Easter

"Call this a holiday!? The exams are ages away, what're they playing at?"

- Seamus Finnigan roaring in Gryffindor's common room during Easter holidays in 1994.

Easter, sometimes known as Easter Day or Easter Sunday, is an important annual religious feast celebrated in both the Muggle world and the wizarding world. Easter is the last day of Holy Week. Easter falls between late March and late April each year, as its date is not fixed.

In the wizarding world, Easter is celebrated as a week-long holiday. During this week, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has holidays, during which students may return home or stay in the castle without classes.

1992
Hogwarts professors piled a great deal of work on students, prompting Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger to feel that the Easter holidays were not nearly as much fun as the Christmas holidays. The trio spent most of their free time in the library trying to get through all their extra work.

1993
The second year students were very busy, thinking seriously of what elective subjects they wished to take the next year. Neville Longbottom had been sent letters from various relatives, all giving him different advice on what to choose.

In the meantime, the Gryffindor Quidditch team prepared for the match against Hufflepuff's team.

1994
At the beginning of the 1993–1994 school year, Professor Trelawney had predicted in a third year Divination class that "one of their number will leave them forever" around Easter.

A few days before the Easter holidays began, Professor Trelawney claimed to see the Grim in Harry Potter's future, which she had done multiple times before. Hermione Granger scoffed at this, having little respect for the subject of Divination and even less for its professor. Trelawney became irritated, snapping that Hermione did not have talent for Divination and that her mind was "hopelessly mundane." Hermione abruptly stood up, swung her bag over her shoulder hard enough to nearly knock Ron off his chair, and announced that she gave up. To the astonishment of the class, Hermione — who was generally very respectful toward professors and school — strode over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and left, dropping the subject. At this moment, Lavender Brown remembered what Professor Trelawney prophesised before.

1995
Molly Weasley sent a package of Easter eggs with her son Percy's letter and enclosed it to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Both Harry and Ron received eggs the size of dragon eggs, full of homemade toffee, while Hermione's were smaller than chicken eggs. Her face fell when she saw this. Mrs. Weasley's cold treatment of Hermione was due to a story Rita Skeeter had printed in Witch Weekly which falsely claimed that Hermione was toying with the affections of both Harry and Viktor Krum.

1996
During Easter in 1996, Hermione spent her time in Gryffindor Tower to revise Ancient Runes, and Ron had Quidditch practice. Ginny and Ron Weasley received a box of Easter eggs wrapped in brown paper, but it had already been unwrapped and carelessly re-wrapped. There was a scribbled note across it in red ink, reading: Inspected and Passed by the Hogwarts High Inquisitor. Fred and George Weasley took a brief break from their rebellious efforts against Dolores Umbridge so as not to disrupt others' leisure and study time during the holidays. When they said this to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Fred nodded in Hermione's direction, and she looked "rather taken aback by this thoughtfulness". Once the holidays were over, however, they resumed their campaign against Umbridge.

1998
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were captured by a gang of Snatchers led by Fenrir Greyback after Harry broke the Taboo curse on Lord Voldemort's name. The Snatchers brought the trio to Malfoy Manor, Death Eater headquarters. Dobby arrived to rescue the trio and the other prisoners, and a skirmish ensued in which he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange.

By this time, many students were not returning to Hogwarts, due to the events of the Second Wizarding War. These students included Ginny Weasley, as her entire family was forced to abandon their home and go into hiding after Ron's assistance of Harry and Hermione was discovered at Malfoy Manor.

Behind the scenes

 * As a religious observance, Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The Harry Potter novels, however, focus on the more secular aspects of the holiday-- a break from work/classes (though not necessarily homework) and treats such as Easter eggs.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * 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 Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows