Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. Today, we’re going to be discussing
the Hogwarts Express and the UK national rail network.
WIth a platform that’s invisible / inaccessible to muggles, and a rail line that heads to
a magical school in the Scottish highlands, you probably won’t be surprised to hear
me say that the railway trip out to Hogwarts is unusual to say the least. Trains play a
pivotal part in Harry Potter, with platform 9 ¾ and the Hogwarts Express both playing
a crucial role in Harry’s first trip AWAY from the Dursleys, and off in to the Wizarding
World.
But, have you ever wondered HOW this magical railway ride fits in to a preexisting national
rail network? The UK National rail network to be specific. Does the Hogwarts express
exist entirely independently from the rest of these trains? Or, does it share some of
the same tracks? Does it transport some of the same passengers? Is the Hogwarts Express
able to magically avoid collisions? What gives?
From our perspective, it all starts at platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station, where students
board the Hogwarts Express- a scarlet steam engine transporting students to and from Hogwarts.
The platform can be accessed by walking straight through the barrier between platforms 9 and
10- BUT, you may have a bit of a hard time if it’s a. Your first go, or b. You’re
a muggle.
Platform 9 ¾ was of course filmed at King’s Cross Station on the edge of Central London.
It’s an active railway station, but at the real station you will find that platforms
9 and 10 are separated by tracks. For filming, platforms 4 and 5 were renumbered 9 and 10,
and at the station today, you'll find the hidden access to platform 9 3/4, complete
with half a luggage cart disappearing into the wall!
Once you’ve made it past platform 9 ¾, next you’ll be boarding the Hogwarts Express.
The train runs between King’s Cross Station and Hogsmeade Station, making the trip approximately
six times per year, or more if necessary. It’s on the Hogwarts Express that Harry’s
relationship begins to blossom with the other 2 members of the famous trio- Hermione Granger
and Ron Weasley.
Once you’ve finished your journey on the train, your next destination as a new student
is a school that you..may have heard of. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But, in order to answer the question of how this railway network fits in with the muggle
networks, we need to dive DEEPER in to the history of the Hogwarts Express. Thanks to
Pottermore, we’ve got some information that’s not particularly well known (even to the bigger
Harry Potter fans). When it occurred to the Ministry that transporting students to Hogwarts
needed to be addressed, then Minister for Magic Ottaline Gambol came up with a solution:
“A daring and controversial solution to the thorny problem [of transporting students]
was finally suggested by Minister for Magic Ottaline Gambol, who was much intrigued by
Muggle inventions and saw the potential in trains. Where exactly the Hogwarts Express
came from has never been conclusively proven, although it is a fact that there are secret
records at the Ministry of Magic detailing a mass operation involving one hundred and
sixty-seven Memory Charms and the largest ever mass Concealment Charm performed in Britain.
The morning after these alleged crimes, a gleaming scarlet steam engine and carriages
astounded the villagers of Hogsmeade (who had also not realised they had a railway station),
while several bemused Muggle railway workers down in Crewe spent the rest of the year grappling
with the uncomfortable feeling that they had mislaid something important.”
“When Ottaline Gambol commandeered a Muggle train to serve as the new mode of transport
for Hogwarts students, she also had constructed a small station in the wizarding village of
Hogsmeade: a necessary adjunct to the train. The Ministry of Magic felt strongly, however,
that to construct an additional wizarding station in the middle of London would stretch
even the Muggles’ notorious determination not to notice magic when it was exploding
in front of their faces.
It was Evangeline Orpington, Minister from 1849-1855, who hit upon the solution of adding
a concealed platform at the newly (Muggle) built King’s Cross station, which would
be accessible only to witches and wizards.”
With this brief bit of history on the Hogwarts Express, I suspect that it either connects
on to a muggle train line shortly after departing from King’s Cross, or it simply uses it’s
own UNIQUE line the entire way. Perhaps, even, it’s a bit of both.
To defend point 1, it would make perfect sense for witches and wizards to utilize / leverage
the existing station’s infrastructure. Why construct an entire railway line when they
can simply use what’s already there and cast somewhere in the vicinity of ‘167’
memory charms to conceal the work done and achieve said ‘alterations’. With this
approach, all the Ministry would need to do is create a secret platform, then produce
some sort of concealed junction in a location that’s relatively inconspicuous and nearby.
The train itself doesn’t particularly stick out or appear inherently ‘magical’ so
there’d be no reason for them NOT to use existing railway lines. As far as collisions
with other trains goes- it just so happens that the Hogwarts express underwent several
magical modifications before being approved by the Ministry for School use. I hypothesize
that these modifications were put in place in order to address this very issue- but I
could also be WAY OFF.
The second point, however, that the Hogwarts express operates on it’s own line entirely-
might actually make more sense. One of the main pieces of rationale behind my support
for this theory is the fact that Hogsmeade had its own station built under Ottaline Gambol’s
instruction- a ‘necessary adjunct to the train’. From my perspective, there’s absolutely
no way that the Ministry of Magic would chance a muggle line’s arrival in Hogsmeade- as
that would be a direct infringement on the International Statute of Secrecy which preserves
the divide/harmony between muggle and magical worlds. The next argument for this second
theory is that no other trains are ever mentioned running along the scenic route of the Hogwarts
Express.
It seems as though the Hogwarts Express runs along an exceptionally ‘rural’ route-
passing by (seemingly) very few cities and towns.
“The train rattled onwards, speeding them out into open country.”
“They made regular checks on the train as they flew further and further north, each
dip beneath the clouds showing them a different view. London was soon far behind them, replaced
by neat green fields which gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, villages with tiny
toy churches and a great city alive with cars like multi-coloured ants.”
This route (provided the omission of information pertaining to cities is due to a LACK of cities)
contradicts existing Northern muggle routes out of King’s Cross towards Scotland, that,
in actuality, pass by MANY cities and towns - including Peterborough, Durham, Edinburgh
etc. The Hogwarts Express doesn’t appear to be
on any sort of existing rail network, and I say this because no railway stations are
ever mentioned on its journey.
With all of that said, perhaps the ‘modifications’ to the train by the Ministry (mentioned earlier)
were focused more towards ‘concealment’ rather than collision avoidance. I’d imagine
that a lone railway line heading towards a magical school (with no stops for that matter)
would draw a considerable amount of attention. To stop any awkward questions, it would be
easiest to just make the train invisible to muggle-eyes- queue complex concealment charms.
To construct the line, which covers a LOT of ground, I’d imagine that it would have
taken an awful lot of careful, secretive work. But, for dire situations when curious muggle
eyes happened to witness what was happening, there’s always the ‘167’ memory charms
mentioned earlier.
BUT I do have one more thing to add. In various shots in the films, we see the Hogwarts Express
travelling across a bridge- a bridge that I happen to know something about.
The bridge is known as the Glenfinnan Viaduct, found in Scotland. It’s located on the West
Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Inverness-shire, Scotland. It is the longest concrete railway
bridge in Scotland at 416 yards (380 m), and crosses the River Finnan at a height of 100
feet. The viaduct also overlooks the Glenfinnan Monument and the waters of Loch Shiel.
Provided that we have VISUAL proof of the Hogwarts Express travelling across a KNOWN
bridge (and not just random countryside)- evidence WOULD suggest that the Hogwarts Express
DOES indeed travel across some known railway lines.
For that reason, my final conclusion is that the Hogwarts Express travels along a bit of
both.
Whichever way you break it down- implementing a wizarding transportation system that’s
integrated with the muggle world is no easy feat. The largest ever mass concealment charm
being performed is a testament to just how seriously this matter was taken- and sometimes
I just wonder, why not floo powder?
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to the channel. Did you ever wonder about this question?
Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live