Cities

• Type: General Knowledge / Muggle Settlement
• Location: Worldwide
• Owner/Residents: Primarily Muggles; Wizards and Witches often live among them in secrecy.
• Key Features: High-density populations, major hubs of Muggle infrastructure, and often the location of hidden magical districts, buildings, or transportation access points.

In the Wizarding World, cities are understood to be large, densely populated urban areas dominated by Muggles. Unlike the wizarding community, which often favours smaller, secluded villages like Hogsmeade or Godric's Hollow, there are no known exclusively magical cities. Instead, wizards and witches who reside in cities live integrated, yet hidden, among the non-magical population. The relationship between the wizarding community and Muggle cities is governed by the International Statute of Secrecy. This crucial law mandates that the existence of magic be concealed from Muggles, a task that is particularly challenging in crowded urban environments. To maintain this secrecy, wizards employ a variety of magical means, including powerful Muggle-Repelling Charms and other enchantments to hide significant magical locations from non-magical eyes. A prime example is the Leaky Cauldron in London, which is described as being “squashed between a big bookshop and a record shop,” completely unnoticed by the streams of Muggles passing by. Historically, the establishment of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1692 led many wizarding families to retreat from Muggle centres into more rural or magically-protected communities. However, cities remain vital as they house important governmental, commercial, and transportational hubs for the Wizarding World.

Cities, particularly London, serve as a critical backdrop for many key events in the series, representing the intersection and frequent tension between the magical and Muggle worlds.

• Gateway to the Wizarding World: For Harry Potter, the city of London is his first true entry point into the world of magic. Rubeus Hagrid takes him to the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley to purchase his school supplies.
• Center of Government and Society: London is the seat of the British wizarding government, the Ministry of Magic, and the primary magical medical facility, St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. It also contains the main wizarding shopping district, Diagon Alley, and the entrance to the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross Station.
• A Place of Refuge and Conflict: During the Second Wizarding War, Number 12, Grimmauld Place, a townhouse in a London square, becomes the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Later, after fleeing the attack at Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger Apparate to Tottenham Court Road in central London. They are almost immediately tracked and attacked by Death Eaters in a cafe, demonstrating that not even the anonymity of a city can provide complete safety from Lord Voldemort's regime.
• Muggle-Wizarding Interface: The town of Great Hangleton is the nearest Muggle settlement to the Riddle House and the ancestral Gaunt Shack. The history of the Riddle family, local Muggle gentry, is deeply intertwined with the dark magical history of the Gaunt family, highlighting the often-tragic interactions between the two communities.

While many cities are referenced in passing, London is the only one detailed extensively.

• London
  • The Leaky Cauldron: A pub and inn that serves as the public entrance to Diagon Alley.
  • Diagon Alley: The primary commercial street for witches and wizards in Great Britain.
  • Knockturn Alley: An alley dedicated to the Dark Arts that branches off from Diagon Alley.
  • Ministry of Magic: The headquarters of the British wizarding government, located deep beneath the city.
  • St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries: The main hospital for the wizarding community, hidden within a “closed for refurbishment” department store called Purge and Dowse Ltd.
  • King's Cross Station: A major Muggle railway station that secretly houses Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
  • Number 12, Grimmauld Place: The ancestral home of the Black family, hidden by a Fidelius Charm in a Muggle residential square.
• Great Hangleton
  • A Muggle village that serves as the nearest population center to significant locations from Lord Voldemort's past.

• J.K. Rowling uses the real-world city of London as a major setting, grounding the magical world in a familiar, tangible reality. Many of the locations, such as King's Cross Station, are real places.
• In the film adaptations, the visual contrast between the mundane Muggle city and the vibrant, hidden magical world is a recurring cinematic theme. The entrance to the Leaky Cauldron is depicted on Charing Cross Road, and the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic is a red telephone box. (film)