Harry Potter fans descending on King’s Cross railway station in London today for “Back to Hogwarts” Day were surprised by an appearance by Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law, stars of the upcoming Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Each year on Sept. 1, U.K. devotees of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world gather at King’s Cross to commemorate the departure on the Hogwarts Express for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Fans line up to have their photographs taken as they pretend to push the luggage trolley through the magical barrier onto Platform 9 ¾.
Typically there are staff members on hand to help with such touches as Hogwarts scarves, but this morning fans were instead greeted by Redmayne and Law. The two actors posed for photos, and then led the countdown to the 11 a.m. departure of the Hogwarts Express.
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Redmayne reprises his role as magizoologist Newt Scamander in the sequel to 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, joined by Law as a young Albus Dumbledore, decades before he became headmaster at Hogwarts.
Directed by David Yates from a script by Rowling, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald also stars Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Carmen Ejogo, Poppy Corby-Tuech and Johnny Depp. The film opens Nov. 16.