Halloween at Hogwarts: The Best Harry Potter Halloween Scenes

Halloween, with all the talk of witches and magical creatures, always gets me in the mood for a Harry Potter reread. Ok, who am I kidding, I am always in the mood for a Harry Potter reread.

At this time of year, I always think back to my last year at Oxford when Christ Church hosted a Harry Potter themed dinner in aid of charity. It was the best Halloween I’ve ever had and I’ll never forget the moment a student dressed as Quirrell ran in shouting “Troll in the dungeon!”, before collapsing onto the floor.

This got me thinking about all the Halloween moments in Harry Potter so let me take you on a trip down memory lane through all the best Halloween scenes in the Harry Potter series. 

The One where Harry Got his Scar

The very first Halloween scene in Harry Potter I’m including occurs long before the books begin – the fateful day that Voldemort murdered Harry’s parents. Do you think Voldemort planned that as some sort of twisted joke or if it was just coincidence? 

All this is news to Harry as he hears the story about how his parents died for the first time when Hagrid turns up to take him away from the Dursleys.

All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an’ — an’ –“

Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.

“Sorry,” he said. “But it’s that sad — knew yer mum an’ dad, an’ nicer people yeh couldn’t find — anyway…”

“You-Know-Who killed ’em. An’ then — an’ this is the real myst’ry of the thing — he tried to kill you, too.

– Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 4

The One with the Troll

This is the scene that inspired my college’s Harry Potter themed charity dinner so naturally it is my favourite Harry Potter Halloween moment. All is well on Halloween morning as our heroes wake up to the “delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors.”

Harry and Ron are lucky to be alive after their encounter with the three-headed dog the previous evening but they’ve got more rogue magical creatures to face… 

After Ron loudly calls Hermione “a nightmare” (the start of their beautiful relationship), she hides herself away for the rest of the day. She stays in the girls’ bathroom for the Halloween feast, crying. 

Of course Ron is too distracted by the Halloween decorations to take any notice of this:

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

-Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 10

The feast is going well and all the student’s are having a great time eating and drinking. Bu then… 

Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore’s chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, “Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know.”

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

-Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Chapter 10

Thanks to the gallant actions of Harry and Ron, Hermione is saved from the danger posed by the stupid troll.

The One with the Deathday Party

It’s a shame that this scene never made it into the Harry Potter films as I’d love to have seen more of Nearly Headless Nick, Peeves and Moaning Myrtle on screen. In The Chamber of Secrets, Harry finds himself with one too many social engagements on Halloween and has to decide between the amazing Hogwarts Halloween feast and Nearly Headless Nick’s “Deathday” party.

“Well, this Halloween will be my five hundredth deathday,” said Nearly Headless Nick, drawing himself up and looking dignified.

“Oh,” said Harry, not sure whether he should look sorry or happy about this. “Right.”

“I’m holding a party down in one of the roomier dungeons. Friends will be coming from all over the country. It would be such an honour if you would attend. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger would be most welcome, too, of course — but I daresay you’d rather go to the school feast?” He watched Harry on tenterhooks.

“No,” said Harry quickly, “I’ll come —”

“My dear boy! Harry Potter, at my deathday party! And —” he hesitated, looking excited “— do you think you could possibly mention to Sir Patrick how very frightening and impressive you find me?”

-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 8

A promise is a promise so Harry makes his way to Nearly Headless Nick’s party, passing all the splendour of the Great Hall: 

The Great Hall had been decorated with the usual live bats, Hagrid’s vast pumpkins had been carved into lanterns large enough for three men to sit in, and there were rumours that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for the entertainment.

-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 8

Meanwhile at the Deathday party…

It was an incredible sight. The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, played by an orchestra on a raised, black-draped platform. A chandelier overhead blazed midnight-blue with a thousand more black candles. Their breath rose in a mist before them; it was like stepping into a freezer.

-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 8

But we can’t forget what happened after the Deathday party…

Something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.

ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE

-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 8

Dun. Dun. Dun.

The One with Sirius Black

One of the best things about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is that students are now allowed to visit Hogsmeade. This opens up a whole other part of the wizarding world to explore including Honeyduke’s, Zonko’s, the Shrieking Shack and more. No wonder all the students are so excited!

Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room one evening after training, cold and stiff but pleased with the way practice had gone, to find the room buzzing excitedly.

“What’s happened?”, he asked Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in two of the best chairs by the fireside and completing some star charts for Astronomy.

“First Hogsmeade weekend,” said Ron, pointing at a notice that had appeared on the battered old bulletin board.

“End of October. Halloween.”

– Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 8

Sadly, Harry since Harry is unable to get Uncle Vernon’s signature, he is unable to join his classmates in Hogsmeade. But that doesn’t matter because this Halloween, the excitement comes to Hogwarts. 

A silence fell over the crowd, from the front first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp voice, “Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick.”

People’s heads turned; those at the back were standing on tiptoe.

“What’s going on?” said Ginny, who had just arrived. A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait; the Gryffindors squeezed together to let him through, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was.

“Oh, my —” Hermione grabbed Harry’s arm.

The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely.

-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 8

Where’s the Fat Lady? 

In the end it’s Peeves who reveals what happened to her, or rather, who got to her: 

“Nasty temper he’s got, that Sirius Black.”

-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 8

The One where Harry’s name came out of the fire

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hogwarts plays host to the infamous Triwizard Tournament. Whilst the whole school is initially very excited about it, it soon becomes clear that there are other forces at work this time around. 

As the names are drawn, we see Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory chosen to represent their schools. But then something strange happens. 

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out —

“Harry Potter.”

-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 16

We all know what happens at the end of the Triwizard Tournament and little does Harry know that the his name being drawn will change the course of his life forever.

Sadly Halloween isn’t mentioned in any of the Harry Potter books following The Goblet of Fire. I guess after Voldemort’s return the spooky holiday didn’t seem so scary after all. 

In The Order of the Phoenix, at the end of October, Harry and Ron are busy worrying about the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Ron is now a keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and incredibly anxious about the big match. Chants of “Wesley is Our King” don’t make things any easier.  

In The Half Blood Prince, Harry is too busy with his lessons with Dumbledore to celebrate something as trivial as Halloween. He’s got real life demons to fight in the form of Horcruxes! Around this time of year Harry and Dumbledore are still exploring past memories of Tom Riddle to see if there are any clues as to what the horcruxes might be. 

In The Deathly Hallows our favourite trio completely lose track of time until Christmas Eve in Godrick’s Hollow. They’re constantly on the move with no contact with the either the wizarding or the muggle world so it’s no surprise that Halloween doesn’t make an appearance. 

Which is your favourite Harry Potter Halloween moment? Let me know in the comments below! 

If you liked this post, check out these:
Halloween Feast in the Great Hall: A Harry Potter Themed Dinner 
Christmas at Hogwarts: The Best Harry Potter Christmas Scenes
What’s in my Backpack Hogwarts Edition
20 Magical Things to do at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
7 Most Inspirational Dumbledore Quotes

Laura

Founder & Editor of What’s Hot?

Laura is an award-winning travel and book blogger based in the UK. She studied French literature at Oxford University and is now an IP lawyer at a top law firm in London. She was named UK Book Blogger of the Year in 2019 and loves to combine her passion for books and travel with literary travel.