October 1998: A Not-so-scary Harry Potter Halloween

With so much having happened in the first half of 1998, the wizarding world probably appreciated a time to rebuild. The Ministry of Magic had to undergo massive changes, starting with the instatement of Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt as the Minister for Magic. It most likely featured some trials for those who had committed war crimes while the Death Eaters had a tangible political influence and abused it. That summer, we know there was an all-Africa showdown at the Quidditch Word Cup.

The world after the war

While we know from J.K. Rowling that only Hermione returned to Hogwarts for her seventh and final year, I can imagine that Harry and Ron tried to reach out to her in a more ostentatious way than sending owl post. It was a Saturday in 1998, so it's possible that this was the day of the first Hogsmeade visit of the year, so they could have even met her for a Butterbeer.

Back at Hogwarts, we hope this was a quiet Halloween. We don't know the details of Halloween under Snape as headmaster, but Death Eaters were torturing students and teaching other students to punish wrongdoers. In 1998, there's no telling if some of those students chose to finish their education elsewhere or if they have lingering anxiety while attending a school that was supposed to be a haven for witches and wizards. Hopefully, this was also a year where no mountain trolls showed up and no mass murderers turned up to interrogate the Fat Lady.

So Hogwarts, post-war, would be a place where there were possibly fewer students and an apprehensive crowd, but I recall rumors of a troupe of dancing skeletons and how the ghosts of Hogwarts did formation flying one year. There might even be new ghosts wandering the halls, learning their place in the school they died defending.

It's possible that the Weasleys and Tonks families spent a holiday with reduced numbers in memory of the ones they'd lost. George is facing the holidays without his twin for the first time and Andromeda Tonks has Teddy Lupin for company. Maybe the Order of the Phoenix rallied together to look after everyone who was still in mourning among their numbers.

As for the rest of the wizarding world, I imagine there were still a few people who raised a toast to the Boy Who Lived, but they did so with a little more boldness.