chapter 23

"Seven past five from Stoatshead hill," a tired voice said, leading Harry's attention more tired looking people with sheets of parchment in their hands.

Arthur, who had actually landed on his feet walked a few steps towards the tired man, "Well hello, Basil!" he greeted.

"Hello there, Arthur," said Basil wearily. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some... We've been here all night... You'd better get out of the way; we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite... Weasley... Weasley...." He consulted his parchment list. "About a quarter of a mile's walk, follow that path," he pointed, "first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory... second field... ask for Mr. Payne."

"Thanks, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, and he beckoned everyone to follow him. They said goodbye to Cedric and his father before beginning to walk, leaving the area of tents they had landed in. They followed the path Basil had pointed out for twenty minutes. Out of the morning fog appeared first a small stone cottage, then the tents behind.

Harry saw a man in the doorway to the cottage they were walking towards. When they got close enough Arthur greeted the man, "Good morning! Might you be Mr. Roberts?" he asked.

The man took a few seconds before answering, "Aye, that would be me," his voice had a slurred quality to it, like he had to put conscious effort into talking.

Arthur didn't react to it, only answering back with renewed enthusiasm, "Fantastic! I'm Weasley, I booked for two tents a couple days ago?" Arthur waited for Mr. Roberts to find his name on the clipboard that Mr. Roberts was holding.

"Your spot is over there, by the woods. You'll be paying now?" Mr. Roberts pointed in the direction of a little grass filled spot by the trees before asking the question.

"Ah, certainly," Arthur said before shooing the children over to the spot to begin setting up the tents. Hermione began asking question after question about the tents, "Is two tents really enough?", "How big are the tents?", and "Her and Ginny get a tent for ourselves?" was a some of the questions Harry heard.

Arthur wasn't held up for too long, but they were almost finished setting them up by the time he arrived, and both tents were up soon after. "Perfect!" Arthur said, admiring the two tents.

"Will that really fit everyone?" Hermione whispered to Harry. Harry didn't really know, he knew of expansion charms, but could they be stretched this big? They found their answer when Arthur pulled the curtain from the entrance while going inside. Expansion charms could be pulled that far, and they wouldn't have any problem fitting everyone. "Wow…" Harry heard Hermione's awe, and he had to agree.

Arthur was already in the kitchen – there is a whole kitchen in a tent – rummaging around, "Looks like we need water and firewood…" he said, mostly to himself. "Okay, we'll do this the muggle way! Girls, you take these," he handed them the kettle and a few saucepans, "Go and fill them with water. Here is a map of the place and where the faucet is."

Hermione looked a little taken aback for not being teamed up with Harry and Ron. She looked almost ready to say something when Ginny began dragging her out of the tent, having figured out where to go according to the map.

While the girls left to find water, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George was sent out to find firewood in the little forest behind their tents. Harry used the air to create a concentrated wind and cut through a few small branches, while the others gathered twigs and sticks. They had their arms full within minutes and went back to the tents quickly.

Arthur had set up a small firepit in front of the tents when they came back. "Finished already?" Arthur asked as he saw them. They only nodded, giving Arthur some of the wood before bringing the rest of the it into the big tent, discarding it beside the fireplace.

After Arthur had tried, and failed, to start the fire using the matches for the fifth time, Fred and George stepped in. Being careful, they only pointed one finger each between the sticks. The fire came as a small jet from the tip of their fingers, causing the wood to ignite and they pulled their hands away from the fire. Harry inspected their hands right away, making sure they didn't burn themselves. Fred and George were then promptly grilled by their father about this ability, and they told Arthur about their creature heritage while they waited for the flames to spread and become hot enough to begin cooking. They had probably been waiting for ten minutes when the girls finally came back, saying they met friends along the way and that's why it took so long. After half an hour the fire had finally gathered enough heat for them to begin cooking and Arthur began making eggs and sausages.

They had just began eating when Bill, Charlie, and Percy came up the path. The three of them quickly sat down, joining the conversation as they laden their plates with food. Percy told them that they had apparated to the same location as the portkeys land. They had gotten directions from Basil, and so they had had to walk the rest of the way.

They continued talking after they finished eating, jumping from topic to topic. Hermione had begun lecturing Harry and Ron about doing their summer homework – something they had finished, but she didn't hear that – and how important it was when she was interrupted by Arthur, who suddenly shouted, "The man of the moment! Ludo!" The man that had been walking down the path between the tents stopped.

"Arthur!" the man, Ludo, shouted back. Ludo was easily the most noticeable person Harry had seen so far – it had become obvious as more people came out of their tents that wizen people didn't know how to dress like a muggle, Harry had seen an old man in a floral nightdress pass while they were eating. Ludo was wearing long Quidditch robes in thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was splashed across his chest. He had the look of a powerfully built man gone slightly to seed; the robes were stretched tightly across a large belly he surely had not had in the days when he had played Quidditch for England. His nose was squashed (probably broken by a stray Bludger, Harry thought), but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like a very overgrown schoolboy.

As Arthur began talking with Ludo a group of haggard-looking Ministry wizen rushed past them, pointing at the distant evidence of another magical fire that was sending violet sparks six meters into the air. "Ah, these are my children and some tag-alongs," Arthur suddenly said, drawing Harry's attention to their conversation. "Oldest to youngest, we have Bill, Charlie, Percy," he pointed out each one for Ludo, "This is Fred – no, George, sorry – that's Fred, and Ron's my last son. Ginny is my daughter, and here is Harry and Hermione, the tag-alongs, they're friends of Ron," he finished introducing all of them for Ludo.

Ludo did the normal, "Harry? Harry Potter?" while glancing at Harry's forehead, trying to see the infamous scar. Why does everyone react the same way…?

"Everyone," Arthur continued, "this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets."

Ludo beamed and waved his hand as if to say it had been nothing.

"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" he said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes. "I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first - I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years - and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a weeklong match."

"Ah, what about 10 Galleon that Ireland win?" Arthur said, getting a approving nod from Ludo. Harry heard Ludo whisper to himself about Arthur actually betting a bigger amount, and how he had been afraid he would only bet one Galleon.

"Good, good! Any other takers?" Ludo said aloud.

Fred and George quicky came forward, "We're betting 37 Galleons, 15 Sickles, and 3 Knuts that Krum takes the Snitch but Ireland wins," they said at the same time, "and we'll throw in a fake wand," Fred held out a wand for Ludo to take. Ludo excitedly took the wand and roared with laughter when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken.

"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years!" he yelled joyfully. "I'll bet against that, and we'll add 5 Galleons for the funny wand," he agreed with Fred and George and whipped out a notebook and quill to jot down their names.

Barty Crouch had made an appearance as Ludo was about to leave, and they both had stayed to talk business with Arthur. Harry had for the most tuned them out, but at some point, Ludo had almost reviled something – something would happen at Hogwarts that Ludo and Crouch would be involved in. Crouch had been adamant about not reviling anything, claiming classified information. They left soon after that, having business to attend to.

Apparently, Arthur had gotten seats in the top box – and as the name implied, it was at the top. Harry looked down to the field below. The top box was so high up that the people below were the size of needle eyes.

They had sat down, watching as the stadium slowly filling up with people. Harry was sitting between Ron and Fred, with Hermione on Ron's other side and George on Fred's. As they were watching and talking the door opened and closed, allowing more and more people to fill up the top box. Harry heard the door open and a whisper saying, "Now, Draco, remember we have to act like entitled assholes." Harry turned, causing a chain reaction as everyone else turned too, and saw Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco walking in. Lucius began talking as soon as every one of them had their eyes on him, "Arthur, what did you have to sell to get seats in the top box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?" he asked as they made their way to their seats.

Before anyone could answer Cornelius Fudge saw Lucius and sprang to action, "Lucius! Good to see you took up my invitation! I have to say the contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was very generous!" Fudge greeted, before guiding the Malfoys to their seats.

Hermione huffed from beside Ron, saying something about entitlement. Harry ignored her and continued the conversation he had had with Ron, Fred, and George.

They had probably sat there waiting for 45 minutes before Ludo came through the door, already with his wand out. "Alrighty then, shall we begin?" he asked as he walked up the announcer's seat, right in front of the window. He pointed his wand to his throat and whispered, "Sonorus."

"Ladies and Gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!" his voice was booming, echoing into every corner of the stadium. The spectators screamed and clapped, and thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them showed "BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0".

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!" Ludo yelled to the great excitement of the right-hand side of the stadium – that side was a solid block of scarlet.

"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Ah…" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela! Boys, cover your ears!"

"Cover our ears?" Harry asked as he watched as a hundred Veela glided out onto the field. Veela were women… pretty women. They were very pretty, but they couldn't be… human. Harry pondered over that until the music started. As they began singing and dancing people – more specifically men – around Harry began acting weird. Harry had to drag Ron back from the edge when the red-head decided to stand up. Harry turned to see if Fred and George were doing something equally stupid, but they only sat there watching the show. "What…?" Harry wanted to know what was going on.

"Veela are near human creatures and their dance are hypnotically seductive to almost all people attracted to women," Arthur explained as he and Charlie held Bill back. Oh… well okay…

The music stopped and angry yells filled the stadium. The crowd didn't want the Veela to go. Harry didn't really understand, they were being hypnotized, shouldn't they not want to be again? Ron, meanwhile, was absentmindedly shredding the shamrocks on his hat until Arthur, smiling slightly, leaned over to Ron and tugged the hat out of his hands.

"You'll be wanting that," he said, "once Ireland have had their say."

"Huh?" said Ron, staring openmouthed at the Veela, who had now lined up along one side of the field. Hermione made a loud tutting noise at him, turning back to the field.

"And now!" Ludo's voice returned, "The Irish National Team Mascots!" Harry watched as what looked like comets came zooming out into the field and up, turning into a great shimmering shamrock. The whole stadium "oooh"-ed and "aaah"-ed at the display. The shamrock rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands, something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it.

"Excellent!" yelled Ron as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats. Squinting up at the shamrock, Harry realized that it was actually comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or green.

"Leprechauns!" said Arthur over the tumultuous applause of the crowd, many of whom were still fighting and rummaging around under their chairs to retrieve the gold. "Don't bother with the gold, Ron. It's fake," he told his youngest son, who's hands were filled with leprechaun gold. Harry watched Ron look down at the coins in his hands, Harry saw that the gold coins had a green-tinted magical signature, instead of the normal brown-ish. Ron sighed disappointedly as he let the fake gold fall to the floor again.

After the mascots had settled themselves on opposite sides of the field Ludo began introducing the players. As soon as both teams and referee were introduced the game was started.

It was Quidditch as Harry had never seen it played before. He was pressing his Omnioculars so hard to his glasses that they were cutting into the bridge of his nose. The speed of the players was incredible - the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to one another so fast that Bagman only had time to say their names.

Harry knew enough about Quidditch to see that the Irish Chasers were superb. They worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be reading one another's minds as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on Harry's chest kept squeaking their names: "Troy - Mullet - Moran!" And within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the green-clad supporters.

The match became still faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.

It was at this point the seekers began a mad dive towards ground.

"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione next to Harry. She was half right - at the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiraled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the stadium.

As the crowd in green shouted for Lynch to get up Harry used his Omnioculars to rewatch the moment. Krum had started it – a feint – Harry realized. On the lens of the Omnioculars the words "Wronski Defensive Feint – Dangerous Seeker Diversion". Harry's eyes left the Omnioculars right as Lynch finally got back up in the air, and the game was on again.

After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten. In those fifteen minutes Krum got a Bludger to the face, but he continued on even with blood running over his mouth and down his chin.

"Look at Lynch!" Harry yelled. For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and Harry was quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing... "He's seen the Snitch!" Harry shouted, "He's seen it! Look at him go!" Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on...but Krum was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, Harry had no idea; there were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again.

"They're going to crash!" shrieked Hermione.

"They're not!" roared Ron.

"Lynch is!" yelled Harry. And he was right - for the second time, Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force. "He's got it - Krum's got it - it's all over!" shouted Harry. Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand.

The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what had happened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight. "IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS - good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

As they cheered and celebrated Ludo roared over the crowds, "And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!" and the box they are in becomes illuminated for everyone to see inside. Harry could see the reflection of thousands of Omniocular lenses pointing at them.

The Bulgarian team was soon at the door, having arrived for their congratulations on silver and a game well played. Krum was especially praised for his excellent Wronski Feint, and for catching the Snitch.

After their lap around the stadium the Irish team came into the top box too. Everyone watched as the team received the Cup. The crowd below thundered its approval. It wasn't long after that the players began to prickle out, some – Lynch – being supported. Ludo cancelled the spell he had cast on his throat and muttered "Quietus" before coughing, grumbling of a soar throat.

As the last player walked out Fred and George jumped from their seats and quickly stopped Ludo from leaving. Harry followed after them and just heard Ludo's response, "Ah… yes, I owe you… how much?" he rummaged in his pockets and began taking out golden coins. Golden coins with a green-tinted magical signature.

Harry walked the last few steps and stood beside Fred and George, interrupting before Ludo could hand the coins to Fred and George. "I would appreciate it if you gave them real money, Mr. Bagman, and not Leprechaun gold," he said, startling both Ludo and the twins.

Ludo quickly retracted his hand, and began rummaging in his pockets again, "Sorry, sorry. Must have been the wrong pocket," he said awkwardly. Fred and George received the right amount of real money.