Godric's Hollow

History

Godric's Hollow is the name of the village where James and Lily Potter hid from Voldemort, moving their with their young son Harry in 1981. After Sybil Trelawney's prediction to Professor Dumbledore (described in Order of the Phoenix) in the Hog's Head inn at Hogsmeade - which one of Voldemort's followers partially overheard - Voldemort set out to murder the boy, this prophesied hero, while he was too young to fight back.

And so it was in that October of 1981, when James and Lily heard of the danger Harry was in, they sought a sanctuary, a place where no one could possibly find them, hidden by the powerful magic of the Fidelius Charm. In a tragic turn of events, however, someone both James and Lily considered a close friend betrayed them and their whereabouts became known to the Dark Lord.

Peter Pettigrew had been chosen as James and Lily's secret keeper. Being a supposed faithful friend from their school days, James opted to leave the crucial secret of his hiding place with Peter rather than his best friend Sirius, who would have been the obvious choice. Peter had worshiped both James and Sirius whilst at school. Having been very popular due to their constant disregard for the rules (and James' talent for being in the Gryffindor Quidditch team), Peter followed both of them around like a lost puppy - he always liked to be considered friends with those in power.

The decision to trust Peter was a grave mistake for James and Lily, and ultimately lead to their deaths. Unbeknown to them, Pettigrew was already in alliance with Voldemort before he passed on his knowledge of the Potter's hiding-place. This new information enabled Voldemort to break into the cottage where James and Lily had been staying, and murder them both. When it came to killing Harry, however, the fatal curse Avada Kedavra which he administered backfired. Lily had sacrificed her own life to save Harry, dying in an attempt to stop Voldemort from harming him. This ancient magic - the sacrifice of one life for the saving of another - repelled the charm, rebounding it onto Voldemort himself and reducing him to a body and soul-less state.

Harry was left with a lightning bolt shaped scar as a permanent reminder of the events of that fateful night. Voldemort, still alive but with his body and soul torn away, was not heard nor seen for another 10 years.

Details

It is widely believed that the name "Godric's Hollow" is a direct reference to Godric Gryffindor, the founder of the Hogwarts house. Further details can also be deduced from known information.

As Hogsmeade is known to be the only pure wizarding town in Britian, we can infer that Godric's Hollow is a Muggle village. It is also known that James and Lily were living as Muggles in a two story cottage in the village in the period of time before they were murdered by Voldemort. The location of Godric's Hollow has often been assumed to be somewhere in Wales, as Hagrid refers to the baby Harry falling asleep over Bristol when he was transporting him to Privet Drive (which is in Surrey). This journey, however, was from an unknown location (not Godric's Hollow itself) where Harry had been taken after the murder of his parents. This may or may not have been in the vicinity of Godric's Hollow, and so no details about the location of the village can be inferred from this.

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