CHAPTER ONE
The Journey to Hogwarts

In Volume One, we followed Harry Potter from the Dursleys’ doorstep to Diagon Alley and beyond, taking a tour through the wizarding world by means of broomstick, Floo Powder, and even Portkey. But there’s one journey that can only be made by train. And you know the destination.

Yes – in this, the second of two volumes filled with original J.K. Rowling writing, we’re off to Hogwarts.

Harry Potter’s journey to Hogwarts is, by now, the stuff of legend. The gleaming steam train, arriving like a scarlet knight at a secret platform in a Muggle train station, ready to transport Harry from his dull Dursley life to a world literally filled with magic. And on top of the magic, Hogwarts also welcomes Harry with open arms, just as it does every first-year who steps off the Hogwarts Express.

In the wizarding world at least, trains always (seemingly) run to schedule. So, every year, on the morning of September the first, the King’s Cross clock ticks towards 11 a.m. and the Hogwarts Express departs, advancing rhythmically towards its destination. So far, so predictable. But as we all know – train departures aside – nothing in the wizarding world should be taken for granted. That means there’s always more magic to uncover. How did young witches and wizards get to school before the Hogwarts Express was created, for example? Who engineered that gleaming steam train? And where on earth did platform nine and three-quarters come from?

This train is about to depart, so climb aboard and settle in.