Chapter 159

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Until the seventeenth of August, I did my homework for the summer at a very calm and quiet pace, did my assignments from the regular school, and took my exams according to its program. I renewed my closet in terms of regular clothes, renewed my stock of various stationery and other supplies. On the sixteenth of August, I went to Diagon Alley and bought a middle-class magic tent, with all the furniture and other furnishings. I could have got one at Grimmauld, but the Black crest is all over it, which is out of place for now. Because I was anywhere but home all the time, Hermione couldn't get through to me and simply wrote a letter with some public owl - the girl wanted to invite me for a stroll down Diagon Alley, but in the end, the time was lost, and she upgraded her closet herself. The reason for this is simple - I told her that the seats were right next to the ministerial box, so she thought that jeans and sweatshirts were practical, of course, but she needed more strictly feminine wizard-style clothing. What she bought, of course, is interesting, but...

On the morning of the seventeenth of August, the "check-in" day began in the parking lot at the stadium for the Quidditch World Cup finals. I stood in my new costume at the entrance to the Fortescue Cafe. A bag on one shoulder, a folded tent behind the other. It was still very early, but the weather was clear, a little chilly. The magical street was still waking up. Suddenly, from the aisle in the Leaky Cauldron, a familiar fluffy head of hair appeared, gathered in an uncomplicated but neat and cute hairstyle.

"Max!" shouted Hermione loudly and cheerfully, immediately embarrassed by her impulse, and with a quick, easy step, she ran up to me, giving me a hug. "I'm so glad to see you."

Hermione was slightly tanned, looking healthy and happy. Behind her shoulder was a feminine version of my bag, a black one. The girl chose to wear a wide black skirt just below her knees, a white turtleneck I already knew, and a fitted robe, obviously French.

"And I have something to tell you, Fluffy."

"You're incorrigible," she tapped my chest lightly with a smile. "How have you grown again in a month? What are you eating?"

"Grew up? I didn't even notice."

"Seriously?! The heel is small, of course, but I'm only up to your eye level again, as if on a flat sole."

Hermione clearly showed with her hand the difference in our height.

"And who will be the chaperone? Where is he?"

"She."

"She?" suspecting of all earthly sins, her gaze fell on me. Albeit feigned, but still.

"Should show up now."

A clang of apparation nearby announced someone's arrival, and turning around at the sound, I saw Lady Greengrass. Another austere gown, only this time black and blue. And the robe, of course.

"Mr. Knight," the lady nodded slightly with a smile.

"Lady Greengrass, you are beautiful as always."

"Thank you."

"I hasten to introduce you, Miss Hermione Granger," I pointed my hand in Hermione's direction, and she gave a very dignified curtsy.

"It's a pleasure to meet the most talented witch of my generation."

"Nice to meet you too, Lady Greengrass."

"Well, children," Delphine moved from officiousness to more or less friendly communication. "Ready to go?"

"Yes," we answered at the same time.

"A beautiful unanimity. It is customary to go there by the portal, but I already know the place. Let's apparate."

"Triple apparation?" Hermione wondered, and with good reason. Even a double apparation is very difficult to accomplish, let alone a triple one.

"If you only knew what she is capable of ..." I remarked quietly, but of course, everyone heard.

"If you say anything superfluous, dear apprentice, I'll swap your arms and legs and pretend that it was like that."

"Understood."

Delphine held out her hands to us.

"Take my hands and hold on."

A brief moment of discomfort, and there we were, standing almost at the top of the hill, with the forest behind us.

"Hermione? Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure..." the girl looked very sick. "It feels like all the organs are jumbled up in random order."

"It's only the first time, young miss," Delphine smiled and beckoned us to the top of the hill. So off we went one step at a time, side by side.

"So, Lady Greengrass is "Beautiful as always,"" Hermione muttered. "And Hermione is Fluffy."

Delphine laughed softly and quietly, thereby embarrassing Hermione, clearly not recovered from her apparation.

"Look at it from a different angle, Mione. Someone gets a standard compliment, and someone gets a personal one."

Hermione glanced at Delphine and smiled somehow predatorily.

"You could have stayed silent. Now I can only sympathize with you."

Looking toward Lady Greengrass, I saw a similar predatory smile. It was the kind of smile I'd been chased through the woods with, driven into the ground. Without sympathy or regret.

"Standard compliment, huh?"

<And I've developed an apparation mechanism. Where is my compliment?>

"Merlin, what have I done wrong in this life?!" I asked the heavens, but all I got in response was the chirping of birds from the woods and the growing noise from the front.

Climbing to the top of the hill, we got a view of a huge plain filled from edge to edge with already deployed, or just starting to unfold, tents of various types, sizes, and colors. Here and there, wizards were flying on brooms, there was some commotion, the fairgrounds were visible, and the enormous stadium loomed about a kilometer away.

"All right, I'll get you through registration now, and then I'll be off on my own business."

"Yeah..." Hermione replied detachedly, looking at the whole thing.

"Adventure is calling?"

There are really interesting five days ahead. At least, I hope so.