Entire Diagon Alley

**Diagon Alley** was a cobblestoned ***wizarding*** alley and shopping area located in ***London***, ***England*** behind a pub called the ***Leaky Cauldron***. Inside the alley was an assortment of restaurants, shops, and other sights. All items on the Hogwarts supply list could be bought at Diagon Alley.

### Location

Charing Cross Road, London, England, Great Britain

The alley was completely hidden from the Muggle world, which was right outside of its boundaries. It was very large in area and essentially the centre of wizarding London. Consequently, the demand for space here was steep, and rent costed "*loads of* **Galleon***s*".

## Location

Diagon Alley was accessible from Muggle London through the ***Leaky Cauldron***, which was on ***Charing Cross Road***, set between a bookshop and a record shop. The Muggles who passed by the inn seem to be "quite unconscious" of its existence. Knockturn Alley was an off shoot of Diagon Alley, as were the areas of ***Horizont Alley*** and ***Carkitt Market***.

### Access

> Welcome, Harry, to Diagon Alley.
>
> Rubeus Hagrid introduces Harry Potter to the alley, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

 File:Diagon Alley reveal.gif  The entrance was behind the Leaky Cauldron in a small, walled courtyard with a dustbin. Diagon Alley could be accessed by tapping the correct brick in the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron (from the rubbish bin, three up and two across). The wall went in a small hole first but formed a large archway. It could also be accessed by ***Floo Powder*** and ***Apparition***. There might have been other entrances as well.
Diagon Alley connected to a second, less reputable shopping district, Knockturn Alley. This alley was completely devoted to the ***Dark Arts*** and was considered disreputable and "dodgy" by the wizarding community at large. A wizard seen visiting the alley was considered to be up to no good.

### Community

Inside the Alley was an assortment of restaurants, shops, and other sights; some even had tables out front with coloured umbrellas. Particularly during the days or weeks before school starts at Hogwarts, the location was packed with witches and wizards, though shops were open year-round as witches and wizards travelled to the location for various goods.
While the shops included many school-supply locations, there were also many locations important to the wizarding world, such as Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Ollivanders. Diagon Alley was also the location of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, established by Fred and George Weasley shortly after leaving Hogwarts.

## History

### Early history

 File:Diagon alley entrance.jpg  The ***Leaky Cauldron*** was present long before ***Charing Cross Road*** was even planned in the nineteenth century; its true address was number one, Diagon Alley, and it was believed to have been built some time in the early 1500s, along with the rest of the wizarding street.
It was a popular historical theory that the second oldest building in Diagon Alley was Gringotts Wizarding Bank and that the other shops grew up around it. However, there is a possibility that ***Ollivanders*** was the oldest building, records dating back to the early fourth century B.C.

 File:Diagonalley.jpg  When the ***Statute of Secrecy*** was imposed Diagon Alley was hidden by the use of many powerful spells of concealment. The then Minister for Magic, ***Ulick Gamp***, agreed to give the landlord of the day present at the Leaky Cauldron responsibility for letting people into Diagon Alley from his back yard.
In ***1926***, one of the shops in Diagon Alley was burgled with the help of a ***Four-Headed Bird***.Template:See image

### Jacob's sibling's visits

Before the start of the ***1984–1985 school year***, ***Jacob's sibling*** met and befriended ***Rowan Khanna*** in Diagon Alley, where they went to purchase their school supplies before the start of their ***first year***, including their ***first wand*** from ***Ollivanders*** and required textbooks from ***Flourish and Blotts***.
In ***February*** ***1988***, around ***Valentine's Day***, Gilderoy Lockhart held a book signing event in Flourish and Blotts for his book ''***Voyages with Vampires''***, in which Jacob's sibling and several of their friends were invited to attend.
During the ***1988–1989 school year***, Jacob's sibling and a friend ventured into Diagon Alley to enter Knockturn Alley. They also visited Flourish and Blotts were they met ***Madam Villanelle***, in order to learn clues about their then missing ***brother. The two also had a skirmish in Knockturn Alley outside*** Borgin and Burkes ***with a*** Dark witch ***and other*** Dark wizard***s, whom*** Patricia Rakepick ***saved them from. They also visited Ollivanders later that school year to purchase a*** second wand ***with Rakepick after it was broken. They also visited Knockturn Alley to*** duel ***a*** Dark wizard ***for*** Mundungus Fletcher***.
During the*** 1989–1990 school year***, Jacob went to Flourish and Blotts again to research*** Mahoutokoro***. Shortly after, their sibling entered the shop and asked Villanelle about their brother's visit. During this year, they entered Knockturn Alley several times for various matters. They visited Flourish and Blotts again with*** Chiara Lobosca ***and*** Talbott Winger ***to research*** Grindylow***s. they infiltrated a meeting of 'R' disguised as Rakepick with*** Polyjuice Potion***, resulting in a skirmish. They also visited the shop again with*** Mundungus Fletcher ***to inquire information about a*** Dark witch ***who had been investigating Jacob's sibling wand. The two later witnessed*** Merula Snyde ***being initiated into 'R' in Knockturn Alley by the same Dark witch under Invisibility Cloaks.
During the*** 1990–1991 school year***,*** Zenith Xeep ***held a meet-and-greet event to market her*** hair care potionXeep's Luscious Locks Solution ***in the*** Leaky Cauldron***. However, the*** potion ***induced potent memory loss in several Diagon Alley residents who drank it, including*** Garrick Ollivander ***and Villanelle. Xeep, a Dark witch working for 'R', stole a*** wand ***from Ollivanders and placed a*** fake wand ***in its place. Xeep was confronted in Knockturn Alley by Jacob's sibling and duelled, where she drank the potion in response, erasing her memories. Jacob's sibling later supplied the*** counter-serum ***to Xeep's potion to several Diagon Alley wizards and witches in Ollivanders, which prevented further memory loss for them.***
***Jacob's sibling and Jacob returned to Diagon Alley later this school year for an awkward dinner with their estranged father Peregrine in the Leaky Cauldron. Afterwards, the two siblings discussed the honesty of their father (who was the leader of 'R') and Jacob's past relationship with Olivia Green, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, whom Jacob's sibling was curious about. Jacob's sibling later encountered Ben Copper in Flourish and Blotts, who was there to study for his upcoming N.E.W.T.s and to remember his deceased friend Rowan Khanna, who loved going to the bookshop.***

### Harry Potter's early visits

> There were shops selling ***robes***, shops selling ***telescope***s and strange ***silver*** instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of ***bat spleen***s and ***eels' eyes***, tottering piles of ***spell*** ***book***s, ***quill***s, and rolls of ***parchment***, ***potion*** bottles, ***Globe of the Moon***...
>
> Harry Potter visits Diagon Alley for the first time, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

 File:Gringotts bank.jpg  Harry Potter's first visit to Diagon Alley with Rubeus Hagrid marked his re-introduction to the wizarding world on ***31 July*** 1991, his eleventh birthday. Harry's first stop was Gringotts Wizarding Bank, where he encountered Goblins for the first time. After entering the huge, grand bank and explaining what they wanted to a goblin, Hagrid and Harry were taken by Griphook down to the vaults on a speeding cart, which made Hagrid sick. First they stopped at the Potter vault, then continued to the higher security Vault 713, where Hagrid got the Philosopher's Stone. After obtaining money from the bank Hagrid helped Harry shop for his school supplies and purchased Harry's eleventh birthday present, the ***snowy owl*** Hedwig, from ***Eeylops Owl Emporium***. Harry later named her Hedwig, a name he found in ***A History of Magic***.

 File:Harry-potter1-ollivander harry.jpg  Harry also purchased his wand from ***Ollivanders***. After trying out a large number of ***wand***s, none of which seemed quite right, Harry was handed a ***holly*** and ***phoenix feather*** ***wand***. Harry pays seven ***Galleon***s for the wand and leaves the shop. Also when visiting Diagon Alley, Harry remarked that he wished he had more than one pair of eyes to be able to take in all the sights the alley had to offer.

 File:Confrontation in Flourish and Blotts COSF.jpg  Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys visited ***Flourish and Blotts*** to buy school books for their second year at Hogwarts. They discovered that ***Gilderoy Lockhart*** was signing his new book, ***Magical Me***. When Lockhart spotted Harry, he dragged him up in front of the camera with him and announced to the crowd that he would be the new ***Defence Against the Dark Arts*** teacher at Hogwarts for the up coming year. After Harry escaped from the spotlight, Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley got into a fight. Lucius used that moment to sneak the Diary into Ginny Weasley’s cauldron.

During the summer before his third year, Harry spent several weeks in Diagon Alley, staying in a room at the ***Leaky Cauldron*** by night and roaming the street by day, marvelling at the incredible shops and the witches and wizards, in from all over the country, who came by to do their shopping. He did his homework out in the open, ate free ***ice cream***s, picked up his books, and repeatedly stoped by ***Quality Quidditch Supplies*** to admire the ***Firebolt***.
Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys were also staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione brought (despite Ron's protests) Crookshanks from the Magical Menagerie. That night, Harry overheard Mr and Mrs Weasley in conversation — and learned that Sirius Black was after him.

### Return of the Dark Lord

> The colourful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind the large Ministry of Magic posters that had been pasted over them... A few windows were boarded up, including those of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. On the other hand, a number of shabby-looking stalls had sprung up along the street.
>
> Description of Diagon Alley's gloominess, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

 File:Diagon alley 1998.jpg  Following Voldemort's return to power in 1996, wizards and witches no longer felt safe wandering out in public, and Diagon Alley changed dramatically. The once-crowded streets stood virtually empty, faces of Death Eaters plastered the fronts of once-bright shops, and street vendors popped up, hawking anti-Dark devices.
Within another year and Voldemort's taking over of the Ministry of Magic, a large number of shops had closed, replaced by others devoted to the ***Dark Arts***, and the street was filled with ***Muggle-born***s who had been cast aside by the new system. ***Ollivanders*** and Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour were closed.
Presumably, after Voldemort's eventual downfall and the installation of ***Kingsley Shacklebolt*** as Minister for Magic Diagon Alley eventually returned to its splendour of old.

## Known businesses

> Even worse, the dark, narrow street Harry could see through the dusty shop window was definitely not Diagon Alley.
>
> Harry Potter in Knockturn Alley for the first time, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

## Other wizarding shopping areas

* ***Place Cachée*** was the French equivalent to Diagon Alley.
* The High Street in ***Hogsmeade*** had many shops frequented by Hogwarts students.

## Etymology

The words "Diagon" and "Alley" when pronounced together, produce the word "diagonally" which is most probably the origin of the name "Diagon Alley". When Harry mispronounced the name due to inhaling a mouthful of ash, he landed in a fireplace in nearby Knockturn Alley.

## Behind the scenes

 File:Diagon Alley - Mary Grandpre.jpg   File:Lego Ally.jpg   File:The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley RenderingLR.jpg   File:Diagon-alley.jpg
* In the United States, there is a shop which is a remake of Diagon Alley in Los Angeles, California called Whimsic Alley (which is a play on the word "whimsically"). The store features false store fronts inside the shop which mimic those of the "real" Diagon Alley, where many Harry-Potter and Wizard-Themed items can be purchased.
* In the Spanish books, Diagon Alley was translated to "Callejón Diagon". The shopping centre X-Madrid in Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain, has a Harry Potter-themed shop named "Callejón Madriagon", which is a play on the original name.
* In the film *Eat, Pray, Love* there is a set that looks very much like the set used for Diagon Alley.
* In Template:PS, Hagrid taps a series of bricks to enter Diagon Alley instead of one brick (three up two across).
* The 2-disc DVD edition of *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* includes an interactive tour of Diagon Alley, including non-interactive interior views of several shops, and an interactive exploration of ***Flourish and Blotts***.
* As depicted in the films, Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley are strictly pedestrian precincts, as the streets are too narrow to accommodate either vehicular or carriage traffic. Presumably magical means are exercised for stocking the shops, eliminating the need for standard transportation corridors.
* As depicted in the films, Diagon Alley was inspired by the look of London in the ***early 1800s***, but with fantastical touches, such as buildlings leaning at such sharp angles that they would surely fall if not supported by magic.
* It has three main buildings: Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Ollivanders, and Borgin and Burkes. It includes minifigures which have appeared in several of the Harry Potter films.
* Though Muggles are unable to view the Leaky Cauldron and thus reach the entrance to Diagon Alley, Hermione Granger's parents accompanied her on her trip in her second year. It is possible special arrangements are available for such cases, such as a temporary connection to the Floo Network, or family members being ***charm***ed to allow them to see the pub.
* There is a Diagon Alley in the Universal Studios theme park, joined with Knockturn Alley. It includes a lot of the same shops and buildings where one can purchase Harry Potter merchandise, such as Harry Potter-themed clothing in Madame Malkin's and wand replicas in Ollivander's and Gregorovitch's.
* Some have proposed that Diagon Alley is based on Victoria St in Edinburgh, which is located a few blocks from the Elephant House café. Victoria St is a narrow, winding road with high shops on either side, including a book shop, a clothing shop, a joke shop at one end, and a shop that sells wands. However, Rowling has never mentioned Victoria St.
* In order to fill all the Shops in Diagon Alley, set director Stephenie McMillan and her team went to antique shops, auctions and flea markets in the city and the countryside.
* Crew members who went to purchase the items were asked not to say why they needed so many jars, books, or owl cages. One of the crew members told a shopkeeper the reason she was buying so many broomsticks was because she had to do a lot of sweeping!
* Template:PM had a feature on designing Diagon Alley.

## Appearances

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