Start-of-Term Feast

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Start-of-Term Feast

TheStart-of-Term Feast,^[3] also known as theWelcoming Feast^[4][5] or theGreat Feast,^[6] was the traditional feast of the first night atHogwarts, welcoming the start of a new school year.

It was held in theGreat Hall on the night of1 September following the arrival of the students on theHogwarts Express. The feast was notable for including theSorting of all newfirst-year students into theirHouses.^[1]

History[]

The Start-of-Term Feast was also used to introduce new members of the teaching staff to the student body, and to pass out important announcements and messages concerning the new school year. This was usually done in the form of a speech by theHeadmaster or Headmistress.^{[1][7][8][9][10]} They might also choose to say a few words during this time, such as in1991, whenAlbus Dumbledore told the students, "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!",^[1] or in1994, when he said "Tuck in!"^[8]

Depending on the mood of the Head, the School Song might be sung, to no particular melody other than the individual's choosing.^[1] Sometimes, there was a musical presentation by pupils during the feast, for example in1993, theschool choir led a presentation ofSomething Wicked This Way Comes before the announcements.^[11]

TheDivination professorSybill Trelawney usually chose not to attend such events.^[12]

At the beginning of the1995–1996 school year, theMinistry-implanted teacher,Dolores Umbridge, interrupted Dumbledore's welcoming speech at the end of the feast, which no other new teachers had ever done before, something the students found amusing, while the staff seemed offended.

Umbridge went on to insult the students by speaking down on them as though they were five-year old children, and then began a very dull speech that most students simply wandered off into chatter (somePrefects pretended to listen to live up to their duties), with Umbridge continuing ignorantly. The other teachers andHermione Granger knew the very meaning of the speech: "the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts". As a result of her offensive and dull personality, she received scattered and unenthusiastic applause from the students while the teachers only clapped once or twice before stopping, setting a very bad first impression for her tenure.^[9]

Description[]

The feast was held in the Great Hall just like all of the other meals at Hogwarts, and was traditionally attended by every student and teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, other than Sybill Trelawney. During the feast, hundreds of plates were set on each of the four House tables and were filled with foodmagically appearing on the empty plates, prepared byhouse-elves working in thekitchens below. Likewise, it was emptied by vanishing before their eyes when the feast was complete.^[1]

The types of food served wereroast beef,roast chicken,pork chops, lamb chops,sausages,bacon,steak, joints,steak and kidney pie, boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes,chips, Yorkshire pudding,peas, carrots,gravy,ketchup, andpeppermint humbugs. For dessert, there were blocks of assorted ice cream, apple pies, spotted dick, chocolate gateau, treacle tart, pumpkin tart, chocolate éclairs & jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, and rice pudding.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

• In thefilm adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, theFrog Choir was seen singing the songSomething Wicked This Way Comes conducted byProfessor Flitwick, though it is not shown in the book itself.
• In thefilm adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the candidates fromDurmstrang andBeauxbatons are introduced during the Start-of-Term Feast. However, in the book they arrive prior to theHallowe'en feast, and aseparate feast is held to inaugurate theTriwizard Tournament.
• In thefilm adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Professor Trelawney attended the Feast despite usually not doing so. In a deleted scene, where Umbridge was giving her speech, Trelawney was eating absentmindedly and accidentally spilling her drink all over herself as she listened.
• The feast in 1994 would have been cancelled had it not been for theBloody Baron becausePeeves was causing chaos in the kitchens, scaring thehouse-elves. This was also the first feast during which Hermione found out about the house-elves and presumably the night thatS.P.E.W. was founded.
• Through various combinations of circumstances, Harry Potter missed or partially missed a number of these in his school years, fully attending only the ones for hisfirst,fourth, andfifth-years (except in thefilm adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where he fully attended the feast).
• Flaming kiwi cups were to be amongst the dishes served at this feast in 1993, but the line mentioning them was cut from the film adaptation after being written into the original script.^[13]

Appearances[]

The Harry Potter Wiki has 13 images related toStart-of-Term Feast.

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone(First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)(Disc 2)(Seen through a window)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Creator: Harry Potter
• J. K. Rowling's official site(Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• HarryPotter.com
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite(Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened

Notes and references[]

Meals served in theGreat Hall
Feasts
Start-of-Term Feast ·Hallowe'en feast ·Christmas feast ·Welcoming Feast ·Leaving Feast
Foods
Breakfast	Bacon ·Cornflakes ·Eggs ·Egg on toast ·Fried egg ·Hard-boiled egg ·Kipper ·Orange juice ·Porridge ·Roll ·Sausage ·Toast
Main course	Arbroath smokies ·Bacon andsteak ·Black pudding ·Bouillabaisse ·Bread ·Breadsticks ·Casserole ·Chicken leg ·Chicken noodle soup ·Cornish pasty ·Crown roast ·Cucumber sandwich ·Happy Fish Grill ·Lamb chop ·Pork chops ·Roast chicken ·Roast beef ·Sandwich ·Sausage ·Sausage roll ·Shepherd's pie ·Singing Hot Pot ·Steak ·Steak and kidney pie ·Steak and kidney pudding ·Stew ·Tripe ·Yorkshire pudding
Sauces and spreads	Butter ·Jam ·Ketchup ·Gravy
Vegetables and side dishes	Baked pumpkin ·Boiled potato ·Carrots ·Chips ·Corn ·Cucumber ·Natto ·Fried tomato ·Mashed potato ·Onion ·Peas ·Sprouts
Desserts, fruits, and drinks	Apple ·Apple pie ·Boisterous Biscuit Sandy ·Blancmange ·Chocolate eclair ·Chocolate gateau ·Custard tart ·Grapes ·Hogwarts celebration cake(2011 special event only) ·Ice cream ·Doughnut ·Flappy Jack ·Jelly ·Marshmallows andcrumpets ·Mint humbug ·Pumpkin juice ·Pumpkin tart ·Rice pudding ·Shortbread cookies ·Singing Sunrise ·Spotted dick ·Strawberries ·Sugar Bomb-Bombs ·Swiss rolls ·Treacle tart ·Trifle
Christmas specialties
Chipolata ·Christmas pudding ·Christmas cake ·Cranberry sauce ·Egg-nog ·Roast turkey