prisoner of Azkaban. Mr Fortescue himself helped him with his school essays and supplied him with free sundaes every half-hour. Nearing the end of the summer holidays, Harry meets Ron and Hermione there. In the Half-Blood Prince the parlour is boarded up and Fortescue has gone missing. Rowling confirmed that Florean was murdered.
Flourish & Blotts sells a variety of magical books, including textbooks for Hogwarts courses and other books of general magical interest. Usually, there is a display of gold-embossed spell books the size of paving slabs in the window, but in Prisoner of Azkaban, the front window holds an iron cage filled with hundreds of copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. To deal with the vicious books, set for the third year Care of magical creatures class by Hagrid, the harassed manager had to gear up with thick gloves and jab at them with a knobbly walking stick, as the books tended to rip each other apart. The manager says that he had thought he had seen the worst when they bought 200 copies of The Invisible Book of Invisibility, which were promptly misplaced.
In Chamber of Secrets, celebrity author Gilderoy Lockhart signs copies of his autobiography, Magical Me, at the shop the day Harry buys his second year school books. The signing drew a huge crowd of fans (mostly middle-aged women). This is also where Lucius Malfoy slips Tom Riddle's diary into Ginny's battered old Transfiguration book, thus causing the start of the events in Chamber of Secrets.
Gambol and Japes is a wizarding joke shop. It is briefly mentioned in Chamber of Secrets, where Fred, George and Lee Jordan stock up on "Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks".
Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the only known bank of the wizarding world and it is operated primarily by goblins. A snowy white building, near the intersection of Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley, Gringotts towers over all neighbouring shops. Customers pass through a set of bronze doors and then silver ones before entering the lobby. The main floor is paved with marble and has a long counter stretching along its length, behind which goblin clerks work at tasks such as counting coins and updating account ledgers. Within, wizards and witches keep their money and other valuables in vaults that are protected by very complex and very strong security measures. The vaults extend for miles under London and are accessible through rough stone passageways navigated by magic carts that travel speedily along their tracks. Gringotts also offers Muggle-Wizarding currency exchange.
When Harry first visits Gringotts, he is told by Hagrid that one would have to be mad to try to rob Gringotts. Goblins are extremely possessive and will protect their money and valuables at any cost, making them ideal guardians for the valuables of the wizarding world. In addition, according to Hagrid, apart from Hogwarts, Gringotts is considered "the safest place in the world for anything you want to keep safe".[28]
There are a number of methods of opening the vaults. Most vaults, such as Harry's, use small golden keys. Higher-security vaults may have various enchantments or other measures upon the doors. For example, the door to Vault 713,[29] which briefly contained the Philosopher's Stone, must be stroked by a certified Gringotts goblin, whereupon it melts away to allow access to the contents. If anyone other than a certified Gringotts goblin touches the door, that person will be sucked into the vault, which is only checked for trapped thieves about once every 10 years. Dragons guard the maximum-security vaults found in the lowest reaches of the bank, and a subterranean waterfall called the "Thief's Downfall" acts to overturn carts that pass through it and negate spells used by would-be robbers.
In the Philosopher's Stone Gringotts Vault 713 held a small parcel wrapped in paper, inside of which was the Philosopher's Stone. Dumbledore sent Hagrid to retrieve it while he escorted Harry. Later that same day, Professor Quirrell broke into the vault under orders from Voldemort. Although he was unsuccessful in obtaining the Philosopher's Stone, the break-in shocked the wizarding world because it was unheard of for Gringotts to be robbed. Griphook claims that the protection had been lessened due to the Vault being emptied. In Deathly Hallows, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, aided by a reluctant Griphook, break into the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange where a Horcrux of Voldemort (Hufflepuff's Cup) is hidden. However, when they enter Bellatrix's vault, which is stocked with all manner of treasures, they discover that the treasure has had Gemino and Flagrante curses placed on it, which, respectively, cause any item to multiply rapidly and go red-hot whenever it is touched. The trio escape with the Horcrux by freeing a half-blind dragon that was part of the security for the vault, and clambering onto its back.
While Gringotts is largely staffed by goblins, including Griphook and Ragnok, it is known that the bank has human employees, though not apparently for banking and accounting services. Bill worked as a curse-breaker for Gringotts in Egypt, retrieving artefacts from ancient Egyptian tombs and pyramids.[30] Fleur took a part-time job with Gringotts after participating in the Triwizard Tournament, apparently to improve her English skills, and Wizard guards are mentioned in Deathly Hallows during the break in.
Madam Malkin's is a clothing shop next to Flourish & Blotts. It sells robes and other clothing, including the standard Hogwarts-required plain black work robes, and dress robes. Inside the shop, Madam Malkin and her assistants will tailor the robes to fit. Malkin is an archaic term for a crotchety old woman.
Harry has two meetings with Draco Malfoy in Madam Malkin's shop. This is where Harry meets the first wizard of his own age, Malfoy, for the first time, in Philosopher's Stone. Harry is rather bewildered by the questions Malfoy asks, because Harry is still unfamiliar with many aspects of the wizarding world. A second meeting occurs just before the beginning of Harry's sixth year, in Half-Blood Prince. This meeting is far more unpleasant, and escalates quickly into a near-duel before Malfoy and his mother leave in disgust.
The Magical Menagerie is a magical creature shop that in addition to selling magical creatures offers advice on animal care and health. The shop is very cramped, noisy and smelly, due to every inch being covered with cages. Among the creatures in the Magical Menagerie are enormous purple toads, a firecrab, poisonous orange snails, a fat white rabbit that can turn into a silk top hat, cats of every colour, ravens, puffskeins, and a cage of sleek black rats that play skipping games with their tails.
When Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit the shop in Prisoner of Azkaban, a witch wearing heavy black spectacles helps them. Ron buys Rat Tonic for his pet rat, Scabbers, while Hermione buys a cat, Crookshanks.
Ollivanders is a wand shop described as "narrow and shabby, with a sign that reads Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC in peeling gold letters over the door. The only display in the window overlooking Diagon Alley is a single wand lying on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. Within, there are countless narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling and a spindly-legged chair" (which Hagrid breaks when he sits upon it).
Ollivander, the pale-eyed, white-haired shopkeeper (played in the films by John Hurt), makes and sells magic wands to witches and wizards as they enter school or break their old wands. He remembers every wand he has ever sold. To determine the best wand for a witch or wizard, Ollivander measures various body parts (including, in Harry's case, between his nostrils) and then checks the reactions of various wands to the buyer, a process to which he refers as "the wand choosing the wizard".
The shop closes when Ollivander goes missing in Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort having ordered his Death Eaters to kidnap him to attempt to discover more about the link between his own and Harry's wand. Harry rescues Ollivander in Deathly Hallows.
Potage's Cauldron Shop sells different varieties and sizes of cauldrons, including copper, brass, pewter, silver, self-stirring, collapsible, and solid gold, according to a sign outside the shop. Hogwarts requires its students to have a size 2 pewter cauldron (as listed in the Philosopher's Stone book list). The Cauldron Shop is very near to the entrance from The Leaky Cauldron.
Quality Quidditch Supplies sells broomsticks and Quidditch-related items. The store windows often draw young customers to gaze longingly at the merchandise. Its most famous items on display are the Nimbus 2000 and the Firebolt broomsticks, both of which Harry eventually owns. The Firebolt is a national racing broom that professional leagues use. Harry spends the summer before his third year gazing at the Firebolt in the display window, the price of which is only available upon request, and which Sirius Black purchases for Harry as an anonymous Christmas gift. Ron at one point longs for a full set of Chudley Cannons robes offered at the shop.
The Apothecary sells scales, potions and potion ingredients. The shop is quite fascinating despite its very bad smell (a mixture of bad eggs and rotten cabbage). The inside includes barrels of slimy stuff on the floor, jars of herbs, dried roots and bright powders on the shelves, and bundles of feathers, strings of fangs and snarled claws hanging from the ceiling. Harry regularly buys ingredients, as well as his scales, from the Apothecary.
Some of the ingredients available are silver unicorn horns (for twenty-one Galleons each), glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop), and Dragon liver (seventeen Sickles an ounce).
As well as many shops, Diagon Alley also contains small stalls, which sell a wide variety of magical objects, sweets, and trinkets. In Half-Blood Prince, many witches and wizards try to take advantage of the fear created by Voldemort's return. They set up stalls selling amulets and other objects, which supposedly protect you against werewolves, Dementors and Inferi. These "dark magic protection" stalls, however, are illegal, and likely scams. Arthur Weasley is the one in charge of arresting their owners.
Twilfitt and Tatting's is a wizarding clothing shop located in Diagon Alley, mentioned in Half-Blood Prince by Narcissa Malfoy, who claims she would shop there rather than shopping in Madam Malkin's due to the presence of Harry, Ron, and Hermione (mostly Hermione, whom the Malfoys look down upon due to her blood status). By the tone in Narcissa's voice, it is implied to be slightly more upscale than Malkin's.
Sells all sorts of equipment used in the wizard world and is where Harry buys his first telescope.
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is a popular joke shop that started as a small school business created by Fred and George Weasley in the fourth book. It opened its doors at Number 93 Diagon Alley in the summer of the sixth book, using Harry Potter's Triwizard Tournament Winnings as starting capital. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes sells joke and trick items, useful novelties, sweets, and Defence Against the Dark Arts items. The front of the shop is described as a fireworks display against the muffled backdrop of dull shops. Some of their products are U-No-Poo, Skiving Snackboxes, trick wands, spell-checking and Smart Answer Quills, reusable Hangmans, Daydream Charms, muggle magic tricks, Edible Dark Marks, Shield Products, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, Decoy Detonators, joke cauldrons, Wonderwitch beauty products and 10-second pimple vanishers, Pygmy Puffs, love potions, and more.
Fred and George started using the name "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes" in Goblet of Fire for a mail order business selling merchandise, including sweets to help students fake illness in order to skip classes. After an early departure from Hogwarts in Order of the Phoenix, the two Weasleys set up their shop in Diagon Alley, which quickly became a huge success.
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had to be temporarily shut down in Deathly Hallows, because the Death Eaters were keeping an eye on all the Weasleys, but Fred and George continued to run an Owl-Order service. In interviews post-publication of Deathly Hallows, Rowling has said that George (after Fred died) reopened the Diagon Alley store, that "it became a tremendous money-spinner", and that Ron worked for him there after taking Auror training and going to work for the Ministry of Magic.[31] In the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Ron runs the store nineteen years after the events of the Deathly Hallows.
Knockturn Alley is described in the novels as a dark and seedy alleyway diagonal to Diagon Alley. Many of the shops in Knockturn Alley are devoted to the Dark Arts.
is a Knockturn Alley antique shop which sells Dark and dangerous artifacts. Objects that have appeared in the shop include a cursed opal necklace, a Hand of Glory, and a Vanishing Cabinet which is used by Draco Malfoy to infiltrate Hogwarts in Half-Blood Prince. Voldemort worked at Borgin and Burkes briefly during the 1940s. The shop is owned by Caractacus Burke and Mr. Borgin, though Mr. Borgin is the only owner to appear in the novels and films.
| Hogsmeade Village | |
| Last: | Hogwarts Legacy (2023) |
| Source: | Harry Potter |
| Population: | 2,800 |
| Type: | Shopping street/Residential Village in Scotland |
| Located In: | Highlands, Scotland, Great Britain |
| First: | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) |
| Blank Label: | Founder |
| Blank Data: | Hengist of Woodcroft |
Hogsmeade Village, or simply Hogsmeade, is the only settlement in Great Britain inhabited solely by wizards, witches, and other magical beings, and is located to the northwest of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was founded by medieval wizard Hengist of Woodcroft[32] who fled to Scotland to escape Muggle persecution of wizards in Northumberland. Much of Hogsmeade's architecture reflects its medieval origin; the village is known for its leaning medieval houses the most famous of which being the Three Broomsticks, an ancient inn built on the site of Woodcroft's home, and the backdrop for such dramatic wizarding events as the 1612 rebellion of Britain's goblins (the upper rooms of the inn served as the headquarters for the Ministry of Magic in its attempts to put down the insurrection in the Highlands). Hogsmeade primarily consists of a single thoroughfare called High Street, on which most shops and other magical venues reside. Unnamed alleyways branching off from the main road are also home to such historic places as the Hog's Head Inn and Madame Puddifoot's Teashop. Students of Hogwarts who are in their third year and above are permitted to visit Hogsmeade during scheduled visits, to shop and mingle with friends un-chaperoned, as long as they have a signed permission slip from a parent or guardian. Mainly, students frequent a high street in the village which contains the named speciality shops and pubs in the series. Otherwise, they wander on to observe the infamous Shrieking Shack. Hogsmeade gives its name to the train station which serves as one end of the route traveled by the Hogwarts Express to transport students to and from London. Students must walk or take a carriage to travel between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts.
Hogsmeade remained unseen in the Harry Potter film series until 2004's Prisoner of Azkaban. The village has since appeared again in Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows – Part 2. In all of these, the village is seen under heavy caps of snow.[33]
A shop that sells and repairs magical equipment, Dervish & Banges is located near the end of the High Street.
Gladrags Wizardwear sells clothing. There are other branches in London and Paris. It is full of quirky merchandise, and appears to specialise in strange and unusual socks, where Harry buys Dobby a selection of wacky socks, in thanks for helping him in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.
Honeydukes is a popular sweets shop located in Hogsmeade that is usually crowded with Hogwarts students and occasionally even the professors of Hogwarts. The shop is filled with many different kinds of wonderful and wild sweets, such as Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, Cauldron Cakes, Blood-Flavoured Lollipops, Acid Pops, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Wands, Exploding Bonbons, Skeletal Sweets, and so much more. There is also a secret passageway in the cellar of Honeydukes that leads to the third floor corridor of Hogwarts, behind the large stone statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor. Harry used this entrance to sneak into Hogsmeade in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Hogsmeade Station is the closest train stop to Hogwarts; the Hogwarts Express stops here after travelling from King's Cross. Scenes involving Hogsmeade Station in the Harry Potter films were shot at Goathland railway station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, built in 1865 and virtually unchanged, that serves the village of Goathland in the North York Moors.[34] According to Rowling's illustrations, Hogsmeade station is not in Hogsmeade, but on the opposite side of the lake.[35]
The Hog's Head is another pub, which often attracts a more disreputable clientele than the Three Broomsticks, and many of the customers hide their faces out of a desire not to be recognised. The hanging sign in front of the pub has a severed boar's head, leaking blood onto the white cloth around it. The pub itself is filthy, with the floor covered with layers of dirt and the windows smeared with so much grime that little light gets through. The main floor is a single room, but there are additional rooms on the upper floors. Harry notes that the pub smells strongly of goats. The barman and owner is Aberforth Dumbledore, the brother of Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, although this is not revealed until the final book.
Despite its seedy reputation, the Hog's Head has been host to several important events in the world of Harry Potter. The inn was the headquarters of the 1612 Goblin Rebellion. A few months before Harry was born, it was here that the Seer Sybill Trelawney revealed the prophecy connecting Voldemort and Harry during an interview with Dumbledore for the position of Divination teacher at Hogwarts, while Professor Severus Snape listens to the first part of the prophecy. It is also where Hagrid wins an illegal dragon egg (Norbert) while gambling with a disguised servant of Voldemort. In Order of the Phoenix, the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army is secretly held at the Hog's Head.
During Deathly Hallows, Aberforth reveals a secret passage that leads into Hogwarts' Room of Requirement, where Dumbledore's Army has set up headquarters. The Hog's Head entrance is hidden behind a portrait of Ariana Dumbledore, the younger sister of Albus and Aberforth. Before the Battle of Hogwarts begins, the passage is used to evacuate underage students from the school. The remaining members of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix gather at the Hog's Head before entering the castle through this passage to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
The name of the tavern refers to an archaic unit of liquid measurement, the hogshead. It may also be an allusion to the "Boar's Head Tavern" from the play Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare. Much like the Hog's Head, Shakespeare's tavern is the haunt of some less-than-reputable characters. It should also be noted that there is a second-hand music shop by the name of "The Hog's Head" less than a mile from J. K. Rowling's residence in Edinburgh, Scotland. The shop was established four years before Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released.
Located on a little side street off the main High Street, Madam Puddifoot's is a small teashop favourite among Hogwarts couples out on dates. It's described as a cramped, steamy place where everything is adorned with bows or frills. The small, circular tables are set for two. On Valentine's Day Madam Puddifoot hires floating golden cherubs to throw pink confetti on visiting couples. It was at Madam Puddifoot's that Harry celebrated his Valentine's Day with Cho Chang, in the fifth book, Order of the Phoenix.
The Post Office is filled with at least two to three hundred owls, ranging from great grey owls to tiny scops (the latter for "local deliveries only"), hooting down from colour-coded shelves. These owls deliver mail to people in the wizarding world. The shelves are colour-coded based on how quickly they will arrive at their destination.
Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop sells a range of wizarding stationery like quills, ink, parchment, envelopes, seals, etc.Hermione buys a new quill here in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
The Shrieking Shack stands on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, just a little way above the rest of the village, with boarded-up windows and an overgrown garden. It's described to be slightly creepy even in daylight. Connected to Hogwarts by a secret tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow, which was planted specifically to conceal the tunnel, the Shrieking Shack was built so Remus Lupin could hide in it during his monthly transformations into a werewolf, to avoid harming fellow students or other innocents. The villagers heard Lupin's howls while he resided there, and mistook it for violent spirits. This rumour, further encouraged by Dumbledore to discourage anyone from investigating, led to the Shrieking Shack being officially regarded as the most haunted building in Britain. Apparently, the tunnel through the Whomping Willow is the only way to get in to the Shrieking Shack.
In Prisoner of Azkaban, the Shrieking Shack becomes part of the dramatic conclusion of the book when Sirius returns to the school. He drags Ron and his pet rat, Scabbers, there intending to kill Scabbers. Scabbers is revealed to be the Animagus Peter Pettigrew, Black's former friend who had betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, a crime for which Black had been blamed and sentenced to lifetime imprisonment in Azkaban. In the book Deathly Hallows, Snape is killed in the Shrieking Shack by Voldemort's snake, Nagini.
The Three Broomsticks is a well known inn and pub located on High Street in the village of Hogsmeade. It is known for its delicious butterbeer and its beautiful owner Madam Rosmerta, who lives above the pub. The Three Broomsticks is a favoured destination among Hogwarts students and staff, although in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid mentions visiting the Hog's Head. It is the site of important events in the series, including Harry's interview with Rita Skeeter in his fifth year.It is described as being warm, smoky, crowded, and noisy. As well as butterbeer, it serves firewhisky (although seemingly not to students, as mentioned by Ron in the Hog's Head in the fifth year), gillywater, Rosmerta's oak-matured mead, and many muggle drinks. Madam Rosmerta usually works at the bar, in the front or the side of the room. There is a fireplace in the back of the pub and an inn above.
Zonko's Joke Shop has jokes and tricks that can "fulfil even Fred and George's wildest dreams". Some of these include Dungbombs, Hiccup Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap, and Nose-Biting Teacups. It closes down in Half-Blood Prince. Fred and George later buy the shop.
Azkaban is a prison where wizards who violate the laws of the British wizarding world are sent. Only one other such prison, Nurmengard, is mentioned in the books. According to Half-Blood Prince, Azkaban is "in the middle of the North Sea". Sirius Black says that when he escaped from Azkaban while in his animagus form as a dog, he swam to Britain and then travelled northwards to get to Hogwarts. This implies that Azkaban is at a lower latitude than Hogwarts, which is in Scotland. Although Azkaban's appearance is not described in detail in the books, it is mentioned to have grounds outside the prison where prisoners who have died are buried. In the film adaptations it appears to be a tall triangular building, somewhat hollow in the middle.
Many of the prisoners were supporters of Voldemort (known as Death Eaters), though some misunderstandings have resulted in others' imprisonment. For instance, Sirius Black was imprisoned without trial after Peter Pettigrew killed a dozen Muggles, faked his own death, and framed Sirius for these crimes; Sirius escapes after serving 12 years. Two years later, Harry is threatened with a term in Azkaban after he performs a Patronus Charm that saves both him and his cousin Dudley from a Dementor attack. Performing any of the Unforgivable Curses on a human is punishable by a mandatory whole life sentence in Azkaban, but that ban has been lifted for Aurors during wartime. Several characters throughout the series have performed the curses and not been punished accordingly. Other crimes which merit imprisonment here include assaulting the Ministry (for example, the Death Eaters detained in Order of the Phoenix), trespassing in the Ministry (Sturgis Podmore in Order of the Phoenix), being an unregistered Animagus, and impersonating an Inferius.
Azkaban has a reputation of evil and fear throughout the series. As mentioned at the start of the series, Azkaban is guarded by the Dementors, working under the Ministry of Magic. The large presence of Dementors renders the inmates incapable of happiness and forces them to relive their worst memories, as they become gradually helpless and often severely insane. According to Sirius, many inmates simply stop eating and eventually die of starvation. Sirius' reasoning for this is that "They simply lose their will to live". As Dementors are extremely difficult to injure – the only spell effective against them is the Patronus Charm – Azkaban was long considered impossible to escape from, until Sirius escaped (although Barty Crouch Jr had previously broken out with the help of his parents); however, Dumbledore claimed he could break out of Azkaban if he wished to do so.
In Order of the Phoenix, ten of Voldemort's most dangerous and loyal followers escaped, including Bellatrix Lestrange. Dumbledore was always vocal in declaring that it was a mistake to guard Voldemort's greatest supporters with Dementors, who have the most to gain if Voldemort returned to power. He is proven right, as the Dementors leave their posts at Azkaban and join ranks with Voldemort. The prison is still in use, but greatly weakened by the revolt of its most effective wardens. Azkaban also had various wizard guards, who kept the Dementors mostly in check and managed the rare prison visits. By the start of Deathly Hallows, there had been another mass break-out of Death Eaters from Azkaban. Upon Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry, many political prisoners are sent to Azkaban by Ministry traitor Dolores Umbridge, including Xenophilius Lovegood and Muggle-borns persecuted under Voldemort's implementation of anti-Muggle legislation. Such victims are released following Voldemort's downfall, and Umbridge is imprisoned there, along with whichever Death Eaters survived the Battle of Hogwarts.
Following Voldemort's ultimate demise, Kingsley Shacklebolt ends the use of Dementors at Azkaban, their presence having always been a mark of the underlying corruption of the Ministry.[36]
The Magical Congress of the United States of America (shortened MACUSA) is the magical body in charge of governing the wizarding population of the United States of America. It is led by the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America. Unlike the No-Maj United States Congress, which is divided into a House of Representatives and a Senate, the MACUSA is unicameral. The MACUSA is located within the Woolworth Building in downtown New York City and spans hundreds of stories.
Newt Scamander visited the building in the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, when he was brought in by Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein for threatening the Statute of Secrecy by using magic in front of Jacob Kowalski, a No-Maj.
See main article: Ministry of Magic. The Ministry of Magic is the government of the Magical community of Britain.The "Ministry of Magic" was first mentioned in "The Philosopher's Stone".
St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries is a hospital within the Harry Potter universe. Medics at the hospital are not called doctors, but are known as Healers and wear lime-green robes.[37] Founded by famous wizard Healer Mungo Bonham, St Mungo's is located in London.[37] It was established to treat magical maladies, injuries or illnesses endemic to the Wizarding World. To enter the premises, one has to step through the window of what appears to be a derelict department store called Purge & Dowse Ltd.[37] The exteriors of the hospital are red-bricked and dirty, which is the complete opposite of the interiors. Inside, everything is very neat and looks exactly as a hospital should. There are six floors. The emblem of St Mungo's is a magic wand crossed with a bone.[37] This is the hospital where Arthur Weasley is sent after he was attacked by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, in the Ministry of Magic and Minerva McGonagall is hospitalised from severe stunning when Hagrid is forced out of Hogwarts. During one visit, Harry and company happen across Neville Longbottom, who has come with his grandmother Augusta Longbottom to visit his parents in the long-term care ward. They also find former professor Gilderoy Lockhart there, still suffering from the effects of a backfired Memory Charm.
Nurmengard is the prison that Gellert Grindelwald built to keep his enemies and Muggles in. The entrance is marked with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, along with the legend "For the greater good". After Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, the prisoners were released and Grindelwald himself was imprisoned in the top-most cell. Nurmengard is depicted in the final book when Voldemort arrives at the prison looking for Grindelwald and information about the Elder Wand. After Grindelwald refuses to give him any information, Voldemort kills him in his own prison.
The ride on the Hogwarts Express starts from King's Cross railway station platform , which is hidden from view, and reached by walking through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10.
Rowling discovered after the books were published that she had confused the layout of King's Cross with that of Euston station, and that platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross were not the ones between which she had meant her magical platform to be placed.[38] There is no platform between lines 9 and 10 at King's Cross. To solve this, the filmmakers re-numbered platforms 4 and 5 for the duration of filming. In reality, at both King's Cross and Euston, platforms 9 and 10 are separated by railway lines. The exterior shots in the film are of the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel, which is part of St Pancras station, adjacent to King's Cross station. From the outside St Pancras is much more visually dramatic than King's Cross.
A plaque depicting the supposed location was placed on the wall in the building containing platforms 9 to 11, along with a luggage trolley 'stuck' halfway through the wall. During the station's extensive renovation works, it was moved temporarily to an exterior wall on the Euston Road, and then in 2012 to the new western departures concourse. A wrought iron 'Platform ' gate used as part of the film set is preserved at the National Railway Museum. Soon after Alan Rickman's death in 2016, Harry Potter fans created a memorial to the actor at platform .[39]
A Harry Potter–themed store is also located in the station near the plaque.[40]
The following are locations used by Warner Bros. to film the fictional locations in the Harry Potter film series.