In the morning, while a boisterous clamor rose from the long tables in Hogwarts' Great Hall, the sun had yet to show its face.
Winter sunrises always came late. The pitch-black night hung over the castle like heavy velvet, while a few reluctant stars blinked overhead, as though they wanted to hold the final stretch of pre-dawn scenery in their gaze.
Yet warm, dim yellow light already shone from windows throughout the castle. Clouds of steam spread alongside the scent of toast, and shadowy figures could be glimpsed moving back and forth before the windows.
The Great Hall's ceiling had been transformed by magic into a clear winter night sky, soft starlight glittering overhead and complementing the holly and mistletoe wreaths hung along the walls.
The four House tables were already packed with students, even more so than during ordinary classes. No one complained about getting up early. Laughter and conversation filled the hall, along with the soft clinking of knives and forks against porcelain plates.
Colorful party poppers went off now and then in some corner, scattering glittering confetti or producing an oddly shaped hat, drawing small bursts of cheers.
Others transformed Transfiguration Jelly Beans into animals and had them leap onto the tables to wriggle and dance, making everyone roar with laughter.
This was the students' final morning at Hogwarts that year. After breakfast, they would board the train home.
For that reason, the professors watched the scene indulgently, neither reprimanding the students for their antics nor deducting points. Even Snape merely sat there with a dark expression, staring at the bacon on his plate and silently enduring it to keep from seeing what annoyed him.
"...Then Professor Trelawney lifted her head from that pile of tea leaves and said in terror—My dear, I see it, Black Light!