All The Christmases in 'Harry Potter', Ranked!

Christmastime is one of the most magical periods in the Wizarding World, especially at Hogwarts. We’ve surely all dreamed about spending at least one Christmas at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with fresh snow outside the castle, snowflakes falling from the Great Hall ceiling, dozens of Christmas trees, decorations all around, and, of course, the marvelous feasts, which seem so much fun. Since we can’t do that in real life, we can always use our imagination and go back to our favorite story once again.

The holidays were extra special for Harry as well, who, for a long 11 years, never got to actually celebrate Christmas and feel festive. So, for this article, we decided to remember all 7 Christmases that we got to see in the Harry Potter series and rank them from worst to best according to Harry himself! 

7. The Deathly Hallows (Year 7)

The last book in the magical saga definitely had the worst Christmas for Harry and his friends. Being far from home, not having any idea how to find the Horcruxes or destroy them, with Death Eaters and murders all around… Not the best one, is it? To top it off, Harry and Ron had the biggest fight of their friendship, which caused Ron to leave his friends. Harry and Hermione didn’t even know that it was already Christmas until they visited Godric’s Hollow and were attacked by Nagini. 

6. The Order of the Phoenix (Year 5)

These holidays weren’t one of the best for Harry either. Right before Christmas, Arthur Weasley was attacked, and Harry had a very hard time afterwards. For a long while, he thought that he was being controlled and possessed by Voldemort, and that’s why even his closest friends didn’t want to be around him anymore. Later, after a confrontation with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, Harry was comforted, realizing that he was wrong all along, and soon cheered up. However, this wasn’t the only bad thought haunting Harry: he couldn’t help but feel guilty about leaving Sirius and going back to Hogwarts. This iwas definitely not the holidays we were jealous of.

5. The Half-Blood Prince (Year 6)

Even though the Christmas in the 6th year was spent in the cozy Burrow, with his close people around him, there were still some things that darkened the holidays. Harry’s whole attention was on Snape and Malfoy, and he was desperately trying to persuade everyone that Malfoy was a Death Eater and Snape was a traitor. Then, during the Christmas dinner, the Burrow received some sudden visitors: Rufus Scrimgeour and Percy Weasley. The new Minister of Magic tried to recruit Harry and find out what Dumbledore was up to. And because of this cold and awkward encounter of the Weasleys with Percy, Molly cried during the whole holidays. So, the name of the chapter, “A Very Frosty Christmas”, was quite apt.

4. The Chamber of Secrets (Year 2)

Another hard period for Harry, when the whole school accused him of being the Heir of Slytherin and attacking students. So, when the holidays arrived, no one wanted to stay at Hogwarts, leaving Gryffindor’s common room all to Harry and his friends. He had quite a lot of fun but felt anxious the whole day, as he, Ron, and Hermione had to drink Polyjuice Potion, transform into Crabbe and Goyle, sneak into Slytherin’s common room, and find out the truth about the Chamber of Secrets from Draco Malfoy. Quite a complicated and dangerous mission for a bunch of 12-years-old kids, isn’t it? On top of that, Hermione’s potion turned out wrong, making her look like a cat, and she had to spend all holidays in the hospital wing. 

3. The Prisoner of Azkaban (Year 3)

The 3rd Christmas spent at Hogwarts was quite eventful. Harry received the Marauders Map and used it to sneak into Hogsmeade, which looked like a magical Christmas card. But soon a jolly day got clouded by the overheard conversation in the Three Broomsticks where Harry finally found out the "truth" about Sirius Black. Later, Hagrid told the trio about the Ministry’s decision to execute Buckbeak, and they were determined to help Hagrid win the case. The friends enjoyed the festive atmosphere in an almost empty castle. Harry received a new broom (the best and fastest at the time, FYI), but something unfortunate happened again: Ron and Hermione started fighting first over Crookshanks and Scabbers and later because of the broom. So, as we said, this Christmas was quite eventful, yet not 100% joyful.

2. The Goblet of Fire (Year 4)

In their 4th year, Harry and his friends had the most unique holidays celebration ever. Since the Triwizard Tournament was taking place at Hogwarts, the traditional Yule Ball was held on Christmas Day in the castle. For Harry, this period was quite fun: he successfully finished the first task, and there were still a couple of months left until the second one. Moreover, he finally made up with his best mate Ron and felt happier than ever. There were, however, some different problems for the Chosen One: he got rejected by Cho Chang, had to find a date for the Ball, and dance in front of the whole school. Knowing Harry’s awkwardness, we can say for sure that fighting dragons was much easier for him. 

1 . The Sorcerer’s Stone (Year 1)

And the award for the Best Christmas Of The Series goes to Sorcerer’s Stone! Harry finally got to spend the holidays with his friends, have proper fun, and, most importantly, receive his first ever Christmas presents! He had the most delicious feast, spent time with the Weasleys, played chess and snowballs, and then had the coziest evening in the common room. Nevertheless, even this perfect Christmas was shadowed by some quite mysterious events. First, Harry received an anonymous gift: a Cloak of Invisibility, which belonged to his father. Second, he found the Mirror of Erised and became obsessed with it, wanting to see more of his family. Such a bittersweet moment!