Chapter One The Quidditch World Cup

Teddy Lupin lay asleep on his bed underneath a giant poster of his favorite Quidditch team, The Wimbourne Wasps, a team which Ludo Bagman had once played for. As one of the Chasers threw the Quaffle into a tall hoop, the clock on Teddy's bedside table struck two, and his handsome, black tawny owl, Orpheus, hooted softly, gazing intently at his snoring master. A few peaceful minutes passed, and then Ginny Potter, the wife of Teddy's godfather, Harry Potter, entered the room. Quietly she walked up to the sleeping boy and shook him, lightly.

"Teddy," she whispered "time to wake up." He groaned, opened his eyes, closed them again, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

"Teddy, time to wake up," she repeated, a little more forcefully.

"I'm getting up," Teddy said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "It's so early. Why couldn't you and Harry take us on Side-Along-Apparition?"

"Because," said Harry now entering the room "apparating is extremely uncomfortable. Once you've apparated you'll never want to do it again. I only do it when I have to and unfortunately being an Auror means that I am very often in a situation in which I do have to apparate."

"And," said Ginny "because Side-Along-Apparition increases the risk of splinching"

"All right, all right, I'm getting up," said Teddy. "Would you mind getting out of my room? I need to change."

As Ginny and Harry made their way out of the room, Teddy found some of his Muggle clothing. They had to wear Muggle attire so that it wouldn't look suspicious. It felt odd to Teddy to be going to an all-wizard event like the Quidditch World Cup dressed like a Muggle. He put on his jeans and sweatshirt and looked at himself in the mirror. A boy with reddish-brown hair and misty grey eyes stared back at him. He frowned, and then screwed up his face like he was straining to remember something. Without warning, his eyes turned from grey to a honey-colored brown. Teddy Lupin was something that was called in the wizarding community a 'Metamorphmagus'. This meant that he had the ability to change his appearance at will. Every time Teddy used his ability to change his appearance he felt a pang of uneasiness and sorrow as he remembered the reason that he had this gift. He had inherited it from his mother who had died along with his father during the reign of a terrible dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, whose name many witches and wizards feared to speak. Teddy gazed fixedly at a moving photograph of his mother and father who were smiling and waving at him, not knowing that their son was alive and struggling through life without them. No matter how close Teddy was to Harry and the rest, inside he had that feeling of being an outsider. They were not his family and there was nothing he could do about it. Teddy missed his childhood days when he still lived with his grandmother, who was now dead. The memory rose clearly in Teddy's mind:

Teddy was ten years old and he had just been out with some friends. He was coming back home and he saw an odd figure above the house. It was a smoky, green skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. Teddy had never seen anything like it, but did not like how ominous it looked. He walked up the steps leading to the house and rang the doorbell. No one answered the door. He turned the handle and found that the door was unlocked. The room Teddy saw inside was a mess. Armchairs were overturned, half of the sofa had been blasted away, the once handsome staircase was crumbling, and the chandelier had fallen to the ground.

"Hello," Teddy called, trying to sound braver than he felt. "Hello. Gran, are you there? What's going on?"

Teddy crossed the room to look behind the wreck of the piano and saw a pair of feet. He moved forward and saw his grandmother lying on the ground. She looked peaceful, as though sleeping, but he couldn't hear her breath.

"Gran," he said, pleading now. "Gran, please, wake up. Please, wake up, Gran. Gran, I'm hungry, wake up. What's going on?"

Teddy felt a hand grab his shoulder.

Just as that thought crossed his mind he felt someone grab his shoulder in the present taking him out of the past. Teddy jumped in alarm.

"Thinking about someone, are we, Ted?" It was James. Damn that little blighter. James was only ten and acted like he owned the place. Teddy was fifteen. What had happened to respecting your elders? Teddy took one last look at the photograph and followed a still chuckling James down to the kitchen where the others had already started breakfast and were talking about the match.

"It's got to be Scotland" said James as Teddy sat down and Ginny tipped bacon and eggs onto his plate.

"I wouldn't bet on it," said Harry. "Scotland got slaughtered by Luxembourg. Ukraine's never lost a match to Luxembourg. Scotland's got no chance."

"I thought you said you were supporting Scotland, Dad," said and eight year old Albus who looked remarkably like his father and his elder brother.

"I'm supporting them all right, I'm just not placing any bets on them," replied Harry.

"Scotland's improved their team since the Luxenburg fiasco and they've been practicing like mad," said Ginny. "They could stand a chance against Ukraine."

"No they couldn't," said Teddy. "Ukraine's kept their brilliant team the way it is and they've been practicing more than Scotland and they've got Tretyachenko."

"Taras Tretyachenko," said Lily, her eyes round with excitement "An excellent Seeker and incredibly handsome." Lily giggled over her porridge.

It was astonishing to Teddy. The little redhead was only six years old and was more into good Quidditch players than all the girls at Hogwarts put together.

"I think we better get going," said Harry taking his last bite of ham and checking the watch that had once belonged to Fabian Prewett.

They left the house quite cheerfully for a group of people that had gotten up at two in the morning. Laughing and joking, they walked towards the charming village of Ottery St. Catchpole. It was sunny, and the sky was the clearest of blues. The grass on which they walked was a little wet from the morning dew. After an hour's walk they reached the village.

"Over there," said Harry pointing to the nearest of the three hills that overlooked the village.

Teddy, James, Albus, and Lily groaned, in unison, when they saw how much further they had to walk. At last they had reached the hill and climbed to the top. There they saw a rather odd scene. Thirteen people were crowded around what appeared to be an old baseball glove. There was Ronald Weasley (who went by Ron) who was tall with flaming red hair, bright blue eyes, and a freckly face; his wife Hermione Weasley, a pretty woman with bushy, brown hair and chocolate colored eyes; their eight-year-old daughter, Rose, who looked a lot like her mother, but had her father's fiery hair; their six-year-old son, Hugo, who was Ron in miniature; Molly Weasley whose red hair was graying and her once plump figure was older and frailer, though her kindly expression and her brown eyes, not unlike her daughter Ginny's, were the same; Arthur Weasley who like his wife, Molly, bore the marks of age; Charlie Weasley who had red hair and looked extremely tough due to the fact that he had to keep dragons under control everyday, Charlie's girlfriend, Alicia Spinnet, a pretty blonde witch with dark eyes; George Weasley who looked a great deal like Charlie; George's girlfriend, Angelina Johnson, a brunette with dark eyes who happened to be Alicia's best friend; Bill Weasley whose long, red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and whose face was quite handsome, despite the fact that it was badly scarred from his encounter with Fenrir Greyback; Bill's wife, Fleur Weasley, who was breathtakingly beautiful with silvery blonde hair, misty eyes, and was part veela; and Bill and Fleur's daughter, Victoire, who was a miniature version of Fleur and was in the year below Teddy at Hogwarts.

"About time, we thought you'd forgotten," was Ron's greeting.

"Don't exaggerate, Ronald," said Hermione reproachfully.

"You do realize," said Harry to Ron, panting "that we had to wake up at the crack of dawn and walk several miles. The sooner this lot passes their Appariton Tests the happier I'll be."

"And this is coming from the man who told me just this morning that he hates to apparate and only does it when he has to," said Teddy, smirking. "Who are you and what have you done to my godfather."

There was a laugh. Victoire appeared to have found Teddy's remark highly amusing. Teddy looked at her, and she stared at her feet. Teddy's face promptly turned scarlet. James sniggered.

"All right then. Better get cracking," said Arthur, checking his watch. "Gather 'round the Portkey everyone."

Harry, Ginny, Teddy, Albus, and Lily moved towards the baseball glove. The circle tightened so that everyone would be able to reach out their hand and touch the old glove.

"Right," said Arthur, picking up the glove and holding it out to the others. "For those of you who have never used a Portkey before," he said looking kindly at Lily, Hugo, Rose, Albus, Victoire, James, and Teddy, "You only have to touch it. A finger's good enough." Once everyone had placed a finger on the Portkey, Arthur checked his watch again. "In a moment," he said. "Ah, right. Three, two, one."

Teddy felt a jerk behind his navel and felt the glove fly forward his finger attatched to it as though by means of a permanent sticking charm. He couldn't see anything or hear anyone over the roaring wind, he only felt Harry's and Albus's elbows bumping into him as they flew onward, pulled along by the Portkey. With a jolt Teddy's feet felt the ground again and heard a female voice announce, "Half-past five from Stoatshead Hill."

Teddy and the others straightened up and found themselves on a small patch of sand. They saw a pile of broken everyday Muggle objects that were undoubtedly used Portkeys. Arthur picked up the glove and tossed it into the pile as they made their way toward the little booth.

"Good morning, Susan," said Hermione to the witch.

"Oh, hello Hermione," said the witch called Susan. "How are you?"

"Fine thanks."

"How many reservations do you all have?"

"Just one. Under the name Potter."

"Let me see," she said rummaging through some papers. "Ah, Potter. You just need to walk strait and look to your right, you can't miss it. The name of the muggle is Mr. Roberts."

"Not that idiot again," burst out Ron. "We had him last time, remember?"

They thanked Susan and walked off in the direction she had indicated. Soon enough they reached a small stone cottage with a metal gate. An old man was standing in front of the cottage. This man was undoubtedly Mr. Roberts.

"Good morning, you must be Mr. Roberts," said Arthur.

"Aye, that'd be me," said the muggle. "Wait a mo. I know you. Lon' time 'go, you was staiyin' ere. That was a big party o' people, too. Like now, I mean. Loads o' people ere. Foreigners an' weirdoes. Some o' 'em are same ones that were 'ere the time before. The bloke in the nightgown's back. Hard to tell though, mind, been a while since then…"

"Mr. Roberts," said Hermione, cutting across his babbling. "Could we just pay now so that we can go into the campsite?"

"Right ya are, miss," said Roberts, accepting the money from Hermione and handing her a map of the campsite.

"Hasn't changed much has he," said Ron, once they'd passed the gate.

"Not a bit," replied Harry.

The camp was packed. There were tents as far as the eye could see, each fancier than the next. A few actually had live animals. It was not wonder that the Muggle at the gate was suspicious.

"Teddy," screamed two voices.

Teddy turned to see his two very best friends in the world, Violet Brown and Alex Rybbak. One thing that the three friends had in common was the fact that they had very messed up family issues. Teddy had never known his parents and spent the first ten years of his life with his grandmother and the most recent five with Harry. Violet was the daughter of Seamus Finnigan and Lavender Brown. However, they were not married. They had gotten together when they were at school, but after the defeat of Voldemort realized that they weren't right for each other, Lavender's pregnancy also contributed to the break up. Violet lived with her mother who strongly disapproved of men. One can only imagine how terrified she was when she discovered that both of her daughter's best friends were male. Lavender forgave Teddy when she found out who his father was, but she was still suspicious of Alex. Violet had straw-colored hair and two different colored eyes, one blue and one brown. She was the friendliest of the trio, but she did have non-stop fights with Alex that drove Teddy up the wall. Alex, on the other hand was a lot more secretive when it came to discussing their families. All that Violet and Teddy had gotten out of him was that his parents had not wanted him and had abandoned him when he was just a baby. He had been raised by a wise, old muggle fisherman who had found him. The fisherman, Mr. Rybbak, had taken Alex in even though he had little money for himself. Alex was probably closer to this man than any other, even his best friends. Whenever they touched some subjects Alex would mumble an excuse, turn scarlet, and hastily change the subject. However, he was the funny one in the group. He had brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. He was clumsy (even clumsier than Teddy which was saying something), and this for some odd reason was attracting to girls. He didn't date, though.

"Hey Alex, Violet," replied Teddy.

They were to be staying with them because Violet's mother was rather poor and couldn't afford tickets to the Cup and Mr. Rybbak, being a Muggle, had no wizarding currency. Teddy was able to persuade Harry and Ginny to invite them to come along.

"How was your summer, Teddy?" Violet asked.

"It was okay, pretty quiet. How about you guys?" said Teddy.

"Mine was quiet too," said Alex. "But Vi, wait till you hear this, she went to Austria! Her mum won the lottery. I mean Austria! That is so awesome!"

"Honestly, Alex, you said that about fifty times," Violet informed him.

"I did not," he retorted.

"Did too."

"C'mon guys," said Teddy, not wanting to hear another of their random fights. "We better get a move on. The others are going."

Fortunately for Teddy, Alex and Violet's argument was put on temporary hold as they walked quickly so as to catch up to the rest of the party. They soon found a small patch of dirt with a sign sticking out of the ground, reading "Potter". Harry pulled out two tents from his bag and told everyone that they would have to put them up the Muggle way. While Alex was quite a bit of help, Violet and Teddy just stared at it thoroughly confused. Once those who knew how to put up a tent had gotten them up they went inside one. There was a lot more room in it than it appeared from the outside having been enlarged by magic. It had an oven, several bunk beds, and a wooden table with moth-eaten arm chairs around it. The tent was hardly as extravagant as the one next to them that had a rose garden and a golden fountain, but it had a homey sort of look and feel to it. They had a quick peek in the other tent which was similar to the first, and Arthur assigned them all jobs. Teddy, Alex, and Violet were sent to fetch some water.

They set off, through the sea of tents. Occasionally, they would see some friends and stop to chat. Mainly though, there were a lot of foreign wizards. There were Americans sitting happily and eating burgers, a tired looking Spanish mother screaming at her children for stealing her wand, African wizards roasting meat over a purple fire…

"So Vi how was Austria?" asked Teddy.

"It was amazing! Everything's so big there," said Violet in an awed voice.

"Well, obviously it was big. What did you expect, you went to Vienna? I mean it's the capital," snapped Alex.

"Did you go to Belvedere?" asked Teddy quickly, as Violet opened her mouth to retaliate.

"Of course. It was breathtaking. We had a really good time there. Except when I got locked inside the bathroom," said Violet, turning a little red at the last part.

"How did…" began Alex.

"Anyway, my uncle got me a parrot as an end-of-the-year present," Violet cut across him. "He's really cute and he can carry messages just like an owl. His name's Jerry."

"Jerry? What kind of a name is…" started Alex, again.

"He went berserk when he found out I was leaving, poor dear," Violet interrupted, again.

"Bousja went insane, too," said Alex.

Bousja was Mr. Rybbak's dog. Her full name was Madame Bianca de Papillion. She loved Alex, Violet, and Teddy. That was another thing the three friends had in common. All animals loved them. Once a wolf followed Teddy home and stayed with them for several years until he met a female wolf.

They reached the well where there was a long line of people. The three friends stood behind a man in a frog coat, a bikini top, and a skirt. His odd apparel caused Violet to go into a fit of giggles. They got some water and headed back to their tents, moving more slowly now since they were weighed down by the heavy buckets. When they arrived, they found Hermione teaching Arthur how to light a match properly.

"Mental," said Teddy staring at the little box in Hermione's hand.

"Let's go inside the tent and talk," suggested Violet.

"Good idea," said Teddy, lifting the flap of the nearest tent and leading them inside.

"Blimey, I've missed you guys," Teddy said looking up at his dearest friends.

"Me, too," Violet agreed.

"As surprising as it may seem, I actually missed you two idiots," Alex said, smirking.

Violet responded promptly by picking up a pillow from a nearby bed and throwing it at Alex. Of course, it simply had to become a three-way pillow fight. It all went well until Fleur poked her head in, and told them off for acting like "fooleesh, leetle cheeldren." They ate bacon sandwiches for lunch at around noon. Many wizards stopped to say hello as they were eating. The most memorable of these was from Lee Jordan.

"Lee!" roared George as he saw him. "This is Lee Jordan, everyone. Sit down Lee, have some lunch. You look exhausted."

"Don't mind if I do," said Lee plopping down on the grass and accepting a

sandwich from Molly. "I am exhausted. The Ukrainians are mental. Completely mental.

You can't possibly understand a word they're saying. They think they're speaking English. Ha! If that's English, then I'm speaking in Gobbledegook. And their Minister of Magic knows absolutely no English at all. I'm trying to find a translator that can actually speak English. But still, it's all worth it. And I'm commentating. So, anyone care to place a bet?"

"Ten Galleons on Scotland," said Ron, instantly.

"You're wasting your money" said Harry. "Five on Ukraine."

"Twenty Galleons, three Sickles, and a Knut on Ukraine," said George.

"Galleon on Scotland," said Ginny.

"Ginny, you know they're going to lose," said Harry.

"I don't care what happened back then," said Ginny stubbornly. "I believe in reform."

"You just like the Seeker. What's his name, again?"

"Derek Mackay."

"That's the one. He flies really fast and all. But Tretachenko can beat Mackay, in his sleep. And Mackay's the one who keeps crashing isn't he?"

"Seven on Ukraine," said Teddy over Ginny's and Harry's Seeker debate.

"No, 'e cannot be beteeng 'e eez too young," said Fleur. "'E eez only a leetle boy."

"He's fifteen, Fleur," said Harry, who knew from experience how embarrassing it was to be called a little boy by Fleur. "He's old enough to decide for himself."

"Geeny, you cannot posseebly allow zis," argued Fleur.

"Harry's right. If Teddy wants to do it I'm not stopping him," Ginny replied.

"Very vell," said Fleur, and then muttered something under her breath in French that made Victoire say, "Mama."

"Anyway," said Charlie. "I'll put five Galleons on Scottland making the first goal."

"That's it?" asked Lee looking around at them all. They nodded. "All right, I've got ten Galleons on Scottland to win, from Ron. Five on Ukraine, from Harry. Twenty Galleons, five Sickles, and Knut, from George."

"Three Sickles, not five. Stop trying to cheat me out of my money," said George indignantly.

After Lee had left they hung around the tents laughing and joking (and in Alex's and Violet's case, arguing) until darkness fell. Then many wizards with carts appeared and began selling merchandise. There were flags of both countries that played their national anthem when they were waved; small figures of players on both teams; scarves, yellow and blue for Ukraine and blue and white for Scotland; miniature models of the Lightningstrike, the fastest broom in the world; omnioculars, which looked like binoculars, but had several extra features such as the repeat button, the play by play button, and the slow motion button; and more.

Teddy bought a pair of omnioculars, a scarf that had the words 'Quidditch World Cup' on it, and the small figure of Taras Tretyachenko; while Violet and Alex, who were less into Quidditch than Teddy, bought only omnioculars. A gong sounded from the woods and red lanterns were lit to indicate the way to the stadium. It was time to go. They chatted excitedly amongst themselves as the walked along the lantern-lit trail. The stadium was enormous. There were about a hundred thousand seats all around. The stadium was painted gold and looked like it was actually glowing. The lady at the booth checked their tickets and told them to climb all the way up. Teddy felt extremely excited. He was going to be watching the Quidditch World Cup from the Top Box! They climbed up many gold steps to their seats. At the very top they found their seats and sat. Teddy could see the whole stadium from there.

"Programs!" called a witch handing some royal-purple, paper booklets.

Teddy took one and scanned it quickly. There were moving photographs of the players and information about the two teams as well as the individual players. But a certain sentence in golden-yellow writing caught his eye.

"It says that both teams are bringing creatures from their native lands," said Teddy.

"That'll be fun, that will," said Ron. "Remember the vela, Harry?"

Hermione faked a cough staring pointedly at Fluer and Victoire.

"Oh," said Ron turning scarlet.

But just then the Minister of Magic himself entered the Top Box. Everyone rose on their feet to greet him. Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shaklebolt, had fought Voldemort alongside Harry, and they were always pleased to see him. Teddy knew that Kingsley had been best man at his parents wedding. Kingsley was a bald, dark man with a golden hoop in one of his ears. He did appear quite menacing at times, but Teddy knew him to be a kind man.

"Kingsley," roared Arthur.

"Oh, hello Arthur," replied Kingsley smiling. "Harry," said Kingsley turning to him.

"Hello Kingsley," said Harry. "I'll have to talk to you later about that event that's going to be happening at Hogwarts. I don't think it's a good idea."

"No more do I, but I've been overruled." Kingsley caught sight of Teddy, Alex, and Violet watching them suspiciously. "Hello Teddy. Alex, Violet. You look more like your father everyday Ted."

That was what he hated about seeing Kingsley. Kingsley always reminded him of the parents he had never known. And how was it even possible for him to look like Remus when he, Teddy, was a metomorphmegus?

"Allow me to introduce, the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Mister Poro- erm Mister Porosojack. No, that can't be right. Mister Porosack. Mister Porochuck."

"Porosjuk," cried the Ukrainian Prime Minister indignantly.

"Sorry," said Kingsley. They left.

"What's happening at Hogwarts, Harry?" asked Teddy.

"The worst thing possible," Harry replied. It was clear that he didn't want to talk about it.

"What do you guys think it is?" Teddy asked Alex and Violet.

"I dunno," said Violet.

Lee Jordan entered the Top Box. He looked at Kingsley and asked him whether he could begin. Kingsley nodded and Lee cast a spell that would make him heard by everyone in the stadium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Quidditch World Cup!" roared Lee. Cheers erupted all over the stands. "And now please welcome the Scottish team mascots!"

In the stadium below part of the grass was sliding apart to reveal a pool of water in which small creatures with dark colored scales were swimming in. The music began and the creatures began performing tricks. They performed flips that were not unlike those you might see at dolphin show. The public adored them and cheered loudly when they performed the difficult stunts.

"What are they?" Teddy asked Hermione.

"Loch Ness Monsters, babies," she replied.

"They're amazing, aren't they?" squealed Violet.

"They are indeed," said Alex.

The baby Loch Ness Monsters finished their show and a witch dressed in blue and white dress robes tossed them treats. Once they had all been fed she returned to her place at the stands.

"And now, I give you the Ukrainian team mascots!" Lee shouted.

A man walked onto the pitch. But this was no ordinary man. He was hairier than a man and his nose slight resembled a pig's snout. Out of his head grew two horns. He was a demon! A Ukrainian demon, which made him far more dangerous than all other demons. A Kappa, a Japanese water demon, would look like a joke next to a Ukrainian demon, and a kelpie, a British and Irish water demon, even more so. The main difference between these two water demons and a Ukrainian demon was that the water demons would take lives by force and a Ukrainian demon would trick you into giving him your own soul.

The demon on the pitch was dressed in what Teddy supposed was traditional Ukrainian clothing. He wore an embroidered shirt, some sort of baggy red pants, and black boots. The music started and the demon began a Ukrainian dance called the Hopak which involved spectacular leaps in the air. Halfway through this marvelous performance two old women dressed completely in black and carrying walking sticks came onto the pitch. As they came closer to the dancing demon who appeared almost weightless as he jumped into the air, they turned into the prettiest young women Teddy had ever seen. They joined in the dance. When the three finished they bowed and the audience cheered and cheered.

"Well now that you've seen the mascots, it is time to meet our teams," said Lee. "Firstly, I present to you the Scottish team." There were many cheers all over the stands and several boo's from the Ukrainian team supporters. Lee called out the names of the players as they zoomed onto the pitch on their brooms. "Watson, Ferguson, Mitchell, Campbell, Stewart, Gordon, and McKay! And now for the Ukrainian team; you have Mykolaychuk, Zadavysvichka, Taruta, Pacuk, Zavyvayko, Kolomychenko, and Tretachenko!"

The Scottish team wore blue robes with their names written in white on the back, while the Ukrainian team wore yellow robes with their names written in blue. All of the players were riding the Lightningstrike. As the players flew to their positions in the air, a strict-looking woman with a crate in one hand, a broom in the other, and a whistle in her mouth walked onto the pitch.

"And here to referee we have our very own Rolanda Hooch!" said Lee. "She was teaching when I was at Hogwarts. The number of times she told me off! Well, I don't even remember." There was some laughter and applause at Lee's words. Teddy could even see Hooch laughing on the pitch.

When the crowd had settled down, Hooch opened the crate. She looked up at the players to see if they were ready. Then she released four balls from the crate, one large, red Quaffle, two violent, medium-sized, black Bludgers, and one small, golden Snitch. She blew her whistle and the game began!