When Harry along with the others apparated from the 12 Grimmauld Place to the Burrow, he hadn't had the slightest idea where they would be going as to where the Quidditch World Cup was taking place. They left the burrow as soon as they appeared and Arthur Weasley urged the kids to walk faster as they passed the nearest forest along the way.
"Ron," He turned to his redhead friend as they walked through the woods. "Where are we actually going?"
"Don't know," Ron muttered shortly, yawning loudly. He was still quite sleepy.
Harry looked back as he wondered where Diana and Sirius were. He worried if they got into a fight or anything as he still felt the tension between them; both of them told him not to worry but Harry just couldn't help it. Remus pulled out of the group last minute, saying he wasn't feeling well.
"Dad, where are we going?" Ron hollered as Harry and him were walking at the end of the group while Arthur was up on the front.
"Haven't the foggiest. Keep up!"
As if cue, right at that moment, Harry heard loud flapping of wings and felt a tight grip of sharp claws on his right shoulder. He looked to his right and turned delighted when he saw a familiar large goshawk with beady red eyes like pomegranate seeds sitting on his shoulder. It's been a while since Harry saw Diana in her Animagus form and the last time he saw her, professor Trelawney warned him of the large bird being an omen of death. Now Harry can almost laugh at that memory.
Now that he was seeing the Goshawk upfront so closely, he can say that it was a very regal looking bird. He let his finger gently trace the bird's black, shiny, smooth feathers on the head as the bird leaned to his touch.
"Upfront she's quite the giant, isn't she?" Ron joked, looking at the bird.
Diana, who apparently didn't take this joke lightly, went for Ron and flapped her wings violently over his head, ruining his hair and making him grumble.
"Shush! Shush!" Harry calmed the bird down with a light laugh, making it sit on his shoulder again. "I think she's a beautiful bird."
Upon hearing her godson's compliment, she leaned towards him and caressed his cheek with her head, making the bespectacled boy smile.
"Arthur!" an unfamiliar voice yelled enthusiastically, grabbing Harry's attention. "It's about time, son!"
A tall man around Arthur's age with a scrubby brown beard greeted him with a friendly embrace.
"Oh bloody hell! Here comes Amos..."
Harry's eyes widened as he heard a voice the same as Diana's in his head and whipped his head towards the bird on his shoulder. He whispered, "how?..."
"I'm a legilimens, Harry." there was a mischievous glint in the bird's eyes.
Harry's smile widened even though he didn't have a clear idea what a legilimens was. He made a mental note to ask Hermione about it later.
"Sorry, Amos. Some of us had a bit of a sleepy start." Arthur apologized with a smile as he threw a look at the kids. Ron yawned loudly again.
"This is Amos Diggory, everyone. Works with me at the ministry." Arthur introduced his smiling colleague to the kids, as they all introduced themselves to him.
Just about then, a boy jumped down from the tree beside Amos. He was around Harry's age, maybe a year or two older. He was tall and extremely handsome with chiseled features, dark hair and bright gray eyes.
"And this strapping young lad must be Cedric, am I right?" Arthur asked with a warm smile.
"Yes, sir." the boy said politely and shook his hand. Amos stood beside his son like a proud father, grinning widely and patting the taller boy's back.
Sitting on Harry's shoulder, Diana scoffed and Harry had never heard a bird scoff before.
"This is the famous Cedric for whom we all got a letter in the middle of a freaking war! Well, bless him! He grew up to be a nice young lad, unlike his boastful father!"
Hearing Diana's annoyed monologue in his head, Harry stifled his laughter.
After that they started walking ahead again towards a destination Harry was unaware of. When he walked up to Amos, the older man grinned.
"Merlin's beard! You must be Harry Potter!" he exclaimed rather loudly and Harry just nodded politely. He was used to hearing this all the time.
"Great, great pleasure!"
"Pleasure to meet you too, sir."
"What a uh, big bird! Bit of an odd choice for a pet, isn't it?" Amos looked at the goshawk on Harry's shoulder. The bird almost sneered at the older man but Harry quickly stroked her feather gently.
"Yes, but I like her..." he didn't know what else to say.
The whole way Amos talked to Harry about Cedric being the seeker of the Hufflepuff quidditch team and how last year during the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff match, Hufflepuff became victorious. When Cedric protested by saying that that was because Harry fell off his broom, his father said that was because Cedric was a better flier than Harry and told his son that he was just being modest.
Hearing his never ending boasting for around ten minutes which felt like hours, Harry clearly understood where Diana's annoyance toward the man stemmed from. The bird on Harry's shoulder sneered at almost every sentence Amos uttered.
They walked for another ten minutes before they reached a stranded meadow.
"It's just over there." Amos said.
"Shall we? Arthur asked.
"Oh yeah."
As Ginny and Hermione ran up towards something in the distance, Harry looked around. "Where's Sirius?"
"I'm here!" As if on cue, Sirius apparated out of thin air and Harry felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Took you long enough." Harry said with a smile.
"Just had some business that needed attending to." Sirius answered.
Before Harry could ask what business he was talking about, Amos approached Sirius.
"Sirius Black!" Amos shook Harry's godfather's hand with a genial smile.
"Amos Diggory." Sirius greeted him rather formally.
"Last summer, was it? When we last met at the ministry? After you helped with the Diana Lynstorm case with Arthur?"
Sirius stiffened at that question, as well as Diana who was perched up on Harry's shoulder. The dark haired man threw a quick glance towards Diana as Harry tensely looked back and forth between his godparents.
"Yes..." Sirius answered shortly and uncomfortably.
Completely oblivious about the situation in front of him, Amos prodded Sirius further. "You must be feeling quite distressed after Lynstorm's break out since your testimony played a big part in her imprisonment."
Sirius's hands clenched into fists and his jaws tightened, however, he said nothing.
"I assure you, the ministry is doing everything in their power to recapture Lynstorm as soon as they can."
Harry felt the sharp talons on his shoulder grip on his skin tightly, but not tightly enough to hurt him. Harry lightly stroked the back of the bird.
After taking another glance at Diana, Sirius opened his mouth to say something, before Arthur interjected. And Harry and Sirius were more than grateful.
"Amos, we don't want to be late."
"Right! Right! Get yourself into a good position everyone!"
Everyone circled around an old boot.
"Why are they all standing around that manky old boot?" Harry asked in pure confusion.
"This isn't just any manky old boot." Fred answered with a wink.
"It's a portkey"
"It's a portkey."
Sirius and Diana both answered Harry's question at the same time.
"What's a portkey?" Harry asked again.
"You'll see on your own. The fun part about it is experiencing it rather than explaining it." Diana said in her godson's head who was still getting a grip.
"Time to go!" Arthur yelled.
Everyone grabbed the old boot. As Harry was hesitating not understanding what everyone was doing, Sirius quickly grabbed his hand and made him hold it.
"Ready! After three. One, two, three!"
_
All the kids aside from Cedric fell on the ground with a loud thud that was followed with a bunch of muffled groans.
When Harry opened his eyes, he saw Sirius, Arthur, Amos and Cedric landed on the ground much more gracefully than them with the Goshawk trailing behind them in the sky.
"I'll bet that cleared up your sinuses, eh?" Arthur said in a joking manner.
"Not funny, dad!" Ron groaned.
Cedric held out his hand to Harry as Harry took it with a smile and stood up promptly. Sirius behind him ruffled his brown unruly hair softly.
"You might need to work on the landing, son." Sirius quipped.
"This is the first time I ever used a portkey!" Harry protested.
Diana flew towards him and sat on his shoulder just like earlier. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." Harry answered smiling, looking at the bird.
Sirius threw them a look but didn't say anything.
All of them marched towards the edge of the deserted moor they landed on and found themselves looking towards a misty field saturated with colorful flags from various countries, banners and rows of thousands of tents in front of them. The excitement of the campsite could be felt even from above and far.
"Go on, look at that!" Ron exclaimed.
"Well kids, welcome to the Quidditch World Cup!" Arthur announced.
All the kids cheered joyfully.
As they walked through the campsite, Harry saw people chattering and bantering loudly about their favorite teams with their faces painted with the colors of their respective flags. Harry never really thought much about the wizards and witches from other countries but the sheer number of campsite inhabitants caused Harry to wonder how big the wizarding world actually was. People were brimming with excitement as they were singing, dancing and waving their flags. Today's final match was between Ireland and Bulgaria so Irish and Bulgarian flags dominated the area the most. There were two separate sections completely devoted to the Irish and Bulgarian National Quidditch Teams.
"Stay together! Keep up, girls!" Arthur yelled over the loud noises.
"Come on, keep up everyone!" Sirius urged.
Ginny and Hermione pointed towards something and giggled. Two boys on broomsticks flew past them as Ron and Harry exclaimed excitedly. "Blimey!"
"Parting of the ways, I think, old chap." Amos said to Arthur as they shook hands as he turned to Sirius. "Sirius, see you at the match."
Sirius nodded. "See you."
After that the two groups parted ways and the trio and the Weasleys were led by Arthur and Sirius. The two older men stopped in front of a small, ordinary tent as Sirius held out the cloth slightly gesturing to get everyone in.
"Home sweet home!"
Harry looked at Sirius, confused as one by one all of them entered the small wizarding tent.
As Harry peeked inside the tent, he realized it was deceptively large on the inside, no matter how small they seem from the outside. It was made with an extension charm.
"Don't you just love magic?" Sirius stood beside Harry as Diana sat on the boy's shoulder.
Harry nodded with a grin.
"There's still a few hours before the match starts. So it'd be best to unpack and go to the bath." Arthur advised.
"And maybe take a short nap as well." Sirius said, yawning as he plopped down on a bed in a separate compartment beside the kitchen.
"Girls, choose a bunk and unpack." The girls excitedly went to their compartments.
"Ron, get out of the kitchen! We're all hungry!"
"Yeah, get out of the kitchen, Ron!" The mischievous twins repeated after Arthur.
"Feet off the table!"
"Feet off the table!" and again.
"I think you could use a nap as well, Harry after a quick bath." Diana suggested in Harry's head as she flew across the tent and sat on a bed.
"Yeah, I plan to do that as well." Harry yawned loudly.
_
The deserted dark graveyard.
An old man crossed the graveyard and went inside the building from where he saw the lights coming.
As he went up the stairs, he heard some voices. Whispered but sharp voices.
"How fastidious you've become, Wormtail. As I recall, you once called the nearest gutter pipe home." A croaking voice said. "Could it be that the task of nursing me has become wearisome for you?"
The old man almost made a creak on the stairs.
"Oh no. No, no, my lord Voldemort. I only meant... perhaps if we were to do it without the boy." Another voice said.
"No! The boy is everything! It cannot be done without him and it will be done."
The old man saw a young man sitting kneeling in front of a sofa. "I will not disappoint you, my lord."
"Good." the voice of the man said. "First, gather our old comrades. Send them a sign."
A large snake glided past the old man and entered the darkly lit room, startling him. The snake reached the top of the sofa and hissed.
"Nagini tells me the old Muggle caretaker is standing just outside the door.
A pudgy, rat-faced man stepped at threshold of the door scaring the old man and he started stepping backwards slowly.
"Step aside, Wormtail, so I can give our guests a proper greeting."
The pudgy man stepped aside with a wicked smile as a flick of bright light came towards the old man.
"Avada Kedavra!"
_
"Harry!" A voice said. "Wake up, Harry! Wake up!"
Harry shot up from the bed, sweating and breathing heavily. He came face to face with a concerned looking Diana who was sitting at the edge of his bed in her human form with a glass of water in her hand.
"Are you all right, dear?" She touched his sweaty cheeks worriedly. "You're cold as a bloody vampire!"
Harry quickly put on his glasses. "I'm alright. Just a bad dream."
Her hazel eyes glistening with worry narrowed as she stared deep into Harry's green eyes. "What kind of dream?"
Harry didn't feel like lying or keeping secrets from her, he wanted explanation badly. So he summarized his whole nightmare as fast as he could, leaving out no detail.
Diana's face turned concerningly blank and hard. "Peter was there?"
Harry nodded.
"And who was the other guy?"
"I didn't see his face properly but I don't know him."
"Voldemort was there too?"
"Yes but it looked like he needed some kind of assistance and said something needs to be done and..."
"It cannot be done without you?" Diana finished his sentence.
"Yes."
Harry looked at his godmother for some kind of answer or reassurance but she didn't give him any. She pinched her lips worriedly as her eyes looked outside the tent through the window.
"Do I need to be worried, Diana?"
She looked at him, this time trying to put on a little smile, at least for her godson's sake. "Everyone has bad dreams, Harry. We needlessly worry about a lot of things everyday and overthink a lot of things that doesn't matter. And our mind visualizes our worst fears and worries in our dreams when our consciousness is the most off guard. But," Her smile wiped off her face a bit. "But you're no ordinary boy, Harry, you never have been. So I would be lying if I say that your dreams don't carry any weight like any other human."
Harry frowned and bit his lips in worry but then, Diana stroked his unruly bed-hair in a failed attempt to tame it.
'Just like James...' she thought subconsciously.
"But to answer your question ," She looked at him with a small smile. "You shouldn't be worried. You know why?"
Harry looked at her questionably.
"Because you're not alone, Harry. You've got us, your family and friends and we're always there for you. Trust us and we'll get through this together."
There was something about her voice or the way she spoke that always completely calmed Harry down, no matter what situation he was in. And he was always extremely thankful for that, even though he never said it out loud.
"Thanks, Diana."
To her utter and pleasant surprise, the green-eyed boy embraced her in a tight hug which Diana immediately returned.
"Should I tell Sirius about this?" Harry asked when he pulled back.
"No need." Diana shook her head grimly. "I'll let him know. No need for you to repeat and relive such a bad dream twice."
Harry nodded.
"Now, go wash your face quickly. Arthur is losing his mind, I'm telling you." She quickly stood up from the bed. "We're going to the stadium. The match is about to start."
With that Harry swiftly jumped up from his bed and made a dash towards the bathroom, leaving a worried Diana in his room.
_
Word count: 2793
A/N: Yes, this is another update!! Re-watched Goblet of fire recently and got into the mood for writing. So yay!
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I just published another book, a Remus Lupin story which takes place in the same world as 'The Godmother'. It can be read as a stand alone story as well. If you're interested, it would mean a lot if you check out that book and leave your valuable thoughts about it. Thanks in advance.
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