The Movies > Platform 9 3/4 Scene

HOW TO GET TO PLATFORM 9 3/4:
BOOK & MOVIE EXCERPTS

The following is a set of screenshots from the second clip shown at the world premiere, 4 November 2001, of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone. Harry is looking for the elusive Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station in London. This scene was filmed on location at that real-life train station, but at Platforms 4 and 5, with "9" and "10" temporarily marked in the area. The same scene from the book is printed directly below the screenshots.

NOTE: To view this clip, go to Counting Down.com's Harry Potter page and follow the multimedia links.

Harry approaches a guard at King's Cross Station. "Excuse me, excuse me..."	Harry: "Excuse me, sir. Could you tell me where I might find Platform 9 3/4?"
Guard: "Nine and three quarters? Think you're being funny, do you?"	Harry moves on. For the first time, he sees the large Weasley clan: Mum (Julie Walters), Ginny (Bonnie Wright), Percy (Chris Rankin), Ron (Rupert Grint), Fred and George (James and Oliver Phelps).
Mrs. Weasley: "All right, Percy. You first." She gestures toward a solid narrow wall between Platforms 9 and 10.	Percy points his luggage trolley toward the wall and gets a running start...
...He begins to pass through the wall...	...and vanishes.
Harry calls out to Mrs. Weasley: "Excuse me!"	Harry pushes his cart up alongside Ron's. Harry: "Could you tell me--how to--"
She puts her arm around him. Mrs. Weasley: "How to get..."	"...onto the platform?"
"Yes, not to worry, dear."	Harry begins to relax more.
"It's Ron's first time to Hogwarts as well!"	"Now, all you've got to do is walk straight at the wall between Platforms 9 and 10...
"It's best to do it at a bit of a run, if you're nervous."	Ginny: "Good luck."
Harry gets a determined look on his face, aims at the wall and gets into a slight run.

Now, here is the same scene as it originally appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:

He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts, and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end, the guard strode away, muttering about time-wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts, and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money and a large owl.

Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket box between platforms nine and ten.

At that moment, a group of people passed just behind him, and he caught a few words of what they were saying.

"--packed with Muggles, of course--"

Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him -- and they had an owl.

Heart hammering, Harry pushed his trolley after them. They stopped, and so did he, just near enought to hear what they were saying.

"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.

"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand. "Mum, can't I go--"

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

What looked like the oldest boy marched towards platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it -- but just as the boy reached the divide between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him, and by the time the last rucksack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

"Fred, you're next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done, because a second later he had gone -- but how had he done it?

Now the third brother was walking briskly towards the ticket barrier -- he was almost there -- and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.

There was nothing else for it.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.

"Hullo, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet and a long nose.

"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is -- the thing is, I don't know how--"

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.

"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it. Best do it at a bit of a run, if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Er -- OK," said Harry.

He pushed his trolley round and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid. He started to walk towards it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly ... leaning forward on his trolley, he broke into a heavy run...

Scene changes for the movie are mostly minor. Harry's dialogue with the guard is greatly reduced. One important change is where Harry was afraid to ask the guard about Platform 9 3/4, he flat out does inquire about it in the movie.

This scene was edited down from its actual appearance in the movie. Percy, Fred and George all pass through the wall, startling Harry. His eyes get bigger with each disappearance. Fred and George do their joking about being each other. Mrs. Weasley's dialogue is mostly based on the book's.

Bonnie Wright's turn as Ginny is very slight in this film. She has just the two words of dialogue in the whole film: "Good luck." Her acting skills will be more greatly tested in The Chamber of Secrets, with Ginny becoming so central to the plot.

Many of the smaller details have been covered: the casting directors did select only red-haired children to play the Weasleys. Julie Walters is red haired and looks plump in these scenes; she either gained the weight or is wearing padded clothing. They also have an owl -- a great gray is in a cage on Percy's cart.

Their scenes at Platform 9 3/4 itself are gone. No toilet seat joke, no Ginny dialogue. There was a very fast cut to the traveling train, Harry and Ron.