Minister Ottaline Gambol was a British Minister for Magic who was in office from 1827 to 1835. Fascinated with Muggle technology, she was "daring and controversial" and proposed the train as a solution to the age-old dilemma of how to transport hundreds of students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry without attracting non-magic attention, leading to the creation of the Hogwarts Express.