Cokeworth

• Type: Muggle Town
• Location: English Midlands, United Kingdom (Pottermore)
• Owner/Residents: Notable residents include the Evans family (Lily Evans, Petunia Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Evans) and the Snape family (Severus Snape, Eileen Prince, Tobias Snape).
• Key Features: An industrial town featuring numerous identical brick houses, a dirty river, and a tall mill chimney.

Cokeworth is a Muggle industrial town that plays a significant, albeit background, role in the history of the wizarding world. It is characterized by its grim, working-class atmosphere, dominated by a large mill and rows of uniform brick houses. The town's river is described as murky and littered with rubbish, and its overall environment stands in stark contrast to the magic and wonder of Hogwarts. The town is most notable for being the childhood home of two pivotal characters: Lily Evans and Severus Snape. They lived in different parts of the town but their lives became intertwined in a small park and by the local river. The Evans family lived in a typical suburban house, while Snape resided in Spinner's End, a cramped and dreary house at the end of a cobbled street near the river. Cokeworth represents the mundane world that both Lily and Snape were eager to leave behind for Hogwarts, though their reasons and experiences differed greatly. It is also the place where the deep-seated tensions between the Evans sisters, Lily and Petunia Evans, first became apparent, largely fueled by Petunia's jealousy of Lily's magical abilities.

Cokeworth is the setting for several crucial flashbacks and events that provide essential context for the main narrative.

• The Childhood of Snape and Lily: In memories viewed by Harry Potter in the Pensieve, Cokeworth is the backdrop for the beginning of the complex relationship between Severus Snape and Lily Evans. Snape, having observed her for some time, approached Lily in a park to tell her she was a witch. He later explained aspects of the magical world, such as Dementors and Azkaban, to both Lily and a resentful Petunia. These early interactions established their bond and Snape's enduring love for Lily, which would define his actions for the rest of his life.
• The Unbreakable Vow: In the summer of 1996, Severus Snape's home in Spinner's End is the site of a critical event. Narcissa Malfoy, accompanied by her sister Bellatrix Lestrange, visits Snape to beg for his help in protecting her son, Draco Malfoy. Draco had been tasked by Lord Voldemort with killing Albus Dumbledore. Despite Bellatrix's deep suspicion of Snape's loyalties, he agrees to make the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa. He vows to protect Draco, to assist him in his task, and to carry out the deed himself should Draco fail. This event, witnessed by Peter Pettigrew, sets up the central mystery of Snape's allegiance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
• Dursley Connection: After the Dementor attack in Little Whinging, Vernon Dursley briefly considers taking his family to Cokeworth to hide from wizards, revealing that he and Petunia have a connection to the town independent of her family home. This highlights Cokeworth's status as an unassuming Muggle location, seemingly far removed from the dangers of the wizarding world.

• Spinner's End: The dilapidated Snape family home located on a cobbled street by the river. It is characterized by its dark, cluttered rooms filled with books.
• Evans Family Home: A more conventional Muggle house where Lily and Petunia grew up. It was from this house that Petunia wrote to Albus Dumbledore, asking if she could attend Hogwarts.
• Cokeworth Park: A small public park with swings where Snape first revealed to Lily that she was a witch.
• River: A dirty, rubbish-strewn river with a leafy bank where Snape explained magical concepts to Lily and Petunia.

• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the scene at Spinner's End is depicted with a gritty, industrial aesthetic, emphasizing the bleakness of Snape's home environment (film).
• The flashbacks to Snape and Lily's childhood are shown in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, visualizing the key moments in their relationship that took place in Cokeworth (film).
• According to the Pottermore website, J.K. Rowling placed Cokeworth in the Midlands region of England, fitting its description as a historic industrial town (Pottermore).