Draco and Richard Go To the 2010 World Cup

Draco and Richard took the Floo from Malfoy Manor to London, then from there took a road trip to Paris, renting a self-driving Ford Fiesta. (Draco insisted on being a passenger through the Chunnel, and then insisted on sitting in the driver's seat the rest of the way.)

From Paris they took the train to the Mediterranean Sea, checked out Beauxbatons Academy of Magic (classes were going on, but they were still able to check out the near-by wizarding port) and then crossed over Europe to Turkey via Petra's Portkey Portals, a truly gut-wrenching experience. (Richard swore that if they took the same back, he'd go by way of Gibraltar by foot. Draco grumbled that it wasn't his idea, and said that he'd get their money back later.)

From (Unplottable) Constantinople they were able to catch a series of rides on flying carpets over to Egypt. Some were pretty good, but a few were thread-bare. They didn't have time to see the sights-Richard had already been in the area before and Draco wasn't interested anyway. However, they did agree that sometime in the future they would take another trip check in with the Zorostrians and see their Babel exhibits.

Most carpets were crowded and there were some problems in communications about food and seating. On one leg of the journey, someone insisted in arguing in broken English the whole time against England's ban against flying carpets. Everyone but Draco ignored him, which then caused many of the other passengers to make rude comments that Richard claimed he didn't catch or understand. On one very plushy carpet, Richard dozed and almost fell off but the wards on the edge caught him, forcing the driver to halt the flight to charm him to his spot. The carpet rides ended at Alexander and they spent the next day at the Royal Library of Alexandria (it was Unplottable, but they had directions) and had their pictures taken there.

Having over-paid the Gringotts goblins for the honor, they were able to cross norther Africa via the tunnel train under the Sahara to Timbuktu. Draco was furious that they had to ride in the carriage next to the goats, but Richard warned him that it was better than riding with the livestock. At the city they again checked out the library (also Unplottable), had more pictures taken, and headed south.

It still took a few days before they got to South Africa. Richard wondered how deep the price gouging was among the various wizarding villages they stayed in. Draco bought his family souvenirs at every trinket shop while Richard bought exotic potion ingredients. They both got new "ethnic" clothes for their wardrobes, which they immediately put on, making them look rather touristy and a bit tacky. They took a variety of magical routes through the continent, arriving to their destination on time at the top of Table Mountain.

After they took the cable car down (for once Draco was impressed with a Muggle ride but Richard felt queasy the whole time) the two found their hosts, got some food, cleaned up and slept while the hosts were taking other wizarding guests on tours. The next day they collected their tickets and got their seats at the World Cup.

"This layout looks weird," Draco said with a frown as they took their seats with others who were staying at the same house they were. The seats were near the field, safely away from the nose-bleed section. "What are those things?" he asked as he pointed to the nets on the fields.

"It's how soccer is played," Richard replied as he carefully charmed his seat to be more comfortable, trying to avoid Muggle eyes. "It would have been easier if you would have just gone to a local game; at least you'd know what you were watching."

"But this is the biggest game on the planet," Draco said with a lofty air. "What else would do but the best?"