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"Number Four, Privet Drive" was the very first content, including J.K. Rowling's thoughts, unlocked on Pottermore. It is found in "Number Four, Privet Drive".

Introduction[]

"Privet Drive" is first discovered in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Boy Who Lived, "Number Four, Privet Drive".[1]

Privet Drive is located in Little Whinging in Surrey, England. Similarly styled houses line the neat street. It’s a quiet and distinctly unmagical place.

After Harry Potter’s parents are killed by Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore arranges for Harry to live at number four, Privet Drive, with his relatives, the Dursleys (his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and cousin, Dudley).

J.K. Rowling's thoughts[]

The name of the street where the Dursleys live is a reference to that most suburban plant, the privet bush, which makes neat hedges around many English gardens. I liked the associations with both suburbia and enclosure, the Dursleys being so smugly middle class, and so determinedly separate from the wizarding world. The name of their area is 'Little Whinging', which again sounds appropriately parochial and sniffy, 'whinging' being a colloquial term for 'complaining or whining' in British English.

Although I describe the Dursleys' house as big and square, as befitted Uncle Vernon's status as a company director, whenever I wrote about it I was unconsciously visualising the second house I lived in as a child, which on the contrary was a rather small three-bedroomed house in the suburb of Winterbourne, near Bristol. I first became conscious of this when I entered the number four Privet Drive that had been built at Leavesden Studios, and found myself in an exact replica of my old house, down to the position of the cupboard under the stairs and the precise location of each room. As I had never described my old home to the set designer, director or producer, this was yet another of the unsettling experiences that filming the Potter books has brought me.

For no very good reason, I have never been fond of the number four, which has always struck me as a rather hard and unforgiving number, which is why I slapped it on the Dursleys' front door.

From the Story[]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone[]

New content is discovered in Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived, "Number Four, Privet Drive".

Number Four, Privet Drive is also mentioned in Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass, "The Cupboard Under the Stairs" and "The Trip to the Zoo", and Chapter 3: The Letters from No One, "Harry Receives a Mysterious Letter".

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets[]

Discovered in chapter 1, The Worst Birthday[]

"The Magic Word"[2]

Harry spends the summer holidays with the Dursleys at number four, Privet Drive.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire[]

Discovered in chapter 4, Back to the Burrow[]

"The Weasleys Arrive"[3]

The atmosphere in Number Four, Privet Drive is very tense as the Dursley's wait with Harry for the Weasley's to arrive. The fireplace at Privet Drive was connected to the Floo Network for the afternoon by the Floo Regulation Panel, but as the fireplace was boarded up, the Weasleys were trapped behind it. After Mr Weasley blasts through the wall, the usually spotless living room is covered in dust and bricks.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[]

Discovered in chapter 4, The Seven Potters[]

Members of the Order of the Phoenix gather at number four, Privet Drive to help with Harry's journey from the house.

References[]

See also[]

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