Show pageOld revisionsBacklinksBack to top This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong. ======Hallowe'en in the Wizarding World====== =====Location Information===== * **Type:** Annual Magical Event * **Location:** 31 October; observed throughout the [[Wizarding World]] * **Owner/Residents:** [[Witches]] and [[Wizards]]; [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]] (notable celebrations) * **Key Features:** Elaborate feasts, magical decorations, a night of immense historical and personal significance for [[Harry Potter]] =====Description and History===== Hallowe'en, celebrated on the 31st of October, is a major event in the wizarding calendar, observed with far more enthusiasm than in the [[Muggle]] world. At [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]], the occasion is marked by a grand feast in the [[Great Hall]]. The hall is lavishly decorated with thousands of live [[bats]] fluttering from the enchanted ceiling, and hundreds of carved pumpkins, some large enough for three men to sit in, which are said to be grown by [[Rubeus Hagrid]]. The feast includes a variety of Hallowe'en-themed magical foods and sweets. Beyond the [[Hogwarts]] feast, Hallowe'en holds a deeper cultural significance. It is, for instance, the "deathday" of many [[ghosts]], including [[Nearly Headless Nick]], who in 1992 celebrated the 500th anniversary of his botched execution with a Deathday Party in the [[Hogwarts]] dungeons. The date is intrinsically linked to powerful magic and fateful events, repeatedly serving as a turning point in the wizarding world's recent history, particularly concerning [[Harry Potter]] and the rise and fall of [[Lord Voldemort]]. =====Role in the Story===== The date of 31 October is a recurring and pivotal fixture in the narrative, with a major plot development occurring on Hallowe'en in each of the first four novels. * **31 October 1981:** [[Lord Voldemort]] travels to [[Godric's Hollow]] and murders [[James Potter|James]] and [[Lily Potter]]. When he turns his [[wand]] on the infant [[Harry Potter]], the [[Killing Curse]] rebounds, destroying [[Voldemort]]'s body and ending the [[First Wizarding War]]. [[Harry]] is left with only a lightning-bolt [[scar]], becoming known as "[[The Boy Who Lived]]". * **31 October 1991:** During the Hallowe'en feast, [[Professor Quirrell]], secretly acting on [[Voldemort]]'s orders, lets a fully grown [[Mountain Troll]] into the [[Hogwarts]] dungeons as a diversion to steal the [[Philosopher's Stone]]. [[Harry]] and [[Ron Weasley]] defy school rules to warn [[Hermione Granger]] and end up saving her from the [[troll]] in a girls' bathroom, a terrifying ordeal that forges their enduring friendship. * **31 October 1992:** While attending the 500th Deathday Party of [[Nearly Headless Nick]], [[Harry]] hears the disembodied voice of the [[Basilisk]] for the first time. Later that evening, he, [[Ron]], and [[Hermione]] discover the petrified body of [[Argus Filch]]'s [[cat]], [[Mrs Norris]], hanging by her tail, and a message written in blood on the wall: "THE [[CHAMBER OF SECRETS]] HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE." * **31 October 1993:** The mass murderer [[Sirius Black]] successfully infiltrates [[Hogwarts Castle]]. He slashes the portrait of the [[Fat Lady]] with a [[knife]] when she refuses him entry to [[Gryffindor Tower]]. The attack causes panic and forces the students to sleep in the [[Great Hall]] under the teachers' protection. * **31 October 1994:** The [[Goblet of Fire]] is scheduled to choose the champions for the revived [[Triwizard Tournament]]. It selects [[Fleur Delacour]] from [[Beauxbatons Academy of Magic]], [[Viktor Krum]] from [[Durmstrang Institute]], and [[Cedric Diggory]] from [[Hogwarts]]. However, the [[Goblet]] then mysteriously produces a fourth name: [[Harry Potter]], binding him in a magical contract to compete in the dangerous tournament. =====Behind the Scenes===== J.K. Rowling's use of Hallowe'en draws on its real-world Celtic origins as Samhain, a festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. In folklore, this is a time when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest (Pottermore). This theme resonates strongly within the series, especially given that the foundational event of the story—the murder of [[Lily]] and [[James Potter]] and the "death" of [[Lord Voldemort]]—occurs on this night. After the fourth book, significant events cease to fall on Hallowe'en, a deliberate narrative choice by the author to avoid the plot device becoming too predictable.
