Leaky Cauldron

"The Leaky Cauldron. If you have pea soup, make sure you eat it before it eats you."

- A talking Shrunken Head to Harry Potter while in the Knight Bus in 1993.

The Leaky Cauldron is a popular Wizarding pub in London. It is the entrance to Diagon Alley. For much of the end of the 20th Century, Tom was the landlord. At some point, Hannah Abbott becomes the landlady, moving in with her husband, Neville Longbottom.

It was built by Daisy Dodderidge whom was the first landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. The Leaky Cauldron was built in 1500. She says it is, "to serve as a gateway between the non-wizarding world and Diagon Alley." It rents rooms, has a bar, several private parlour rooms, and a large dining room.

To Muggles, the pub appears to be a broken-down old shop front on Charing Cross Road. The rear of the pub, however, opens up onto a chilly courtyard and the entrance to Diagon Alley. To gain access, a witch or wizard taps the bricks in the wall in a counter-clockwise order. A doorway to Diagon Alley then forms which then re-arranges back to the original wall after the person(s) walk through.

1991
"This is it -- the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."

- Rubeus Hagrid in 1991

In 1991, Harry Potter and Rubeus Hagrid passed by the pub on their way to Diagon Alley. Tom, the innkeeper greeted Hagrid there like an old friend. This made it seem that Hagrid is something of a regular. Some other witches and wizards who were there at the time were Doris Crockford, Dedalus Diggle, and Quirinus Quirrell.

1993
In 1993, as well as stopping there for drinks, Harry Potter stays at the inn for a time, having accidentally blown up his Aunt Marge. He also meets Cornelius Fudge in a private room.

1996
While the Leaky Cauldron was a favourite hangout for the magical community, its patronage took a turn for the worse in the summer of 1996, during the beginning of the Second Wizarding War. With Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters moving in the open, many witches and wizards avoided public places as much as possible, including the Leaky Cauldron. When Harry Potter and the Weasley family passed through the Leaky Cauldron that summer on his way to Diagon Alley, they noticed that the bar was empty with the exception of Tom.



Structure
"For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut"

- The Leaky Cauldron in 1991

The Leaky Cauldron is nested between a Muggle bookshop and a record store. Inside the pub, it is dark and shabby, with a bar and a number of tables in the shadows of the corners. In stark contrast to the grubby downstairs of the pub, there are some unexpectedly pleasant rooms upstairs where the passing wizard can stay for the night. These rooms are reached by way of a handsome wooden staircase, and contain comfortable beds, highly polished oak furniture, and a crackling fire is always in the grate to welcome the visitor to their lodgings.

Behind the scenes
In the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as Hagrid and Harry approach the front door, the sign for the Leaky Cauldron clears from a blank, black cut-out to a stylized design with a cauldron in the background. In the film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, a different doorway, with a different sign is shown. It is never shown whether this is supposed to be an alternate doorway or a "new" main entrance. Also, Tom, the landlord was recast for the the third film. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film), during the opening shot, the camera flies through the entrance into Diagon Alley, the entrance used is in Great Newport Street (just off Charing Cross Road), again, it is not mentioned whether this is a different doorway or just a different set.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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