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TheWizarding World contains numerous settings for the events in thenovels,films and other media of theHarry Potter and theFantastic Beasts series. These locations are divided into four main categories: residences, education, business, and government.
Harry is raised from infancy by his auntPetunia Dursley and his uncleVernon Dursley at Number 4, Privet Drive. The house is located in the fictional town of Little Whinging, which is south-west of London in the county ofSurrey.[1]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 neighbourArabella Figg is aSquib who was placed in Little Whinging by Dumbledore to keep an eye on Harry.
Scenes set at the Dursley residence in the film adaptation ofPhilosopher's Stone were filmed at 12 Picket Post Close in the town ofBracknell in the neighbouring county of Berkshire.[2] Filming for subsequent films took place on a constructed set atLeavesden Film Studios, near Watford, Hertfordshire that proved to be cheaper than filming on location.[3]
Godric's Hollow is a fictionalWest Country wizarding village whereLily andJames Potter lived with their infant sonHarry.[4][5][6] It has been a home toAlbus Dumbledore,Bathilda Bagshot andGodric Gryffindor, after 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. InDeathly Hallows, Harry discovers that the Godric's Hollow cemetery where his parents are buried also contains the grave ofIgnotus Peverell.[7]
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The home of the Weasley family is known as the Burrow. It is located outside the village of Ottery St Catchpole inDevon, England, near the homes of theLovegoods, theDiggorys and the Fawcetts.[8] The Burrow is used as the headquarters of theOrder of the Phoenix inDeathly Hallows. The dilapidated house has seven floors and remains standing only through the use of magic.
Little Hangleton is a fictionalMuggle village near a fictional Muggle town of Great Hangleton in the north of England, around 200 miles from Little Whinging in Surrey.[9] It contains the graveyard whereVoldemort is restored to bodily form inGoblet of Fire. On a hill above the village is the former estate of theRiddle family, where Voldemort killed his father, his grandparents and the Muggle gardenerFrank Bryce. Also nearby is the former home of theGaunt family.
Malfoy Manor is the home ofLucius andNarcissa Malfoy and their sonDraco. The novelOrder of the Phoenix states that the manor is located inWiltshire. InDeathly Hallows, Voldemort uses Malfoy Manor as his headquarters and imprisonsLuna Lovegood,Dean Thomas,Mr. Ollivander andGriphook in the basement. When Snatchers captureHarry,Ron, andHermione, they are also imprisoned in the manor. Some scenes set at Malfoy Manor in theHarry Potter films were shot atHardwick Hall in Derbyshire.[10]
Number 12, Grimmauld Place[a] is the London home of theBlack family. In the fifth novel, it is selected as the headquarters of theOrder of the Phoenix. Ahouse-elf namedKreacher inhabits the house. InHalf-Blood Prince, Harry learns that he has inherited the property from his deceased godfather Sirius Black, and he donates it to the Order. InDeathly Hallows, Grimmauld Place becomes a sanctuary for Harry, Ron, and Hermione while they are hiding from Voldemort.
The house ofSeverus Snape is located on a fictional Muggle street called Spinner's End.[11] The street first appears inHalf-Blood Prince when Snape is visited byBellatrix Lestrange andNarcissa Malfoy. InDeathly Hallows, it is revealed that Snape lived in Spinner's End as a child, and thatLily Potter andPetunia Dursley lived in the same town.
Shell Cottage is the home ofBill Weasley andFleur Delacour after they get married. It overlooks a beach outside the village of Tinworth inCornwall county. The cottage serves as a hiding place for Harry and his companions after they escape from Malfoy Manor. AfterDobby dies, Harry buries him in the garden. The scenes set at Shell Cottage in the film adaptations ofDeathly Hallows were shot onFreshwater West beach in Wales.[12]
The Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is a French magic school. It is first introduced inGoblet of Fire when a delegation of students from Beauxbatons arrives atHogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Beauxbatons is described as aboarding school located in thePyrenees mountains. The school has a preponderance of French students, although students from Spain, Portugal, Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium also attend in large numbers.[13] The headmistress of Beauxbatons isOlympe Maxime, and the school's champion in the Triwizard Tournament is Fleur Delacour. In the film adaptation ofGoblet of Fire, all Beauxbatons students are female, while in the novel the school isco-educational.[14]Beauxbatons translates from French as "beautiful sticks".[15]
The depiction of French students in theHarry Potter series has been described as stereotypical by several scholars.[b] Marek Oziewicz has called the Beauxbatons delegation "homogeneous" and lacking the cultural diversity of Hogwarts.[16] Christina Flotmann claimed that the contrast depicted between Beauxbatons and Hogwarts functions as an allusion to a historical competition between the "sober and proper" England and the "immoral and decadent" France.[19]
Castelobruxo (/kæstɛloʊbruːʃuː/) is a Brazilian school of magic that specialises inMagizoology andHerbology. The exact location of the school is unknown, but it is said to appear to wizards as a golden temple, and toMuggles as nothing more than ruins. Castelobruxo is guarded by magical creatures calledCaipora.[20]
The Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning is a school that makes its first appearance inGoblet of Fire. LikeBeauxbatons, Durmstrang sends a delegation of students to Hogwarts for theTriwizard Tournament. According to theWizarding World website, Durmstrang is located in the "far Northern reaches of Europe".[21] The school's headmaster is the formerDeath EaterIgor Karkaroff, and the novel reveals that Durmstrang students are instructed in theDark Arts. Durmstrang is portrayed as an all-boys school in the film adaptation ofGoblet of Fire, but is depicted as co-educational in the novel.[22] InDeathly Hallows, it is revealed that the Dark wizardGellert Grindelwald attended Durmstrang.
Several writers have commented on the depiction of the Durmstrang students. The British journalistJulia Eccleshare has claimed that the Durmstrang delegation is depicted as dishonest and untrustworthy.[23] Marek Oziewicz called Durmstrang a "medley of scary stereotypes" of Eastern Europe.[16] Christina Flotmann wrote that the first appearance of the Durmstrang delegation links the school with "sinister literary tropes such as theFlying Dutchman." She also suggested that the nameDurmstrang sounds dark and threatening.[24] The name of the school is likely a play on the German phraseSturm und Drang, meaningstorm and stress.[c]
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a British school ofmagic. It is the primary setting for the first sixHarry Potter novels.[29]
Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is an American school of magic.[30] It first appeared in a short story by J. K. Rowling in 2016, and was subsequently depicted in the filmFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The school was founded in the seventeenth century by Isolt Sayre inAdams, Massachusetts. It is located onMount Greylock and is concealed from Muggles with enchantments.[31] Like Hogwarts, Ilvermorny is divided into four houses. The Ilvermorny houses areHorned Serpent,Pukwudgie,Thunderbird andWampus, each said to represent a different aspect of the ideal wizard.[30]
Mahoutokoro is the smallest wizarding school, and is located in Japan. Students wear enchanted robes which grow in size with the wearer. The robes change colour, from faint pink to gold, as the wearer increases their knowledge of magic. The students of Mahoutokoro are known for their academic prowess and skill at Quidditch.[32]
According to theWizarding World website, Uagadou is the oldest of several African wizarding schools, and the largest wizarding school in the world. Its precise location is unknown.[33]
The Leaky Cauldron is described as a dark and shabby pub and inn, located on the Muggle streetCharing Cross Road in London. 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[d] is a winding Londonhigh street – with a number of side-streets and back alleys – that is accessible to wizards, but hidden from Muggles. It contains Gringotts Wizarding Bank and various types of shops for magical items and creatures.
Knockturn Alley[e] is described in the novels as a dark and seedy alleyway diagonal to Diagon Alley. Many of the shops in Knockturn Alley, such asBorgin and Burkes, are devoted to theDark Arts. Objects that have appeared in Borgin and Burkes include a cursed opal necklace, aHand of Glory, and aVanishing Cabinet which is used by Draco Malfoy to infiltrate Hogwarts inHalf-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.
TheHogwarts Express train departs from the fictional platform 9¾ atKing's Cross railway station in central London. The platform is accessed by magically walking through a solid barrier between platforms 9 and 10. After theHarry Potter novels were published, Rowling found that she had confused the layout of King's Cross with that ofEuston station.[37] During production of theHarry Potter films, theSt Pancras Renaissance London Hotel, which is part ofSt Pancras station, was used for King's Cross station.
A plaque depicting the supposed location Platform 9¾ was placed on a wall at King's Cross, along with a luggage trolley "stuck" halfway through the wall. A wrought-iron "Platform 9¾" gate used in the film set is preserved at theNational Railway Museum. AfterAlan Rickman's death in 2016,Harry Potter fans created a memorial to the actor at Platform 9¾.[38] AHarry Potter–themed store is also located in the station near the plaque.[39]
There is a replica of King's Cross atThe Wizarding World of Harry Potter themed area atUniversal Orlando Resort. It features a wall between Platforms 9 and 10, which visitors can "walk through" to access Platform 9¾.[40]
Hogsmeade Village, or simply Hogsmeade, is a wizarding village located nearHogwarts in the north-westScottish Highlands. It primarily consists of a single thoroughfare called High Street, which is home to shops and pubs all served by the Hogsmeade railway station nearby. Hogwarts students who are in their third year or above are permitted to visit Hogsmeade during scheduled weekends. In the films, it is only seen in under mid-winter snow.
Places in Hogsmeade
La Place Cachée orThe Hidden Square, as seen in the film,Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, is close to theRiver Seine and is the Parisian equivalent to Diagon Alley in London to hide the shops and businesses of the Wizarding World from Muggles. It is accessed via a portal in a brick pedestal under averdigris bronze statue of a reclining woman. Seen in 1927, its style and design is heavily influenced by theArt Nouveau style from late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Azkaban is a prison for criminals of the British and Irish wizarding world. According toHalf-Blood Prince, Azkaban is located somewhere in the North Sea. It is guarded byDementors, which render the inmates incapable of happiness. According to Sirius Black, many inmates simply stop eating and eventually die of starvation. It was considered impossible to escape from Azkaban until Sirius managed to do it.[42] Performing any of theUnforgivable Curses on a human is punishable by a life sentence in the prison, although there are occasions when Aurors are allowed to perform those curses. Following Voldemort's demise,Kingsley Shacklebolt becomes Minister of Magic and ends the use of Dementors at Azkaban.[43]
The Ministry of Magic is the government of the wizarding community of Britain and Ireland.
The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), as seen in the film,Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, is the magical body in charge of governing the wizarding population of the United States as an equivalent to the Ministry of Magic. The MACUSA is led by a President instead of a Minister. It is located in a tower in the Wizarding World – all within the same footprint as theWoolworth Building in Lower Manhattan, New York City – but far larger on the inside, with a vast atrium and extensive basement levels, and at ground level is only accessible by a specific side door.
The French Ministry of Magic, as seen in the film,Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, is in central Paris and is accessed via a hidden lift in the centre of a quiet square that descends through a translucent glass atrium. At night, it is patrolled and defended bymatagots, large black cat-like spirits. Seen in 1927, its style and design is heavily influenced by theArt Nouveau movement from late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The German Ministry of Magic, as seen in the film,Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, is in central Berlin and is a large imposing triangular building in the centre of an arrowhead-shaped forum full of imposing columns. Its interior design of the large halls with vast murals is heavily influenced by theReichstag building and its offices are sparely decorated, dominated by green-tinged glass, chrome, and blackbakelite. Seen in 1932, its style and design is heavily influenced by theBauhaus school of theArt Deco movement that dominated the 1920s and 1930s.
Located in London, St Mungo's Hospital in the Wizarding World is for treating witches and wizards who have suffered magical injuries or are infected by magical diseases. It also acts as a long-termasylum to keep those left totally and permanently disabled by magic or suffering dangerous conditions – such as anobscurial – locked away in order to prevent any exposure the Wizarding World to Muggles.
Nurmengard is a prison that the Dark wizardGellert Grindelwald built to incarcerate Muggles and foes. AfterAlbus Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, the prisoners were released and Grindelwald himself was imprisoned in the top-most cell. InDeathly Hallows, Voldemort arrives at Nurmengard seeking information about theElder Wand. When Grindelwald refuses to tell him anything, Voldemort kills him.
Erkstag is a prison in Berlin that is supposedly closed and decommissioned, but is still surreptitiously being operated and is accessed via a closedU-Bahn entrance. It appears a vast underground quarry with a spiral walkway down to its depths. It is populated by thousands of babymanticores with an enormous mother manticore that snatches away prisoners, who hang inverted on the perimeter of the walkway, from time to time and injecting them with an acidic venom that dissolves the body so she can feed the remains to her offspring.
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