Kathryn Winchester and the Goblet of Fire

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Three: The World Cup

Kat wandered through the various vendors that were selling souvenirs for the World Cup with Faith as they bought mementos of the event that they probably wouldn't see again. She doubted that they would ever see the World Cup again. Apart from buying a green rosette that showed that she was supporting Ireland—Faith had bought a red one instead, for Bulgaria—Kat also purchased a pair of Omnioculars, binoculars that would record the entire game, a program, and a green scarf with leprechauns on it that spewed gold sparks every time that she took a step.

Faith, apart from the red rosette, bought a red Bulgarian hat, a tiny model of a Firebolt, a figurine of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker, and a Bulgarian flag.

"I think somebody's a little obsessed," Kat observed as the sisters continued to wander through the crowd, still looking at the souvenirs as they headed back to their campsite.

Faith gave her a dirty look. "Look who's talking," she said, gesturing towards Kat's green outfit.

"Actually, I was talking about a certain Seeker," Kat murmured, but Faith was no longer listening as she had found an entire booth devoted to the Quidditch player that her sister was so fond of. Of course, when she heard the price for buying almost everything, Faith's face fell.

Kat looked at her sister's longing face then glanced at the poster, autobiography, robes that said Team Krum on them, and a book with his most famous games in it. Suppressing a sigh, she dug into her purse and produced what money that Faith still needed. The look on her face was worth is, Kat decided as Faith squealed in delight and hugged her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said happily as she enthusiastically took all of her purchases and started heading back to their campsite with Kat trailing her. "I promise, I am going to pay you back for all of it, I swear."

"Don't worry about it, you just won't be getting anything for Christmas," Kat said, shrugging, making Faith stop and stare at her, looking very thoughtful about this concept.

"This is my Christmas present?" she said, considering. "Okay, I think I can live with that." She continued on happily until they reached the tent and she quickly dove into it, putting all of her purchases where they were safe and changing into the robe that she had bought.

Kat felt excitement start to build up as the rest of the Carlyles started reappearing and it was clear that the match was about to begin by the way that everyone was starting to pack up and head towards the entrance.

"Faith, come on, it's starting!" she called and Faith reappeared, looking enthusiastic as a gong sounded from somewhere within the woods and she rejoined them, straightening her rosette as they began heading into the stadium, waiting for the best event in their life.

"Here are your two tickets," Rose said calmly as she withdrew two golden tickets and handed them over to Faith. "You'll be sitting a few rows below us. Don't give me that look, Faith Carlyle," she added, giving her daughter a contempt look as Faith rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Do you realise how hard it is to get six tickets all together? Especially with the prices that they're charging for them."

"Like we can't afford it," Faith said under her breath, but Rose didn't hear her or chose not to.

"Besides, you two are old enough to know not to stick your nose where it doesn't belong and don't talk to any wizards that you don't know. We'll see you at the end of the match, at the tent." She barely gave Kat a second glance as she walked with her husband and sons, leaving her daughters behind.

"Typical Mom," Faith said darkly before turning to look at her. "Well, you ready?"

"As always," Kat responded as they began heading into the stadium, which looked like it would fit about twenty or thirty football fields inside, and climbing up the steps until they found a Ministry wizard who checked their tickets.

"Right through there, girls!" he said, pointing behind him. "Then turn to your left and all the way up."

"Thank you very much," Kat said, still unable to stop grinning as she and Faith headed inside, following the wizard's instruction until they finally reached where their seats were. "B-54, seats 1109 and 1110," she said, finally locating the right seats and sitting down. Faith practically collapsed beside her.

"Who would have thought that it would be that much trouble just to get to some bloody seats?" she grumbled as she took off her Bulgarian hat, fanning herself with it.

"Well, how else are they going to fit practically every single witch and wizard in Britain, Ireland, and Bulgaria in here?" Kat queried as she looked across the stadium. "Wow, we're really high up . . ." she added, noticing just how far off the ground they really were. Not that she really minded; she loved behind this high up.

"Urgh, don't remind me," Faith grumbled, casting the ground an anxious look. "It's a good thing that we're not in front, because I get major height fright."

"Sacredy cat," Kat teased. Faith stuck her tongue out at her as Kat saw Cedric Diggory and his father Amos come right into the same box that they were in.

"What's up?" her sister asked, glancing around to see what had got her attention. "Oh . . . well this is certainly a delicious surprise," she said, getting a wicked grin on her face. "HEY! CEDRIC!" she yelled at the top of her longs, causing a few of the other witches and wizards in their box to turn around and give her irritated looks, but the handsome Hufflepuff just smiled as they continued to climb all the way to Kat and Faith's row, taking the seats right next to them.

Kat would've killed her sister, but there were too many people around them as Cedric took the seat right next to her. "You should have yelled a little louder, Faith," he said dryly. "I'm not quite sure that they heard you in Romania."

"I think that they didn't hear her in Antarctica," Kat said wryly. Cedric laughed and Faith made a face.

"Oh, sure, have a laugh at my expense," she complained. "Don't mind me, just sitting here."

She pushed herself into her seat, looking determinedly away from them and pretending to sulk. Kat shook her head, looking sideways at Cedric, who had an amused smile on his face. "So, you're the famous Kathryn Winchester," he said. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Really?" Kat couldn't imagine where he might have heard stuff about her, except from Faith.

"Are you kidding? Jack Winchester's daughter," he pointed out. "Played for the Appleby Arrows about fifteen years ago, until he got severely injured and couldn't play professional Quidditch anymore?"

Kat almost laughed as she understood what he was talking about. "Oh, jeez, I almost forgot about that," she said, smiling broadly. "Dad used to reminisce about that all the time. I think he missed playing even more than he was willing to admit." She paused. "And no offence, but you ever call me Kathryn again and I'm gonna have to hurt you."

Cedric laughed, then sobered up as he realised she was serious. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not looking forward to explaining to my friends how exactly a fourteen-year-old girl half my size managed to clobber me."

She opened her mouth to retort, and then saw his amused smile. With a small chuckle, Kat shook her head before glancing at her sister, who was still sulking. "So Faith told me that you're on the Quidditch team at school?"

"Yeah, Seeker," he answered. "You play any?"

"Some, but I didn't really play on the school team," she explained. "It was mostly just recreational."

They would've talked more, but at that moment, the announcer's voice thundered across the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen . . . welcome!" Ludo Bagman called from where he was sitting in the Top Box. "Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup! And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce . . . the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

"Yes!" Faith yelled, having forgotten that she was mad at Kat and Cedric, jumping up to root the Bulgarians. Kat shook her head, but clapped along as the veela came out onto the field and began to dance. Most of the men plugged their ears so as not to get caught under the hypnotic spell of the beautiful women, but a few either didn't know what they were supposed to do or just didn't care, because they were hanging over the side of the box, trying to get better access to them.

Clapping politely as the veela stopped dancing and Kat tapped on Cedric's arm to let him know that the danger was over. Faith was laughing at the poor men who had succumbed to the spell of the veela and were now either hanging over the box or else sitting frozen in their seats.

"And now," Bagman continued. "Kindly put your wands in the air . . . for the Irish National Team Mascot!"

Kat leaned forward in anticipation and cheered with the rest of the Irish supporters as a green and gold comet came soaring around the stadium before splitting into two before forming a rainbow. It was beautiful and anticipating and exciting all at the same time, Kat thought as Galleons began showering down, hitting some of them until they realised what it was.

"Don't bother, Faith," Kat warned her as Faith tried to snatch some of the gold out of the air. "It's leprechaun gold, it's just going to disappear in a few hours anyway."

Her sister looked extremely disappointed as she pushed herself back into her seat as the leprechauns moved to where they were designated to sit on the opposite side of the veela and Bagman's voice once again boomed across the stadium, welcoming the Quidditch players.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome—the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! And Krum!"

Faith squealed with delight and Kat exchanged an amused look with Cedric as she forgot her shyness as she lifted the Omnioculars to her eyes, watching as the Bulgarian team flew into the stadium before the Irish team started coming out.

"And now, please greet—the Irish National Quidditch Team!" Bagman called. "Presenting—Connelly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! And Lynch!" The seven players zoomed onto the field and Kat followed each of them with her Omnioculars, all the while grinning with delight. "And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

Kat watched through her Omnioculars as the balls went into the air and then the game began. As she had never been to a professional game before, Kat didn't know what to expect, but it was something she had never seen before and every play was practically keeping her on the edge of her seat.

The Irish players were superb. It only took about twenty or so minutes for them to score thirty points, leaving the Bulgarians in the dust and opting for the game to become more and more violent. As the Chasers moved to score again, the Beaters were trying to knock them off of their brooms.

Kat gasped in surprise as the two Seekers suddenly began flying towards the ground. Thinking that they had spotted the Snitch, Kat turned her attention to the ground, but she couldn't see anything. It was only when Krum pulled up from his descent and Lynch crashed into the ground that she realised exactly what he had been up to.

"What happened?" Faith asked frantically. "What just happened?"

"Wronski Feint," Cedric explained while Kat rewound the Omnioculars and put it into slow motion so she could see it again, passing it to her sister once she had seen it. "He didn't see the Snitch; he just wanted Lynch to make him think that he had."

"Oh . . ." Faith looked impressed. "He's a smart guy. Really, really smart to come up with that," she said happily, focusing the Omnioculars on Krum until Kat snatched them back from her.

"You should've gotten your own pair if you wanted them," she told her firmly as Lynch was finally revived and returned to the match.

Faith shot her a dirty look and Kat shook her head, catching Cedric's amused look. "I hope you know I don't really know this girl, I just thought that I would seem cooler if I had a sister," she informed him.

"Hey! Don't be mean," Faith whined as the match restarted and the Chasers moved back into action, scoring several more goals until they were leaving Bulgaria in the dust.

"Ouch!" Kat winced as a Bludger hit Krum in the face. She could've sworn that she heard the crack even from where she was sitting, but the referee had become distracted by the veela setting fire to his broom. "That looks like it hurt a lot—"

"Lynch!" Cedric suddenly exclaimed. "Look at Lynch!" Kat looked and realised that the Irish Seeker had gone into a sudden dive and she pressed her Omnioculars against the bridge of her nose so firmly that she was sure she was going to have a mark come morning.

"The Snitch!" Faith yelled and all three of them were suddenly on their feet, Kat seeing the source of the golden ball that would mark the end of the game. "Where's the Snitch?!"

"There!" Kat shrieked as Krum suddenly was right next to Lynch as they dove to the ground again. At the last second, Krum grabbed the Snitch and pulled out of the dive while Lynch, for the second time that night, crashed into the ground. "He's got it! Krum got the Snitch!"

Faith squealed in delight, jumping up and down happily. "Yes! We did it! We won!" she shrieked.

"Not quite," Cedric said, laughing. "Look at the score!"

Following his instruction, Kat saw the scoreboard and her mouth actually dropped open in complete and utter astonishment. "Ireland wins?" she repeated in shock. "Krum gets the Snitch, but Ireland wins the match?"

"How did that happen?" Faith asked, bewildered. They were the only ones who were shocked by the end of the match. "Why did he wait until Ireland was a hundred and sixty points ahead? The stupid moron!"

But Kat and Cedric were too busy cheering for Ireland's victory to even notice Faith's surly mood, but she cheered up when she saw Krum, her eyes glowing with delight while Kat just looked at Cedric, smiling as they cheered the winners.

If only she could have known that the greatest night would soon turn into a nightmare.