The candles that normally floated beneath the enchanted ceiling had all been removed today. Instead, the ceiling's magical images provided clear moonlight for illumination. Amid drifting, hazy clouds, four enormous silk banners fell from the "sky," each a different color matching the House table below.
Gryffindor had a golden lion on red, Ravenclaw a bronze eagle on blue, Hufflepuff a black badger on yellow, and Slytherin a silver serpent on green.
Such grand decorations normally appeared only at the end of each school year. Their appearance now clearly meant something special.
Sure enough, after breakfast, Harry and the others spotted Filch in the castle's entrance hall outside the Great Hall, grunting as he nailed up a new notice.
The notice was brief. It simply announced that the delegations from the various magical institutions were arriving!
Tonight!
For the entire day, a strange restlessness hung over the castle.
It was a mixture of anticipation, nerves, and joy.
The professors, who had been growing increasingly impatient, suddenly seemed to pass some threshold and relax. The time had come, and pushing any harder would achieve nothing. Besides, the young witches and wizards who had spent days busily preparing were so restless that none of them could concentrate on their lessons.
They drifted distractedly through the afternoon. The moment the final bell rang, the students poured out of their classrooms and hurried back to their respective House towers.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were among them. They returned to their dormitories and changed into fresh robes. The robes had been ironed days ago, and, as the school had instructed, their House crests had been enhanced to stand out more clearly.
Once they had changed, they met in the common room, then followed their classmates downstairs under the prefects' guidance and lined up in the