J.K. Rowling was living in Edinburgh when she wrote much of the Harry Potter series.
Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her daughter in 1993 after periods living elsewhere, including Portugal. She worked on the manuscript in cafés and at home while caring for her child. Edinburgh’s Old Town, architecture, graveyards, and surrounding atmosphere have often been discussed in connection with the visual and emotional associations readers make with the wizarding world.
The city is not the sole setting of the novels, and Rowling did not write every book there from start to finish. The series’ fictional locations are invented or transformed through fantasy, while Hogwarts is located in Scotland within the world of the books.
Edinburgh has since become strongly associated with Rowling’s literary career. The city contains sites connected with her work, including a handprint ceremony and a café frequently linked to the writing story, though simplified accounts sometimes imply that the entire series was written in one café.