Which London station inspired J.K. Rowling’s name for the Hogwarts Express platform?

King’s Cross station inspired J.K. Rowling’s name for the Hogwarts Express platform.

In the Harry Potter books, students leave for Hogwarts from Platform 9¾, a fictional platform located between platforms 9 and 10 at King’s Cross station in London. The station is the departure point for Harry and his school friends at the beginning of each academic year.

Rowling has explained that King’s Cross had personal significance because her parents met on a train travelling from King’s Cross to Scotland. The station therefore became an appropriate setting for Harry’s journey into the wizarding world.

The real station’s track layout does not place platforms 9 and 10 in the exact arrangement described in the books. A Platform 9¾ attraction and luggage trolley installation became popular with visitors, and a dedicated Harry Potter shop later opened nearby. The fictional platform is now one of the station’s best-known cultural associations.