Then the feast began, and there was much talk and drinking and merriment. Once everyone had gorged on all the food and wine and ale that they could manage, a company of young elves - led by Sally - entered the hall to perform a comedy on a stage they had set up on the left hand side. The play was in seven acts and Hermione found that she was getting used to this now, starting to see the pattern of repeating stages and processes and symbols. Even the play, itself, seemed like an alchemical allegory, a roadmap of what was to come that Hermione felt the most confident that she ever had over her capacity to follow the real thing successfully.