Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

AN: Just an idea that popped into my head when reading about Blood Brandy's Vegas challenge, first this isn't me taking the challenge, it's just inspired by it, second, well... actually there is no second.

Also, a thanks goes out to Takeshi Yamato for proofreading this and many more of my stories nowadays.

To: PotionsForSev, if you'd like me to respond to you in the future please do not disable your PM feature this will be the only time I answer you in the fic, I don't bite really, I kick that habit a year ago. And Jade's the Mary Sue for her body? I thought it would be Ryu getting tagged, as a Gary Stu at anyrate,

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Spells"

'Books/Letters'

Chapter Two: Quidditch World Cup

Weasley Household, three days after return from Vegas

The last three days at the Weasley Household has started off rather tense as the Weasley Brood adjusted to the fact that Jade was now married, and her reluctant spouse was now with them. In an effort to grasp some semblance of control, Ryu had been roomed with Ron while Jade was sharing a room with Ginny and Hermione, who had arrived not too long after Jade had returned from Vegas.

Ryu had done his best to be as little of a burden on the family as possible, helping out wherever he could and respecting the rules of the house to the best of his abilities. He had surprised the family in that he was up before Mrs. Weasley, who then saw him out in the yard doing exercises, training his body.

He had definitely scored points with her when he had offered to help her make breakfast, which in turn helped ease a lot more of the tenseness of the house. He had even allowed Arthur to help him out with some basic maintenance of the car, under strict supervision so that he didn't take the car apart or add anything in his excitement.

There had even been a minor one day prank war with the twins that ended up with Ryu having bright neon pink skin with purple polka dots, although the twins did find themselves hanging from their feet when they had went to bed that night. In the end they came to a truce, but both the twins and Ryu knew that it was far from being over, and began plotting against one-another should either of them break said truce.

In the end though, he introduced them to what would become the bane of Hogwarts, the muggle paintball gun. Throughout Britain, no matter what they were doing, for inexplicable reasons the teachers of Hogwarts all cried out in horrendous pain at once... or so they say at any rate.

That wasn't to say Ryu got along with everyone, however.

See, Ron, for some strange reason, had taken it into his head that Jade was going to be his wife, and put the man who drunkenly married Jade into her room and... you get a very awkward situation for that man who was doing his best to show him up... only to fail miserably.

Ryu merely brushed off Ron's anger, which only served to piss him off more, had it not been for the fact that his mother had taken a shining to the Muggle, Ron would have done something incredibly stupid, not that it stopped him from saying something incredibly stupid.

It was the night before when Ryu and Ron were getting ready for bed when Ron said what may have been the end of him had Ryu been a lesser man. "You should just kill yourself and let Jade be with a real man!" Ron had shouted to the unsuspecting Ryu. By the time everyone who had heard the shout arrived, Ron was pinned to the wall by a combat knife in his clothing, a gag in his mouth, and Ryu in his bed trying to fall asleep.

Since then it was decided that Ryu would be moved into the twins room, with all three agreeing that it was a neutral zone in their paused prank war.

Also during that time, Ryu and Jade had slowly begun getting to know one another better, usually spending time working on Ryu's car, or Jade showing him some bits and pieces of magic. In Jade's opinion, she was actually starting to like the idea of being with Ryu more and more, and the same could be said in Ryu's case.

"Hey Ryu, you think you'd want to go to the Quidditch World Cup with us?" Jade asked as they were under Ryu's car, working on the rear axle.

Ryu looked over to Jade smirking slightly at the sight of a smear of grease on her face that she had yet to notice, not that she seemed to care at any rate. "Are Muggles even allowed to go?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I asked Mr. Weasley about it, and he said since you're married to me and aware of the Magical World, it would be allowed," Jade explained as she tried to loosen a stubborn bolt. "I mean... if you want to."

Ryu placed his hands over Jade's own causing her to blush slightly as he helped her loosen the bolt "Sure, it sounds like fun," He said grinning at her as she turned to face him. "After all, I should get to know the sport my wife plays, shouldn't I?" He added teasingly making Jade blush slightly.

The two lay under the car just staring at each other as they slowly inched their faces towards each other, their lips just about to touch-

"Jade, Ryu lunch is ready!" Hermione shouted as she walked out of the house, causing them to start with Ryu knocking his head on the rear axle.

"GODDAMMIT!" Ryu cursed loudly as Jade blushed unbelieving on what they were about to just do.

Hermione blinked as she heard Ryu's curse as she saw his feet twitch erratically and a slightly blushing Jade finally roll out from underneath. "What happened, Jade?" The bookworm asked in concern, hoping she didn't inadvertently cause Ryu harm.

"N-Nothing!" Jade said quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly "He just hit his head off of the axle is all, he was really focused on his work..."

Hermione looked at Jade quizzically, before simply shrugging as she went back into the house as Ryu rolled out from under the car, still nursing his head. "Damn... fuck... piss!" he hissed out.

"You alright?" Jade asked, a bit concerned as she pulled out her wand. "Hang on one second..." she then cast a spell on Ryu's head, and suddenly he stopped cursing as he lowered his arms.

"Pain's gone..." he said, surprised. "Thanks!" Jade blushed a bit. "I-Its a simple numbing spell is all..." she said. "You'll probably still have a nasty bruise."

Ryu grinned at Jade all the same as he kissed her cheek causing her cheeks to flame up even brighter as Hermione let out a slight 'oh' of surprise. "All the same, thank you Jade," He whispered into her ear. "I'm glad that something put us together."

Jade remained frozen as Ryu entered the house to get cleaned up for lunch. "Jade?" Hermione asked shaking her friend's shoulder slightly. "Earth to Jade, you there Jade?"

Jade blinked as she suddenly came out of her trance. "Ah, y..yeah I'm fine," she announced shaking her head slightly. "Umm, let's go inside now." She said hurriedly as she pushed Hermione inside.

"Ah! Jade! What's with you?" Hermione asked in protest, giggling slightly as her embarrassed friend pushed her into the house.

A couple days Later

The house was chaos as the Weasley Brood and guests got themselves ready to leave for the Quidditch World Cup, at 4am in the morning...

To no one's real surprise Ryu was the only teen that was truly awake and alert, used to getting up early. He had been helping direct traffic and getting the luggage ready to go.

Jade yawned as they were finally shepherded out the door, her eyes drooping slightly. "Any time before 7am should be outlawed." Jade grumbled as she walked forward "Even with coffee this is too early."

Ryu laughed as Arthur's lip twitched. "We have a bit of a hike ahead of us until we get to our portkey," The Weasley Patriarch explained. "And we have to get there in time for the Portkey."

"It's not so bad, Jade," Ryu assured, grinning at her tired glare. "If you really want I could carry you there."

Jade blushed slightly at Ryu's offer, looking a little embarrassed by it. "T-that's alright," she informed. "I-I'm good." She half-glared at Ginny when she muttered something akin to "Lucky..."

Some hours of hiking that made Jade regret not taking Ryu up on his offer later, they arrived at a small hilltop. "Now the portkey is an old boot somewhere around here, split up and look for it." Arthur announced as he started looking around.

After a few minutes of searching a male voice called out to them. "I think we have it here Arthur!" The group turned to see male figures approaching them, they were obviously father and son, the son being rather tall and quite handsome with dark hair and bright blue eyes, his father looked like an older, and a bit more portly, version of his son.

"Amos!" Arthur called out in greeting with a smile on his face. "This is Amos Diggory everybody, he works for the Department of Regulation and Control for Magical Creatures, and I think you know his son Cedric?"

"Hi." He greeted with a charming smile getting, 'hi's' back from everyone save the twins who merely nodded showing they were still rather sore at the loss of the Gryffindor team at his hands last year.

"Long trek, Arthur?" Amos asked as they waited for the time to come for the Portkey to activate.

"Not very, we just live on the other side of the village," Arthur explained "You?"

"Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced?" Amos answered with a chuckle "Can't wait for him to get his Apparition license. Still... not complaining mind you, the Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a bagful of Galleons, which is what the seats cost. MInd you it looks like i got off easy." He added peering at the teens "All these can't be yours Arthur."

"No no, only the lighter red heads." Arthur explained "This is Hermione, a friend of Ron's, Jade, another friend-"

"Merlin's beard," Amos breathed in recognition, making Jade groan as Cedric sent her a sympathetic smile. "Jade, Jade Potter?"

"Yes, yes ohhh lightning bolt scar." Jade said sarcastically rolling her eyes "Please Mr Diggory, I hate my fame."

"Ah, terribly sorry, miss Potter." Amos said. "After all, I have heard so much about you!" He then glanced at Ryu, "And who might you be sir?"

Ryu nodded his head to Amos. "My name is Ryu Hisanaga sir," he said, holding his hand out to shake. "I'm a friend of Jade's, we met on her recent outing to the states as I was travelling the world."

"Ah, wonderful to have you here!" Amos said, "I am Amos Diggory, and this is my son, Cedric. I must ask, have you ever seen a Quidditch game before?"

"Can't say I remember seeing one to be completely honest," Ryu answered, with complete honesty, smiling charmingly. "Although hearing Jade speak of it so highly has piqued my interest, so I decided to tag along."

"You won't be disappointed," Cedric piped in. "Best game in the world, in fact Jade here probably would be playing today with Gryffindor's team... if it weren't for those damn Dementors last year..."

Jade shivered just a bit at the thought of the Dementors. "Don't remind me..." she muttered. "But, we can't change the past, right?"

Cedric nodded as Arthur checked his watch. "Just about time," he announced. "Are there any more coming that you know of, Amos?"

Amos shook his head. "The Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get any tickets, there aren't any more of us around is there?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Arthur checked his watch. "Yes, just a minute off, all you need to do is touch it, even just a finger will do."

With great difficulty born of having such large packs, the group managed to all have some sort of body part in contact with the boot as Arthur began to count down. "Three... Two... One." He said.

And with that they felt as if something hooked onto their navels and gave a sharp tug jerking them all forward into a swirling mass of colors. As Jade landed she felt something push against her back causing the girl to fall forward with a shout falling right on top of something soft.

"I knew you liked me Jade," She heard Ryu's teasing voice state underneath her, causing her eyes to snap open to the sight of Ryu's laughing face. "But isn't this rather public?"

Jade looked at their position, with her on top of Ryu lying down on him, and she blushed several shades of crimson before she hastily rolled off top of him. 'Merlin, why me?' she thought to herself as she stood back up.

Ryu chuckled as he brought himself back up to his feet, enjoying the sight of Jade's blushing face as everyone else laughed. "Seven past Five from Stoatshead Hill." a voice announced, getting their attention.

They turned to face a pair of tired and grumpy looking wizards who were making Ryu force himself to suppress his laughter, which in turn caused his shoulders to shake. The reason for his amusement was the fact that they were trying to dress like Muggles, and quite honestly, failing horribly, one man holding a large golden watch wore a tweed suit with thigh length Galoshes while the other was wearing a kilt and a poncho while holding a rather large parchment.

"Morning Basil," Arthur greeted with a smile as he handed the wizard the boot who threw it into a box full of rather old looking items.

"Hello there, Arthur, not on duty today huh?" Basil returned wearily "It's been alright for some… We've been here all night… You'd better get out of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite… Weasley… Weasley…" He consulted his parchment list. "About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory… second field… ask for Mr. Payne."

Arthur thanked the wizard and gestured for his kids and guests to follow him, setting off across the deserted moor and into the morning mist with Ryu bursting out into laughter the minute he was certain they were out of earshot, after a quick explanation for his laughter the kids joined in. After walking about twenty minutes a small stone cottage swam into view with the ghostly shapes of hundreds of tents just barely visible beyond it.

"Good morning!" Arthur greeted the Muggle who was standing in front of the cottage. "Would you happen to be Mr. Roberts?"

"Aye I would," Roberts confirmed. "And you'd be?"

"Weasley, booked two tents, a couple days ago?"

Roberts briefly consulted the note tacked up next to the door. "Aye, you're up by the woods there, you'd be paying now?"

"Certainly," He stated as Ryu stepped forward counting out the bills for the muggle loving, although fairly ignorant, wizard and handed them to the manager who put them into the tin he had nearby and rummaged around for the correct change.

"Been a right strange day it has," Roberts announced as he dug through the tin "Never been this crowded before, a people from all over too, one person tried to pay me with gold coins the size of hubcaps too."

"R-Really?" Arthur asked nervously holding his hand out for the change, but Rodgers didn't hand it over.

"Right lot of weirdos too, all of them foreigners, yet they act like they all know each other," He stated, his eyes narrowing. "Then there's the guy running around in the kilt and poncho-"

"Obliviate!" A wizard wearing plus-fours shouted as he appeared right next to the muggle's front door modifying the man's memory.

"A map for the campsite for ye," Rodgers said suddenly placid his eyes dazed. "And your change..."

"Thank you." Arthur said in obvious relief walking away with the wizard in plus-fours accompanying them. His chin was blue with stubble and there were deep purple shadows under his eyes. Once out of earshot of Mr. Roberts, he muttered to Mr. Weasley, "Been having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day to keep him happy. And Ludo Bagman isn't helping. Trotting around talking about Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security. Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you later, Arthur." He Disapparated.

"I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports," said Ginny, looking surprised. "He should know better than to talk about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?"

"He should," said Mr. Weasley, smiling, and leading them through the gates into the campsite, "but Ludo's always been a bit… well… lax about security. You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic head of the sports department though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had."

They trudged through the mist, passing by rows of tents, most looked rather normal, their owners obviously trying to cover up their magical nature, while here and there there were obviously magical tents that made Jade realize just why they had to obliviate Rodgers so often.

"Well here we are!" Arthur announced as they arrived at a decently sized clearing "This is our lot, Ryu, you mind helping set up the tents."

Ryu simply chuckled as he stepped forward and in short order had the tents set up and ready to use, they actually looked, very normal, not looking out of place at all "It'll be a little cramped, but I'm sure we can all fit."

Jade giggled a bit "Don't worry, space will not be a problem." she said as she walked in. Ryu followed soon after, and his eyes widened seeing how the inside of the tent, was much MUCH larger. "The...fuck?" he muttered as he shook his head "Damn... is there anything magic can't do?"

Jade giggled again "Nope, it breaks the law of physics on a daily basis!" she announced making Ryu and Hermione laugh as the wizards stared blankly at them.

"Ah, how about you all go get some water for us, here are the pots," Arthur said finally, shooing Jade, Ron, Hermione and Ryu out of the tent. "The pump is on the other side of the campsite, so here's the map."

The group made their way through the campsite, the mist clearing up quite a bit as they walked and the sun rose, revealing much of what was hidden. Many of their fellow campers were just beginning to stir themselves, as they came out of their tents and did their daily routines.

They had run into a few of their Gryffindor housemates-including Seamus Finnigan, whose parents had turned their lot... well... green. From their tent to the fire they had going everything was green.

They had taken a detour to look at the decorations the Bulgarians had put up around their own tents with Ron having a mini fangasm at the sight of the Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum's picture.

"Hey, you guys mind if we swing by the American section?" Ryu asked jerking his head over to where a couple of American flags were seen waving amongst the tents "I think I might have a couple friends over there."

"Sure, might give us a better chance to see the American Magical system," Jade said with a smile as her words caused Hermione's eyes to glitter at the thought of learning something new. "Do you mean... Langley?" Jade asked, lowering her voice so that only Ryu could hear.

"Doubt it," Ryu said, shaking his head. "But there are probably a couple of his people here, either to keep an eye on things or as a family outing... probably both."

"Oh, Ok." Jade said, "Let's go!"

The four of them proceeded to the section where the Americans were stationed at, one of the first things they noticed about the American Section is that they did not look very... wizard-like, sure there were a few people wearing Wizardry Robes, however the majority were wearing very Muggle-like clothing that made them look slightly out of place, but not by much.

The next thing that they noticed was that there was certainly a bit more technology around, they could see cars that had been brought out for display, music booming in the air around them, and many other things.

The British magicals looked around in amazement, while Jade and Hermione were used to the Muggle Technology, they were fascinated by the fact that they were being combined with magic.

Ryu suddenly paused as he looked towards one family in particular his eyes slightly wide in surprise. "No way," He breathed getting the other's attention. "Langley?"

Responding to the name was a man who appeared to stand at 6'1, who had short black hair and crimson colored eyes, and wearing a set of blue jeans and, to Ryu's surprise, was wearing a navy blue and dark red Jersey for the American National Quidditch team. "Ryu?" the man asked in surprise before he grinned. "Ryu! I'm surprised you're here!"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that Langley?" Ryu asked as he walked forward with the others. "I mean, shouldn't you be overlooking something dark and dangerous?"

"Hey, I may be the director of the CIA, but that doesn't mean I don't have a life of my own," Langley said. "Besides, my youngest son and daughter will be going to Hogwarts for the next few years as part of a transfer student program, and both of them are big Quidditch fans. The world cup seemed to be the best way for them to get use to the British Magical System." He then looked around. "By the way, I'd prefer it if you don't refer to me as Langley here," he said. "You can just call me Aren Takeo."

Ryu blinked in surprise for a few seconds before letting out a gusty sigh "I swear, you do shit like this just to fuck with me don't you... Aren?" Ryu asked, a slight smile coming onto his face, before leaning in. "So... what are you really here for Aren? I know you," Ryu's eyes had gone blank, being quickly matched by Aren's own eyes. "People like us always have something going on underneath."

Aren smirked himself as he gestured for Ryu to wait and leaned into the minivan the family had brought and pulled out a manilla envelope handing it to Ryu. "Simply making a delivery to a dear old friend." He announced. "The information you asked for and a little... wedding gift for your wife..."

Ryu's eyes narrowed as he eyed the envelope for a minute before sighing. "You never change do you?" He asked his eyes lightening. "Even all those years ago..."

"It's what friends do Ryu," Aren said, with a shrug. "Anyways, come on inside! Its about time you met my Family."

Ryu chuckled a bit as he nodded, and Aren lead them into his tent. Inside they were quick to notice it felt like being in an apartment building, it had a kitchen which had a refrigerator, oven and everything, a living room, and three bedrooms. Near the living room there were two individuals sitting on the couch, playing on a Playstation, playing what appeared to be a co-op of Armored Core.

"Come on, just die already!" Shouted the boy who looked surprisingly like Aren, only appearing 15 years old with short spiky black hair and crimson eyes, and was wearing the same Jersey as Aren was.

"You'll have to do better than that Jaden!" The girl sitting next to Jaden said, she appeared just as old as he was, with shoulder length red hair and green eyes, and also wearing a Jersey. "If you want to- OH COME ON!"

"Ha!" Jaden shouted, as the girl's machine on the screen was destroyed by Jaden's. "In your face Amy!"

"Okay you two, we have guests." Aren announced as the group stepped into the tent causing the kids to look up from the T.V. to the group. "It appears a friend of mine from work had decided to stop by. And he brought some of his friends who go to Hogwarts."

"Really?" Jaden asked. "Sweet! I was wondering if we'd meet anyone from Hogwarts. Nice to meet y'all! My name's Jaden."

"Mine's Amy," the girl said, smiling. "I'm his sister, twin sister. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Jade, these are my friends Ron and Hermione, we're fourth years at Hogwarts, a pleasure to meet you as well." Jade greeted in return.

"I'm Ryu, I... work with your father from time to time." Ryu announced with a nod.

"In the CIA?" Jaden asked, surprising Ryu and the others "Yeah, dad's told us some of his work, and even that's not much. Dad's actually told us a few crazy stories involving you and him in the past."

Ryu groaned and palmed his face as Hermione turned to him with a shocked look. "Announce it to the world why don't you?" He asked miserably, as Aren winced slightly, he cut off Hermione, who was about to talk by raising a finger. "I am only somebody the CIA hires from time to time to do jobs, I am not a part of the CIA." He explained in a sharp voice to the incredibly smart witch. "So don't start accusing me of being a spy or anything like that, understood?"

Jaden blinked. "Wait... they didn't know?" he asked. "Ah... crap, sorry! I uhh, thought they all knew... considering what dad told us, we thought... sorry!"

Ryu sighed as he shook his head. "Bound to come out sooner or later, but you might want to learn to watch your mouth around strangers," He told Jaden, turning to Hermione and Ron "And I better not hear about you two spreading that information."

"Guys, Ryu really does have my interests in mind," Jade said, attempting to soothe their fears "So please, don't go around telling anybody about it, there's a reason we didn't tell you."

Hermione just nodded, but Ron still looked unsure and confused. "What's the CIA?" he asked.

The eyes of almost everyone else in the tent looked at Ron in shock and disbelief. "Dude... you don't know what the CIA is?" Amy asked, wide-eyed. "Everyone knows what the CIA is!"

Jade and Hermione groaned in unison. "I'll... I'll explain it later, Ron," Hermione stated, palming her forehead at the impending conversation she was going to be having with the rather dull ginger. 'Why? Just Why?'

Ryu sighed and shook his head, turning to Aren. "Thanks for getting me this, Aren," He said, holding the envelope up. "But we have to get going now, our host is expecting some water to be brought to him."

"Of course, don't let us tie you down." Aren said, nodding.

"Looking forward to seeing you at Hogwarts!" Jaden said, as he and his sister waved them goodbye.

"That man will never change," Ryu groaned, shaking his head as he and the other's stepped out of the tent and headed for the water pump "So goddamn carefree."

"What's in the envelope?" Jade asked curiously looking at it. "What's it for?"

"This," He started, holding the envelope up with a grin, "is my ticket to getting into Hogwarts so I can stay nearby."

Jade tilted her head in confusion along with Ron and Hermione all of whom had no clue what he was talking about. "But... you're a Muggle..." Ron stated. "You can't go to Hogwarts."

Ryu simply smirked in return idly waving himself with the envelope. "We'll see~" He said teasingly, making Jade groan.

"You're the one that's carefree, Ryu," She stated, poking his side hard. "But still, having you there would make it far more interesting than normal, that's for sure..."

Ryu chuckled. "It's what I do best," he said as they headed for the water pump. "I just follow Murphy's Law, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

Jade groaned as they waited in line to use the pump. "Great, now it won't just be a DADA teacher trying to kill me," she announced. "It'll be the entire school!"

The group chuckled at Jade's statement and got their turn at the pump and quickly filled up their pots and carefully made their way back to the tents being careful to avoid spilling the water all over themselves.

"Took you ages!" George called out in greeting at they made it back to the campsite.

"Met a few people," Jade said apologetically. "Mr. Weasley having trouble with the fire?"

The twins looked back to where Arthur was fiddling with a box of matches, looking like he was having a ball of a time. "Dad's having fun with the matches," Fred said with a sigh, looking at all of the splinters on the ground.

He finally managed to get one but dropped it in surprise "Oops!" He shouted as the match went out on the ground.

Hermione had taken pity on the Muggle Loving Wizard and helped him get the fire started, they watched the wizards move around as they waited for the fire to heat up enough to be able to use to cook and Arthur pointed out notable persons of interest that had Ryu making a mental catalog of people to watch.

When the fire was finally ready they had put on the sausages and eggs just as the three eldest Weasleys; Charlie, Bill and Percy, came strolling out of the woods towards them "Just apparated dad," Percy said as they arrived. "Ah, excellent, Lunch!"

"Good! You made it just in time you three," Arthur said, waving the three over to sit down, he had just started to spoon out lunch/breakfast when a person came up to them. "Ludo Bagman! The man of the moment!" Arthur greeted the man who laughed in response.

He was wearing long Quidditch robes in thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was splashed across his chest. He had the look of a powerfully built man gone slightly to seed; the robes were stretched tightly across a large belly he surely had not had in the days when he had played Quidditch for England. His nose was squashed (probably broken by a stray Bludger, Jade thought), but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like a very overgrown schoolboy.

"Ahoy there!" Bagan greeted merrily walking as though he had strings attached to him tugging him upwards plainly excited at what was happening. "Arthur so good to see you, such an exciting day is it not? Could we have asked for more perfect weather, nary a cloud in sight and not a hiccup in the preparations at all."

Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards rushed past, pointing at the distant evidence of some sort of a magical fire that was sending violet sparks twenty feet into the air.

Percy hurried forward with his hand outstretched. Apparently he was quite desperate to make a good impression with the big leader of the magical government with his new job at the Ministry.

"Ah - yes," said Mr. Weasley, grinning, "this is my son Percy. He's just started at the Ministry - and this is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred - Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter, Ginny and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger and Jade Potter along with her friend Ryu Hisanaga"

When he heard Jade's name he did the smallest of double takes, his eyes flicking up to her forehead, searching for the Lightning Bolt scar that was hidden by her bangs but otherwise didn't say anything, that only earned him points with Jade.

"Everyone this is Ludo Bagman, the department head of Magical Games," Arthur introduced smiling widely "It's thanks to him we got those tickets."

"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" he said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes. "I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first - I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years - and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a weeklong match."

"Oh… go on then," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's see… a Galleon on Ireland to win?"

"A Galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked slightly disappointed, but recovered himself. "Very well, very well… any other takers?"

"They're a bit young to be gambling," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't like -"

"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all their money, "that Ireland wins - but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand."

"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that," Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter.

"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"

Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval.

"Boys," said Mr. Weasley under his breath, "I don't want you betting… That's all your savings… Your mother -"

"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance… I'll give you excellent odds on that one… We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we…"

Arthur looked on helplessly as the twins put all of their savings into betting with the Department Head who had whipped out a notebook and jotted down the twins' names and bet.

"Cheers!" George said, pocketing the slip of paper Bagman handed him.

Two Hours Later

After a very satisfying lunch, soon the group found themselves finding their seats for the first match of the World Cup. They had to push through massive crowds just to find worthy seats.

"This is almost as bad as finding seats at the Superbowl..." Ryu muttered, as he and the others pushed and shoved through the crowds to find a seat, being careful not to get separated from the others.

"Not to worry!" Arthur stated as he lead them through the crowds towards the staircase. "We've got seats in the box!" He announced, pointing up at a covered box seat. "We got very lucky winning the raffle at work!"

They fought their way through the crowds, finally making it to the stairway and started their climb up, after a got bit of time climbing up stairs they managed to reach the box and entered to find about twenty plush seats in rows with a magnificent view of the pitch and the skies above it.

Jade looked out as she sat down next to Ryu in front of Arthur, and her eyes widened at the scene before her. Hundreds of thousands of Witches and Wizards were milling about, the muffled roar of the crowd informed her that there were some sort of silencing charms in the box.

Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at Jade's eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, Jade saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field.

The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family - safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burgler Buzzer… Mrs. Shower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!… Gladrags Wizardwear - London, Paris, Hogsmeade…

Tearing her gaze away she looked behind herself to see who they were sharing the box with only to see that it was mostly empty, save for a cowering House-elf sitting in a seat behind them.

Ron was playing with a pair of the Omnioculars Jade had bought the group not too long ago as Hermione read through the velvet covered programme and Ryu looked out over the pitch, looking rather impressed. "There's going to be a display of the team's mascots before the match begins," Hermione announced, not looking up from the pamphlet.

"Oh those are always worth watching," Arthur announced. "They bring in creatures native to their land to, you know, put on a bit of a show."

The box began to full up over the next half-hour with Arthur shaking the hands of obviously important wizards while Percy seemed to be on the verge of either exploding from excitement or a nervous breakdown, especially when Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, arrived. Percy lept to his feet so fast that Jade would have sworn there was an afterimage of him. Only to embarrass himself as he bowed so low his glasses fell off and shattered.

He threw a jealous look to Jade when Fudge greeted her like an old friend and introduced him to the visiting Bulgarian Minister, who apparently had trouble understanding english forcing Fudge to embarrass himself by speaking slowly introducing Jade only for the wizard to spot Jade's scar and begin to babble widely.

Ryu had suppressed his own laughter as he leant in to whisper to Jade. "He's faking not understanding," He whispered to the girl who suddenly had to suppress her own giggles. "He just called the Minister an incompetent moron who rides off the fame of others."

That made jade near burst out into laughter which caught the foreign minister's eye making Ryu wink conspiratorially making the Bulgarian smile humorously at the pair.

Fudge, ignorant to all of this, turned to greet the newest arrival in the box. "Ah Lucius so good to see you!" he greeted, causing the Weasleys and Hermione to stiffen as Jade groaned. "And I see you brought your family along too!"

"Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. "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 Fudge, smiling and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy. "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?"

It was a tense moment. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy looked at each other and Jade vividly recalled the last time they had come face-to-face: It had been in Flourish and Blotts' bookshop, and they had had a fight. Mr. Malfoy's cold gray eyes swept over Mr. Weasley, and then up and down the row.

"Good lord, Arthur," he said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

Fudge, who wasn't listening, said. "Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."

"How - how nice," said Mr. Weasley, with a very strained smile.

Meanwhile, Draco stepped up towards Jade. "Potter," he sneered.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Hello Malfoy," she said rolling her eyes, causing Ryu to raise an eyebrow. However seeing Draco, he could tell just by looking at him that he was an arrogant and idiotic child.

"Still wading around with filth like this I see," Malfoy declared, sneering at the group who bristled while Jade simply yawned in return, infuriating the pale blonde even more.

"Go away Mally," She said using the nickname she came up for him last year, causing colour to rush to his face as she looked at him from the corner of her eye with a slight smirk "Unless you want me to embarrass you on an international scale then by all means continue."

The two stared at each other for a couple of second before Draco 'tsked' and walked away his ears burning slightly as Jade sighed. "You'd think he'd learn after three years of one humiliation after the other," She said shaking her head. "But, let's just enjoy the match."

Next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box.

"Everyone ready?" he said, his round face gleaming like a great, excited Edam. "Minister - ready to go?"

"Ready when you are, Ludo," said Fudge comfortably.

Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message. (Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans - A Risk With Every Mouthful!) and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.

"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!"

"Veela?" Ryu asked as suddenly has hundreds of exceedingly beautiful human woman came out onto the field as Ryu's eyes narrowed at them something niggling in his brain "Those are not human are they?" He asked aloud right before the music started.

Ryu frowned as the Veela started danced as something abou them tried to... ensnare him while the male around him seemed to be ready to leap out of the stadium box "What are you guys doing?" Jade asked in shock as Ron stood on the edge of the box ready to leap, the quick reaction of Hermione paused that thought as she grabbed onto Ron's belt and with a sharp tug pulled him back to his seat.

Suddenly the music stopped and the males snapped out of their daze and Ryu felt the tug fade away "That was... strange." He said finally getting a couple of startled looks being the only man who remained seated "What?"

"You resisted a Veela Allure," Arthur said sounding surprised. "Only those with a strong mental fortitude can do that!"

Ryu blinked in surprise and looked to Jade who shrugged just as confused as he was.

Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it –

"Excellent!" yelled Ron as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats. Squinting up at the shamrock, Jade realized that it was actually comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or green.

"Leprechauns!" said Mr. Weasley over the tumultuous applause of the crowd, many of whom were still fighting and rummaging around under their chairs to retrieve the gold.

"There you go," Ron yelled happily, stuffing a fistful of gold coins into Jade's hand, "for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!" Jade sighed shaking her head at Ron's ignorance and slight greed.

The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov!"

A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.

"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. Jade and Ryu quickly focused their own.

Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen.

"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!"

Seven green blurs swept onto the field; Jade spun a small dial on the side of her Omnioculars and slowed the players down enough to read the word "Firebolt" on each of their brooms and see their names, embroidered in silver, upon their backs.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with a mustache to rival Vernon's own, wearing robes of pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the field. A silver whistle was protruding from under the mustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate under one arm, his broomstick under the other.

Jade spun the speed dial on her Omnioculars back to normal, watching closely as Mostafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open - four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers, and (Harry saw it for the briefest moment, before it sped out of sight) the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch. With a sharp blast on his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.

"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"

It was Quidditch as Jade had never seen it played before. She was pressing her Omnioculars to her eyes so hard that they were cutting into the skin around her eyes slightly. The speed of the players was incredible - the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to one another so fast that Bagman only had time to say their names.

Jade spun the slow dial on the right of her Omnioculars again, pressed the play by- play button on the top, and he was immediately watching in slow motion, while glittering purple lettering flashed across the lenses and the noise of the crowd pounded against his eardrums.

HAWKSHEAD ATTACKING FORMATION, she read as she watched the three Irish Chasers zoom closely together, Troy in the center, slightly ahead of Mullet and Moran, bearing down upon the Bulgarians. PORSKOFF PLOY flashed up next, as Troy made as though to dart upward with the Quaffle, drawing away the Bulgarian Chaser Ivanova and dropping the Quaffle to Moran. One of the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov, swung hard at a passing Bludger with his small club, knocking it into Moran's path; Moran ducked to avoid the Bludger and dropped the Quaffle; and Levski, soaring beneath, caught it - "TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"

"What?" Jade yelled, looking wildly around through her Omnioculars. "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"

"Jade, if you're not going to watch at normal speed, you're going to miss things!" shouted Hermione, who was dancing up and down, waving her arms in the air while Troy did a lap of honor around the field. Jade looked quickly over the top of her Omnioculars and saw that the leprechauns watching from the sidelines had all risen into the air again and formed the great, glittering shamrock. Across the field, the veela were watching them sulkily.

Furious with herself, Jade spun her speed dial back to normal as play resumed.

Jade knew enough about Quidditch to see that the Irish Chasers were superb. They worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be reading one another's minds as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on Jade's chest kept squeaking their names: "Troy - Mullet - Mo ran!" And within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the green clad supporters.

The match became still faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.

"Fingers in your ears!" bellowed Mr. Weasley as the veela started to dance in celebration.

"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova - oh I say!" roared Bagman. One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from airplanes without parachutes. Jade followed their descent through his Omnioculars, squinting to see where the Snitch was –

"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione next to Ryu, who was actually smirking as he watched. "Krum won't," He announced to everyone's surprise. "He's going to force Lynch to crash."

His words rang true as Krum pulled up at the last minute as Lynch, who was right behind him, not having enough time to react crashed headfirst into the ground with a loud thump that echoed through the stadium as many winced at the crash.

"It's time-out!" yelled Bagman's voice, "as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"

"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Charlie said reassuringly to Ginny, who was hanging over the side of the box, looking horror-struck. "Which is what Krum was after, of course…"

Jade hastily pressed the replay and play-by-play buttons on his Omnioculars, twiddled the speed dial, and put them back up to her eyes. She watched as Krum and Lynch dived again in slow motion. WRONSKI DEFENSIVE FEINT - DANGEROUS SEEKER DIVERSION read the shining purple lettering across her lenses. He saw Krum's face contorted with concentration as he pulled out of the dive just in time, while Lynch was flattened, and she understood - Krum hadn't seen the Snitch at all, he was just making Lynch copy him. Jade had never seen anyone fly like that; Krum hardly looked as though he was using a broomstick at all; he moved so easily through the air that he looked unsupported and weightless. Jade turned her Omnioculars back to normal and focused them on Krum. He was now circling high above Lynch, who was being revived by mediwizards with cups of potion. Jade, focusing still more closely upon Krum's face, saw his dark eyes darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He was using the time while Lynch was revived to look for the Snitch without interference.

"I'm gonna have to remember that one." Jade announced getting startled looks from her housemates and Arthur while Bill, Charlie and Ryu laughed.

"Let me know when you're going to use it on Malfoy, I want to see it!" Charlie said, slapping his fellow Gryffindor Seeker's shoulder.

Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the green-clad supporters, mounted his Firebolt, and kicked back off into the air. His revival seemed to give Ireland new heart. When Mostafa blew his whistle again, the Chasers moved into action with a skill unrivaled by anything Harry had seen so far.

After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier. As Mullet shot toward the goalposts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Whatever happened was over so quickly Jade didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowd, and Mostafa's long, shrill whistle blast, told her it had been a foul.

"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing — excessive use of elbows!" Bagman informed the roaring spectators. "And - yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"

The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!" The veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again.

As one, the Weasley boys stuffed their fingers into their ears, but Hermione, Jade and Ryu hadn't bothered to as they weren't affected, and soon Jade was poking Ryu, pointing onto the field.

"Look at the referee!" she said, giggling.

Ryu looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his mustache excitedly.

"Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"

A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself; Jade, watching through the Omnioculars again, saw that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous.

"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said Bagman's voice. "Now there's something we haven't seen before… Oh this could turn nasty…"

It did: The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, landed on either side of Mostafa and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulating toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." Mostafa was not impressed by the Bulgarians' arguments, however; he was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.

"Two penalties for Ireland!" shouted Bagman, and the Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms… yes… there they go… and Troy takes the Quaffle." Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov in particular seemed not to care whether their clubs made contact with Bludger or human as they swung them violently through the air. Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom.

"Foul!" roared the Irish supporters as one, all standing up in a great wave of green. "Foul!" echoed Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice. "Dimitrov skins Moran - deliberately flying to collide there - and it's got to be another penalty - yes, there's the whistle!"

The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field. At this, the veela lost control. Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. Watching through his Omnioculars, Ryu saw that they didn't look remotely beautiful now. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into sharp, cruelbeaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders -

"And that, boys," yelled Arthur over the tumult of the crowd below, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"

Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the veela and the leprechauns, but with little success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one taking place above. Jade turned this way and that, staring through her Omnioculars, as the Quaffle changed hands with the speed of a bullet.

"Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!"

But the cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians. The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Quaffle, now Dimitrov - The Irish Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing Bludger, and hit it as hard as possible toward Krum, who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him full in the face.

There was a deafening groan from the crowd; Krum's nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted, and Jade couldn't blame him; one of the veela had thrown a handful of fire and set his broom tail alight.

Jade wanted someone to realize that Krum was injured; even though she was supporting Ireland, Krum was the most exciting player on the field. Ron obviously felt the same.

"Time-out! Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him -"

"Look at Lynch!" Ryu yelled.

For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and Jade was quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing…

"He's seen the Snitch!" Ryu shouted. "He's seen it! Look at him go!" Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on… but Krum was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, Jade had no idea; there were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again -

"They're going to crash!" shrieked Hermione.

"They're not!" roared Ron.

"Lynch is!" yelled Ryu.

And he was right - for the second time, Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force and was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry veela.

"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" bellowed Charlie, along the row.

"He's got it - Krum's got it - it's all over!" shouted Jade.

Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand.

The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what had happened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight.

"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match.

"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 bellowed, even as he jumped up and down, applauding with his hands over his head. "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"

"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Jade shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly. "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 to watch Krum land as a swarm of mediwizards blasted a path through the battling leprechauns and veela to get to him. "He looks a terrible mess…"

Jade put his Omnioculars to her eyes again. It was hard to see what was happening below, because leprechauns were zooming delightedly all over the field, but she could just make out Krum, surrounded by mediwizards. He looked surlier than ever and refused to let them mop him up. His team members were around him, shaking their heads and looking dejected; a short way away, the Irish players were dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from their mascots.

Flags were waving all over the stadium, the Irish national anthem blared from all sides; the veela were shrinking back into their usual, beautiful selves now, though looking dispirited and forlorn.

"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice behind Jade. She looked around; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.

"You can speak English!" said Fudge, sounding outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"

"Veil, it vos very funny," said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging.

"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!" roared Bagman.

Jade's eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blinding white light, as the Top Box was magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see the inside. Squinting toward the entrance, she saw two panting wizards carrying a vast golden cup into the box, which they handed to Cornelius Fudge, who was still looking very disgruntled that he'd been using sign language all day for nothing.

"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers - Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted.

And up the stairs into the box came the seven defeated Bulgarian players. The crowd below was applauding appreciatively; Jade spotted thousands and thousands of Omniocular lenses flashing and winking in their direction.

One by one, the Bulgarians filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Bagman called out the name of each as they shook hands with their own minister and then with Fudge. Krum, who was last in line, looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming spectacularly on his bloody face. He was still holding the Snitch. Jade noticed that he seemed much less coordinated on the ground. He was slightly duck-footed and distinctly round-shouldered. But when Krum's name was announced, the whole stadium gave him a resounding, earsplitting roar.

And then came the Irish team. Aidan Lynch was being supported by Moran and Connolly; the second crash seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked strangely unfocused. But he grinned happily as Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval. Jade's hands had gone numb from clapping.

At last, when the Irish team had left the box to perform another lap of honor on their brooms (Aidan Lynch on the back of Connolly's, clutching hard around his waist and still grinning in a bemused sort of way), Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Quietus."

"They'll be talking about this one for years," he said hoarsely, "a really unexpected twist, that… shame it couldn't have lasted longer… Ah yes… yes, I owe you… how much?"

For Fred and George had just scrambled over the backs of their seats and were standing in front of Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their hands outstretched.

Later that night

Ryu chuckled as he recalled the events of the night as he lay back on his bed staring up at the bunk that Ron was currently snoring away sound asleep in. The night had been a giant party that was still on going from the occasional flashes of light and loud cheery songs being sung.

He was just about to shut his eyes for the night when a shrill scream of terror cut through the partying, causing Ryu to leap out of bed his hand pulling a Beretta M9 pistol out from under his pillow as the other's woke with a start. "What's going on?" Ryu asked as he stepped out from the room he and Ron were in.

"We not certain," Arthur admitted, "But the Muggle family is being levitated extremely high and we think it might be remnants of Voldemort's forces."

Ryu frowned "Operation parameters?" He asked, getting confused looks from the group which caused him to rephrase the question. "Alive or dead?"

Arthur was rather surprised about Ryu's question, but the look in his eyes was one very much like Alastor Moody's when he was heading into battle. "Alive," he ordered. "We want to be able to arrest them."

"Understood." He looked over to Ron and the twins "Make sure Jade stays safe."

The three Weasley sons nodded firmly as Ryu shot out of the tent. The moment he left the tent, he found that several tents nearby were on fire, people were running around screaming, and in short all hell was breaking loose.

There was a group of tightly packed wizards who had their faces masked and hoods drawn down over their heads, above them was Rodgers and his family being toyed around with by the masked men.

With his face eerily blank, Ryu moved through the panicking crowd with ease darting in between the tents to get a better line of shot. The group was firing spells off at random into the fleeing crowd, adding to the pandemonium. Ryu looked out from behind a tent, lined up a shot with the lead figure and fired off three shots, causing to leader to shout out in pain as his kneecaps were shot out forcing him to fall to the ground.

As if it was a signal several others burst out of hiding holding pistols, leading them was one Aren Takeo as they opened fire on the small group that quickly realized their predicament and started to apparate away.

"Ryu!" Aren shouted, as he and Ryu stood side-by-side, Ryu firing his pistol while Aren had a MP5K. "Is Jade alright?"

"She's with the Weasleys," Ryu informed, shooting the kneecap of a man just as he disappeared. "I think they're taking cover in the woods."

"MORSMORDRE!"

Suddenly with that incantation something appeared in the air above the woods. It was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.

Suddenly, the area all around them erupted with screams. The attacking men that had remained to fight suddenly fled. "Jade!" Ryu shouted, plunging into the woods heedless of danger.

Ryu rushed through the woods, running desperately to find his newly wedded wife. Finally, after a few minutes of searching, he found her along with Hermione, Ron, and several other wizards who Ryu did not know. "Jade, you alright?" He asked calling attention to himself as he stepped out of the woods causing several wands to snap up to him as he snapped his own firearm up in response.

"Wait he's a friend!" Jade shouted desperately before anything could happen. "I'm just fine Ryu, really, shocked, but fine, they're with the ministry."

Ryu let out a sigh of relief as he lowered his side arm while the wizards lowered their wands. "The attackers fled the minute that... thing appeared in the sky," Ryu explained. "Quite a few of them are lying around rolling in pain, however, so you can arrest them."

"Are you alright Ryu?" Jade asked as Ryu slid his gun into his waistband and the Ministry Wizards ran off to arrest the attackers "Were you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine, Jade," Ryu assured. "Aren and some of our... friends were there and made it easy to take them out, the family is fine too."

Jade sighed in relief, placing a hand on her chest "Don't worry me like that again Ryu," She said sternly. "Being dragged off like that without an answer for where you were at gave me a bit of a scare."

"Sorry," Ryu whispered, placing his own hand over hers. "Old habits die hard. C'mon, let's get back to Mr. Weasley and the others."

END CHAPTER