[HPforGrownups] Location of the Leaky Cauldron !

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 249

At 00:25 08/27/2000 -0000, you wrote:

>With the Help of "BabyNick" and "Flying Ford Anglia-Neal" we were 
>able to pinpoint it's location on Charing Cross Road, just South of 
>Oxford Street by about two blocks.  This places it between a Book 
>Store and a Record Shop, both located on Charing Cross Road. From the 
>front it appears as a simple doorway, to our Muggle eyes.  We can 
>only guess what it's appearance is to a magical person.  

Yes, we were obviously feeling a bit unmagical that day and couldn't see it
in its true glory.  Also, I noted that JKR didn't mention the lingerie shop
opposite the entrance to Diagon Alley.  If she had, it's possible the New
York Times would never have relegated the first book to the Children's list.

Dennis - it was great to meet you and hear about Oregon.  But, EEEEK!, I'm
not sure I should thank you for posting that photo of me outside The Leaky
Cauldron [best guess].  I look like I'm doing an impersonation of Oliver Hardy!

>It was very common to see people dressed as Sherlock Holmes, 
>Electronic Robots, and others strange sites as these street 
>performers worked to collect donated coins for their performances.... 

>Seeing someone the size of Hagrid, would only be passed off as one of 
>the local performers in costume.

I didn't like to say at the time, Dennis, but those weren't street
perfomers, they were just average Londoners going about their daily
business.  In London, you can be ten feet tall with a massive straggly beard
and just blend into the crowd.  It's a colourful place.

Incidentally, does anyone remember me mentioning the theatrical costumiers,
Angel and Bermans?  That's really near the area Dennis was describing, and I
have a theory that it masks a wizard shop - a Muggle clothing emporium
called Pickit & Makeshift.  Witches and wizards pop in there to get kitted
out for extended forays into the Muggle world.  That's probably where Arthur
picked up his loose jeans and golfing jumper for the trip to the Quidditch
World Cup.  Unfortunately, on the day baby Harry turned Voldemort into a
fleshy fondue, the proprietor of Pickit & Makeshift's, Belladonna Bustier,
had a few too many cups of Jackanape's Juniper Juice and forgot to open the
shop.  That's why everyone was walking around in their wizarding robes that
day.    

Just one of my vague theories...

Neil
            Flying-Ford-Anglia

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   "Then, dented, scratched and steaming, 
   the car rumbled off into the darkness, 
   its rear lights blazing angrily"

 [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

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