What star did the compass needle point when it was pointing north?

When a compass needle points north, it is generally aligning itself with the Earth's magnetic field rather than directly pointing to a specific star. However, in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Star, or Polaris, is located nearly in line with the Earth's rotational axis and is often used as a reference for true north. Polaris is not exactly magnetic north, but it serves as a useful guide for navigation. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Southern Cross constellation is often used to find the south celestial pole, but it does not correlate directly with magnetic north either.