Serena Black || 𝑪𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒐

The Portkey

Serena shrugged her shoulders, whereupon Mrs Weasley marched up the stairs, shaking her head, and finally energetic knocking could be heard down to the dining table. A short while later Hermione and Ginny joined them, their faces pale and sleepy.

"Why do we have to get up so early?" grumbled the youngest Weasley daughter, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Serena, meanwhile, hadn't even made it to the middle of her grain roll. She couldn't get anything down at such an early hour. But she knew she would need her strength for the long day ahead. Especially with what Mr Weasley had in store for them. "We have a bit of a walk ahead of us."

Inwardly, Serena groaned and looked outside. At least the weather was cooperating. Gradually the sun came out and bathed the garden of Crystal Cottage in a golden glow. At least it wasn't too warm at this early hour. Mr Weasley nevertheless received unmotivated grumbling from the teenagers for his statement.

"Walking?" Harry inquired in surprise. "Are we going to walk to the World Cup?"

"No, no, that's too far away," Mr. Weasley said with a smile. "We only have to walk a short distance. You see, it's very difficult to gather a large number of wizards in one place without the Muggles noticing. We always have to be careful anyway, and with a huge event like the Quidditch World Cup..."

"George!" suddenly screeched Mrs Weasley sharply, at which everyone cringed and the person addressed put on an innocent face. With flashing eyes, the red-haired woman pointed to his bag. "What's that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't lie!" She pointed the wand at the blue backpack and made short work of it. "Accio!" Several small coloured objects shot out of it. The owner of the bag tried in vain to catch them with the help of his twin brother, but the things flew straight into the outstretched hand of his mother.

"We told you to render them harmless!" she shouted angrily, holding up some of the Ton-Tongue-Toffees. "Empty your pockets, now, both of you!"

It was funny to watch, as the twins had obviously intended to smuggle as many toffee beans out of the house as possible. The process of reaching into their pockets and then pulling out the fateful sweets went on in a continuous loop. It was only with the help of a collecting spell that Mrs Weasley finally managed to take all the specimens. "Accio! Accio! Accio!" she cried.

The toffee beans flew at them from everywhere, from the lining of Fred's jacket, from the lapels of George's jeans and also from Serena's rucksack. "Hey, did you sneak them in there?" she cried indignantly, sticking her head in the pocket to see if they had hidden anything else there. But she couldn't find anything suspicious.

"It took us half a year to develop them!" shouted Fred at his mother as she threw the toffees into the bin in front of his angry eyes.

"Oh, it's a great way to spend six months!" she retorted caustically. "No wonder you didn't get more OWLs!"

After Mrs Weasley's argumentative sermon and the thought of still having to traipse through the Pampas before they would reach the World Cup's location, the mood was not particularly good when they finally set off.

First they had floo to the Burrow, as it was only from there that they could reach the so-called portkey that would take them to their destination. Mrs Weasley still scowled as she kissed her husband goodbye on the cheek and remained alone in her home. Though nowhere near as gloomy as the twins, who shouldered their rucksacks and walked out without a word of farewell. The group trudged along a dark, damp path and only their footsteps disturbed the silence. As they walked through the dense trees, the dark blue sky brightened more and more. The first rays of sunlight made the hoarfrost on the tall grasses glisten.