Diagon
Alley
Tapping just the right brick in the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron pub in London ("Three up...two across...") will reveal an archway which is a portal into Diagon Alley, a long cobbled street where is to be found a strange and exciting assortment of shops and restaurants, some of which have tables outside with brightly colored umbrellas.
Directory of Stores and Shops of Diagon Alley
Flourish
& Blotts Bookstore
Manager is
a bit brusque, but then he does have to deal with strange and bothersome
things like books
that bite (The Monster Book of Monsters), books that are completely
invisible (The Invisible Book of Invisibility), and book signings
by Gilderoy Lockhart,
who draws quite a crowd which can get a bit unruly at times. (PA4, CS4)
Gringott's
Wizarding Bank
Large white marble building, staffed
by Goblins,
so don't even think of trying to rob it if you know what's good for you.
Knockturn
Alley connects to Diagon Alley near the bank. The main floor of offices
is on street level, but the vaults are miles below, accessable by a magic
cart.
It is rumored that the goblins keep dragons
down there to guard the high security vaults.
The
Leaky Cauldron
A small, shabby-looking
inn on Charing Cross Road, London, sandwiched between a big book shop and
a record store. The landlord, bald and toothless, is named Tom (SS5, PA3).
There are a number of rooms available. During the last few weeks of August,
1993, Harry stayed in room 11, which has windows to let in the sunshine
and a mirror on the wall which talks; Harry could hear the traffic from
Charing Cross Road behind and the crowd in Diagon Alley below. The night
of August 31, Ron and Percy shared room 12 next door. There is a
bar, several private parlor rooms (PA3) and a fairly good-sized dining
room (PA4, SS5). The Leaky Cauldron's clientele upon Harry's first visit
includes:
- a few old women drinking sherry, one of whom is smoking a long pipe
- Doris Crockford
- Dedalus Diggle, in his usual top hat
- Professor Quirrell
- funny little witches up from the country for a day's shopping
- wizards reading the magazine Transfiguration Today
- wild-looking warlocks
- raucous dwarves
- a hag eating raw liver
Quality
Quidditch
Supplies
Harry Potter's favorite shop in Diagon Alley is Quality Quidditch Supplies. He visited it often when he stayed for two weeks at the Leaky Cauldron, since that summer the new Firebolt racing broom had been introduced and the shop had one on display (PA4). Quality Quidditch Supplies displayed a full set of Chudley Cannons robes in the front window (CS4)
Gambol
& Japes Wizarding Joke
Shop
This shop,
a favorite of Fred
and George,
sells a wide variety of tricks and practical joke items. The twins buy
Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks here (CS4).
Florean
Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor
Florean Fortescue
served Harry free ice cream sundaes and offered
advice about medieval witchcraft for a report Harry was writing (PA
Madam
Malkin's Robes
for All Occasions
Madam Malkin
is a squat, smiling witch wearing mauve robes. Madam Malkin's is next door
to Flourish & Blott's. Hogwarts school robes are to be found here.
The
Apothecary
The Apothecary
sells potion
ingredients. It's a fascinating shop crammed with all sorts of interesting
things. There are barrels of slimy stuff lined up on the floor and jars
of all sorts of powders, herbs, and the like along the walls. Bundles
of feathers, fangs, and claws hang from the ceiling. The whole place smells
very bad, a mixture of bad eggs and rotten cabbage. (SS5, CS4) The name
of this shop is Slug & Jiggers Apothecary (SS/f).
Eeylops
Owl
Emporium
A dark shop
which, according to the sign, sells Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy
owls. Hagrid bought Hedwig
here for Harry on July 31, 1991.
Ollivander's
- Makers of Fine Wands
since 382 BC
A narrow and
shabby little shop. The window displays a faded purple cushion upon which
sits a single wand. The walls are lined floor to ceiling with thousands
of narrow boxes. The furniture consists of a single spindly chair.
Magical
Menagerie (PA4)
Hermione bought
Crookshanks
here. The walls are covered with cages and the place is noisy with the
sounds of all the animals. The proprietor is a witch who wears heavy black
spectacles. She offers advice and sells things like rat tonic. Other creatures
for sale included:
- enormous purple toads
- gigantic tortoise with jewel-encrusted shell (probably a Fire-Crab)
- poisonous orange snails (Streelers?)
- a fat white rabbit that changed into a top hat and back
- cats of every color
- noisy cage of ravens
- custard-colored furrballs (probably Puffskeins)
- sleek, black rats, rather more intelligent than normal rats
full of broken wands, lopsided scales, etc. and a thin little book called Prefects Who Gained Power which caught Percy's eye (CS4)
stationery
store
next door
to Quality Quidditch Supplies, that sells ink, quills, and parchment (SS5,
CS4). The name of one such shop in Diagon Alley is Scribbulus Everchanging
Inks (SS/f).
second
hand robe shop
Mrs. Weasley took Ginny there to
buy her robes for Hogwarts (CS4).
WhizzHard Books
Publishing firm (Quidditch Through
the Ages)
Located at 129B Diagon Alley (QA)
Obscurus Books
Publishing firm (Fantastic Beasts
and Where to Find Them)
Located at 18a Diagon Alley (FB)
Daily Prophet
There is an office of the Daily
Prophet in Diagon Alley, or at least a sign proclaiming the name. This
is not canon since it only appears in the film (SS/f)
cauldron
shop
This shop,
the closest one to the entrance from the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron,
sells all sorts of cauldrons.
Outside the shop, a stack of them shines in the sun, under a sign that
reads:
Cauldrons
All sizes
Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver
Self-Stirring
Collapsible
Some of the things for sale on Diagon Alley:
- lunascope
- ice cream
- chocololate and raspberry with chopped nuts (SS5)
- sundaes, free on the half-hour (PA4)
- strawberry and peanut butter (CS4)
- solid gold Gobstones
- perfect, moving model of the galaxy in a glass ball
- dragon liver
- rat tonic
- beetle eyes
- owls - tawny, screech, barn, brown, and snowy
- broomsticks
- Firebolt
- Nimbus 2000
- robes
- Hogwarts school robes
- Chudley Cannons robes
- telescopes (including collapsible brass)
- strange silver scientific instruments
- barrels of bats' spleens and eels' eyes
- quills
- rolls of parchment
- potion bottles
- globes of the moon
- ink that changes color as you write (Scribbulus Everchanging Inks?)
- books
- leather-bound books the size of paving slabs
- books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk
- books full of peculiar symbols
- books with nothing in them at all
- piles of spell books
- cauldons
- solid gold
- copper
- brass
- pewter
- scales for weighing potion ingredients
- barrels of slimy stuff
- jars of herbs
- dried roots
- bright powders
- bundles of feathers
- strings of fangs
- snarled claws
- silver unicorn horns
- wands
- toads
- cats
- other animals
