Steppenwolf wakes up and gets dressed for the ball. He does not have a partner, so he chooses not to disguise himself and to arrive late. He visits a tavern called the Steel Helmet and observes the other inhabitants. Steppenwolf experiences a sense of farewell and "bourgeois sentimentality." He leaves the tavern and stops in at a local cinema that's playing The Ten Commandments. He is surprised that people can remain unmoved while watching a movie that supports the idea that God exists, as well as another level of being.
Steppenwolf arrives at the ball and immediately feels overwhelmed. The crowd and the noise are oppressive; they only remind him that he is too old to participate in such festivities. He wanders from room to room looking for Hermine and the others, but he cannot find anyone he knows. He decides to leave and discovers that his coat ticket has disappeared. A person dressed as a devil hands him another ticket with the following scrawled on it: "TONIGHT AT THE MAGIC THEATER. FOR MADMEN ONLY. PRICE OF ADMITTANCE YOUR MIND. NOT FOR EVERYBODY. HERMINE IS IN HELL."
Steppenwolf bids farewell to Maria on his way to the Hell room. Once there, he sees his old friend Herman sitting at the bar. It is Hermine in disguise. Steppenwolf recognizes her immediately. They cannot dance together because she is dressed as a male, so they begin dancing with other women. Steppenwolf falls in love with Hermine during the mad dancing that goes on. He is overwhelmed by the experience of dancing with a mass of people and "the mystic union of joy" that results. Hermine disappears and returns dressed as a dancer. She and Steppenwolf dance until they hear a strange laugh. At that moment, it is time to enter the Magic Theater.
