Rare footage showing how Harry Potter filmed platform 9 3/4 scene is anything but magic

Rare footage has shown Harry Potter fans how the famous Platform 9 ¾ scene was filmed and it’s anything but magic.

Although the first film was released over 20 years ago now – bet that makes you feel old – there’s still little nuggets for people to discover and learn. Like the making of this iconic moment from The Philosopher’s Stone:

Behind the scenes footage was shared on TikTok, with one user saying that their childhood was ‘destroyed’ after watching the clip.

Set to Lana Del Rey’s ‘Summertime Sadness’, the footage shows the special camera trickery behind the nostalgic film.

Taking on the role of a lifetime, Daniel Radcliffe appears as the boy wizard as he charges through the wall of Platform 9 ¾ in The Philosopher's Stone.

While the Harry Potter scene is an absolute moment, the clip reveals it was filmed using a simple archway to create the clever transformation into the Hogwarts Express platform. Way more boring than what we see on film...

Warner Bros.

Shot from another angle, you can see a young Radcliffe rushing towards the set piece, with cameramen in front of him – all the while the real-life King’s Cross station is visible.

As if to hammer the point home, you can hear a sound bite from Euphoria gloomily saying ‘none of it was real’. (As if the shattering of the childhood memory wasn’t heartbreaking enough!)

Eagled-eyed fans even spotted the back of Molly and Ron Weasley’s heads – of course, played by Julie Walters and Rupert Grint respectively.

Understandably, muggles have been shocked after discovering how the magical illusion was done – with many brutally disappointed.

Originally uploaded by TikTok user @drarryhq, users commented the clip ‘destroyed’ their childhood.

“It's real please I really like magic,” pleaded one Harry Potter fan, with another joking: “I thought it was real magic! No no no now my childhood is destroyed.”

However, one heartbroken fan had a very important theory as to why the behind-the-scenes footage had just emerged.

Warner Bros.

“This is what the MoM want the muggles to know,” they pointedly wrote, referring to the Ministry of Magic trying to cover up magical activities in the books and films.

While some wanted to remain in the Wizarding World and hoped for their Hogwarts letter, other fans decided to be far more realistic.

“They filmed the movies really well tbh,” wrote one commenter, who was clearly impressed by the clever camera trick.

It seems like the filmmakers behind The Philosopher's Stone didn’t need to go to Hogwarts to create on-screen magic.

Topics: Harry Potter, TV and Film

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_