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 Hogsmeade
"Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid it...I asked Nearly Headless Nick ... He says he's heard a very rough crowd lives here. No one can get in. Some students tried, obviously, but all the entrances are sealed shut..."
— A Hogwarts student
An abandoned house on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, the Shrieking Shack stands just a little way above the rest of the village, with boarded-up windows and an overgrown garden. It is slightly creepy even in daylight. Rumored to be haunted due to the screams heard by the locals for many years, even ghosts are said to avoid it, and the dwelling has been dubbed the most haunted in Britain.
What not many wizards or witches know is that apparently the Shrieking Shack is connected to Hogwarts by a secret tunnel that lies underneath the Whomping Willow.