The train station in London canceled its annual “Back to Hogwarts” tradition, a public announcement that the Hogwarts Express was ready to depart.
Harry Potter fans raise their wands to mark the departure of the Hogwarts Express at King’s Cross station in London, in September 2022. (Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
For ardent fans of the teen wizard Harry Potter, Sept. 1 is a date for the diary.
According to the enormously successful books written by J.K. Rowling, the date marks the start of the school year for those boarding the steam train to return to the mythical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In reality, fans typically dress in costumes and pile into King’s Cross station in London to await a public announcement that the Hogwarts Express train is ready to depart from the fictional platform 9 3/4.
This year, expectant fans gathered at the station on Sunday and began a countdown, excitedly awaiting the announcement. But cheers swiftly turned to boos when the annual tradition failed to materialize.
“It’s a shame when sweet, lighthearted fun like this stops,” wrote another. “The world needs more of it, not less.”
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But fans had been warned.
“I would have done this but it got cancelled by miserable muggles,” one person wrote, using a word from the books that refers to people without magical abilities.
A statement posted in July on Wizarding World, the official fan website partnership between Pottermore, a digital platform, and Warner Bros, which made the franchise’s eight movies, said “Back to Hogwarts” festivities in the United Kingdom would be moving online this year.
“Come 1st September, fans are strongly discouraged from attending Kings Cross Station this year, as there will be no event, departure board or countdown held at the station,” the statement said. Instead, it redirected fans to an online video celebration to mark the date.
Events would take place globally, the statement said, including in the United States, France, China and Japan. It said the British festivities “have significantly grown in popularity as more fans join the community,” adding that “in recognition of this, celebrations are adapting so that as many fans as possible can be part of the magic.”
The change was inevitably going to be a letdown for some, said Nik Taylor, a magician and researcher of magic at the University of Huddersfield in Britain. The date represents a “symbolic pilgrimage for fans,” he said, and a “cherished ritual” where they can share in the celebration of Potter’s magical world.
“I don’t think we should underestimate how significant September 1st is for Harry Potter fans,” Taylor told The Washington Post in an email Tuesday.
“The absence of this announcement … will have disappointed many fans who see this as a special, once-a-year event,” he added. “It’s not just about nostalgia but also about connecting with a community.”
Britain’s Network Rail, which manages King’s Cross station, said in a statement to The Post that the crowds of fans who came to the Harry Potter event each year were interfering with the running of the busy station.
“We’re sorry some Harry Potter fans were left disappointed on Sunday because they weren’t aware of Warner Bros.’ online celebrations to wave off the Hogwarts Express,” a Network Rail spokesperson said in an email. “Having begun as a small number of fans coming to Kings Cross to see off the fictional train, last year’s event drew crowds of thousands, which made it challenging for us to run the station normally. Our priority must always be passengers who are trying to make their journeys on the railway, so regretfully this year there was no in-person celebration.”
The Network Rail spokesperson said it remained unclear about what would happen in future years.
Adam Houston, a specialist in Harry Potter book collections, told The Post that saying King’s Cross is too busy for passengers was “quite a feeble excuse,” given that the station has “a year to plan for what is a relatively simple announcement lasting just a few moments.”
A spokesperson for the London-based Harry Potter tour group Tour for Muggles, meanwhile, said although the decision was disappointing, “We can completely understand logistically why it couldn’t go ahead.”
“September the 1st will always be a special day for Harry Potter fans regardless of the official announcement, and there are many other ways of keeping the magic alive,” the group said in an email and suggested rereading the books, rewatching the movies and “remembering the things that made us love the series in the first place.”
According to the series, the Hogwarts Express leaves at 11 a.m. sharp on Sept 1. and runs to Hogsmeade station. In previous years, staff at King’s Cross station have even put Hogsmeade on the platform boards as a destination, delighting fans.
King’s Cross is home to a Harry Potter memorabilia shop, and slews of fans pass through each day to take photos next to the wall purportedly leading to platform 9 3/4.
In the books, the key trio of friends — Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley — meet en route to Hogwarts on Sept. 1. The next year, Ron and Harry miss the train, making for an exciting return as they arrive at the school in Ron’s father’s flying Ford Anglia, instead.
As the franchise of hugely popular books drew to a close in 2007, readers were treated to the grown-up Harry, Ron and Hermione seeing off their own children to Hogwarts at the platform — on Sept 1.
Harry Potter fans get their picture taken at a sign for Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross station in September 2022. (Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
