In the blink of an eye, Halloween arrived.
Most years, Halloween brought lively parties and feasts.
Wizards cared a great deal about this holiday. Christmas, by contrast, mattered less to them, and more students treated it as nothing more than a break from school.
Halloween was the day for entertainment.
In the five years since Harry had come to Hogwarts, there had been three entertaining Halloween Feasts packed with performances.
But there had happened to be none in the two years just past.
In Harry's fourth year, Hogwarts had hosted the Magic Cup Triwizard Tournament, and Halloween had become a welcoming party for the other schools and the occasion for selecting the champions.
In his fifth year, thanks to Umbridge's antics, there had been no proper party either.
This year, however, Dumbledore was once again in control of Hogwarts. Although the pressure from Voldemort remained, Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic were on the same side this time, and they had thwarted Voldemort not long before, easing the atmosphere. Naturally, the feast was being held again.
What was more, the Elf Dancers, whose appearance had fallen through for three years running, had finally been invited.
Unlike the previous occasions, when rumors had circulated well in advance, Dumbledore seemed to have made a special effort to keep things secret this time. Some professors must have known, but not a word had leaked out.
The reason it was possible to be certain that the professors knew was that, in the two days before the Halloween Feast, almost all of them had been remarkably unanimous in telling their students not to miss this year's feast if they could help it.
But they had said absolutely nothing about the reason.
Curious as the students were, they really had not thought of the Elf Dancers.