CS8: The Deathday Party

"*My late lamented lords, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great sorrow...*"
— Nearly Headless Nick

Harry and Flick are caught dripping mud on the carpet by Filch and are taken to Filch's office where they discover that Filch is not a wizard. Nearly Headless Nick invites them to his Deathday Party, which Harry, Ron, Flick and Hermione attend on Halloween night. Leaving the party, Harry hears voices again, and following the sound with Ron, Flick and Hermione they discover writing on the wall and a petrified Mrs. Norris.

## Calendar and Dates

The action of the chapter takes place during the month of October, 1992, primarily on Halloween night.

## Interesting Facts and Notes

This chapter gives us our most detailed look at ghosts to date.

**He was pale as smoke, and Harry could see right through him to the dark sky and torrential rain outside.**

We are being reminded that Nick is nearly transparent as well as nearly headless, so that we have all the necessary clues to work out what will happen to Justin Finch-Fletchley later on.

**"But you would think, wouldn't you," he erupted suddenly, pulling the letter out of his back pocket, "that getting hit forty0five times in the neck with a blunt ace would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?"**

Talk about adding insult to injury...

**"Filch isn't in a good mood."**

When is he ever?

**"He's got the flu..."**

Hmm. Does this mean that Pepperup Potion doesn't work on Squibs?

**"... and some third-years accidentally plastered frog brains all over the ceiling in dungeon five..."**

While Nick doesn't actually say that this was during the course of a Potions lesson, that class seems the most likely candidate for a class in which frog brains would be used. Consequently, frog brains appear on the list of possible potion ingredients, although we do not know what the third-years were attempting to do with them.

**... trying to find out what would happen if you fed a Filibuster Firework to a salamander. Fred had 'rescued' the brilliant orange, fire-dwelling lizard from a Care of Magical Creatures class...**

This tells us that Fred took Care of Magical Creatures as an elective, and helps confirm that salamanders are part of the typical Care of Magical Creatures curriculum, although Hagrid appears to have changed the order in which the creatures are covered when he took over the class the following year. Harry's CMC class will also study salamanders, but during the winter of their third year (PA12), while Fred at this point is in his fourth year.

**Wooden filing cabinets stood around the walls; from their labels, Harry could see that they contained details of every pupil Filch had ever punished. Fred and George Weasley had an entire drawer to themselves.**

If Filch was at Hogwarts in the days of the Marauders, how much space do their records take up?

**Through the dungeon wall burst a dozen ghost horses...**

How does a horse become a ghost?

## Exceptional Character Moments

* Harry, Ron, Flick and Hermione, who keep their word and attend Nick's party despite the inedible food, the horrible orchestra, and the delights of the Halloween feast being held in the Great Hall
* Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore, who in a dazzligng display of his lack of consideration, completely upstages Nick at Nick's own party

## Memorable Lines

> "*But you would think, wouldn't you," he erupted suddenly, pulling the letter back out of his pocket, "that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with a blunt axe would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?*"
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> "*Most people would think that's properly good and beheaded, but oh no, that's not enough for Sir Patrick Decapitated-Podmore.*"
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> "*Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they died?" said Ron, who was halfway through his Potions homework and grumpy. "Sounds dead depressing to me...*"
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