The road in Clapham Junction every Harry Potter fan needs to visit

When she began writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone J.K. Rowling lived in none other than Clapham Junction.

Unlike King's Cross and St Pancras stations, our busy local station was never noticeably present in the wonderful wizarding world Rowling created. At least, not to serve any travel purposes.

Clapham Junction actually had an incredibly prominent place in the Harry Potter franchise – so prominent it proves once and for all that Harry Potter was born here.

Welcome to Severus Road, the road around the corner from where Rowling began writing Harry Potter and the reason she christened one of the most important characters in the franchise Severus Snape.

Rowling confirmed the news on her official Twitter account with a photo of the road sign, writing: "Real Harry Potter inspiration alert: I walked past this sign every day on my way to work when I was living in Clapham.

"Much later - post-publication - I revisited the area & suddenly realised THIS was why 'Severus' had leapt into my head when thinking of a 1st name for Snape."

The significance of the name Severus grew yet further when Rowling had an aduly Harry name his youngest son Albus Severus, after both Albus Dumbledore and Snape.

While some fans questioned the significance, pointing out that Severus Snape bullied Harry throughout his time at Hogwarts, Rowling explained that the teacher's actions in the seventh book, The Deathly Hallows were why Harry paid Snape such a tribute

"Snape died for Harry out of love for Lily. Harry paid him tribute in forgiveness and gratitude," said Rowling.

She added that "In honouring Snape, Harry hoped in his heart that he too would be forgiven. The deaths at the Battle of Hogwarts would haunt Harry forever."

If that isn't reason enough to pilgrimage to Clapham Junction, we don't know what is.

Have a story local to Clapham you want to share with us? Email [email protected], call 07742 524 934 or tweet @IssyMillett.

Find all the latest news from your local area by following Clapham Nub News on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.