Can muggles see the Hogwarts Express?

[Harry852]

No, I realy don't think they can, now! Platform 9 3/4 is hidden. Unless you are a wizard, and run full blast in to the wall.

[Tenshi]

Originally Posted by Harry852

No, I realy don't think they can, now! Platform 9 3/4 is hidden. Unless you are a wizard, and run full blast in to the wall.

Technically, that's not true. Lily's parents were described to be on the platform. So Muggles seeing the Express is not impossible.

[TerrierMom]

I don't think it's that the Hogwarts Express only offers sweets on the trolley. It's just that sweets are likely what the kids actually buy! I've traveled in England and Scotland by train; they offered sandwiches on the trains. Remember, in PS/SS, when Harry sees the food trolley, he wants as many Mars bars as he can carry. But the trolley doesn't have Mars bars, it has Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Bertie Bott's etc, AND a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life Perhaps these strange other things include foods that are not sweets

As for the Hogwarts Express taking longer than modern Muggle trains to reach Scotland,perhaps it has something to do with it being a steam train. I am not sure they can travel faster than diesel or electric trains. Certainly they can't travel as fast as the high-speed trains in Europe and Japan. If the Hogwarts Express travels slower, it will take longer to reach Scotland. I don't know enough about trains to be sure, though. But if the Hogwarts Express can travel at a similar speed to Muggle trains then the movies may have it all wrong depicting the train arriving after dark. I don't recall if the books specify if it's dark when the train arrives. It shouldn't be dark at 7 or 8 in the evening on Sept. 1. I was in Scotland in Mid may, in the exact area Hogwarts is supposed to be located. It didn't get fully dark until closer to midnight. Sept 1. IS farther out from June 21 (longest day of the year) than mid-May,but not so much so that it would be pitch black at 7:30 PM. Here's a list of Sunrise and Sunset times for Aberdeen, in Scotland. http://www.timeanddate.com/worldcloc...&afl=-11&day=1
The sun doesn't even set until around 8pm, it would not be pitch dark until closer to 9 PM. Then again, there is still more of Scotland north of Aberdeen. If Hogwarts is located in the very tip of Northern Scotland, it would be dark earlier.

[dobbysfriend]

Originally Posted by Tenshi

Technically, that's not true. Lily's parents were described to be on the platform. So Muggles seeing the Express is not impossible.

Muggles can't see Diagon Alley either, unless a wizard aids them. Mr and Mrs. Granger went to Diagon Alley with their daughter. They probably saw her off at Platform 9 3/4 too. So muggles can see it if they really want to.

[Ginny_Spinner]

Originally Posted by TerrierMom

As for the Hogwarts Express taking longer than modern Muggle trains to reach Scotland,perhaps it has something to do with it being a steam train. I am not sure they can travel faster than diesel or electric trains. Certainly they can't travel as fast as the high-speed trains in Europe and Japan. If the Hogwarts Express travels slower, it will take longer to reach Scotland.

I have always had a theory that the Hogwarts Express takes a different amount of time every year to reach Hogwarts.
If you think about it;
It is always the day after they reach Hogwarts that they start lessons. And they always have the weekends off.
This would mean that every year the Hogwarts Express reaches the castle on a Sunday.

But i also just thought while writing this thread that it may arrive on any weekday, and they just do whatever day there are left in that week eg. arrive on Tuesday and do classes on Wed/Thurs/Fri than have Sat/Sun off.

[Tenshi]

Originally Posted by dobbysfriend

Muggles can't see Diagon Alley either, unless a wizard aids them. Mr and Mrs. Granger went to Diagon Alley with their daughter. They probably saw her off at Platform 9 3/4 too. So muggles can see it if they really want to.

no idea if this was meant to be a correction, but I agree with you and my post too.

[Lucybird]

Originally Posted by Ginny_Spinner

I have always had a theory that the Hogwarts Express takes a different amount of time every year to reach Hogwarts.
If you think about it;
It is always the day after they reach Hogwarts that they start lessons. And they always have the weekends off.
This would mean that every year the Hogwarts Express reaches the castle on a Sunday.

But i also just thought while writing this thread that it may arrive on any weekday, and they just do whatever day there are left in that week eg. arrive on Tuesday and do classes on Wed/Thurs/Fri than have Sat/Sun off.

The Hogwarts express always sets off from the King's Cross on the first of September, so yes sometimes they would have arrived on a weekday. In OOTP they arrive on a Sunday I know because Ron complains about how bad their Monday is for lessons the next day

[Ginny_Spinner]

Originally Posted by Lucybird

The Hogwarts express always sets off from the King's Cross on the first of December...

That's the 1st of September, not December...sorry

[Lucybird]

Originally Posted by Ginny_Spinner

That's the 1st of September, not December...sorry

yes oops, I was sure I'd typed September...maybe I was thinking of Christmas

[JamesxProngs]

It is possible that Muggles can see the Hogwarts express, there a many boarding schools in England. So the occasional muggle might just think that it was just another boarding school that was really expensive. There might be a point were there are no more muggles.

[lilamedusa]

Don't know i this had been said, though I'm sure it has, but couldn't it work just like the Knight bus?

[ronweasleysgrl]

if muggles CAN see it, it probably looks like just a regular train to them.

[amanduhrae]

Originally Posted by Ginny_Spinner

But i also just thought while writing this thread that it may arrive on any weekday, and they just do whatever day there are left in that week eg. arrive on Tuesday and do classes on Wed/Thurs/Fri than have Sat/Sun off.

I wonder if they ever arrive on a Friday... then they'd get there, have two days off, and then start lessons. =P

[ActingDude17]

Originally Posted by JamesxProngs

It is possible that Muggles can see the Hogwarts express, there a many boarding schools in England. So the occasional muggle might just think that it was just another boarding school that was really expensive. There might be a point were there are no more muggles.

Really? Ever heard of a Muggle school with a name like "Hogwarts"?

[Rich]

I don't think Muggles can see the Hogwarts Express. They can't see platform 9 and 3/4, and I don't think they can see the train either. I think Harry and Ron found the Express so easily because...

1) They knew the general way that the train took to get to Hogwarts
2) They are wizards; they can see Platform 9 and 3/4 and can see the Hogwarts Express.

[snapes_witch]

Originally Posted by amanduhrae

I wonder if they ever arrive on a Friday... then they'd get there, have two days off, and then start lessons. =P

JKR doesn't pay any attention to a real calendar; the 1st of September is always on a Monday.

[canismajoris]

If Muggles couldn't see the Hogwarts Express there would be no reason whatsoever to disguise it as a train.