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. Does Diagon Alley exist in Muggle reality? It would seem so, since Harry heard traffic outside his room in the Leaky Cauldron. Of course, that may be simply the fact that the Leaky Cauldron itself is in Muggle space, but the Alley on the other side of the magic portal is not.

Diagon Alley is fairly large. During the summer before his third year, Harry spent several weeks there, staying in his room at the Leaky Cauldron at night and roaming Diagon Alley by day. There are a large number of shops of many varieties (see Directory of Stores and Shops below). Witches and wizards travel to Diagon Alley from all over Britain to spend the day shopping. Near Gringotts is a sidestreet called Knockturn Alley where are to be found shops dealing with the Dark Arts.