1st September 2019

The 1st of September holds a lot of significance for Harry Potter fans all over the world. This is of course the day that the Hogwarts Express departs from London and a new school year begins.

All ready to board the Hogwarts Express with our tickets!

As pretty big Harry Potter fans ourselves, we like to make the journey to Kings Cross station, ready for the Hogwarts Express to leave at 11 o'clock, to celebrate and hang out with friends and meet other fans. We can't quite believe that this was our third year going together - each year just seems to be more fun than the last! Last year we were lucky enough to meet Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law there, so we had high hopes for this year, and it did not disappoint! We also decided to go all out, arriving in Gryffindor robes and a Scorpius Malfoy-inspired cosplay, respectively.

The brilliant Choir in their Hogwarts scarves!

Due to a lucky mistake, we arrived at Kings Cross two hours early, but no harm done. This year, the 'secret event' was hosted by Laura Alexandra, who introduced a choir donned in Hogwarts scarves. They sang 'Double Trouble' from Prisoner of Azkaban and 'In Noctem' from Half-Blood Prince.

The lovely people at Platform 9 3/4 came around and we had the chance to answer some Potter trivia questions to try to win Hogwarts Express tickets. We smashed it. Obviously. We were also photographed by Pottermore and made it onto their social media pages, and subsequently, into loads of newspapers all across the UK! How crazy is that?!

A Hogwarts Express ticket from September 1st 2019

There was a countdown in the last few seconds before the Hogwarts Express departed for another year. Everyone cheered and applauded, and waved their wands about as the clock struck 11. At exactly 11 o'clock, the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child came out in full costume. As those of you who have read our blog before may know, we are massive fans of Cursed Child. It's actually how we met!

The cast, made up of Dominic Short (Albus Potter), Rayxia Ojo (Rose Granger-Weasley), Ryan J Mackay (James Potter Jr), Craig Connolly (Karl Jenkins), Emma-May Uden (Polly Chapman), Luke Sumner (Yann Fredericks), Ronnie Lee (Craig Bowker Jr), Lucy Mangan (Ravenclaw Girl) and Adrian Christopher (Hogwarts Professor), performed Wand Dance from the play, directly in front of Platform 9 3/4.

L-R, Emma-May Uden, Ryan J Mackay, Rayxia Ojo,
Luke Sumner, Ronnie Lee, Adrian Christopher,
Dominic Short, Craig Connolly and Lucy Mangan

We've never seen the dance in such close proximity, or indeed, outside of the theatre before. We were finally able to dance along, as well as cheer and scream in support of the cast. The mood was electric. It was such an incredible experience and we loved every second.

We couldn't possibly celebrate going back to Hogwarts without actually going ourselves, and so after the festivities ended at Platform 9 3/4, we travelled across London to the Palace Theatre to watch Cursed Child. Seeing the chow is something we love to do together, and the atmosphere is always great and full of excitement on the 1st of September. The show was as excellent as ever, with this year holding extra significance as it's the year Harry and Ginny's youngest child and only daughter, Lily Luna Potter, goes to Hogwarts! Additionally, this is also the year that Scorpius Malfoy's mother, Astoria, passed away, shortly before the first term began, so those scenes in the show were particularly poignant.

Showing our house pride outside of the Palace!

As always on September 1st, Cursed Child gave out special commemorative badges. They were so beautiful this year! After the show, we had an amazing stage door experience and had the chance to meet most of the cast who are all so lovely and generous with their time.

The day was really quite special for us. It's such a treat to be able to get together and geek out over the thing we love most, surrounded by friends and fans who are doing the same. Bring on next year!