Hermione, Harry and the Weasley's joined the large croud heading down the path. People were laughing and singing in all different languages, and Hermione could stop grinning
They left the forest and saw a huge stadium, large enough to fit Buckingham palace in twice
"Seats a hundred thousand" said Mr. Weasley "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again... bless them"
They joined the group of people grouping around one of the entrances
"Prime seats!" cried the Ministry witch as they got to the front "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go"
There were too many flights of stairs to count, but eventually they reached the top, where there were several rows of purple and gold seats. Hermione, Harry and the Weasley's filed into the front row and gazed at the incredible sight in front of them
Thousands of people were filing into their seats, which were raised high above the ground. The three scoring hoops glowed gold in the stadium lights. Directly opposite them, at Hermione eye level, was a ginormous blackboard. Words were appearing on it, as if an invisible hand was writing on it in huge cursive:
The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family - safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burglar Buzzer... Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!... Gladrags Wizardwear - London, Paris, Hogsmeade...
Hermione watched the scene below them eagerly until Harry's voice made her turn
"Dobby?"
"Did sir just call me Dobby?" came a squeaky and clearly female voice, but Hermione turned around anyway. Dobby was a house elf who had (sort of) helped them out in their second year. He had been property of the Malfoy family, but Harry had freed him at the end of the year. Hermione had never seen a house elf before. The elf sitting directly behind them was about the same height of a child, and an oddly proportioned head, with large, bat like ears sticking out either side. She had ginormous brown eyes and a very round, somewhat squashed nose. She was hiding most of her face in her hands
"Sorry" Harry she "I just thought you were someone I knew"
"But I knows Dobby too, sir!" said the elf eagerly "My name is Winky, sir - and you, sir-" Her eyes widened "You is surely Harry Potter!"
"Yeah, I am" said Harry, looking embarrassed
"But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" Winky whispered
"How is he?" asked Harry "How's freedom suiting him?"
"Ah, sir" Winky sighed "ah sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free"
"Why?" said Harry "What's wrong with him?"
"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir" said Winky "Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir"
"Why not?" said Harry
"He is wanting paying for his work, sir" Winky whispered, as if admitting something terrible
"Paying?" said Harry "Well - why shouldn't he be paid?"
Winky looked horrified
"House-elves is not paid, sir!" she cried "No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin"
"Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun" said Harry
"House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter" said Winky matter-of-factly "House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter but my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, sir"
"Why's he sent you up here, if he knows you don't like heights?" said Harry, voicing Hermione's concern
"Master - master wants me to save him a seat, Harry Potter. He is very busy" said Winky slowly "Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf"
She hid her head in her hands again
"So that's a house-elf?" Ron whispered "Weird things, aren't they?"
"Dobby was weirder" said Harry. Hermione stared at Winky. Surely there was some kind of rule against sending a house elf somewhere they didn't want to go? Hermione wondered what kind of cruel person was Winky's master, sending her to the Top Box when they must have known she didn't like heights. Besides, there are enough places for everyone in the Top Box who had a ticket, surely Winky didn't need to be there!
She tried to distract herself by skimming through her program
"'A display from the team mascots will precede the match'" she read aloud
"Oh that's always worth watching" said Mr. Weasley "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show"
The box filled slowly, until it was almost completely full. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, came with the Bulgarian Minister. Mr Fudge was having to mime everything he said to him, as he didn't know Bulgarian
"I'm no great shakes at languages;" he told them "I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat... Good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places... ah, and here's Lucius!"
Hermione turned. Filing into the seats behind them was Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin boy in their year whom Hermione had despised from the moment she had met him. He was followed by a man with long, white blonde hair who greatly resembled him and a woman who Hermione assumed was Mrs Malfoy. She was blond as well, and very proud looking, with a turned up nose and an aloof demeanour
"Ah, Fudge" said Mr. Malfoy, shaking Mr Fudge's hand "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"
"How do you do, how do you do?" said Mr Fudge "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk - Obalonsk - Mr. - well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else - you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"
That was one way of putting it. The last time Mr Malfoy and Mr Weasley had met, two years beforehand in Diagon Alley, they had had a fight, and they had to be pulled apart by Hagrid, a huge man whom Hermione pressumed had giant blood in him
"Good lord, Arthur" Mr Malfoy whispered "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"
"Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur" said Mr Fudge, who hadn't heard the last remark "He's here as my guest"
"How - how nice" said Mr. Weasley tersely, with a forced smile
Mr. Malfoy's eyes lingered on Hermione, who stared defiantly back. The Malfoys were 'pure blood', in other words, they were totally descended from wizards. They were also one of the pureblood families who believed that anyone like Hermione, who had Muggle parents, were of a lower status. However he couldn't do anything standing right next to the Minister of Magic, so he sat down without a word
"Slimy gits" Ron muttered, and they turned back to the field
Ludo Bagman ran into the box, his eyes bright with excitement
"Everyone ready?" he said eagerly "Minister - ready to go?"
"Ready when you are, Ludo" said Mr Fudge
Ludo took out his wand and pointed it at his throat
"Sonorus!" he said, and the next time he spoke his voice echoed over every inch of the pitch
"Ladies and gentlemen... welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"
There was a loud cheer in response. The advertisements on the large blackboard disappeared, to be replaced with:
BULGARIA: 0 IRELAND: 0
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce... the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"
The scarlet clad Bulgarian supported whooped and cheered
"I wonder what they've brought" said Mr. Weasley "Aaah! Veela!"
"What are veel-?" began Harry, but he was about to find out, as a hundred Veela walked onto the pitch
From what Hermione could tell, Veela were just moderately pretty women, but when music started playing from somewhere and they started dancing, they had a very strange effect on the boys. Bill's eyes had gone wide, and he looked completely entranced. Fred and George were leaning so far forward on the walls of the Top Box, Hermione was scared they might fall off. Ron had got up, his eyes glazed over, with his arms in front of him as if he was about to dive into a swimming pool. Charlie, however, was humming along to the music, apparently paying no attention to the Veela
"Ron? Ron!" Hermione said, waving a hand in front of his face "Ron, snap out of it!"
Hermione jumped as Harry got up as well and put his foot on the wall of the Box
"Harry, what are you doing?" said Hermione, bemused
The music stopped. Ron's eyes were still slightly glazed, and he sat down and started ripping green shamrocks off his hat
"You'll be wanting that" said Mr Weasley, taking the hat off him "once Ireland have had their say"
"Huh?" said Ron, staring at the Veela. Hermione wasn't sure why, but jealousy spiked through her
"Honestly!" she said, dragging Harry back into his chair
"And now" said Ludo Bagman "kindly put your wands in the air... for the Irish National Team Mascots!"
A huge comet, which seemed to be made of gold and green stars, flew into the stadium. Hermione quickly took out her Omniocularsand looked into them. Turning a dail on the side of them, Hermione could see that the comet was made up of thousands of tiny men, who were ginger haired and carrying lanterns. Leprechauns!
Hermione lowered the Omnioculars and saw that the leprechauns had arranged themselves into a giant shamrock, and they were floating slowly along the croud. Golden disks were falling from it, which Hermione recognised as Leprechaun Gold
"Excellent!" yelled Ron as the shamrock reached them. He dived under the chairs to grab as much gold as possible. Hermione would've told him that Leprechaun Gold disappears within a few hours, but Ron looked too happy for Hermione to mention it
"Leprechauns!" said Mr. Weasley eagerly
"There you go" Ron yelled dropping the gold into Harry's hands "for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!"
The Leprechauns finished their lap of the pitch and sat down on the field, cross legged, opposite the Veela
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov!"
A red blur shot onto the pitch as if fired from a gun. It was impossible to tell what he or she looked like, as they were going so fast. The Bulgarian supporters burst into applause. The same happened for the other six players
"Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand - Krum!"
Krum got the loudest applause by far
"That's him, that's him!" squealed Ron, and he and Harry followed him with his Omnioculars. Hermione didn't see the point. It said in the program that both teams came to the Top Box at the end of the match, so they'd be able to see him then!
It was the same procedure for the Irish team
"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team! Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!"
Seven green blurs flew onto the pitch. As people waved their flags, the Irish National anthem blared out from every corner of the pitch
"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"
A bald man with a bushy mustache walked onto the pitch. He was holding his broom in one hand and a box presumably containing the balls in the other. He opened the box and the Bludgers flew into the air, quickly followed by the tiny golden snitch. Mostafa flew into the air, blowing his wistle sharply, and threw the Quaffle high above his head
"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" yelled Ludo
It was Quidditch as Hermione, who didn't exactly pride herself on knowledge of Quidditch, had never seen before. The chasers and beaters were so fast that Luod only had enough time to say their names. Above the action, Lynch and Krum were circling the pitch, looking for the Snitch. An excitable buzz was oscillating through the crowd, and Hermione had gone tense, siting on the edge of her seat and crossing her fingers. From what she could see, Hermione thought that Ireland was probably the better side, and sure enough, within five minutes-
"TROY SCORES!" yelled Bagman "Ten zero to Ireland!"
Hermione wasn't sure what had got into her, but she jumped up and started waving her arms on the air. She saw Troy do a lap of honour, a wide grin on her face
"What?" said Harry yelled, who had clearly been watching through his Omnioculars "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"
"Harry, if you're not going to watch at normal speed, you're go- ing to miss things!" shouted Hermione over the noice of the whoops and jeers of the Irish and Bulgarian supporters
Within the next five minutes, Mullet and Moran had both scored a goal apeice, taking the score to 30 : 0. Enfuriated by Ireland's early lead, the two Bulgarian Beaters started becoming more accurate, forcing the Irish Chasers to scatter on several occasions and soon, Bulgaria had scored their first goal
"Fingers in your ears!" roared Mr. Weasley as the veela started to dance again. Hermione didn't bother, and continued watching the match
"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova - oh I say!" yelled Ludo
The two Seekers were hurtling towards the ground at over a hundred miles an hour. They were getting dangerously close to the ground - Hermione wasn't sure if they would be able to break in time now-
"They're going to crash!" she exclaimed. Suddenly, at the very last second, Krum pulled out of the dive, but Lynch wasn't so lucky. He hit the ground with a dull thud and the whole stadium let our a collective groan
"Fool!" said Mr. Weasley "Krum was feinting!"
"It's time-out!" roared Ludo "as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"
"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Charlie said to Ginny, who looked terrified "Which is what Krum was after, of course..."
Hermione suddenly realised what Krum was doing. He hadn't seen the Snitch at all, he just wanted Lynch to think he did and follow him! Hermione couldn't help but he impressed. She had never seen Harry, Malfoy (who was the Slytherin Seeker), Cho or Cedric do anything as impressive or dangerous as that! Hermione peered through her Omnioculars at Krum, who was using the free time to look for the Snitch undisturbed. He almost looked like he wasn't using a broom at all, and was whizzing unsupported through the air
Aidan Lynch, after being given several potions by mediwizards, lept to his feet, to the jubilation of the Irish supporters, and once again took to the skies. After ten more nail biting minutes, Ireland were leading 130 to 10, and the Bulgarians were starting to play dirty
Mullet shot towards the goal posts yet again, and the Bulgarian Keeper flew up to her. Hermione wasn't sure what had happened, but Mullet suddenly had a bruise on her forehead and Mostafa had blown his whistle to indicate a foul
"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing - excessive use of elbows!" Ludo roared "And - yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"
The leprechauns clumped together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!". Meanwhile, the Veela got angrily to their feet and started to dance again. The Weasley boys and Harry blocked their ears, but it looked like the referee was too slow. He landed next to the Veela and started flexing his muscles. Hermione, giggling, pulled Ron and Harry's fingers out of their ears
"Look at the referee!" she said. Ron looked down and burst out laughing, alerting Ludo to the problem
"Now, we can't have that!" he said, sounding amused "Somebody slap the referee!"
A mediwizard ran across the field and kicked Mostafa hard, making him come to. He looked very embarrassed and started yelling at the Veela
"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said Ludo "Now there's something we haven't seen before... Oh this could turn nasty..."
The Bulgarian Beaters had landed next to the referee and were arguing with him, gesturing towards the leprechauns, who were now forming the words "HEE, HEE, HEE.". Mostafa wasn't listening and clearly wanted them to get back in the air, and when they didn't Mostafa blew his wistle twice
"Two penalties for Ireland!" roared Ludo "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms... yes... there they go... and Troy takes the Quaffle..."
The Bulgarian team seemed angry beyond belief at the verdict and were now playing more aggressively than ever before. Moran was flying towards the pitch when Dimitrov rammed into her, nearly making her fall off her broom
"Foul!" the Irish supporters roared from the stands
"Foul!" said Ludo as well "Dimitrov skins Moran - deliberately flying to collide there - and it's got to be another penalty - yes, there's the whistle!"
The leprechauns gleefully rose into the air and formed a giant hand, which gave the Veela a very rude sign. At this point, the Veela's lost it. They got up and tstarted throwing what looked like balls of fire at the leprechauns. Their faces started changing as well, turning into something that looked like a cruel bird, with bat like wings erupting out of each of the Veela's backs
"And that, boys," yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult of the crowd below, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"
Ministry witches and wizards were swarming onto the pitch, their wands raised, but the match was continuing as if nothing had happened
"Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!"
The cheers of the Irish supporters couldn't be heard any more as, much to the fury of the Bulgarian supporters, The Ministry people had started stunning the Veela, and the loud bangs and shriekswere drowning out almost all other noice
Suddenly an Irish Beater hit a Bludger at Krum, and there was a loud groan as it hit him full in the face. There was blood everywhere, and his nose looked broken, but the referee didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted: his broom was on fire
"Time-out!" demanded Ron "Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him -"
"Look at Lynch!" Harry cried "He's seen the Snitch! He's seen it! Look at him go!"
Even though Lynch had a huge head start, Krum was on his tail, and both Seekers were flying towards the ground at tremendous speed, with no sign of slowing down. Hermione lept to her feet
"They're going to crash!" she yelled again
"They're not!" bellowed Ron.
"Lynch is!" roared Harry. Once again Lynch slammed into the ground and was stampeded by the Veela
"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" yelled Charlie
"He's got it - Krum's got it - it's all over!" shouted Harry. Krum, his nose still spewing blood, had his arm in the air, and was holding the Snitch
Hermione sat down, crestfallen, until she realised that the blackboard had BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 written on it. The crowd slowly realised what had happened, and the green clad supporters screamed and cheered so loudly that Hermione's ears started ringing
"IRELAND WINS!" Ludo shouted, sounding stunned "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS - good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"
"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron yelled over the tumultuous applause "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"
"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Harry bellowed "The Irish Chasers were too good... He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all..."
"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione said, leaning forward "He looks a terrible mess..."
It was hard to see anything much, as the leprechauns had taken to the skies and it was once again raining gold. Krum was surrounded by mediwizards, but he seemed very reluctant to let them help, despite the fact that they had blood running down his face. Meanwhile, the Irish team was dancing in the golden rain. The Veela turned back into their human forms, and looked pretty depressed
"Vell, ve fought bravely" said a voice behind them. Hermione turned. It was the Bulgarian Minister for Magic
"You can speak English!" Mr Fudge cried"And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"
"Vell, it vos very funny" said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging. Hermione snorted
"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!" said Ludo's voice
Suddenly lights were flashing in Hermione's eyes and she had the mad impression that he was being interrogated. She then realised that every single one of the stadium's lights had turned to the Top Box and, consequently, onto her. Hermione felt herself going red. Two wizards were carrying a massive cup up the many steps to the Top Box, who then handed it to Mr Fudge, who kept giving the Bulgarian Minister for Magic dark looks
"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers - Bulgaria!" Ludo roared
The Bulgarian team came up to the Top Box and one by one Ludo called out their names, and they shook hands with their own Minister and then Mr Fudge. When Krum's name was called their was an ear splitting cheer
And then there was the Irish team. Hermione's hands were already numb from clapping, but she clapped extra hard when two of the team held the cup high in the air. The Irish team did a lap of honour and then both teams were gone
Ludo pointed his wand back to his throat
"Quietus" he muttered, and his voice, now sounding very hoarse, went back to it's normal volume
"They'll be talking about this one for years" he said "a really unexpected twist, that... shame it couldn't have lasted longer... Ah yes... yes, I owe you... how much?"
Fred and George had appeared by his side with wide grins on their faces and their hands outstretched expectantly
~*~*~
I do not enjoy writing Quidditch matches, but thankfully more interesting stuff is on the way! :)