Yule Ball

"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to — er — let our hair down."

- Minerva McGonagall on the Yule Ball

The Yule Ball is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament. It is a formal dance held on Christmas night of a tournament year and is opened by the tournament champions and their partners in the Champions Waltz.

At Hogwarts, where the Yule Ball was held in 1994, only students of fourth year and above were permitted to attend, though younger students could also go if an older student invited them to accompany them. The ball begins at 8:00 p.m. and ends at midnight.

Preparation
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, 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. One day with the Yule Ball nearing, they made an agreement that they would both have partners by the time the returned to the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry asked Cho Chang when they ran into each other on the stairs of the Owlery, but she had already agreed to go with Cedric Diggory. Ron blurted out an invitation to Fleur Delacour, under the influence of her Veela charm, but then ran away. He then suggested that he attend with Hermione and Harry take Ginny, 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 a second-hand robe that was more "traditional". Robes that once belonged to his great aunt Tessie. 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 The 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 overheard 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 didn't think the evening particularly fun.

Notable participants
Triwizard champions

Known partners



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. One exception is Cedric and Cho, who seemed to be dating until Cedric's death.
 * The word Yule is pronounced in a similar way as Jul in Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian which means 'Christmas'. It is also the root for the Finnish word Joulu which also means Christmas.
 * In, Professor Dumbledore dances with Professor McGonagall, Seamus Finnigan dances with a Beauxbatons girl, and Draco Malfoy dances with another unidentified Beauxbatons girl played by Danielle Crockford.
 * In the film, there was a traditional orchestra for ballroom dancing, followed later by Wizard-themed rock band the Weird Sisters which caused a mosh pit at the edge of the stage.
 * All the champions' dates attend Hogwarts, even though only two champions attend Hogwarts.
 * In the film, it shows Professor Snape being present along with the other professors from Hogwarts, however in the novel, Professor Snape never attended the Yule Ball itself. However, during the seventh-book, Snape's memories show Dumbledore and Snape did have a conversation about the darkening Dark marks as the Yule ball was concluding.

Appearances

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Notes and references
Bal de Noël Святочный бал Bal Bożonarodzeniowy pt-br:Baile de Inverno