Halloween is the best holiday ever. From cutesy blow-up decorations to haunted houses, almost everyone’s interests can be met. My home decorations are themed around traditional Halloween characters: witches, ghosts, bats, and black cats mixed in with my Harry Potter obsession. (You can watch a virtual tour on tiktok here.)

Halloween specials on TV shows, highlighting Halloween in books, and full length movies all about Halloween complete my entertainment for October each year. So, I would like to share with you my favorite fictional Halloweens.

First: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Chapter 10 Halloween in the Sorcerer’s Stone is the best Halloween in the Harry Potter series. 

Let’s start with the decorations. A thousand live bats bewitched to flutter near the walls and ceiling, and a thousand more bewitched to swoop over the tables. Have you ever experienced a cauldron (yes, that’s really what they’re called) of bats flying right above you? There was an alcove in my first apartment that a cauldron of wild bats had chosen for their home. The landlord either didn’t know or didn’t care because for the two years I lived there, an exterminator was never called. I actually really enjoyed hearing and seeing them as the sun set.

We also know that the Great Hall is filled with carved pumpkins and lit with candles. The movie gives us a more advanced visual. The jack-o-lanterns are floating, the ceiling is dark with thunder and lightning, and the tables are full of apple and pumpkin desserts and other candies in fall colors. This is exactly the sort of holiday party that I would love to host, but alas, I do not have the culinary and decorating skills to do so. 

In that same chapter, a more important part to the plot would be the  

What J.K. Rowling does with this scene is something I am practicing myself as a new writer. At this point in the book, Harry – and the reader – are still learning about magic, Hogwarts, and the wizarding world. So, when Hermione is correcting Ron’s “Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa” in charms class, Harry and the reader (at least, for our first time reading it) don’t yet realize that we are being set up for an important plot point. Ron’s loud complaints about Hermione send her to the bathroom to cry; which is where the troll ends up. 

There are some small detail changes between book and film. In the book, Harry and Ron see Snape going off on his own to the third floor (where the three headed dog is), then they see the troll walk into a room. They lock the door, only to hear Hermione scream from within the room. In the movie, they simply follow the troll into the bathroom. Harry and Ron attempt to fight the troll, with Ron being the victor as he chants “Wingardium Leviosa!” correctly, crashing the troll’s own club on its head.

“But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, pg. 179 

Once again, the book and movie go in different paths at this point; but the main idea is Harry eventually figures out that while the students were rushing to the dormitories, and the teachers were rushing to the dungeons, Severus Snape went to the third floor and was bitten on the leg by Fluffy (Hagrid’s three headed dog). This leads Harry to investigate, deduce that the Sorcerer’s Stone is being guarded by Fluffy, and Snape must want it for himself or Voldemort. All of this happened because Hermione angered Ron, and Ron insulted her in return. 

I know what you’re thinking, “I figured this out the first time I read it, why are you pointing it out to me over twenty years later?” Well, I appreciate it more now that I’ve attempted it myself. Making a seemingly benign moment full of important hints that the reader will remember later takes a lot of careful thought, planning, and at least a dozen rewrites.

This scene in the Sorcerer’s Stone will remain a favorite for me for the rest of my life. In fact, it inspired my classroom door decorations for this year. And maybe one day I will host a party that spectacular – or maybe on of my future characters will.

Check back in on Wednesday evening for Part 2 of my Favorite Fictional Halloweens.