Au Revoir - Chapter Eight
CHARLOTTE REMEMBERED ATTENDING THE 421st EDITION of the Quidditch World Cup in 1990. It had been an early birthday gift from her father. The match went on for five whole days, that Charlotte accidentally fell asleep just as Hector Lamont of the Scotland national team caught the snitch. That was her first time attending the Quidditch World Cup.
Everyone screamed and clapped, green and red covered the whole stadium faintly reminding Charlotte of Christmas. The huge blackboard that was facing them showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce...the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"
Charlotte leaned forward in her seat, wanting to see the Mascots.
"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward. "Aaah!" He wipes his glasses and put them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!"
The veelas glided out onto the field. Their hair looked silver under the golden light shining down in the fields. The walked with elegance, no doubt they were the most beautiful in the eyes of men.
"What are veel -?"
The music suddenly started and the veelas performed their dance routine. Their movements followed the rhythm of the music, swaying and moving their arms in the most graceful way Charlotte has ever seen.
She glances at Harry and Ron whose eyes became glazed. Their jaws were parted with drool pouring out of Ron's mouth. Charlotte scowled, sharing an annoyed glance with Hermione who had the same expression on her face as hers.
Charlotte looked around her, Bill was more composed, but was still pink in the cheeks as well as Charlie and Percy. The Weasley twins were as red as their hair. Malfoy's mouth was agape; his eyes were as glazed as all the males in the Top Box.
Charlotte huffed and crossed her arms and continued to watch the veela.
Harry stood up with a dreamy look on his face, and ran towards the edge, peering over the fields to watch the dancing veelas. Ron followed in suit and so does Malfoy at the other side of them.
They danced faster and faster, the tempo took its pace. All of the males suddenly stood up from their seats, walking towards the edge of the box.
Harry suddenly had one of his leg over the railings, looking as if he wanted to jump out.
"Harry, what the bloody hell are you doing!" Charlotte exclaimed, jumping up on her feet to pull the boy back before he decided to kill himself.
Before Charlotte could do anything, the music stopped. The males who were in the Top Box with them snapped out of their daze, frozen.
All of the males in the stadium yelled in protest as the veelas stopped. Ron and Harry were also yelling in protest.
"Stupid boys," Charlotte muttered under her breath, feeling annoyance build up her stomach.
Ron started to absentmindedly shred the shamrocks on his hat. Mr. Weasley leaned over to Ron and tugged the hat out of his hands.
"You'll be wanting that," he said, "once Ireland have had their say."
"Huh?" said Ron still staring openmouthed at the veela, who had now lined up along one side of the field.
Charlotte stood and slapped Ron and Harry's backs, "Snap out of it!" and pushed them both back into their seats.
Hermione made a loud tutting noise, "Honestly!" she crossed her arms.
"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air...for the Irish National Team Mascots!"
A bright green and gold comet zoomed into the stadium. Charlotte jumped in her seat excitedly, watching as the comet split into two smaller comets. Harry glanced at Charlotte whose eyes gently glimmered under the lights around them all. He chuckled lightly at her reaction to the rainbow that suddenly appeared in the middle of the field.
Charlotte's cheeks were flushed red at the excitement growing in her stomach. She knew the Irish were going to win. Bulgaria wouldn't stand a chance at winning even if they do get the snitch, with Krum as their seeker and all.
Golden coins rained from the gigantic shamrock in the sky. "Excellent!" Exclaimed Ron as the shamrock soared over their side. "Leprechauns!" said Mr. Weasley as the crowd roared in applause.
Leprechauns? Charlotte hadn't noticed the tiny little men in the giant shamrock that flew by them minutes ago...
Coins were dropped into the floor beneath her feet. But before she could take a fistful of them, Ron's hand swooped in and grabbed them all, leaving nothing for Charlotte.
"Ron!" She yells, glowering at him. "There you go," Ron yells at Harry, stuffing a fistful of gold coins into Harry's hand, dropping a few in the process. "For the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!"
"You idiot! Those were mine!"
The shamrock dissolved and the leprechauns floated down to the green field and sat themselves at the opposite from the veelas.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov!"
A figure dressed in scarlet red robes zoomed out onto the field so fast that it was blurred. The Bulgarian supporters- including Ronald- cheered loudly.
"Ivanova!"
A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.
"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand - Krum!"
"That's him, that's him!" yelled Ron, following Krum with his Omnioculars. Charlotte quickly took hers and watched through them.
There were seven players in total, wearing matching scarlet robes. Charlotte moved the Omnioculars towards Krum who wore the same expression as the posters they saw on the tents earlier. Krum would've passed as a thirty-six-year-old wizard with the way he looked. It was hard to believe that he was eighteen.
"He does look grumpy!" She muttered, loud enough for Hermione and Harry to hear her.
"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!"
"YES!" Charlotte cheered, feeling giddy. A bright smile was on her face as she watched the Irish sweep onto the green field that matched their Quidditch robes.
Charlotte was having trouble with her Ominioculars; she tried twisting and turning the knobs to slow down the players to try and spot where Troy was.
"Bloody hell... how does dad use this cruddy thing?"
She never really used Ominioculars before. The brass object was covered with knobs and dials that she found really confusing and hard to use. Normally she uses the Muggle equivalent of Ominioculars that her grandfather gave her before he passed away.
"Just turn the small dial on the side," said Hermione, watching the match through her own device, not sparing Charlotte a glance.
Charlotte was hesitant but nevertheless turned the dial Hermione was referring to. The Irish started moving slowly, enabling her to read their names embroidered in silver at the back of their robes.
She quickly spotted Troy in the midst of the other players. "That's Troy," she says wide-eyed, following his every move. They appeared to be all riding Firebolts that looked elegant while gliding in the air. It looks just as beautiful as Harry's Firebolt that he got from Sirius.
"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"
A bald, skinny wizard in golden robes strode out onto the field. His robes seemed to rival the light from the stadium. He looked to be carrying a wooden crate and a broomstick under both his arms. Charlotte spun the small dial back to normal and watch as the referee kicks the crate open with four balls jumping into the air. Mostafa mounted his broomstick and blew on his whistle, shooting into the air.
The game began.
...
A/N: Short update, for now. I promise to update frequently so I can get to the Narnia part of the story. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!