Platform 9 and 3/4 is the
Hogwarts Express' platform at
King's Cross Station,
London, in
J.K. Rowling's
Harry Potter books.
When
Harry first told his
Uncle Vernon that he had to leave from
Platform 9 and 3/4 to get to
school,
Mr. Dursley scoffed at the existence of such a place and left
Harry there to fend for himself. What
Mr. Dursley didn't know is that
Platform 9 and 3/4 is hidden from
Muggles; to get there, one must go through the wall located between Platforms 9 and 10. Witches, wizards, and their kids must be very careful about doing this because they don't want to alert any
Muggles to the platform's presence, so some run through quickly, and other lean against the wall until they find themselves standing on the other side. Fortunately for
Harry,
Mrs. Weasley was there to see
Ron,
Fred,
George, and
Percy off and was happy to help him find his way too.
At the beginning and end of every school year at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,
Platform 9 and 3/4 is very busy, with witches and wizards saying goodbye to or picking up their kids. To add to the general hullaballoo at pick-up times, students' pet owls, cats, rats, and other creatures will often be squawking or squeaking to get out of their cages after the long train ride from
Hogwarts.