Hallowe'en

Hallowe'en, celebrated on 31 October, is a date of profound and often tragic significance in the modern wizarding world. While observed with festive traditions, such as the annual feast at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the date is inextricably linked to several pivotal and dark events in the life of Harry Potter and the history of the Wizarding Wars. For the wizarding community, it is a night that marks both celebration and momentous, world-altering occurrences.

In the wizarding world, Hallowe'en is celebrated with more overt magical flair than in the Muggle world. The most prominent example is the annual Hallowe'en Feast held in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The hall is lavishly decorated with thousands of live bats fluttering from the ceiling, hundreds of carved, lit pumpkins (some large enough to hold three men, grown by Rubeus Hagrid), and festive banners. The feast itself is a grand affair, rivaling the Start-of-Term and Christmas feasts. The date also holds significance for the spectral community. For instance, the ghost of Gryffindor house, Nearly Headless Nick, chose Hallowe'en of 1992 to celebrate his 500th Deathday Party, a sombre gathering of ghosts from all over Britain held in one of the school's larger dungeons.

Several of the most crucial events in the Harry Potter series occurred on Hallowe'en night, repeatedly marking it as a turning point in his life and the ongoing battle against Lord Voldemort.

• 31 October 1981: This is arguably the most significant date in modern wizarding history. Lord Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to kill the infant Harry Potter, who was prophesied to have the power to vanquish him. After murdering James Potter, Voldemort offered Lily Potter the chance to stand aside, but she refused and was killed while shielding her son. Her loving sacrifice created a powerful, ancient magic that protected Harry. When Voldemort turned his wand on Harry and cast the Killing Curse, the curse rebounded, stripping Voldemort of his body and power and leaving Harry with only a lightning-bolt scar. This event ended the First Wizarding War and gave Harry Potter the moniker “The Boy Who Lived.”
• 31 October 1991: During the Hallowe'en Feast, Professor Quirrell, secretly acting on Lord Voldemort's orders, let a fully grown Mountain Troll into the Hogwarts dungeons. He did this to create a diversion, hoping to reach the Philosopher's Stone. The ensuing chaos led Harry Potter and Ron Weasley to rescue Hermione Granger from the troll in a girls' bathroom. This terrifying event solidified the trio's friendship, a bond that would become central to the entire series.
• 31 October 1992: After attending Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party, Harry, Ron, and Hermione discovered the first attack following the re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets. They found Mrs Norris, the cat of caretaker Argus Filch, hanging by her tail from a torch bracket, seemingly dead but actually petrified by the Basilisk. On the wall above, a message was written in blood: “THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.” This kicked off a year of terror and suspicion within Hogwarts.
• 31 October 1993: Sirius Black, having escaped from Azkaban, successfully infiltrated Hogwarts Castle—an unprecedented security breach. He slashed the portrait of the Fat Lady, the guardian of Gryffindor Tower, in his attempt to enter the common room and find Peter Pettigrew, who was disguised as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. For their safety, the Hogwarts students spent the night sleeping in the Great Hall while the staff searched the castle.
• 31 October 1994: The Hallowe'en Feast was the setting for the dramatic selection of the champions for the Triwizard Tournament. The Goblet of Fire, an impartial magical judge, chose Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Viktor Krum of the Durmstrang Institute, and Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts. However, the Goblet then produced a fourth name—Harry Potter—despite him being underage and not having entered. This was the result of a powerful Confundus Charm cast by Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Alastor Moody, and was the first major step in Lord Voldemort's intricate plan to return to power.

J.K. Rowling's use of Hallowe'en draws on its real-world associations with death, magic, and the thinning of the veil between worlds, stemming from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. She uses the date as a powerful literary device, marking it as a time when the plot takes a significant and often perilous turn. In nearly every book where Hallowe'en is mentioned, it signals the beginning of a new, central conflict for that year's narrative.