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Number Four Privet Drive

Essay: Number Four, Privet Drive

Rowling discusses the terms ‘privet’ and ‘whinging,’ the number four, and the similarity between the house in the books and her childhood home in Winterbourne.

Interesting facts and notes

[caption id="attachment_1974" align="alignright" width="300"]35_Nicholls_Ln_Winterbourne_streetview Street view of the type of houses Rowling was picturing when describing Privet Drive.[/caption]

Rowling associates the term 'privet' with suburbia, of course, but also with separation and enclosure. The house is described in the books as "big and square" but in details it fits the smaller house Rowling grew  up in while living in Wingerbourne as a child. This accounts for some of the oddities like a fireplace in the kitchen, which would be found in a much older, less spacious house than seen in the films.

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Pottermore
Number Four Privet Drive
Author
Dimensions 255 words
Abbreviation Pm1.1.1
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