Harry Potter manuscript goes on display

The original manuscript of the first Harry Potter novel is going on show in a new exhibition a stone’s throw from the station where the teenage wizard caught the Hogwart’s Express.

The work, including a scene where the character catches a train from Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross Station in London, is part of an exhibition at the nearby British Library.

JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books have sold more than 450 million copies, been translated into 74 languages and have inspired a series of hit films. Her first post-Potter novel, The Casual Vacancy, will be published later this year.

Also on show at the Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands exhibition is an original draft of John Lennon’s song In My Life which details a childhood bus journey into Liverpool city centre which appeared on the 1965 Beatles album, Rubber Soul.