Yule Ball

The Yule Ball is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament. It is a formal dance held on the evening of Christmas Day of a tournament year, and is opened by the tournament champions and their partners. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the Yule Ball was held in 1994, only students of fourth year or 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.

Yule Ball in Goblet of Fire
1994 was the first time in a very long while that the Triwizard Tournament, and thus the Yule Ball, was held. Students in the fourth year and above were allowed to attend, meaning Harry, Ron, and Hermione were of the right ages to go. Ginny Weasley was able to attend, as she was asked by a fourth year student, Neville Longbottom. All tournament champions were required to attend.

The announcement of the ball caused something of a panic in Harry and Ron, who were worried about their abilities to find dates. Harry asked Cho Chang, 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, and 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 in Parvati and Padma Patil, but neither couple enjoyed themselves. Harry and Ron did not even ask the twins to dance, instead spending most of their time watching Cho and Hermione, respectively.

The wizarding band The Weird Sisters played at the event, and for many it was a great success.

During the ball, Harry and Ron overheard a conversation between Rubeus Hagrid and Madame Maxime in which Hagrid admitted to being half-giant. This conversation was unfortunately overheard by Rita Skeeter, 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 end, as he didn't think the evening particularly fun.

Known Yule Ball Partners

 * Harry Potter (champion) & Parvati Patil
 * Cedric Diggory (champion) & Cho Chang
 * Viktor Krum (champion) & Hermione Granger
 * Fleur Delacour (champion) & Roger Davies
 * Ron Weasley & Padma Patil
 * Neville Longbottom & Ginny Weasley
 * Seamus Finnigan & Lavender Brown
 * Draco Malfoy & Pansy Parkinson
 * Fred Weasley & Angelina Johnson
 * Albus Dumbledore & Pomona Sprout (Minerva McGonagall in the film)
 * Barty Crouch Jr. (as Alastor Moody) & Aurora Sinistra
 * Rubeus Hagrid & Madame Maxime
 * Argus Filch & Mrs. Norris
 * S. Fawcett & Stebbins

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.
 * None of the couples during the ball had a lasting relationship, because they either separated later (Harry and Ron were not in speaking terms with the Patil twins) or ended in more tragic way (Cedric died during the third task, wich caused great pain to Cho).
 * The word Yule is pronounced the same way as Jul in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian which funily enough means Christmas
 * Note that three out of four Hogwarts seekers were either champions or champion dates.