Diagon Alley

In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter fiction novels and their filmed adaptations, Diagon Alley is a large alleyway in London accessible to witches and wizards but hidden from Muggles. It appears to be the economic hub of Britain's sparse Wizarding world. It is home to Ollivander's, makers of magic wands since 382 BC and likely the country's primary supplier, as well as the goblin-run Gringotts Bank. Other establishments include the Flourish & Blott's bookstore, Eeylops' Owl Emporium, Quality Quidditch Supplies and The Leaky Cauldron Inn. For those shopping for Hogwarts equipment, Diagon Alley serves all needs. Gringotts operates a money-changing service for the Muggle-born.

Entrance by foot is shown to be done by going through the Leaky Cauldron (invisible to Muggles) and tapping the bricks of a wall behind it with a wand and in a certain order. Given the busyness of the area, travelling to and from the Alley is likely typically done by more magical means. In the first film, Diagon Alley appears to be a short walk away from Leadenhall Market in the City of London.

The name seems a possible pun on "diagonally"; evidence for that can be found in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The DVD of that movie includes a video "guided tour" of Diagon Alley, apparently shot on the original movie sets.

Leading off of Diagon Alley is the dark and dingy Knockturn Alley - much the same, only Dark.

Shops in Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley is a fictional street in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Below is a list of shops found in Diagon Alley.

---

Cauldron Shop

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Cauldrons
• Descriptions: N/A
• Signs:

  Cauldrons
  All sizes
  Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver
  Self-Stirring
  Collapsible

• Location: Very near to the Leaky Cauldron
• Customers:N/A

Daily Prophet

• Founders/ Staff: N/A; Rita Skeeter - a reporter
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: N/A
• Descriptions: One of the offices of The Daily Prophet
• Signs: "Letters to the editor should be sent by owl to The Daily Prophet, Diagon Alley, London."
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers:N/A

Eeylops Owl Emporium

• Founders/ Shop keepers: Unknown, probably someone named Eeylops.
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Owls
• Descriptions: A dark shop.
• Signs: "Sells Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy owls."
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers: Hagrid - snowy owl called Hedwig for Harry Potter

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour

• Founders/ Shop keepers: Mr. Florean Fortescue
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Ice cream
• Descriptions: Boarded up since Mr. Fortescue disappeared in the Second Wizarding War.
• Signs: N/A
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers: Harry Potter

Flourish & Blotts

• Founders/ Shop keepers: Unnamed Bookstore Manager can be found in the books.
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Books

  See: List of fictional books within the Harry Potter series

• Descriptions: usually a display of gold-embossed spellbooks the size of paving slabs in the window
• Signs: N/A
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers: Most of the Hogwarts students and their parents.

Gambol & Japes

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Found in: N/A
• Sells: A wide variety of tricks and practical joke items
• Descriptions: N/A
• Signs: N/A
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers: The Weasley twins, Fred and George and probably Lee Jordan too.

Gringotts Wizarding Bank

• Founders/ Employees: Goblins/ Griphook - the only modern-age goblin known by name, and Bill Weasley - first worked in the branch located in Egypt.
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: N/A
• Descriptions: The main floor of offices is on street level, but the vaults are miles below, accessible by a magic cart.
• Signs:

  Enter, stranger, but take heed
  Of what awaits the sin of greed
  For those who take, but do not earn,
  Must pay most dearly in their turn.
  So if you seek beneath our floors
  A treasure that was never yours,
  Thief, you have been warned, beware
  Of finding more than treasure there.

• Location: Knockturn Alley connects to Diagon Alley near the bank.
• Known Customers: Dumbledore, Hagrid, Harry Potter, the Weasleys and Sirius Black.

Gringotts is the bank of the wizarding world in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. It is housed within a great white building in Diagon Alley, and is run, for the most part, by goblins. Wizards and witches keep their money and other valuables in vaults located miles underground and which can only be accessed by riding on a cart. The vaults are protected by very complex and strong security measures. It is rumoured that dragons guard the High Security vaults.

On the front doors of Gringotts is inscribed:

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

There are a number of methods to opening the vaults. Typical, non-high security vaults use small golden keys. Higher security vaults have various enchantments upon the doors. For example, the door to Vault 713 needs to be stroked by a goblin, which causes it to melt away. If anyone but a Gringotts goblin touches the door, the person will be sucked into the vault, which they check for trapped thieves about once every 10 years.

While Gringotts is largely staffed by goblins, it is known that the bank does employ humans. Bill Weasley works as a curse-breaker for Gringotts in Egypt, retrieving artefacts from ancient Egyptian tombs and pyramids.

The Gringotts Goblins also offer a muggle-wizarding money exchange.

When Harry first visits Gringotts, he is told by Hagrid that it one would have to be mad to try and rob Gringotts. Goblins are extremely greedy and would protect their money and valuables at any cost, which makes them ideal guardians for the valuables of the Wizarding world.

Gringotts Vault 713 holds a small grubby bag, inside of which is the Philosopher's Stone. Hagrid is sent to retrieve it at the same time he is escorting Harry. Interestingly enough, the vault is successfully robbed that very same day, though the thief is unsuccessful in obtaining his or her target because Hagrid had already removed it.

The robbery makes the news in the Daily Prophet, as it is practically unheard of for Gringotts to have been robbed.

Harry's vault is number 687. Sirius Black's vault is 711.

Junk shop

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Nothing but broken and old goods.
• Descriptions: N/A
• Signs: N/A
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers: Probably Percy Weasley - a book called Prefects Who Gained Power

The Leaky Cauldron

• Founders/ Employees: Daisy Dodderidge/ Tom - the bartender
• Founded in: the 1500s
• Sells: N/A
• Descriptions: An inn for wizards.
• Signs: N/A
• Location: The Leaky Cauldron is apparently not in Diagon Alley itself; it does serve as a "bridge" between the two worlds, however. The pub was built by Daisy Dodderidge around 1500 "to serve as a gateway between the non-wizarding world and Diagon Alley.
• Known Customers: Lots.

The Leaky Cauldron is the name of a London pub in J.K. Rowling's fictional Harry Potter series. It is visible only to magical people, and serves as a passageway from London into Diagon Alley, a wizard shopping district.

---

The Leaky Cauldron is also the name of a popular Harry Potter fan site, which provides the latest Harry Potter news in multiple formats, including RSS. Melissa Anelli, editorial director of the site, was invited in 2005 to interview series author J.K. Rowling after the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

External Links

The Leaky Cauldron

Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions

• Founders/ Shop keepers: Madam Malkin
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Robes for all occasions
• Descriptions: N/A
• Signs: N/A
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers: Most of Hogwarts students and their parents.

Magical Menagerie

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A; a witch wearing heavy black spectacles as an assistant
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Pets
• Descriptions: The walls are covered with cages and the place is noisy with the sounds of all the animals.
• Signs: N/A
• Location: N/A
• Known customers: Hermione - Crookshanks, Ron - rat tonic for Scabbers

Obscurus Books

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Books - a publishing house
• Descriptions: N/A
• Signs: N/A
• Location: 18a, Diagon Alley
• Known Customers:N/A

Ollivander's

• Founders/ Shop keepers: Mr. Ollivander
• Founded in: 382 B.C.
• Sells: Magic wands
• Descriptions: Narrow and shabby, sign with peeling gold letters over the door, a single wand lying on a purple cushion in the dusty window; inside - thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling.
• Signs: Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers: Most of Hogwarts students and their parents.

Ollivander's is a shop in the fictional Diagon Alley of the Harry Potter book series, which, according to its sign, has existed since 382 BC. Mr. Ollivander, the pale-eyed, white-haired shopkeeper, makes and sells magic wands to witches and wizards as they enter school or break their old wands. To determine the best wand for a witch or wizard, Mr. Ollivander measures various body parts and then checks the reactions of various wands to the buyer, a process he refers to as "the wand [choosing] the wizard".

Harry Potter tried a great many wands before he found one suited to his magical personality.Template:HP1 Harry Potter's phoenix-feather holly wand, Hermione Granger's dragon-heartstring vine wood wand, and Ron Weasley's unicorn-hair ash wand unite all three Ollivander wand cores.^[1]

Although Harry Potter has a symbolically heroic^[2] holly wand and Lord Voldemort has a symbolically deadly yew wand, their wands have the same core: a feather each from Albus Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes. The magical effects of the twin cores later allowed Harry Potter to successfully ward off Voldemort in a graveyard.Template:HP4

The shop closed when Ollivander went missing on 31 August, 1996 in mysterious circumstances, strongly suspected to be linked with rising Death Eater activity.

See also

• Mr. Ollivander
• Wand

References

• Rowling, J. K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747532699.
• Rowling, J. K. (2000). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Bloomsbury. ISBN 074754624X.
• ^[1] "FAQ: What is the core of Hermione’s wand?" from the J.K.Rowling Official Site
• ^[2] "Extra Stuff: Wands" from the J.K.Rowling Official Site

Quality Quidditch Supplies

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: broomsticks, Quidditch-related items
• Descriptions: N/A
• Signs: N/A
• Location: next to a stationer's
• Known Customers: Harry Potter

Slug & Jiggers Apothecary

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Potion ingredients
• Descriptions: The whole place smells very bad, a mixture of bad eggs and rotten cabbage.
• Signs: N/A
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers:N/A

Terrortours

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: N/A
• Descriptions: Probably a travel agency.
• Signs: N/A
• Location: N/A
• Known Customers:N/A

Twilfitt and Tatting's

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Probably robes
• Descriptions: An upscale clothing shop.
• Signs: N/A
• Location: Unknown, Twilfitt and Tatting's is not specifically stated to be in Diagon Alley.
• Known Customers: Probably Draco Malfoy

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

• Founders/Shopkeepers: Fred and George Weasley, and an assistant called Verity
• Founded in: 1996 Summer
• Sells: Jokes and trick items
• Descriptions: The store is large, colorful, and filled with amazing things;
• Signs:

  Why Are You Worrying About You-Know-Who?
  You SHOULD be Worrying About
  U-NO-POO -
  the Constipation Sensation That's Gripping the Nation!

• Location: 93, Diagon Alley
• Known Customers: Ginny Weasley - a Pygmy Puff called Arnold; probably Draco Malfoy - Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Ronald Weasley - Extendable Ears.

Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes is a fictional joke shop in the Harry Potter books. It is owned by Fred and George Weasley, who founded it in 1996 (between Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince). It is located in 93, Diagon Alley, London.

Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes was conceptualized by Fred and George Weasley, who started using the name in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for mail orders. To run their own joke shop had always been their life's ambition, and this ambition was finally realized when Harry Potter, a trusted friend of theirs, gave them his Triwizard Tournament winnings of a thousand Galleons.

After departing Hogwarts in Phoenix, the two Weasleys set up their (very successful) shop in Diagon Alley.

Items Developed or Sold

Skiving Snackbox

Skiving Snackbox is a range of sweets to make the user ill. The user develops strange symptoms depending on the type of snackbox eaten. The purpose of these was to make a student appear unable to stay in class. Most came in two colour-coded parts: one that would cause the malady, and one that would heal the pupil once they had left class.

They include:

• Fainting Fancy
• Fever Fudge
• Nosebleed Nougat
• Puking Pastilles
• Ton Tongue Toffees

Weasleys' Wildfire Whizbangs

Unstoppable fireworks. Multiply at an attempt to vanish them.

• Basic Blaze Box
• Deflagration Deluxe

Other Items Developed or Sold

• Canary Creams, transfigures the user into a canary
• Decoy Detonators, when dropped make a loud noise out of sight, giving the person a diversion if necessary.
• Edible Dark Marks, will make anyone sick.
• Extendable Ears, used to hear voices at the other end of the ear.
• Guaranteed Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher, excellent on everything from boils to blackheads.
• Headless Hats, make the wearer's head invisible (along with the hat itself).
• Patented Daydream Charms, virtually undetectable highly realistic 30-minute daydreams.
• Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder (which is unfortunately used by Draco Malfoy against the Order of the Phoenix while smuggling Death Eaters into Hogwarts).
• Portable Swamp, creates a swamp when used.
• Pygmy Puffs, miniature puffskeins
• quills (in Self-Inking, Spell-Checking and Smart-Answer varieties)
• Reusable Hangman - "Spell It Or He'll Swing".
• Shield Hats, used by the Ministry of Magic for defence against enemy forces.

  (expanded into a range of Shield Cloaks and Shield Gloves)

• trick wands, turn into a variety of unexpected things when waved.
• U-no-Poo.
• WonderWitch products, a range of love potions.

WhizzHard Books

• Founders/ Shop keepers: N/A
• Founded in: N/A
• Sells: Books - a publishing house
• Descriptions: N/A
• Signs: N/A
• Location: 129b, Diagon Alley
• Known Customers:N/A

See also

• Money in Harry Potter