"Platform nine and three-quarters is the train platform from which students board the Hogwarts Express, the scarlet steam engine that brings students to and from Hogwarts. It can be accessed by walking straight through the apparently solid barrier between platforms nine and ten."
— Description of the platform's purpose and the means of entry[src]
In order for someone to get onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, they must walk directly at the apparently solid metal ticket box dividing Platforms Nine and Ten.[1] There is a guard stationed just outside the entrance, in order to regulate entries and exits from the platform.[2]
The brainchild of MinisterEvangeline Orpington in the 1850s, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was the first of the concealed wizarding platforms at King's Cross.[3]
After the Ministry of Magic had acquired the Hogwarts Express, under MinisterOttaline Gambol in the 1820s or 1830s, they also built a railway station at Hogsmeade, as a necessary adjunct to the train.[4] The Ministry, however, refrained from building a station in the middle of London, as that would stretch even the Muggles' notorious determination not to notice magic when it was exploding in front of their faces. It was only after Minister Orpington was appointed to the office (1849-1855) that a solution was reached: a concealed platform would be added to the newly Muggle-built King's Cross Station, be accessible only to witches and wizards.[3] There is no information on how exactly Hogwarts students were travelling during the period after the acquisition of the Hogwarts Express and the creation of the Hogsmeade station and before the creation of Platform 9¾ in the 1850s.
While the solution proved a good one, there have always been minor issues, such as witches and wizards who have dropped suitcases full of biting spellbooks or newt spleens all over the polished station floor, or else disappeared through the solid barrier a little too loudly. To prevent any serious breaches of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, there is usually a number of plain-clothed Ministry of Magic employees on hand at the station, to deal with any inconvenient Muggle memories that may need altering.[3]
On 1 September1971, Eileen Snape took her eleven-year-old son, Severus Snape, to board the Hogwarts Express via this Platform. Mr. and Mrs Evans also took their Witch daughter, Lily Evans, there along with her Muggle sister, Petunia. While the parents (both of them Muggles) looked around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, the two sisters argued and Petunia called her sister a freak.[5]
Recent history (1991-2017)
"Don't talk rubbish. There is no platform nine and three-quarters."
Harry Potter trying to find the platform while in a crowd of Muggles
Harry Potter first used Platform 9¾ on 1 September1991. Not knowing how to get into it, and recognising the Weasley family as a family of wizards, he asked Molly Weasley how to access it. As Harry crossed the Platform, he passed by a round-faced boy telling his grandmother he had lost his toad and a boy with dreadlocks showing a tarantula to his peers.[1]
In June1992, at the end of the school year, Harry and his classmates returned to their homes via the Platform. Harry was picked up by Vernon Dursley.[2]
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley crossing the magical barrier to Platform 9¾ in 1992 to find it blocked
On 1 September 1992, Dobby blocked the magical barrier dividing Platforms Nine and Ten in order to prevent Harry Potter and Ron Weasley from attending school. Consequently, they decided the only way to get to Hogwarts was to steal Arthur Weasley's Flying Ford Anglia and fly it to the school.[6] When the school year ended, the students returned to the Muggle world via the magical gateway in the platform.[7]
In 1993, the Weasleys took Harry to the Platform again. Arthur Weasley hoped to talk to Harry about Sirius Black, but Harry had already overheard Arthur talking about it to his wife.[8] Once the school year ended, Harry and his classmates returned to the Platform, where he told Vernon Dursley about his godfather, "a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run".[9]
On 1 September of the following year, the Weasleys and Harry travelled to King's Cross Station via Muggle taxis.[10] Once the Hogwarts Express arrived at Platform ¾, Harry Potter gave his Triwizard earnings to Fred and George Weasley, before crossing the magical barrier, and being picked up by Vernon Dursley.[11]
In 1995, the Weasleys, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, and Sirius Black (in his Animagus form) took Harry to King's Cross Station on foot, as they had been staying at 12 Grimmauld Place in the Borough of Islington.[12] When Harry arrived at the station at the end of the school year, he was joined by Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and Fred and George Weasley. The wizard group proceeded to threaten the Dursleys that if Harry was mistreated in any way, one of the Order of the Phoenix would be sent along.[13]
Harry and the Weasleys returned to the Platform on 1 September 1996, where they were joined by two grim-faced, bearded Aurors in dark Muggle suits for Harry's protection. On the platform, Harry had a quick word with Arthur Weasley about his suspicions that Draco Malfoy was now a Death Eater.[14]
On 1 September 2017, Harry Potter took his sons (Albus Severus and James Sirius), to King's Cross along with his wife Ginny and their youngest child and only daughter, Lily Luna. Ron and Hermione Weasley also did so, as did Draco and Astoria Malfoy.[15] There were also many other families such as several of the other Weasleys.
Media
The Sorceror's Stone- Platform Nine and Three Quarters
In the books, the barrier that leads to the platform is described as being made of metal. In the films, however, the barrier is a brick wall.
People visited King's Cross station and took so many pictures of platforms nine and ten that eventually the station master had a cart put halfway through the wall, which is now a small tourist attraction.
In the Brazilian translation, the platform is called Plataforma Nove e Meia - Platform Nine and a Half, instead of Platform Nine and Three Quarters. In the films, however, the platform is called Plataforma Nove e Três Quartos[16].File:29023742261 f58c374388 o.jpg
The wall used as Platform 9¾ in the films, taken in 2016.
In the film adaptions the Platform 9¾ scenes were filmed between platforms 4 and 5 at Kings Cross station in London. A fake replica cover was used to cover the original wall to increase its width and prevent damage to the Victorian structure from the impact of the luggage trolley.
Author's comments
"In choosing the number of the concealed platform that would take young witches and wizards to boarding school, I decided that it would have to be a number between those of the Muggle platforms - therefore, it was clearly a fraction.
The number nine and three-quarters presented itself without much conscious thought, and I liked it so much that I took it at once. It is the 'three-quarters' that makes it, of course."
