Welcoming Feast

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and — most particularly, — guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

- Albus Dumbledore says a few words before the feast.

The Welcoming Feast was a feast held at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 30 October, 1994. It signaled the official start of the Triwizard Tournament, as well as serving to welcome the delegations from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute to Hogwarts. During this feast, the Goblet of Fire was introduced to all those attending, and the specifics of how one was to sign up for the tournament was laid out.

Arrival of the guests
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half and hour early. Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast."

- Announcement of the feast.

Around 6:00 p.m. on the 30th, the student body and staff of Hogwarts arranged themselves out in front of the front doors to Hogwarts Castle, awaiting the arrival of the foreign students. Lessons had ceased a half-hour earlier than normal to give adequate time for each school to arrive. Beauxbatons was the first school to arrive, in a carriage pulled by a dozen Abraxans. After greeting Dumbledore and making arrangements to have her horses cared for, Madame Olympe Maxime and her students entered the castle to warm up and wait for the arrival of Durmstrang. A few minutes later, Durmstrang arrived via their ship on the Black Lake. After greeting Dumbledore, Igor Karkaroff and his charges, as well as the other students and guests, entered the Great Hall to prepare for the feast.

The feast
The Beauxbatons students took their seats at the Ravenclaw table, while the Durmstrang students chose seats at the Slytherin table. After a few words of welcoming from Albus Dumbledore, the feast began. It was much like other feasts at Hogwarts, but a greater variety of food was present than normal, as foreign dishes had been added to the selection, such as bouillabaisse and "a sort of pale blancmange". At some point during the feast, Bartemius Crouch Sr. and Ludovic Bagman arrived as well.

At the conclusion of the feast, Albus Dumbledore gave a speech introducing the Goblet of Fire, outlining the procedure one must take to enter their name, and stressing that once a champion has been chosen, they may not decline.

Behind the scenes

 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Welcoming Feast is instead combined with the Start-of-Term Feast. Furthermore, both schools give a small presentation upon entering the Great Hall, whereas they enter more quietly in the book.