Burning Day

• Type: Anniversarial Event
• Owners: Nearly Headless Nick
• Maker: N/A

“Burning Day” is the name given to the five-hundredth anniversary of Nearly Headless Nick's death, as presented in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets video game (video game). It is the game's direct equivalent of the Deathday Party from the novel of the same name. In the game, Nearly Headless Nick is preparing for his Burning Day party and asks Harry Potter to assist him by finding a rotting skull to use as a grim centerpiece for the festivities (video game). This establishes the event as a quest point for the player.

The primary purpose of the Burning Day is to serve as a social gathering for ghosts to commemorate the anniversary of Nearly Headless Nick's execution. It is a sombre yet celebratory occasion within the ghost community of Hogwarts Castle. In the context of the novel, the equivalent Deathday Party serves as an important social function for ghosts. It features attractions such as an orchestra of ghosts playing musical saws and food that has been allowed to rot and moulder to appeal to the faded palettes of the spectral attendees.

The event, whether called a Burning Day or Deathday Party, commemorates the 500th anniversary of the death of Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington on 31 October, 1492. His execution was infamously botched; the executioner's axe was blunt, and it took forty-five hacks to kill him without managing to sever his head from his neck completely. This gruesome event left his spirit's head attached by a small flap of skin and sinew, earning him his famous moniker, “Nearly Headless Nick”. The anniversary of this day is what Nick chooses to celebrate.

While the term “Burning Day” is exclusive to the video game where it serves as a side quest, its canonical counterpart, the Deathday Party, plays a pivotal role in the plot of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. By choosing to attend the party in the Hogwarts dungeons, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger miss the Hallowe'en feast. As they are returning to Gryffindor Tower afterward, they are alone in an upper corridor. This allows Harry to clearly hear the disembodied, murderous voice of the Basilisk for the first time. Following the voice leads the trio directly to the scene of the first attack: Mrs. Norris, petrified and hanging by her tail, next to a message about the Chamber of Secrets written on the wall. This discovery officially begins the central mystery of the book.

The term “Burning Day” is non-canonical and originates exclusively from the PC version of the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets video game (video game). In the original novel by J.K. Rowling, the event is consistently and exclusively referred to as a “Deathday Party”. The reason for this name change in the game's localization is unknown. There is no mention of “Burning Day” in any of the seven novels, the film adaptations, or supplementary materials on Pottermore.