House with Undetectable Extension Charm could be yours

If you have a million dollar house hunting budget, that is. Hailed as London’s narrowest house, at 5 feet, 5 inches wide, this former hat shop in Diagon Alley, I mean, Shepherd’s Bush, was turned into a luxury 5-floor flat.

It is now on the market again because its current owner wishes to move abroad. Or perhaps he is simply looking for a bit more storage space. Unless you can borrow Hermione’s magical beaded bag, you will be hard-pressed to find space for your Hogwarts trunk and your dress robes, but it is a minimalist’s dream house, with a surprising amount of outdoor space, including a rooftop terrace.

I used to live in Shepherd’s Bush but I don’t remember this building. I must have walked by many times without seeing it….

From the street, it looks as if Sirius Black’s house were sliding into view to magical eyes, as in the film version of Order of the Phoenix, but a glitch stopped it before it reached its full width. If Muggles can have mechanical glitches, magical folk must have magical glitches on occasion. Nothing works perfectly all the time, not even magic.

The design of the house is quite modern, except for the anachronism of an Aga cooker, ironically hooked up to Nest.

The dining table is long and narrow, of necessity, which will give rise to fond memories of the house tables from your school days at Hogwarts. No word on whether the property comes with any house elves to prepare delicious meals though.

The brick wall at the back of the garden opens into Diagon Alley if you tap the correct bricks in order.

The loo certainly doesn’t look haunted but I suppose you can’t really tell. It’s not the sort of thing most estate agents are keen to highlight in property listings, although it would certainly be a selling point for some buyers.

This bedroom (one of three, believe it or not), has enough room for a bed, which fulfils the most basic criterion of its name, although you might want to crawl in from the foot rather than squeezing round the sides. It also, rather alarmingly, features a trap door. Better not have to get up for a pee in the dark…and hope you don’t sleepwalk like Luna.

The fireplace is connected to the Floo Network, for convenient and discreet travel between magical dwellings.

Would you like to live here? What would you add, to make the place more magical?