Knockturn Alley was, for centuries, run by wizarding families. Primarily pureblood families and old wizarding families, mind you, but there was room for new money and newcomers with business sense. There were one or two low-level active crime families in the alley, which was known to be a little dodgy, but respectable enough in name. It wasn't a terrible place to be, but it was a place full of secrets.
During Voldemort’s rise to power (1960-1980s), many of the old wizarding families of Knockturn Alley were either happy to support him, press-ganged into it, or professed allegiance to him out of fear. Business in Knockturn Alley became blacker and steadily more dependent on consorting with an array of dark wizards.
In the aftermath of Voldemort's shocking defeat (1981) and subsequent disappearance without a trace, many of the families of Knockturn Alley were implicated in his insurgency. Of those families, many individuals and their relatives were officially declared known co-conspirators or unofficially viewed as complicit by the rest of the wizarding world. Any crime families that might have begun their rise to power alongside Voldemort’s ascendancy went underground or declined. If their business hadn't already become legal by then, no respectable wizarding society was going to legalize their dealings now! None, except perhaps those Dark Lord supporters whose names escaped or “fell off” of official Ministry lists.
After the First Wizarding War (1980-1990s), with dark forces having terrorised the wizarding communities of Great Britain for over a decade, claiming thousands of victims, and scarring, bereaving, and traumatising countless others, the survivors of the war began to rebuild. The inhabitants of Knockturn Alley also struggled to rebuild, but were largely unable to escape their reputation. As a result, Knockturn Alley became more insular of a community, even more dependent on and linked to pureblood society for its survival. There was a general sense of sadness and bitterness all around the alley. Businesses suffered and closed. Buildings emptied; stood vacant. By the time Harry Potter visited Knockturn Alley (1992), it had become the canonically shabbier, shadier place we know during the book series. Children weren’t allowed to run errands in Knockturn anymore.
Whatever “bohemian” potential previously existed for new business and newcomers before the 1960s had faded with the implementation of several Ministry-led efforts to clean up Knockturn Alley. After the Second Wizarding War, the Ministry crackdown on residents and businesses who supported Voldemort and his followers was swift and immediate. The success of this effort is questionable, but the effects are clear: the Ministry crackdown drove some individuals and families out of the area (including Richard Burke), and a significant number of long-established shops were forced to close (Borgin and Burke’s among them).
Further effects of the depreciation of the area took longer to develop. With time (1990-2010), Knockturn Alley became known as a cheaper place to live and set up shop, though any new faces in the area are still highly scrutinized by long-time residents and Ministry officials alike. Residential buildings often exist in egregious states of disrepair. Smaller, newer businesses swooped in, taking advantage of property rent and sale prices, but their success remains limited and not guaranteed. The result is that Knockturn Alley has become a checkerboard of empty buildings, generations-owned property and businesses, and newly refurbished properties that feel out of place. There are notable tensions between new property owners and the families that have lived in Knockturn for centuries.
At present (2010-2020), Knockturn is still a notable hotbed of unrest: decrepit, ancient, with a chip on its shoulder, and full of rifts and power vacuums that breed upheaval in the community. The crime rate for the area is statistically high among wizard communities (or is that just due to Ministry overpolicing of the area?), and black markets thrive as the wizards who live there struggle to survive. Young gangs habitually arise out of a desire to protect and establish order in the community, networks of low-level criminals operate in the area, and yet--and yet--those old wizarding families who have managed to eke out a living in the shadow of what Knockturn used to be (generally not without shady dealings) cannot leave or refuse to leave. The Ministry often imposes curfew on the alley, and there are frequently raids in the area. Residents would say that Knockturn Alley has become a favorite scapegoat of the Ministry--it seems perpetually in the papers as one of the first places that gets raided in the aftermath of some dark wizard activity.
Canon Knockturn Businesses:
13B Knockturn Alley, formerly known as Borgin and Burkes - An antique shop, now closed. One of the oldest buildings in the alley, with the original outer facade still intact. Living spaces are located on the upstairs floors and have seen significant sprucing from the property’s current tenants to give the interior a livelier, homier, generally cleaner look and feel (current part-time resident Loxley Blair also has several thriving marijuana plants growing on the roof). The lower-floor “shop” exterior has long stood abandoned and boarded up, and it’s only the known presence of the house’s infamous wards that have largely protected Borgin and Burkes from vandalism and other, more serious crime; the wards here are forged from ancient magic, centuries old and built into the very foundation of the house, rendering it very nearly impenetrable as long as someone of the direct bloodline of one (or more) of the original owners (Borgin or Burke) possess legal ownership of it (at present, that person is Maeko Burke, the last living, non-incarcerated heir and descendent).
Beard Trimming - A barber shop.
Betting shop - A shop that takes bets on various events.
Cobb & Webb's - A shop that sells items related to Dark Arts.
The Coffin House - A shop that sells Dark Arts materials related to the dark art of Necromancy.
Dystyl Phaelanges - A shop that sells bones.
E.L.M and Wizards Undertakers & Embalmers
Fledermaus and Tanner Bats & Skins
Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoos
McHavelock's Wizarding Headgear
Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary - A shop that sells potion ingredients.
Noggin and Bonce - A shop that sells shrunken heads.
Potage's Cauldron Shop - A shop that sells different types of cauldrons.
Tallow and Hemp Toxic Tapers
Shyverwretch's Venoms and Poisons
The White Wyvern - A pub. Serves drinks with names like Paulopabitas, Dragon, White Rat, Ogden, Bungbarrel, Simison, and Ocky Rot.
Weaver’s Thread - A high-end tailor, established in the 1400s by the Weaver family. While it is a respectable business with high standing among many magical families, it has a hushed reputation for dealing in secrets and gossip. The owners’ eldest daughter, Mirilla, is currently a member of the Minister’s personal team of Aurors.
Ye Olde Curiosity Shop - A shop where people can purchase curios related to Dark Arts.
Cyril Crookham - Owner of The White Wyvern. Always terse and could just snap.
Mathis - REAL bad news; in active competition with Aldon. If you’ve made contact with Mathis, you’re in too deep already. Mathis scored an early victory by securing Nezza’s business. Mathis is older than Aldon, sporting gnarled teeth, perpetually dry lips, and a missing ear he wears hats to cover. His arrival and the ensuing territorial dispute has transformed Knockturn into a slightly more dangerous place as of late. Mathis has Aldon spread thin and losing customers, runners, and suppliers for months. Distributer of substances: whatever you want, as strong as you wants it. Mummy dust. Bitter White. Dried tentacula seeds. Vampire venom, completely pure. Anything off the Restricted Register, if you prefer to make your own brew. Powdered unicorn blood, cut with boomslang, of course.
Aldon - Longtime distributor and slumlord; in active competition with newcomer Mathis. A brute with a gravelly voice who has respect reserved for older residents of the alley and is linked through business to many pureblood families. He has a pack of enforcers. There is some concern that he’s gone soft as of late and his reign in Knockturn is over; this makes residents nervous that a turf war will break out.
Nezza - Buyer, broker, and appraiser of speciality potion ingredients. An old, yellow-toothed woman with thick, dark eyebrows knitted in a scowl. She deals solely and professionally in bits of humans—toenails, hair, bones and the like. Nezza frequents The White Wyvern for her business dealings, and she knows the right potioneers to sell goods to—the clever and the rich ones that come to her with their appetite for creation and their needs that take them far beyond the regular sanctioned ingredients to be found in Diagon Alley. Nezza is no-nonsense in nature and fair in business; generally well-respected in the alley and known for her longevity and ability to survive endless upheavals.
Maeko Burke - The current owner of Borgin and Burkes, who resides at the old property with her half-brother Ozymandias Pryce. Additional rooms are privately rented out at Maeko and Oz’s discretion, with current tenants including Piper Oliver, Dylan Vilčuks (temporary), and Loxley Blair (part-time). Maeko generally keeps to herself and doesn’t involve herself in the business, dealings, disagreements and alliances of Knockturn Alley, though she’s well-known enough by everyone in the area and her family name still carries enough weight and respect from Knockturn’s older inhabitants in particular that Maeko is rarely bothered despite her seclusion--and those who would try to harass her are generally given a swift reminder of the meaning of Cobblestone Loyalty.
