The Importance of Halloween in Harry Potter
by Emilie
It’s that time of year again. Just walking around town, you see the pumpkins and the blow-up decorations we all love so much. The kids (and maybe some older folks as well) are all talking about their costumes and where they plan on going trick-or-treating.
Being the Harry Potter fan that I am, I need to relate everything back to Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling has said several times that her favorite holiday is Halloween. Just by reading the books, the reader can tell that J.K. Rowling designated a special spot for Halloween in her world. Every year there is a giant feast at Hogwarts, but other more important things happen as well.
Even before the events of the first book, Halloween was important. Voldemort went to Godric’s Hallow on Halloween to kill the Potters. This, of course, led to Voldemort’s first downfall.
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone), Harry and Ron innocent first years are excited for the feast. Halfway through, Quirrell bursts in screaming about a troll in the dungeons. Instead of going to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ron go to the girl’s bathroom to warn Hermione, who was in there crying. Everyone knows what happened next, Harry and Ron lock the troll in the bathroom, but ultimately save Hermione. This event was important in that it was the beginning of Harry and Ron’s long friendship with Hermione. It was also the first indication that something odd was going on in the school. Harry noticed that Snape had blood on his leg, leading Harry to form his suspicion of Snape being evil.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry, Ron, and Hermione attend Nearly Headless Nick’s 500th death day party. Later that evening, the first attack occurred. Mrs. Norris was petrified, and the message “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware” (CoS pg 138) was left on the wall, written in blood. This was the beginning of events that would span the whole school year. The reverberations of the events would be seen throughout the series.
The first Hogsmede trip was on Halloween in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry, unable to go, had tea with Lupin instead. This was one of the first bonding sessions between Harry and Lupin in PoA. Later on, while everyone was at the feast, Sirius attacked the Fat Lady. J.K. Rowling having him attack on Halloween makes perfect sense, because he did not want to harm any of the students.
The champions for the Triwizard Tournament were chosen on Halloween in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had arrived the day before. They were given a day to put their names in the Goblet of Fire. On the evening of Halloween, Victor Krum, Fleur Delacour, Cedric Diggory, and Harry Potter were chosen as champions of their schools. This was a very important event. Imagine if their names had not been picked from the cup. Bill would not have met Fleur. Krum and Hermione might not have gotten together. Cedric would have still been alive, and Voldemort’s return to body delayed.
After Goblet of Fire, however, Halloween is no longer mentioned. No one (besides J.K. Rowling) knows why, but I can venture a guess. Books 1-4 are generally seen as the happier books the books of innocence. After the return of Voldemort, Harry loses the precious little innocence he had. He was too old for Halloween. The days were dark; why put in happy feasts and celebrations? Halloween wouldn’t have fit into the books too well.
J.K. Rowling used Halloween in the earlier books a lot. It was relatively early in the school year, but late enough in the book for some of the plot to begin appearing. Not only was it at an ideal time, but it was also J.K. Rowling’s favorite holiday. In the later books, Halloween is lost, just as Harry’s innocence was.
I got most of this information from the books. I checked the HP Lexicon’s timelines to make sure that had not missed Halloween in the later books. It was said that J.K. Rowling’s favorite holiday was Halloween in the book, J.K. Rowling: The Wizard behind Harry Potter, but I think that she said it in an interview once too.
Being the Harry Potter fan that I am, I need to relate everything back to Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling has said several times that her favorite holiday is Halloween. Just by reading the books, the reader can tell that J.K. Rowling designated a special spot for Halloween in her world. Every year there is a giant feast at Hogwarts, but other more important things happen as well.
Even before the events of the first book, Halloween was important. Voldemort went to Godric’s Hallow on Halloween to kill the Potters. This, of course, led to Voldemort’s first downfall.
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone), Harry and Ron innocent first years are excited for the feast. Halfway through, Quirrell bursts in screaming about a troll in the dungeons. Instead of going to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ron go to the girl’s bathroom to warn Hermione, who was in there crying. Everyone knows what happened next, Harry and Ron lock the troll in the bathroom, but ultimately save Hermione. This event was important in that it was the beginning of Harry and Ron’s long friendship with Hermione. It was also the first indication that something odd was going on in the school. Harry noticed that Snape had blood on his leg, leading Harry to form his suspicion of Snape being evil.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry, Ron, and Hermione attend Nearly Headless Nick’s 500th death day party. Later that evening, the first attack occurred. Mrs. Norris was petrified, and the message “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware” (CoS pg 138) was left on the wall, written in blood. This was the beginning of events that would span the whole school year. The reverberations of the events would be seen throughout the series.
The first Hogsmede trip was on Halloween in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry, unable to go, had tea with Lupin instead. This was one of the first bonding sessions between Harry and Lupin in PoA. Later on, while everyone was at the feast, Sirius attacked the Fat Lady. J.K. Rowling having him attack on Halloween makes perfect sense, because he did not want to harm any of the students.
The champions for the Triwizard Tournament were chosen on Halloween in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had arrived the day before. They were given a day to put their names in the Goblet of Fire. On the evening of Halloween, Victor Krum, Fleur Delacour, Cedric Diggory, and Harry Potter were chosen as champions of their schools. This was a very important event. Imagine if their names had not been picked from the cup. Bill would not have met Fleur. Krum and Hermione might not have gotten together. Cedric would have still been alive, and Voldemort’s return to body delayed.
After Goblet of Fire, however, Halloween is no longer mentioned. No one (besides J.K. Rowling) knows why, but I can venture a guess. Books 1-4 are generally seen as the happier books the books of innocence. After the return of Voldemort, Harry loses the precious little innocence he had. He was too old for Halloween. The days were dark; why put in happy feasts and celebrations? Halloween wouldn’t have fit into the books too well.
J.K. Rowling used Halloween in the earlier books a lot. It was relatively early in the school year, but late enough in the book for some of the plot to begin appearing. Not only was it at an ideal time, but it was also J.K. Rowling’s favorite holiday. In the later books, Halloween is lost, just as Harry’s innocence was.
I got most of this information from the books. I checked the HP Lexicon’s timelines to make sure that had not missed Halloween in the later books. It was said that J.K. Rowling’s favorite holiday was Halloween in the book, J.K. Rowling: The Wizard behind Harry Potter, but I think that she said it in an interview once too.
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