Eissa Albinali

There is so much to see and do in London. I traveled to London for a few days and while I was there, I was able to do so much. From the Tower of London to taking a cruise along the Thames River there is plenty to experience. I loved everything I did in London however, one place I went overshadowed them all.

Kings Cross is the name of the train station from the Harry Potter series that Harry goes to when he takes the Hogwarts Express. The Hogwarts Express is the train that takes students from Kings Cross Station to the Hogwarts School. I went to Kings Cross Station to go see the famous Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter books and movies. Platform 9 3/4 is the train platform that can only be accessed by witches and wizards. It is the train platform to board the Hogwarts Express. I arrived at the station eager to go see the platform. When you walk into the station it’s like a mini airport. Numerous stores and restaurants line one side of the station and all the platforms are on the other side. I walked through the station trying to see if there are any signs that would point me in the direction of the platform.

I came across a very long line of people queuing up for something. I looked to the front of the line and saw the sign that said “Platform 9 3/4” and just underneath the sign was the trolley that was half stuck into the wall, like it was entering the platform. When I saw the platform I felt like I was in the world of Harry Potter. I felt like a new wizard about to enter the platform and head to Hogwarts school. Facing the platform on the left side is a Harry Potter store. My parents stood in the line for the Platform 9 3/4 picture while my grandma and I headed into the store to explore everything Harry Potter they had.

Inside the Harry Potter store is everything a Potter head would want. As soon as I walked in I saw a cart full of magical candies just like the cart of candies from the Hogwarts Express. They had a counter with many different styles of Wands just like the store Harry bought his wand at. They also had many different types of clothing from all the Hogwarts School houses.

There are four houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. When you first arrive at the school, you are put into one of the four houses. The house you are put in is decided by the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat is a magical wizards hat that decides which house each student will be put in. The store also had many Harry Potter games and toys such as Wizards Chess (A game played in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, which is similar to normal chess, however, the chess pieces move on command.) The inside of the store was very crowded, I was barely able to move. I looked around the store a few times just admiring every Harry Potter thing they had.

I was walking around until I saw one of the store employees demonstrating one of the toys that they sold there. She was showing off the Golden Snitch (a little golden ball with two wings), from the magical game of Quidditch. The goal of Quidditch is for your team to score more points than the opposing team while riding on magic broomsticks. The first way you score points is by throwing the Quaffale (one of the balls used in the game) into one of the three hoops guarded by someone of the opposing team. If you get it into one of the hoops, your team gets one point. The second method of scoring points is by catching the Golden Snitch, the ball that the lady was showing in the demonstration. If you catch the Golden Snitch you earn 150 points for your team and the game is over. In the lady’s demonstration of the Golden Snitch it appeared to be flying around her. In reality the Snitch was hung to the back of her ear by a very thin line of string almost impossible to see. I was amazed by the Golden Snitch and decided to get that as soon as I saw it. I looked around the store more times than I could count and I decided to go check up on my parents to see how far they were in the line.

I walked out of the store and looked for them in the long line of people waiting to take the photo. I found them in the midst of the line about half way through. I decided to join them and wait with them to not risk missing our turn. I waited about 15 minutes until it was about to be my turn to take the photo at the platform. Suddenly I became a bit nervous a couple minutes before my turn. I think I was scared the picture may come out bad after I had been waiting all this time to take it. When it got to my turn, however, I was fine.

They had a few photo props like scarves, wands etc. I put on a Gryffindor style scarf which is red and yellow. I held the ‘Elder Wand,’ known to be the most powerful wand in the Harry Potter universe. Finally, it was time to take the picture. I walked up to the trolley at the platform and I really felt like I was in the movie. I felt like I was about to enter the platform and ride the Hogwarts Express with all my fellow schoolmates. The people who take the picture do this thing where they take the back of the scarf and throw it up in the air and at that moment the other person takes the photo. This gives the illusion that the scarf is levitating even though it is really not. They threw up the scarf and just like that, after waiting over an hour to take one photo, it was done.

I exited the photo shoot area and entered back into the store. I grabbed the Golden Snitch I had chosen and took it to the checkout desk. The cashier working at the desk showed me my photo and we decided to buy the photo as well because it was Black Friday and all photos were 40 percent off.

Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station was one of my favorite things I did in London those few days. If anyone goes to London for a visit and is a Potter Head like me, Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station is a must see.