Eros’s Comments (group member since Nov 07, 2012)

Eros’s comments from the The New Age Wizarding World of J.K. Rowling group.

Gladrags Wizardwear
clothing
Clothier, with additional shops in London and Paris (GF8). Harry visited the shop in 1995, to pick out the craziest socks he could find as a present for Dobby (GF27).

Dervish & Banges
magical equipment
Shop that sells and repairs "magical instruments and stuff," according to Ron, including Sneakoscopes (PA5). It is located near the end of High Street (GF27).

Introduction & History
Hogsmeade is the only entirely wizarding village in Britain (PA5). According to tradition it was founded over a thousand years ago, around the same time as Hogwarts, by Hengist of Woodcroft as he was fleeing persecution by Muggles (fw, Pm). It's a picturesque little village of thatched cottages and shops, with enchanted candles hanging in the trees during the holidays (PA10).

As Hogsmeade is located just down the road from Hogwarts, the school and the village have always shared a special relationship. On select Saturdays throughout the school year the village is filled with Hogwarts students, who are allowed to visit beginning in their third year (GF12); some of the Hogwarts teachers, including Hagrid (PS14) and Dumbledore (HBP25), visit more frequently. The railway station that serves the village is actually on the other side of Hogwarts (map by JKR), and this is where the Hogwarts Express drops students off at the beginning of each school year (GF11).

Borgin & Burkes
Some way down Knockturn Alley at number 13B (JKR) lies Borgin & Burkes, the most notorious of the alley's shops, which specializes in "objects with unusual and powerful properties" (HBP20), and particularly items that are both "unusual and ancient" (JKR). The shop is quite large, dusty, and dimly lit, with a large stone fireplace (CS4), and is known to be frequented by families like the Malfoys (CS4, HBP6). Its proprietors, Mr. Borgin and Caractacus Burke, are smooth talkers known to buy magical objects for much less than they're worth, and sell them for far more (CS4, HBP13).

When Tom Riddle graduated Hogwarts, he surprised his teachers by taking a job at Borgin & Burkes, though they gladly hired him as he was an enchanting young man and able to "persuade" owners of valuable magical objects to sell them to the shop. What his professors didn't know was that Riddle wanted access to these powerful objects, already thinking of his Horcruxes. When Riddle went on one such visit, to the home of Hepzibah Smith, she showed him two valuable objects that she possessed: the cup of Hufflepuff and Slytherin's locket. Upon seeing these, Riddle murdered Hepzibah, framed her house-elf, stole the items, and vanished (HBP13).

Harry has visited the shop twice; first as a twelve-year-old, when he accidentally took the Floo Network to the wrong destination, and watched Lucius Malfoy come in with Draco and sell items to the shop (CS4); and second four years later, when he secretly followed Draco to the shop and overheard him purchasing the vanishing cabinet and threatening Mr. Borgin, though Harry did not figure out what Malfoy had been buying until many months later (HBP6).

Introduction
Just around the corner from Diagon Alley lies a dark, twisting alleyway devoted to the Dark Arts: Knockturn Alley. It's a place that the Weasley children are not allowed in, and with good reason; not only are the wares sold their a bit dodgy, but the wizards hanging around behave fairly suspiciously as well. From the shops and the street vendors one can purchase, among other things, shrunken heads, poisonous candles, human-looking fingernails, and Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent (CS4).

items sold in Knockturn Alley
Items listed were on sale at Borgin & Burkes unless otherwise noted.

a "bloodstained pack of cards" (CS4)
poisonous candles, sold in a shop several doors down from Borgin & Burkes (CS4)
"evil-looking masks" (CS4)
Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent, which Hagrid apparently bought somewhere in the alley (CS4)
The Hand of Glory, which "gives light only to the holder" (CS4) - purchased by Draco Malfoy at some point before 1996 (HBP7) and used to help Death Eaters break into Hogwarts, spring 1997 (HBP29)
hangman's rope (CS4)
human bones (CS4)
human fingernails, sold by a street vendor (CS4)
Slytherin's locket, which Borgin & Burkes purchased from Merope Gaunt for ten galleons and later sold to Hepzibah Smith for far more (HBP13)
a cursed opal necklace, priced at 1500 Galleons (HBP6), which killed nineteen Muggle owners (CS4) and was later purchased by Draco Malfoy for an attempt to kill Dumbledore. Katie Bell was injured instead (HBP12, HBP27)
rusty, spiked instruments (CS4)
shrunken heads, on sale in a window across from Borgin & Burkes (CS4), one of which might have been purchased by Crabbe in 1996 (HBP11)
skulls (CS4), at least one of which costs sixteen galleons (HBP6)
giant black spiders, in a shop window a couple of doors down from Borgin & Burkes (CS4)
a "staring glass eye" (CS4)
a Vanishing Cabinet, which unknown to anyone but Draco Malfoy (at the time, at least) linked directly to its partner in Hogwarts. Draco bought it in 1996 and used it to sneak Death Eaters into the school the following spring (HBP6, HBP27)

thnx

Break-ins

We only know of two Gringotts break-ins, though it's likely there have been more throughout history. The first happened on July 31, 1991, when Quirinius Quirrell - ordered to do so by Voldemort - broke into vault 713 in search of the Philosopher's Stone. However, nothing was stolen, as Hagrid had emptied the vault earlier that same day (PS8, PS17).

The second break-in was much more successful, and happened in May 1998. Hermione used Polyjuice Potion to disguise herself as Bellatrix Lestrange, and despite immediately arousing goblin suspicions, she, Harry, Ron, and Griphook used an invisibility cloak, Confundus Charms, Imperius Curses, and Stunners to great effect, stealing Hufflepuff's cup from the Lestrange vault and escaping on the back of a dragon, leaving the bank in ruins (DH26).


Jobs at Gringotts

There seem to be a number of jobs available at Gringotts for wizards, in addition to those positions held by goblins, though they are largely behind-the-scenes. Bill Weasley took a job as a Curse-Breaker (or Charm-Breaker, GF10), hunting treasure in Egypt after his graduation from Hogwarts (PA1) . The job was described in a pamphlet available to Hogwarts students:

"Are you seeking a challenging career involving travel, adventure, and substantial, danger-related treasure bonuses? Then consider a position with Gringotts Wizarding Bank, who are currently recruiting Curse-Breakers for thrilling opportunities abroad" (OP29).


When he wanted to do work for the Order of the Phoenix, Bill transferred to a desk job in England to be near home (OP4). That same year, Fleur Delacour took a job at Gringotts as well, to improve her English (OP4), though she only works part-time (HBP5). There also seems to be a full-time security force that is comprised of wizards, and that rushes to the scene when the Lestranges vault is broken into (DH26).

Security

From the time he first learns of Gringotts, Harry hears too the rumor that dragons guard the bank's high-security vaults (PS5) - a rumor he later confirms himself (DH26). However, there are many other security measures on Gringotts vaults as well. Those we know of include:
Goblins flank the entrance to every door (PS5, CS4, DH26).

The vaults are "hundreds of miles underground" in a maze of twisting tunnels and caverns (PS5).

The Gringotts carts can only be controlled by goblins (DH26) and move so rapidly the passengers do not have time to see their surroundings (PS5).

Keys are required for lower-security vaults; for higher-security vaults a goblin must touch the door to allow access. If anyone else tried this, "they'd be sucked in the door and trapped in there" (PS5).

When thieves break in, The Thief's Downfall is activated - a waterfall that washes away all enchantments and magical concealments, and the carts throw themselves off the tracks (DH26).

The dragons guarding the high-security vaults can be controlled only by Clankers, which only the goblins have (DH26).

Some vaults have Gemino and Flagrante Curses added to them, meaning that everything a thief touches will burn them and multiply, eventually scalding and crushing them to death (DH26).

Objects within Gringotts vaults cannot be summoned (DH26).
In times of war, additional security precautions are taken:
Wizards with Probity Probes replace the goblins outside the front door, and in the case of Arkie Philpott, a probe was stuck up his... well, never mind (HBP6, DH26).

Warnings are sent to the Gringotts goblins, informing them of wizards who might try to break into specific vaults, wands that have been stolen, etc. (DH26).

A number of other unknown precautions mean that it takes about five hours for the public to access their vaults, according to Bill Weasley (HBP6).

The Gringotts Vaults

In contrast to the grand marble of the entryway and the main hall, the passageways to the vaults are stone and dimly lit with flaming torches. They slope down to a track, upon which run little carts controlled by the goblins (DH26). These carts take visitors deep beneath the surface of the earth, through a "maze of twisting passages," to the vaults. The carts only go one speed - fast - which makes Hagrid a little queasy and prevents its occupants from getting a good look at their surroundings (PS5), and seem to run on a vast, complex, interconnected series of tracks that allow them to move to and between any vaults (PS5, CS4).

The vaults themselves vary in size and security. The largest, most well protected vaults belong to the oldest wizarding families and lie deepest beneath the surface (DH25). Those vaults closer to the surface seem to be smaller and have fewer security precautions surrounding them - they use keys, for example, rather than requiring the touch of a goblin to gain access. We know of several vaults specifically:
The Weasleys' vault, which is likely closer to the surface than Harry's. When Harry visits, the vault contains only a small pile of Sickles and a single Galleon, and Mrs. Weasley cleans it out completely (CS4).

Harry's vault, which requires a key for entry and seems to be of moderate depth - the cart travels for a while to get there, but it's not as far down as vault 713, where the Philosopher's Stone was held (PS5).

Vault 713, which stored only the Philosopher's Stone when Harry visited with Hagrid. The vault was very deep and required a goblin to stroke the door with his finger in order to gain entry (PS5).

Vault 711, belonging to Sirius Black, from which he pays for Harry's Firebolt. The fact that it is numbered so closely to 713 - coupled with the fact that the Blacks are indeed an old wizarding family - suggests that it too is a high-security vault (PA22). It contained a "reasonable amount of gold" (HBP3).

The Lestrange family vault, with even higher security than vault 713 - a dragon guards its entrance and rather than just a finger, a goblin must place his entire palm to the door to open it. The vault is filled with gold, armor, skins, and potions - and most importantly, Hufflepuff's cup, which Harry steals (DH26).

Travers has a vault that requires a key, because he's holding it when he runs into Hermione (DH26).
The rules around who is allowed to access vaults seem odd. We've seen wizards asked for identification (DH26) or a key (PS5) to be allowed access, yet both Molly (GF10) and Bill (HBP6) are able to get gold from Harry's vault for him. Perhaps there is a charm forcing the wizard to give the gold to its rightful owner. However, even this wouldn't explain how Sirius was able to send Crookshanks to order a Firebolt in Harry's name, but take the gold from his own vault - despite being an escaped convict at the time (PA22).

It also seems that only blood relations can inherit a Gringotts vault; Dumbledore implies strongly that when Sirius died as the last of the Black family line, his vault was cleaned out and its contents added to Harry's, rather than Harry inheriting the vault as well (HBP3).

Entrance & Main Hall

From Diagon Alley, a set of white stairs (CS4) leads up to a set of burnished bronze doors. The doors are flanked by a goblin in a uniform of scarlet and gold (PS5), though during war time the goblin was replaced instead by two wizards with Probity Probes (DH26). This is the entrance to Gringotts, and it leads into a small entrance hall and another set of doors. Engraved on these silver doors are the words:

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there. (PS5)


Though these doors - again, flanked by goblins - is a vast marble hall with, by Harry's estimation, a hundred or more goblins sitting at counters. Leading off the hall are "too many doors to count," and it is through at least one (and probably more) of these that customers access the vaults. (PS5).

Introduction

Partway down Diagon Alley, near its intersection with Knockturn Alley, stands an imposing snow-white marble building: Gringotts Wizarding Bank (CS4). "Towering over the other shops" (DH26), it is the place where British witches and wizards store their money and other valuables, in vaults miles below ground. The vaults are heavily guarded - as Hagrid says, "yeh'd be mad teh try an' rob it" (PS5).

The centuries-old bank is run by goblins, and they alone know the secrets of the twisting underground passages and the enchantments (and creatures!) in place to defend against intruders (PS5). The goblins have a code that forbids them to speak of the bank's secrets, and would consider it "base treachery" to break any part of that code (DH24, DH25).

There was a rumor that Cornelius Fudge was trying to take over Gringotts when he was Minister for Magic; however, as it was published in the Quibbler, it was likely unsubstantiated (OP10).

WhizzHard Books
publisher
Located at 129B Diagon Alley, and the publisher of Quidditch Through the Ages.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
"You'll put Dr. Filibuster out of business, no problem."
-- Harry Potter to Fred and George Weasley (OP28)
Fred and George Weasley worked for several years to develop a line of comic magic items which they hoped to sell through their company, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. They were putting together order forms during the summer of 1994 [Y14] with the hope of selling the items at school, but their mother was thoroughly digusted with the whole thing and made them throw the forms away. They were undaunted, however, and they managed to impress Ludo Bagman, the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, with one of their fake wands. At the end of the 1994 - 1995 [Y14 - Y15] school year, Harry Potter gave the Weasley twins a thousand galleons he had won in the Triwizard Tournament as seed money to start them with their business.

Over the 1995 - 1996 [Y15 - Y16] school year, the twins attempted to hire beta testers among the other students (they themselves always served as the first test subjects), but Hermione curtailed their use of other students as testers. They were able, however, to conduct market research, conduct further product development, and build up their customer base over the course of the school year, since their focus was on developing their new business rather than studying for N.E.W.T.s.

Initially the twins ran their business as an owl-order service, but they acquired premises during their final year at Hogwarts and set up shop at Number 93, Diagon Alley.
Currently, the shop is now owned and run by the twin sons of George Weasley.

Some of the items invented by Fred and George:

Basic Blaze Box (OP28)
price: 5 Galleons
A basic selection of Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs, the twins' wizarding fireworks.

Bruise-remover paste
Thick yellow paste that heals bruises within an hour. Fred gave some to Hermione to heal the black eye she got from a Punching telescope.

Canary Creams (GF21)
price: 7 Sickles
Have the appearance and taste of ordinary custard creams, but transfigure the eater into a huge canary. The effect is short-lived, however, since the person moults a few moments later and becomes his or her normal self.

Decoy Detonators
Weird-looking black horn-type objects that scurry out of sight and make a loud noise to create a diversion (HBP6, DH13)

Deflagration Deluxe (OP28)
price: 20 Galleons
A deluxe selection of Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs, the twins' wizarding fireworks.

Edible Dark Marks -
They'll Make Anyone Sick! (HBP6)

Extendable Ears (OP4)
price:
Has the appearance of a piece of flesh-coloured string; one end is attached to the listener's ear, the other is placed near what the listener wants to overhear. If a solid object with an Imperturbable Charm on it is in the way, the Extendable Ear won't be able to pick up the desired sounds.

The twins developed this during the summer of 1995 [Y15] to eavesdrop on the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix. Although not mentioned, it is noteworthy that Hermione was staying with the Weasleys at the time, and she had spent much of the previous school year researching magical methods of eavesdropping, so she may have assisted the twins in developing this Wheeze.
The trio used them to listen in on Draco's conversation with the shop keeper at Borgin and Burkes (HBP6).

Fainting Fancy (OP6)
price:
One of the range of sweets found in a Skiving Snackbox, this causes the eater to faint. During the twins' beta tests on the volunteer Gryffindor first years, the eater remained unconscious until fed the antidote by someone else.
See "fancy" in Strictly British.

Fever Fudge (OP18)
price:
One of the range of sweets found in a Skiving Snackbox. Each end of the sweet is colour-coded, so that one end causes the eater to develop a high fever and the other cancels the effect.

Fred and George had a lot of trouble developing the prototype, which had undesirable side effects; one of the few positive results from Umbridge's many detentions were that the twins learned about the properties of murtlap essence through their friends.

Guaranteed Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher (HBP6)

Hangman, Reusable (HBP6)
price:
advertising slogan: Reusable Hangman - Spell It Or He'll Swing!
A toy for playing Hangman - not on paper, but with a tiny wooden man and a real set of gallows to scale, where apparently the little man will march up the gallows steps as the game progresses.

Hats, Headless (OP24)
price: 2 galleons
A Headless Hat carries a special invisibility charm that, when placed on a wearer, makes the wearer's head invisible (along with the hat itself), but the rest of the wearer remains visible. The magic involved was sophisticated enough to impress Hermione.

Hats, Shield (HBP6)
Causes jinxes to bounce off the wearer. The Ministry bought five hundred for all their support staff. Also Shield Cloaks and Shield Gloves. Not effective against Unforgivables.

Instant Darkness Powder (HBP6)
Imported from Peru

love potions (HBP6)
One of the WonderWitch line of products. Effective for about 24 hours, depending on the weight of the boy, and the attractiveness of the girl.

Muggle magic tricks (HBP6)
Non-magical card and rope tricks. Considered a novelty to wizards.

Nosebleed Nougat (OP12) (HBP6)
price:
One of the range of sweets found in a Skiving Snackbox. Each end of the sweet is colour-coded, where one end causes the eater to develop a serious nosebleed, while the other end cancels the effect. As of the summer before Harry's sixth year, this appeared to be the most popular of the Skiving Snackbox trick sweets.

Patented Daydream Charms (HBP6)
Comes in a colorful box bearing the picture of a young couple on the deck of a pirate ship. Offers a thirty-minute daydream from a simple incantation. Side effects include vacant expression and minor drooling. Hermione called them "extrodinary magic". Fred offered her one for free.

Portable Swamp (OP29)
price:
When deployed, creates a swamp covering the target area. This was the Wheeze that resulted in Umbridge's famous failed detention.

Puking Pastilles (OP6)
price:
One of the range of sweets found in a Skiving Snackbox. Each end of the sweet is colour-coded, so that one end causes the eater to vomit and the other cancels the effect. Fred and George had trouble with the prototype until they got the effect balanced so that the vomiting was severe but not so severe that the cancelling end couldn't be swallowed.
Hermione gave one to Reg Cattermole in order to send him to St.Mungo's while Ron impersonated him to infiltrate the Ministry. (DH12)
See "pastille" in Strictly British.

Punching telescope (HBP5 , HBP6)
Trick telescope that when squeezed emits a cloud of black smoke, a bang, and a tiny fist springs out to give the user a black eye.

Pygmy Puffs (HBP6)
Miniture puffskeins, small round fluffy ball-like creatures in shades of purple and pink, that emit highpitched squeaks. Make cuddly affectionate pets.

quills (HBP6)
price:
Come in Self-Inking, Smart-Answer, Spell-Checking varieties.

Skiving Snackbox (OP6)
price:
A range of sweets to make the eater ill; each different category looks like a different type of sweet and causes a different kind of illness. Each sweet is colour-coded so that one end causes the illness and the other makes the effect lift.
See "skiving" in Strictly British.

Ton-Tongue Toffees (GF4, GF5)
price:
Imbued with an Engorgement Charm, these sweets make a person's tongue swell up to ten times its normal size. It took six months for the twins to develop them, which didn't please their mother as they were supposed to have been studying for their OWLs at the time.

U-No-Poo (HBP6)
price:
advertising slogan: Why are you worrying about You-Know Who?
You should be worrying about U-No-Poo - the Constipation Sensation that's gripping the nation!

Causes constipation in the unwary victim. The twins turned the Ministry's warning posters about Voldemort - You-Know-Who - to their advantage by mimicking them in their advertising for this product.

wands, fake (GF22)
wands, trick (HBP6)
price: worth 5 Galleons, according to Ludo Bagman
Although these items look just like normal wands, when used they do something funny, such as change into something silly such as (for the cheapest variety) rubber chickens or pairs of pants (US: a tin parrot or a rubber haddock) or beat the unwary user about the head and neck (for the most expensive variety) .

Wildfire Whiz-Bangs (OP28)
price: depends on the specific selection purchased
Wizarding fireworks creating various visual effects, carrying special enchantments that result in variations if two fireworks collide with one another or if various spells are deployed to try to get rid of the fireworks. Stunning them results in a violent explosion, for instance, while a Vanishing Spell multiplies the target firework by 10.

WonderWitch line of products (HBP6)
Packaged in violent pink. Includes love potions and Guaranteed Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher

Twilfitt & Tatting's
robes
An upscale clothing shop. Narcissa decided to take her business there after meeting a 'mudblood' in Madam Malkin's (HBP6, Pm ).

Terrortours
travel agency
Located at 59 Diagon Alley, Terrortours advertises that they offer "action holidays for the wizard family with a sense of adventure!" Some of their tours include:

Transylvanian castles for rent, with the host a guaranteed vampire
a trip down the "Zombie Trail" where you can come "face to face with the living dead!"
a cruise through the Bermuda Triangle where you'll see the remains of ships that "didn't spot the monster."
The small print at the bottom of the ad warns that "Terrortours accepts no responsibility for death or injury (DP)."

stationery store
writing supplies
Next door to Quality Quidditch Supplies, this store sells ink, quills, and parchment

second hand robe shop
robes
Mrs. Weasley took Ginny there to buy robes for her first year at Hogwarts (CS4); this is also likely the place where she purchased Ron's dress robes for the Yule Ball (GF10).

Quality Quidditch Supplies
brooms & other Quidditch-related items
Harry Potter's favorite shop in Diagon Alley is Quality Quidditch Supplies. He visited it often when he stayed for three weeks at the Leaky Cauldron, since that summer the new Firebolt racing broom had been introduced and the shop had one on display (PA4). Quality Quidditch Supplies also once displayed a full set of Chudley Cannons robes in the front window (CS4).

Potage's Cauldron Shop
cauldrons
This shop, the closest one to the entrance from the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron, sells all sorts of cauldrons. Outside the shop, a stack of them shines in the sun, under a sign that reads:

Cauldrons
All sizes
Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver
Self-Stirring
Collapsible
The name of the cauldron shop is Potage's Cauldron Shop (Pm).

Ollivander's
wands
"Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C," Ollivander's is a narrow and shabby little shop with a window display consisting of a single wand resting on a faded purple cushion. Inside the walls are lined floor to ceiling with thousands of narrow boxes, which Mr. Ollivander chooses from when trying to find a wand to match each customer (PS5). Ollivander's closed in 1996 (HBP6) when Ollivander was kidnapped by Voldemort (DH5); it is unknown whether he re-opened the shop following Voldemort's defeat two years later.