Hogwarts Express

The Hogwarts Express is a fictional magical train in the Harry Potter series. It is ridden by students between London and Hogsmeade. The train starts from King's Cross station platform 9¾, which is invisible to Muggle eyes and is reached through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Prefects of the school ride in a separate carriage near the front of the train. The compartments on the train appear to be lettered, for example compartment C, where the Slug Club first met in book 6, is probably near the back of the train. Upon disembarking the train at the Hogsmeade station, first years are treated to a ride across the lake by Hagrid into the Hogwarts Castle; all other students are carried into the main entrance of the castle in coaches drawn by (usually) invisible creatures called thestrals.

Related Topics:
Fiction - Magical - Train - Harry Potter - London - Hogsmeade - King's Cross station - Platform - Muggle - The Slug Club - Book 6 - Hagrid - Hogwarts Castle - Thestrals

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Harry Potter met his two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger on his first ride on the Hogwarts Express. So far he has been on the train ten (possibly eleven) times: twice a year for each of his first six years at Hogwarts except once, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when he flew with Ron in a bewitched Ford Anglia (a Muggle car), which crashed on landing and escaped into the woods near the school, and the sixth book ends before Harry leaves Hogwarts. Also in the sixth book, Harry goes to The Burrow over the holidays, but how he gets there is not mentioned. After each school year, Harry was met by his uncle and aunt after getting off the train; even though they hate him very much, they have never failed to pick him up.

Related Topics:
Ron Weasley - Hermione Granger - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Ford Anglia - The Burrow

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It has been suggested that the Hogwarts Express is likely a steam train only in appearance and purpose, borrowing its form and intended function from real steam trains, but not the technology.

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Until the 1950s, some British boarding schools hired special trains to transport pupils to and from the school at the beginning and end of each term. This may be the inspiration for the Hogwarts Express.

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