The walk through the woods took about twenty minutes, but it felt incredibly short as we all laughed and talked, me walking between Bill and Charlie as Percy walked ahead with his father, still angry at me. Soon, we finally reached the huge stadium and I gasped in awe.
"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked our tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."
There were hundreds of people walking up the stairs with us, but they were thinning out as they went through their doors and to their own seats. We kept climbing higher and higher until we reached the very top, where there were only about twenty seats in the box forming two rows.
Sitting down, I took in the sight of the stadium.
"Truly amazing isn't it?" asked Charlie, from my right side.
"Yeah." Bill was also looking in awe from my left side.
I noticed Ron pull out an Omnioculars.
"Oooo I really wanted one." I pouted. I had seen it when I was roaming around, but it was far too expensive.
"I would've gotten one for you if I had known." Harry said.
I waved a hand dismissively. "No of course I wouldn't let you."
"Wild!" Ron said, twiddling the replay knob on the side. "I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again . . . and again . . . and again . . . here Sara, you try it."
I took it from him and put it up to my eyes, scanning around and zooming in. "OI I see Seamus."
I spied on my brother for a few seconds, nearly dropping the Omnioculars when I saw Dean squeeze Shay's knee affectionately, before pulling away.
"What? What did you see?" asked Charlie, intrigued by my reaction.
"Nothing." I said quickly, it back to Ron.
Ron took it back.
"What did you see?" asked Charlie, not letting the topic go.
"Nothing Charlie." I insisted.
Soon, the box was filling up, with Mr. Weasley greeting Wizard's and Witches from the Ministry. Percy was also eager to meet people. When Fudge arrived, he bowed so low that his glasses fell of and broke. He quickly repaired them and sat down, staring at Harry with jealousy when Fudge greeted him kindly. Then he shot me glares when I started snickering.
I looked around the box, eyeing all the people, when I spotted a familiar boy with slicked back white blond hair. Malfoy and his parents. I bristled. Malfoy was sneering, until he spotted my glare and his face fell. He quickly looked away.
Bagman then entered the box, and looked at Fudge. "Ready?"
"Ready when you are!" Fudge said
Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands. "Ladies and gentlemen . . . welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"
Everyone clapped and screamed, as flags were waving in the air. I clutched my Irish flag with pride.
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce . . . the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"
One side roared. "I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!"
"Oh Merlin." I muttered.
Hundreds of Veela were dancing into the field. All the men in the box were absolutely hypnotized, while Hermione, Ginny and I looked at each other, rolling our eyes. I had to hold bill and Charlie from the back of their robes to keep them from making a fool of themselves, as they drooled slightly at the sight of them.
Ron was absent mindedly ripping up some of his hat, while Harry looked like he was about to climb over the ledge. Hermione grabbed him and yanked him back to his seat, as people protested when the Veela left the stadium.
"What happened?" Bill asked with a dazed look in his eyes.
Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goalposts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it.
I cheered excitedly.
"The coins will disappear. It's leprechaun coins, they don't last." I told Bill and Charlie, who then dropped the coins with disappointment.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome — the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you — Dimitrov!" A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters. "Ivanova!" A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out."Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand — Krum!"
"Wow look at that!" I heard Ron yell. "There he is!"
"And now, please greet — the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting — Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand — Lynch!"
I jumped up cheering, waving my flag about. "LYNCHHHHH I FECKING LOVE YE!"
"Save your energy for the actual game Sara!" Charlie laughed, pulling me back down to my seat.
"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chair wizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"
And soon, the game started.
"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"
The players were incredible. They were so quick and swift, I could barely even catch what was happening. My eyes were darting all around the field, clutching my flag so hard my knuckles were turning white.
"TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"
"WHOOOO YEAHHHHHHH!" I screamed clapping enthusiastically.
I could barely keep up with what was happening, as Bagman kept calling out scores.
"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. I was going ballistic. Of course, the other Weasley's were supporting Ireland, but I was absolutely in my feels as I started bouncing up and down. Bill and Charlie thought it was hilarious.
But then, Bulgaria scored their first goal. The Veela started dancing in celebration, and MR. Weasley advised everyone to put their fingers in their ears to avoid getting distracted by them.
Bulgaria was again in possession of the Quaffle. "Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova — oh I say!" roared Bagman.
I was on the tip of my toes as I watched, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the center of the Chasers.
"They're going to crash! Come on Lynch!" I muttered.
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. A huge groan rose from the Irish seats.
"No!" I collapsed in my seat.
"He'll be alright." said Bill, looking nervously at the pitch.
"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Charlie said reassuringly to Ginny and I. "Which is what Krum was after, of course. . . ."
Ginny was looking horror-struck. I of course knew lynch would be alright, but I was still nervous. I really wanted Ireland to win.
Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the green-clad supporters, mounted his Firebolt, and kicked back off into the air.
"YEAHHHHHHH!" I cheered.
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, and the game was starting to get dirtier.
By this point, I had dropped my flag and was now clutching Bill and Charlie by their shoulders.
"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbling excessive use of elbows!" Bagman announced. "And — yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"
The veela started dancing again, and Mustafa had apparently gotten distracted by them, as he started smoothing his hair and dancing in front of them.
"Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"
When Mustafa tried to kick the Veela out, two Bulgarian players started arguing with him, and when they wouldn't get back up in the air, Mustafa blew his whistle twice.
He gave two short blasts on his whistle. "Two penalties for Ireland!" shouted Bagman, and the Bulgariancrowd howled with anger. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms . . . yes . . . there they go . . . and Troy takes the Quaffle . . ."
"Levski — Dimitrov — Moran — Troy — Mullet — Ivanova —Moran again — Moran — MORAN SCORES!"
I was jumping like mad as the Irish supporters cheered.
"LYNCH FOUND THE SNITCH!" I screeched.
Lynch had now gone into a dive. Apparently, Harry and I were the first people to notice this. Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on .
"COME ON!" I yelled, I was now gripping Bill and Charlies hands, they gripped mine back as the three of us stood, watching with anticipation. "COME ON LYNCH!"
But Krum was on his tai.
"Don't crash Lynch. COME ON!" I yelled.
But then Lynch hit the ground was flew off his broom, just as Krum snatched up the Snitch.
"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" bellowed Charlie, not realizing what happened.
"KRUM GOT IT BUT IRELAND STILL WINS!" I screamed.
And just like I said, Bagman yelled out "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!"
I grabbed my flag from the ground and stood on top of my chair, screaming. "YEAHHHHHH GO IRELAND. WE FREAKING WON SUCK IT!"
Everyone was jumping around and cheering. Bill and Charlie grabbed my hands and pulled me off my chair, jumping around with me.
"WE WON WE WON!" the three of us chanted
I couldn't help but start crying. "WE WON!" I sobbed.
Charlie threw his arms around me, pressing his cheek against mine. I didn't even think of how close Charlie was to me as he pulled apart.
"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!" roared Bagman.
The door of our box opened and the Bulgarian players came in, shaking hands with Bagman and Fudge. "Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers — Bulgaria!"
I clapped hard appreciating how hard they played.
Then came the Irish team. Lynch was being supported by Moran and Connolly; the second crash seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked strangely unfocused. But he grinned happily as Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval.
"YEAH LYNCH!" I cried, waving my flag. "NOW GO TO THE PUB AND GET A PINT OF THE GOOD BLACK STUFF!"
Lynch's eyes focused to my voice and he grinned at me, waving his hand weakly, before they left the box.
I felt weak in the knees as I clutched Bill. "Oh my Merlin, AIDEN LYNCH NOTICED ME. HE NOTICED ME. HE SAW ME AND WAVED."
Everyone around me laughed as I placed a hand on my heart.
"Shut up, I've been a huge fan of him for a while okay."
Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Quietus. They'll be talking about this one for years," he said hoarsely, "a really unexpected twist, that. . . . shame it couldn't have lasted longer. . . . Ah yes. . . . yes, I owe you . . . how much?"
For Fred and George had just scrambled over the backs of their seats and were standing in front of Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their hands outstretched.