Grimmauld Place

Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London, UK is a fictitious place in the Harry Potter books and is specifically mentioned in the fifth book.

"Grimmauld Place" is a pun on "grim old place."

The house was originally the ancestral home of Sirius Black's family. It eventually passed into the hands of Sirius, the "white sheep" and last remaining member of the traditionally very dark family line, and promptly fell into disrepair as its owner was locked up in Azkaban. The end result was a gloomy and unpleasant dwelling teeming with dust, decay and various malevolent enhancements, objects and pests. Inhabitants and "inhabitants" include a hysterical portrait of Sirius Black's mother who has a deep-seated hatred for non-Purebloods, and an ancient and deeply mad house-elf named Kreacher heartily seconds this opinion.

Due to the downright paranoid security measures implemented at Grimmauld Place, it was chosen as the headquarters of the reinstated Order of the Phoenix (who needed every bit of them). Sirius, who had no great love for the place, was only too glad about this.