Portsmouth

• Type: Muggle City, Knight Bus Base
• Location: Hampshire, England
• Owner/Residents: The Knight Bus is based here. Its crew, including Stan Shunpike and Ernie Prang, are likely residents.
• Key Features: A major port city on the southern coast of England.

Portsmouth is a prominent Muggle port city located in Hampshire on the south coast of England. While it is a non-magical city, it holds a specific significance within the British wizarding community. According to J.K. Rowling, Portsmouth serves as the home base for the Knight Bus when the magical triple-decker bus is not on duty picking up stranded witches and wizards across Britain (J.K. Rowling Website). This implies that the city is likely the place of residence for the bus's staff, such as its conductor, Stan Shunpike, and driver, Ernie Prang.

The city of Portsmouth is never directly visited or mentioned by name in the seven Harry Potter novels. Its relevance to the plot is entirely indirect, through its connection to the Knight Bus. The Knight Bus itself plays a crucial role at several points, most notably providing Harry Potter with emergency transport from Little Whinging to the Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Portsmouth's status as its home base firmly embeds this piece of magical infrastructure within the fabric of the Muggle world, highlighting how wizards and magical services exist unseen alongside ordinary society.

No specific magical locations or establishments within Portsmouth are described in the wizarding world canon. The exact location where the Knight Bus is parked when idle is unknown.

The connection between Portsmouth and the Knight Bus was revealed by J.K. Rowling on the “Rumours” section of her former official website. She confirmed the fan theory that the bus is based in the city when not in use. This information does not appear in the original seven books.