Yule Ball

"*Dress robes will be worn, and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then - The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down. But that does NOT mean, that we will be relaxing the standards of behaviour we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way.*"
— Minerva McGonagall regarding the purpose of the Yule Ball

The **Yule Ball** was a formal Christmas celebration held on 25 December for students of wizarding schools who participated in the Triwizard Tournament.

## 1994 Yule Ball

### Preparation

"*I have something to say to you all. The Yule Ball is approaching - a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish-*"
— Professor McGonagall informing fourth year Gryffindors of the upcoming ball in Transfiguration

1994 was the first time in centuries that the Triwizard Tournament, and thus the Yule Ball, was held. The ball was open to students in the fourth year and above, meaning Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Felicity Black, and Hermione Granger were able to attend. Younger students were also allowed to attend provided they were invited by an older student. Ginny Weasley was able to attend, as she was invited by a fourth year student, Neville Longbottom. All tournament champions were required to attend, and they must have a dance partner, as tradition required them to open the dance.

The announcement of the ball caused something of a panic in Harry and Ron, who were worried about their abilities to find dates. Ron, however, told Harry that he had just beaten a Hungarian Horntail in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament and he'd have no trouble getting a partner, which was true, because the very next day, a curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom Harry had never spoken to in his life asked him to go to the ball with her. He was so taken aback he said "no" before he'd even stopped to consider the matter. The following day, two more girls asked him, a second-year and a fifth-year. Harry most likely refused to go to the ball with any of them because he was interested in Cho Chang. One day, with the Yule Ball nearing, they made an agreement that they would both have partners by the time they returned to the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry asked Cho Chang when they ran into each other in a corridor but she had already agreed to go with Cedric Diggory.

Ron blurted out an invitation to Fleur Delacour, under the influence of her Veela magic, but then ran away. He then suggested that he attend with Hermione and Harry take Ginny (as Flick had already publicly agreed to go with Fred), but Hermione had already - and secretly - accepted the invitation of Viktor Krum, and Ginny had agreed to go with Neville. Harry managed to get himself and Ron dates with Parvati and Padma Patil.

### The Ball

"*Over their heads he saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.*"
— Description of the decorations

Harry wore robes of bottle green that went well with his eyes and Ron wore second-hand robes that were more "traditional". [Flick yule ball stuff]. Hermione wore a beautiful gown of periwinkle blue and sported a fancy hairstyle. She also had a wonderful time dancing with Viktor. Harry and Ron did not even ask the twins to dance, instead spending most of their time sulking and watching Cho and Hermione dancing with their partners, Cedric and Viktor, respectively.

The wizarding band Weird Sisters played at the event, and for many, it was a great success. A feast was held as part of the ball, in which both goulash and stew were served. Several snack tables were set up as well, featuring decorations that represented both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

During the ball, Harry and Ron overheard a conversation between Rubeus Hagrid and Madame Maxime in which Hagrid admitted to being a half-giant. This conversation was overhead by Rita Skeeter in her animagus form, who published the information in the *Daily Prophet*.

When the ball ended, many students expressed their wish that it would go on longer, but Harry found himself perfectly happy for the ball to be over, as he did not think the evening particularly fun or enjoyable.

## Notable Participants

### Triwizard Champions

* Harry Potter
* Cedric Diggory
* Viktor Krum
* Fleur Delacour

### Ball Attendees

* Seamus Finnigan
* Ginny Weasley
* Parvati Patil
* Cho Chang
* Hermione Granger
* Ron Weasley
* Padma Patil
* Rubeus Hagrid
* Olympe Maxime
* Draco Malfoy
* Vincent Crabbe
* Gregory Goyle
* Felicity Black
* Fred Weasley
* George Weasley
* Angelina Johnson

## Behind the Scenes

* Colloquially, the terms "Yule" and "Christmas" are often used interchangeably, but, more technically, Yule is a traditional winter festival that was celebrated in Northern Europe in pre-Christian times. It celebrated the winter solstice and involved great feasts.
* Almost none of the identified couples during the ball had a lasting relationship; most either separated later or simply stayed friends. In fact, the only ones that remained couples for any real length of time were Cedric and Cho, who seemed to be dating until Cedric's death, and Draco and Pansy, who remained in a relationship for the remainder of Draco's time at Hogwarts (though they did not end up marrying).
	+ Flick and Fred did eventually begin a relationship during *Order of the Phoenix* and were together until *Deathly Hallows* as Flick broke up with Fred to keep him safe before she went off to hunt Horcruxes with the understanding that if they both survived they would get back together. Unfortunately, Fred died before they could.
	+ In an alternate timeline, Ron Weasley *did* marry Padma Patil, however in that timeline, *Hermione* was his Yule Ball date, not Padma (though he did dance with her during the course of the ball, apparently what caused him to become attracted to her in the first place).