Finding my way Home

Chapter 3 Celebrations gone wrong

Bill looked in the direction I pointed and he started laughing along with me as we watched the referee flex his muscles and smooth his moustache in an attempt at seduction from where he had landed right in front of the veela. Bagman sounded just as entertained as he called for someone to slap the referee to his senses, and I doubled over laughing as a mediwizard jogged across the field with his own fingers in his ears and kicked the referee hard in the shins. That seemed to wake the referee from the veela's trance and I started to fall over from laughing so hard when the referee started to yell at the veela who had stopped dancing and were now starting to look mutinous. Bill caught me, keeping me upright as we both laughed hard while Bagman continued his commentary in a highly amused voice.

"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots! Now there's something we haven't seen before... Oh this could turn nasty..."

It seemed Bagman might be a better seer than Trewlanley. The Bulgarian Beaters had landed on each side of the referee and were arguing furiously with the other man, gesturing toward the leprechauns angrily where the little red-bearded men were forming the words "HEE HEE HEE!" The referee however appeared to be unimpressed by the Bulgarians' arguments and after several of his warnings for them to get back in the air were ignored, he gave two short blasts of his whistle.

"Two penalties for Ireland!" Bagman shouted while the Irish crowd cheered and Bulgaria's supporters shouted their disappointment and anger.

Bill and I settled back into our seats along with the others, all of us still laughing. The twins appeared to be crying they were still howling with mirth; but I was too absorbed by the fact that Bill's hand was casually wrapped around mine from when he'd been steadying me. He didn't seem to notice nor did he let go. In fact, he ended up dragging me up with him again as Ireland scored all penalties and we cheered on the Chasers as Troy punched the air triumphantly.

The play continued to get dirtier and dirtier, and when another foul was awarded against Bulgaria, the veela turned ugly. Literally. I watched in surprise as the veela launched themselves across the field and threw balls of fire at the dancing leprechauns, upset at the mocking. But most shocking of all was the way their whole bodies changed too with their anger, their faces becoming longer as sharp beaks appeared on their faces while scaly wings ripped out from their shoulders.

"And that, boys, is why you should never go for looks alone!" Mr. Weasley shouted toward his sons and Harry above the shouts of the crowd.

Bill laughed beside me while I watched as Ministry wizards raced onto the field to try and separate the two national team mascots with very little success. Not that many people cared - the war raging above the ground battle was just as intense as the Quaffle changed hands and sides faster than I could see even with my Omnioculars.

"Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!"

It was utter chaos by this point. The supporters were mostly fixated on the game but the shrieks of the veela and the loud bangs from the Ministry wizards' wands as they tried to control the mascots were making it hard to focus on anything. Attention became divided between the game, the mascot battle, and the referee's predicament as his broom tail caught on fire from a stray veela fireball.

A sudden groan from the Bulgarain side made me seek out the cause. I soon found it when I saw Krum clutching his nose which was bleeding profusely. It seemed he'd been hit in the face by a Bludger, but the referee had missed it as he dealt with his burning broom.

"LOOK AT LYNCH!"

Harry's voice cut across the noise and I did as my brother said. I gasped as I saw the Irish seeker streaking toward the ground in a fast dive not unlike the earlier one he'd fallen victim to. Except this time, I could see the flash of gold and I knew he wasn't feinting.