[Background Information] London

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London is the capital of England and the de facto capital of Wizarding Britain. It is known for being grey and rather dreary, but parts of the city are beautiful. Magical London is fully immersed within mundane London; bars and restaurants have hidden entryways and doors that only reveal themselves to witches and wizards. Wards and charms to keep the magical world hidden from muggles have to routinely be renewed by the Ministry of Magic, but due to the busy nature of the city, most goes unnoticed in day-to-day life.

In the aftermath of two wizarding wars, the London magical community is a little more tense than other areas. However, wizarding London lacks the elitism of some other cities. It is known for being a multicultural melting pot and being open to witches and wizards from all over the world. There are, of course, the traditionalists, but as the years pass they are becoming fewer, to be replaced with more forward-thinking witches and wizards.

The two main wizarding shopping streets are Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley; both located in the Covent Garden area. The only walk-in entrance is through The Leaky Cauldon, a wizarding pub located off Charing Cross Road, otherwise Floo and Apparition can be used.

The Ministry of Magic is underneath Whitehall, in the City of Westminster. (pinterest) It has ten separate subterranean levels that can be reached from a visitor's entrance that looks like a telephone booth. In order to access it, you have to dial 62442, or M-A-G-I-C, and a welcome witch's voice will greet you. Visitors must state their reason for being at the Ministry, and then they receive a silver badge stating their name and purpose of visit upon which the telephone booth drops down like a lift, transporting the visitor to the Atrium on level eight. The employee entrance currently in use by most workers takes the form of an underground public toilet into which workers flush themselves whilst magically remaining dry, reappearing in the Atrium. Formerly apparation was the preferred method of travel to work but this had been disallowed during DH playtime and only the most senior Ministers have their homes connected to the Floo network.

St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries & The Dilys Derwent School for Healing are both located in London.  Founded in the 1600's by a healer named Mungo Bonham. The hospital is hidden within a disused department store called Purge and Dowse, Ltd. It is accessible by stepping through the front window, which features several old mannequins dressed in fashions from yesteryear.

King's Cross is home to Platform 9¾, and also to The Underground: a subterranean station beneath King's Cross proper, where international portkeys and magical trains other than the Hogwarts Express arrive and depart.

There are many boroughs in London and no way for us to accurately describe all of them, but some of the main areas include the following:

High End Residential, Expensive Hotels, and Exclusive Shopping:
• Belgravia, Chelsea, Earls Court, Kensington, Knightsbridge, Maida Vale, Mayfair, Notting Hill, St. James', Wimbledon

All Other Residential, Retail, Food & Entertainment:
• Battersea, Bethnal Green, Brixton, Camden Town, Covent Garden, Fitzrovia, Hammersmith, Islington, Pimlico, Shepherd's Bush, Shoreditch, Southwark, South Bank, Soho, The West End

Government, Travel and Other:
• Bloomsbury, City of London, King's Cross, Paddington, Westminster