Privet Drive, Number 4

• 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.

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.

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 Letters, 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 Dementors 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 enchantments 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 Eaters ambush the group.

• 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.

• 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 Dursleys' 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).