Harry Potter: 10 Shadiest Characters Who Frequently Visited Knockturn Alley

Just like us muggles, wizards and witches from the Harry Potter universe love a spot of shopping. Usually, that means a trip to Diagon Alley, which can be accessed via The Leaky Cauldron. However, if you’re a shadier character with darker thoughts than your average man, chances you’d be more likely to embark on a visit to Knockturn Alley instead.

It’s a place that’s dark and foreboding, packed full of items and artifacts that intrigue the darkest of wizards. Let’s take a look at 10 questionable characters who frequently visited the place.

10 Mr. Borgin

The very first shop we see and read about from Knockturn Alley is named Borgin and Burkes. It’s owned by the shady Mr. Borgin and Caractacus Burke, who sell and buy dark artifacts to powerful and often murky individuals.

Harry ends up here purely by accident in the Chamber of Secrets. Intending to travel to Diagon Alley instead, he chokes on his words and ends up in a place he really shouldn’t be. He’s able to escape the shop before being seen, with Rubeus Hagrid eventually escorting him back to safety. And speaking of the half-giant …

9 Rubeus Hagrid

Harry gets into a spot of bother while in Knockturn Alley. Unaware of where he is or how to get out, he looks like he’s about to be preyed on by a band of villainous witches and wizards. Fortunately for him, Hagrid is also there.

The half-giant insists he’s there to get Slug Repellent because they’re “eating all the school cabbages.” While there’s probably somewhere in Diagon Alley that would sell this, according to the Hogwarts groundskeeper, that isn’t the case. This preys on Harry’s mind when Hagrid’s accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets, but it seems like his motive for being there was legitimate, especially given he’s got a heart of gold.

8 Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy visits Knockturn Alley at least twice in the book and movies. The first is in the Chamber of Secrets when he accompanies his father who is trying to negotiate a sale with Mr. Borgin from Borgin and Burkes.

The second time is in the Half-Blood Prince where, alongside his mother, he goes to check out an old vanishing cabinet. Despite being considerably younger than Mr. Borgin, he has a hold over the shopkeeper, using his Dark Mark to threaten him in order for the oily salesman to do his bidding. Harry, Ron and Hermione all eavesdrop on Malfoy’s conversation with Borgin – but aren’t able to get the information they require.

7 Lucius Malfoy

As mentioned above, Lucius Malfoy is there when Draco visits Borgin and Burkes for the first time during the events of the Chamber of Secrets.

He’s harsh with Mr. Borgin, ruthlessly ordering the shopkeeper to pick up items from his manor in order to save him a great deal of hassle from the Ministry of Magic. He’s also pretty strong with Draco, telling his son he wouldn’t be buying him anything fancy unless his grades improve. This riles the Slytherin pupil who, in the source material, then expresses his hatred for Hermione Granger.

6 Narcissa Malfoy

Narcissa accompanies Draco to Borgin and Burkes in the Half-Blood Prince, with husband Lucius locked up in Azkaban at the time following his botched break-in of the Ministry of Magic.

Prior to this, Narcissa and her son had been in Diagon Alley in Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. They were going about their business but, upon bumping into Harry, Ron and Hermione, they decide to flee. They’re unaware they’re followed, though, with the trio trying to find out the reasoning behind the pair’s trip to Knockturn Alley.

5 Bellatrix Lestrange

Bellatrix Lestrange is a fugitive in the sixth Harry Potter movie, having broken out of Azkaban prison the year before and murdering Sirius Black during a heartbreaking confrontation at the Ministry of Magic. But that doesn’t stop her from brazenly walking into Borgin and Burkes and meeting the Malfoys.

Although it’s not shown on screen in the movies, she also uses the shop to get into Hogwarts. After Draco repairs the vanishing cabinet, she enters through Borgin and Burkes and exits out of the Room of Requirement, before going after Albus Dumbledore, who is executed by Severus Snape on top of the Astronomy Tower.

4 The Carrows

Also in attendance for the Malfoys’ trip to Borgin and Burkes in the Half-Blood Prince are horrible siblings, Alecto and Amycus Carrow. The pair don’t say anything during this scene in the movie and their involvement in the films is generally less than in the books.

The following year, they actually become teachers at Hogwarts. They teach Defence Against the Dark Arts – which is renamed just Dark Arts – and insist on pupils torturing each other. Thankfully, following Lord Voldemort’s downfall, the siblings are captured and thrown into Azkaban – a fitting punishment for all their dastardly crimes.

3 Fenrir Greyback

The final person standing in Borgin and Burkes when the Malfoys visit is Fenrir Greyback. The werewolf is first glimpsed at the beginning of the Half-Blood Prince movie, kidnapping wandmaker Ollivander, who is later brought to Malfoy Manor.

Greyback is another character whose involvement in the films is far less than in the source material. His biggest scene in the franchise comes in the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 when he mauls Lavender Brown to death. He’s eventually sent flying and never seen again.

2 Lord Voldemort

There’s no mention of this in the Harry Potter movies, but Lord Voldemort was a regular visitor to Knockturn Alley, The reason? Because he actually started working at Borgin and Burkes shortly after leaving Hogwarts.

Many of Tom Riddle’s old teachers were shocked by his decision to work in a shop given his obvious talents. Little did they know that he actually used the experience to look for potential Horcruxes. It’s through his role as a shopkeeper that Riddle learns of both Salazar Slytherin’s locket and Helga Hufflepuff’s cup – which he later takes for himself before vanishing.

1 Arthur Weasley

Sure, compared to the rest of the characters on this list, Arthur Weasley isn’t THAT shady. But he’s far from a straight shooter, breaking many of the laws he himself has written while bewitching muggle artifacts and turning them into something much more interesting.

His trip to Knockturn Alley is for an honorable reason, though. Arthur visits Borgin and Burkes following a tip-off from Harry in the Half Blood Prince, but he can only bring the Boy Who Lived bad news afterward. He’s left as shocked as anyone when it emerges that Draco’s a Death Eater – and a big player in the death of Albus Dumbledore.