The Wizarding World Geocache Series
"Upon the signature of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1689, wizards went into hiding for good. It was natural, perhaps, that they formed their own small communities within a community."
— The secrecy surrounding the wizarding world
The Wizarding World, also referred to as the magical community, is the society in which wizards and witches live and interact, separate from non-wizarding society. The two communities are kept separate through the use of charms, spells, and secrecy. Wizards and witches are forbidden to reveal anything about magic to Muggle society due to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, but that does not mean that the two worlds live entirely apart.
Welcome to London
"No sooner had he reached the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, than a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way."
- A wizard's first experience with Number 12, Grimmauld Place
Number 12, Grimmauld Place is the ancestral home of the Black family, one of the oldest and most prominent pure-blood families in the wizarding world. It is located in a Muggle neighborhood in London, nestled between numbers 11 and 13, and is magically concealed by a Fidelius Charm, a highly advanced, ancient concealment spell, that makes it "unplottable" and invisible to Muggles.
The house is described by those who have been able to enter as filthy, dark, and smelling of damp and decay. It is infested with magical pests like Doxies and Boggarts.
The Entrance Hall is long and gloomy, lit by gas lamps. It is famous for the life-size portrait of Walburga Black, which screams pure-blood insults if disturbed. The rest of the house is filled with dark artifacts, including a chandelier shaped like a nest of snakes and curtains heavy with Doxy eggs. A staircase lined with shrunken heads of former Black family house-elves, mounted on plagues leads to upstairs bedchambers. The Drawing Room contains the Black Family Tree Tapestry, a massive wall-hanging where "disowned" family members have been burned off with a wand. The cavernous, flagstoned kitchen features a large fireplace and a long wooden table. In a cupboard, next to the boiler, is a nest of rubbish, torn and tattered blankets, and "treasures" rescued from the trash by the house-elf.