Hogwarts the Hogwarts Express that students take at the start of each school year. Students board the train from the also fictional and hidden Platform 9¾ at King's Cross station in London. The train arrives near Hogwarts, some time after nightfall. From there, first-year students are accompanied by the "Keeper of the Keys, Game and Grounds" (which was Hagrid during the first novel) to small boats, which magically sail across the lake and get them near the entrance of Hogwarts. The older students ride up to the castle in carriages pulled by creatures called Thestrals. When the first-year students initially arrive
Hogwarts staff and later fired. However, Professor Trelawney continues to reside in Hogwarts castle due to an order by Dumbledore, who believes that she would be in danger outside Hogwarts due to the prophecy she made during her interview. Dumbledore later reveals that the prophecy is why he keeps her employed as a Divination teacher. Professor Trelawney returns to teaching in "Half-Blood Prince", but has to share classes with Firenze, as he was cast out by his fellow centaurs when he agreed to replace Professor Trelawney after she was fired, which she thinks is an outrage. In "Harry Potter and the Deathly