Stay - Mattheo Riddle

Chapter 115

"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing —  excessive use of elbows!" Bagman informed the roaring spectators. "And — yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!" The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words 

"HA, HA, HA!" The veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again. As one, the Weasley boys and Harry stuffed their fingers intotheir ears, but Kirra, who hadn't bothered, was soon tugging on Fred and George's arms. 

They turned to look at her, and she pulled their fingers impatiently out of their ears. "Look at the referee!" she said, giggling. Fred and George looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was acting very oddly indeed. 

He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his mustache excitedly. "Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!" A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa hard in the shins. 

Mostafa seemed to come to himself; Kirra, watching with a smirk on her face, saw that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous.

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

It did: The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, landed on either side of Mostafa and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulating toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." 

Mostafa was not impressed by the Bulgarians' arguments, however; he was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.

"Two penalties for Ireland!" shouted Bagman, and the Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms . . . yes . . . there they go . . . and Troy takes the Quaffle . . ."

Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov in particular seemed not to care whether their clubs made contact with Bludger or human as they swung them violently through the air. 

Dimitrov shot straight at Moran,who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom. "Foul!" roared the Irish supporters as one, all standing up in a great wave of green. "Foul!" echoed Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice.

"Dimitrov skins Moran — deliberately flying to collide there —and it's got to be another penalty — yes, there's the whistle!" The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field. 

Kirra, the twins and Charlie snickered as the veela lost control. Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the leprechauns.

Their faces were elongating into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders — "And that, boys," yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult of the crowd below, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"

Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the veela and the leprechauns, but with little success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one taking place above.

The Quaffle changed hands with the speed of a bullet. "Levski — Dimitrov — Moran — Troy — Mullet — Ivanova —Moran again — Moran — MORAN SCORES!" But the cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians.