The Leaky Cauldron is a dark, shabby pub and inn for wizards, located on the Muggle street of Charing Cross Road in London, offering food, drinks and rooms to rent. It was founded by Daisy Dodderidge (1467–1555) in 1500 "to serve as a gateway between the non-wizarding world and Diagon Alley."

On the main floor, the inn has a bar, several private parlour rooms, and a large dining room. On the upper floors, there are a number of rooms available for rent. Some rooms have talking mirrors and windows that allow one to look out onto Charing Cross Road.

People often stay at The Leaky Cauldron when they come to London on shopping trips.

The pub serves as a way of entering into Diagon Alley from the Muggle world for Muggle-borns and their parents (both of whom, until the first letter from Hogwarts, have no magical knowledge or means of entering). The rear of The Leaky Cauldron opens onto a chilly little courtyard, in which a particular brick must be tapped three times to open a path to Diagon Alley.

Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the only known bank of the wizarding world and it is operated primarily by goblins. A snowy white building, near the intersection of Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley, Gringotts towers over all neighbouring shops. Customers pass through a set of bronze doors and then silver ones before entering the lobby. The main floor is paved with marble and has long counters stretching along its length. Within, wizards and witches keep their money and other valuables in vaults that are protected by very complex and very strong security measures. The vaults extend for miles under London and are accessible through rough stone passageways navigated by magic carts that travel speedily along their tracks.[PS Ch.5] Gringotts also offers Muggle-Wizarding currency exchange.

Eeylops Owl Emporium, Flourish & Blotts, Gambol and Japes, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Magical Menagerie, Ollivanders, Potage's Cauldron Shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, Twilfitt and Tatting's, Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment

Headquartered in Diagon Alley the brick building has a black door with a gold plaque on it for an entrance. Interior offices follow the same brick design with large desks and big windows.

Knockturn Alley is a dark and seedy alleyway leading off from the more savoury Diagon Alley to which Muggles have no access.

It is frequently populated by Dark Wizards. Many of the shops in Knockturn Alley are devoted to the Dark Arts; the best known of which is Borgin & Burkes, which sells sinister and dangerous objects.