Emma Potter

89 The Quidditch World Cup

 "Yes, well, he passed the second time," said Mrs. Weasley,marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers Harry, Ron, Fred and George behind her. My sleepy head brother was living is real nightmare.

"Percy only passed two weeks ago," said George, plopping down beside me, as Fred sat down on my other side. "He's beenApparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can." . 

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ron said, rubbing his eyes . 

"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.

"Walk?" said Harry. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"

 "No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We onlyneed to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a largenumber of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best oftimes, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup —"

 "George!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and we all jumped. 

"What?" said George, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.

 "What is that in your pocket?"

 "Nothing!"

 "Don't you lie to me!"Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said,"Accio!"Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George'spocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped rightinto Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand.

 "We told you to destroy them!" said Mrs. Weasley furiously,holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees."We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, bothof you!"

 It was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently been tryingto smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it wasonly by using her Summoning Charm that Mrs. Weasley managedto find them all."Accio! Accio! Accio!" she shouted, and toffees zoomed from allsorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George's jacket andthe turn-ups of Fred's jeans.

 "We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at hismother as she threw the toffees away. 

Luckily though, they trusted their apprentice, and my face was perfectly neutral.

"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieked. "No wonderyou didn't get more O.W.L.s!" 

All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took theirdeparture. Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr.Weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, whohad each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked outwithout a word to her."Well, have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did notlook back or answer. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy alongaround midday," Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley, as me, Harry,Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set off across the dark yard after Fredand George. 

"You have them?" whispered George

I gave him a wink.

It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenishtinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak wasdrawing closer,I having been thinking about thousands ofwizards speeding toward the Quidditch World Cup, sped up towalk with Mr. Weasley. 

"So how does everyone get there without all the Muggles noticing?" I asked. 

"It's been a massive organizational problem," sighed Mr.Weasley. "The trouble is, about a hundred thousand wizards turnup at the World Cup, and of course, we just haven't got a magicalsite big enough to accommodate them all. There are places Muggles can't penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred thousandwizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine and three-quarters. Sowe had to find a nice deserted moor, and set up as many antiMuggle precautions as possible. The whole Ministry's been working on it for months. First, of course, we have to stagger the arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeksbeforehand. A limited number use Muggle transport, but we can'thave too many clogging up their buses and trains — remember,wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, ofcourse, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, wellaway from Muggles. I believe there's a handy wood they're using asthe Apparition point. For those who don't want to Apparate, orcan't, we use Portkeys. They're objects that are used to transportwizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can dolarge groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundredPortkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearestone to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we'reheaded."