======Privet Drive, Number 4======
=====Location Information=====
  * **Type:** [[Muggle]] Residence
  * **Location:** [[Little Whinging]], Surrey, England
  * **Owner/Residents:** The [[Dursley]] family ([[Vernon Dursley]], [[Petunia Dursley]], [[Dudley Dursley]]); [[Harry Potter]] (summer residence until 1997)
  * **Key Features:** An impeccably neat and determinedly ordinary [[Muggle]] dwelling; site of a powerful protective [[enchantment]] derived from [[Lily Potter]]'s sacrifice, which kept [[Harry Potter]] safe from [[Lord Voldemort]].
=====Description and History=====
Number 4, Privet Drive is the home of the [[Dursley]] family and the reluctant childhood home of [[Harry Potter]]. The house is described as a perfectly square, two-story building that is indistinguishable from the other houses on the street, a fact in which its owners take immense pride. The Dursleys are obsessed with maintaining an appearance of absolute normality, and their home reflects this with its spotless cleanliness, perfectly manicured lawn, and abundance of photographs of their son, [[Dudley Dursley]].
On the night of 31 October 1981, [[Albus Dumbledore]] and [[Minerva McGonagall]] left the infant [[Harry Potter]] on the doorstep of number 4. [[Dumbledore]] placed Harry with his only living relatives, the Dursleys, in order to seal a powerful, ancient charm based on his mother's loving sacrifice. This [[enchantment]] ensured that as long as Harry could call the house where his mother's blood dwelled "home," he could not be harmed by [[Lord Voldemort]]. The protection would last until Harry came of age at seventeen. For the first ten years of his life, Harry was relegated to the [[Cupboard Under the Stairs]], treated as a servant, and kept in complete ignorance of his magical heritage.
=====Role in the Story=====
Privet Drive serves as a stark contrast to the magical world, representing confinement, ignorance, and the mundane life Harry is forced to endure each summer. However, it is paradoxically also the place where he is safest from his greatest enemy.
  * **//Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone//:** The story begins here, establishing Harry's miserable life with the Dursleys. The house is inundated with [[Hogwarts Letter]]s, culminating in [[Rubeus Hagrid]]'s dramatic arrival to reveal Harry's identity as a [[wizard]].
  * **//Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets//:** [[Dobby]] the [[house-elf]] visits Harry's bedroom to warn him not to return to [[Hogwarts]], magically ruining a dinner party and resulting in bars being placed on Harry's window. Harry is subsequently rescued by [[Ron Weasley]], [[Fred Weasley]], and [[George Weasley]] in their father's enchanted [[Flying Ford Anglia]].
  * **//Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban//:** After being provoked by a visiting [[Aunt Marge]], Harry accidentally and angrily inflates her. Fearing expulsion and arrest, he flees the house and is picked up by the [[Knight Bus]].
  * **//Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire//:** The [[Weasley]] family attempts to collect Harry for the [[Quidditch World Cup]] via the [[Floo Network]], but their arrival demolishes the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace.
  * **//Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix//:** Harry and Dudley are attacked by [[Dementor]]s in a nearby alley. After the incident, [[Albus Dumbledore]] sends a [[Howler]] to [[Petunia Dursley]] with the message, //"Remember my last,"// reminding her of the agreement to keep Harry, which successfully prevents Vernon from throwing him out. Harry is later escorted from the house by the [[Advance Guard]].
  * **//Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince//:** [[Dumbledore]] personally visits Number 4 to collect Harry. He updates the Dursleys on the state of the [[Second Wizarding War]] and explains the nature of the protective [[enchantment]]s surrounding Harry and the house.
  * **//Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows//:** The Dursleys are evacuated by members of the [[Order of the Phoenix]] for their own protection. Harry leaves Privet Drive for the last time, causing the blood protection charm to break forever. The departure triggers the [[Battle of the Seven Potters]] as [[Death Eater]]s ambush the group.
=====Known Areas Within=====
  * **[[Cupboard Under the Stairs]]:** Harry's first "bedroom" for ten years. It was small, dusty, and filled with spiders.
  * **Dudley's Second Bedroom:** After the arrival of the first [[Hogwarts Letter]], Harry was moved into Dudley's spare bedroom, which held all of his broken or discarded toys. This room had a window from which Harry was rescued in his second year.
  * **Living Room:** The site of numerous key events, including [[Dobby]]'s disastrous [[Hover Charm]], the Weasleys' explosive arrival via the [[Floo Network]], and Dumbledore's final confrontation with the Dursleys.
  * **Kitchen:** The primary setting for the Dursleys' daily life and where many of their anti-magic sentiments are expressed.
  * **Garden:** A source of pride for [[Vernon Dursley]], it was always kept in pristine condition, often through Harry's labor.
=====Behind the Scenes=====
  * [[J.K. Rowling]] chose the name "Privet" for the street because it is the name of a very common suburban hedging plant, which reflects the [[Dursley]]s' desire to be normal, orderly, and separated from their neighbors (Pottermore).
  * In the film adaptations, the house used for exterior shots in //Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone// is a real house located at 12 Picket Post Close in Bracknell, Berkshire. For all subsequent films, a detailed set replicating the street was built at [[Leavesden Studios]] for easier filming (film).