Twilight Saga characters

created and owned by Stephenie Meyer

And the characters and plotline of

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

created and owned by J.K. Rowling

Chapter 10: Quidditch World Cup

"This way" Mr. Weasley led us through the crowd toward a gigantic stadium that rivalled the largest stadiums in the world. It was not only large in area, but it projected several stories into the sky. How had the Wizards managed to erect a structure on such large a scale without attracting the attention of the muggles?

"Seats a hundred thousand." Mr. Weasley said, responding to some unspoken question of Harry's. I could see he was as much in awe as we were. "Muggle-repelling charms on every inch of it. Every time muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again… Bless them."

I appreciated Harry's presence then, as his curiosity was a valuable source of information. Even now, as we walked along, I picked out details from his mind to help understand the game we were about to watch – although the sketchy details I was able to glean were very confusing.

"Prime seats!" said the woman at the entrance. I suppose she is a witch, I thought. "Top Box. Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."

Prime seats are at the top? Emmett's confused thoughts wondered as we climbed the stairs. Higher and higher we climbed as the crowd dissipated at each level. I wondered at how Bella would manage if we had to go much further. She stumbled and tripped on every third or fourth purple carpeted step. It gave me an excuse to touch her as I caught her arm at each trip, but what I wanted was to scoop her up and carry her the rest of the way.

That one's a bit clumsy… cute, but clumsy, Ron's thoughts triggered a growl low in my throat.

Edward! Carlisle's sharp thought warned.

Finally we made it to the top of the staircase – to a small box. I could see from the richness of the seats and the location in the centre of the field, this certainly must be prime seating, but we were awfully far from the pitch.

How would a normal human… or wizard see anything from way up here? Jasper wondered. We can barely see the field.

I gazed at the site of a hundred thousand wizards and witches taking their seats. Amazing to think not all that long ago we had no idea they even existed. Now I wondered at the size of their population in the world. Bella must have seen the wonder in my face for she leaned over, speaking in a whisper, "Now you know how I felt when you opened my eyes to the existence of vampires."

As the wonder wore off, I looked more at the stadium and the field, trying to make sense of the set up in context of the thoughts I was pulling from the heads of wizards around me. The three gold hoops at each end seemed much too high in the air to be at all useful. How were they to get up fifty feet to score? Was this like basketball…? The image in Harry's head finally put it all together. He was remembering a match he played in, sitting on a broom, flying through the air, reaching for a small golden ball…

"Oh, they play it on brooms!" I said suddenly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Six pairs of eyes looked at me, while Alice's eyes shone with excitement as she started seeing visions of the coming match. Wow! It was going to be amazing.

"They play it on brooms," I said again to their questioning eyes of the rest of my family and Bella.

"Yes, that is what Dumbledore said." Carlisle started, then – he remembered the toy firebolt broom hovering in Emmett's hand, "Oh, they play it on brooms…" He said in wonder.

The others still looked confused. "Flying brooms" I said quietly, with a nod toward the toy broom Alice was holding in her hand. A knowing look spread through their faces then.

"Awesome!" Emmett said. This is going to be something else!

We followed the Weasley's, taking our seats in the box directly behind them. A small, very poorly dressed creature sat in the box already.

"What kind of wizard do you suppose that is?" Esme leaned over and quietly asked Carlisle. Alice had also noticed the creature and concentrated very hard on it, but saw nothing… Then she saw Harry and Ron disappear. I panicked until moments later I noticed Harry and Ron engage the creature in conversation.

"Carlisle, whatever it is, I can't see it." Alice whispered.

I focused on Harry's thoughts as they spoke. "Apparently, it is a house elf. They are slaves to the wizards… they have magical powers that appear to exceed the wizards…" I whispered the snatches of information to my family. The last image was one such house elf, defending Harry against a full grown wizard with long flowing hair.

"Slaves?" Alice was shocked.

Do we get one? Rosalie thought, picturing the chores she could have one do for her. I shot her a disappointed look.

What? When in Rome? She shrugged her shoulders.

"Carlisle, we must do something," Esme pleaded.

"I'm not sure that is the best idea… As much as I hate to consider the mistreatment of any being or creature, this isn't our world." He reasoned. Esme sighed in resigned agreement. The passing issue was suddenly interrupted…

"A display from the teams mascots will precede the match." Hermione announced, reading from her program.

"Oh, that's always worth watching." Mr. Weasley commented. "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show."

Wizards, witches, elves… what next – leprechauns? Jasper's eyes eyes shone with wonder.

"Yep – leprechauns." I confirmed out loud, as I previewed the pre-game show in Alice's mind.

"No way!" Emmett exclaimed.

"And some dancing girls called Veela." Alice added, "Watch out for those – they seem to have some sort of effect on men. It might be best to plug your ears to help, just to be safe."

"Ah, and here's Lucius!" the man named Fudge said as another family filed into the box. A growl rose in my throat as I recognized the man from Harry's memory – the wizard who had attacked him was stepping into the box. From the thoughts of Mr. Weasley I could see this was not someone to be trusted. Carlisle looked over at me with alarm, but I only shook my head, trying to concentrate on the full adult wizard before me… But there was nothing to hear. It was as if his mind was a blank, like Bella. I wondered briefly at this, but then he spoke.

"Ah, Fudge." He held out his hand, "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"

It was during his introduction that I realized his mind was not a blank, as I had heard each of his words in his mind before I heard them with my ears. However, like Dumbledore, he had amazing control over his thoughts… Whereas Lucius had impeccable control over his mind, his son, Draco, had absolutely none.

Weasley's – how did they manage to get up here? Riff raff! And the mud-blood with them. Disgusting! How our world has fallen. And what of these others? Not familiar at all – commoners by the looks of them… except for her… his eyes halted at Rosalie, sitting haughtily in her seat. Now there is someone of obvious pedigree… and beautiful as well… Father will have to find out which family she is from. I removed myself from his mind as his thoughts turned to subjects I'd rather not consider. I was briefly humoured to think of what would happen to Draco if Emmett found him anywhere near Rosalie. I turned my attention back to the conversation, now that the initial introductions had concluded.

"Good Lord, Arthur." Lucius said disparagingly, "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?" I cringed at the obvious insult against our good mannered host. Carlisle frowned as well, but cast a careful glance at each of us. This wasn't our battle.

"How – nice" Mr. Weasley responded to some random fact that had been disclosed about the Malfoys. Throwing their weight around, I see – their ill gotten death eater money used to buy friends at the Ministry. I'll have to let Dumbledore know.

"I should introduce you to the newest additions to Hogwarts." brightened then, "Dumbledore has snagged them all the way from the Americas. This is Dr. Cullen, newly appointed professor of Herbology."

Carlisle nodded, "Pleased to meet you."

"And I you." Lucius shook his hand, eyes tightened as if trying to remember something – then for the briefest moment he slipped. Cullen – why is that name familiar? He quickly regained his composure and control as the introductions continued.

"His wife, Esme… and his children, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice and Edward. And this lovely lady is an exchange student they brought with them, Bella."

They look very young to have older children. I wonder if they have a philosophers stone? I'll have to discuss it with Lucius, Narcissa thought.

After shaking hands with Carlisle, the Malfoy's didn't offer to properly greet the rest of the family, which suited us fine. "Slimy gits" Ron said under his breath and I found I couldn't agree more.

A large man charged into the box then, "Everyone ready?" he asked, his face flashing with excitement, "Minister – ready to go?"

"Ready when you are, Ludo."

He whipped out a wand, pointing it to his neck and said, "Sonous!" His voice then boomed as if over a loud PA system. "Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup."

"Ya! Whooo Hooo!" Emmett boomed with the crowd. We briefly looked at each other and, laughingly joined in. The enthusiasm was contagious.

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

Emmett stood up, placing two fingers from each hand in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle.

Really! Hermione thought with disgust.

"Ears everyone" Alice warned under her breath. Unfortunately, it was too late for Emmett as the mascots – a hundred of the most beautiful women I had ever seen pranced out on to the pitch, more beautiful even then the perfected beauty of the vampire women I had met in my century of living. Their faces were pale like ours, and their hair was white gold – moreover they shone with a glow that seemed to emanate from within them and beam out though their skin and hair. They were luminescent. I could see every male in the stadium was mesmerized by their appearance – their minds going blank, filled only with thoughts of the Veela.

Music must have started for they began to dance the most beautiful dance, intensifying the impact on the male minds around me – most noticeably Emmett's. He started to walk toward them as Rosalie clamped down on his arm, pulling him to the chair with a murderous glare. She promptly put her fingers in his ears as he looked sheepishly back at her. It only helped moderately, as our hearing was so sensitive, but the overall affect on us did not seem as strong as on the wizard men who were completely enthralled.

Edward! Harry! Alice's alarmed thought warned me as I saw him rise and jump to his death. I shook my head, not sure if I dared release my ears. In my split second of indecision, Hermione noticed Harry rise.

"Harry, what are you doing?" she said sternly. That paused his advance just long enough for the music to end along with the enchantment that held him.

"Honestly!" she hissed as she pulled him back in his seat.

"Fascinating" Carlisle murmured, his mind already working through the possibilities of this mystery. They must have the ability to access certain neuropathways…

"And now" roared Ludo, "kindly put your wands in the air… for the Irish National Team Mascots."

Now, the leprechauns! Jasper thought excitedly. But instead a great green and gold comet zoomed into the stadium, circling around before splitting into two smaller comets.

"Where are the leprechauns?" Jasper asked disappointedly looking down at the pitch then back at Alice. His dejected expression made Alice laugh. "I thought you said…"

"Wait for it" she chuckled, as she watched the comets turn into shimmering bands of light forming a rainbow. It quickly faded and formed a great shimmering shamrock with golden rain falling from it.

"Ouch!" Bella complained. I turned to see her rubbing her head as she peered at a large gold coin in her hand.

"Excellent!" Ron yelled in front of me, as the great shimmering shamrock broke into thousands of little green men that could only be leprechauns.

"See" Alice whispered to Jasper.

"Wow!" he said in awe.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome – the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team!" Ludo bellowed introducing each of the players. Emmett stood up again, freeing himself from Rosalie's grasp, cheering loudly much to the dismay of most everyone in the box, with the exception of Ron.

"That's him, that's him!" Ron yelled as the player, Krum was introduced. He was an intimidating man – thin, dark and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows – he looked much older then his eighteen years. This was, apparently, Ron's hero.

"And now, please greet – The Irish National Quidditch Team!" Ludo hollered – to many more cheers from our box, including Jasper, not willing to be outdone by Emmett.

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

A small wizard strode out onto the pitch, broom in one hand and a crate in the other. "From what I've gathered, there's one ball for scoring, two balls that are used to hit each other with and one tiny gold one that one member of the team, the Seeker, is to try to find." I explained quietly to my family, "When one of the Seekers finds the little golden ball, the game is over and that team is awarded one hundred and fifty points. They also receive ten points for scoring goals in the hoops."

"I see bats" Jasper noted, "Is this like baseball?"

"I don't think so – I think they use those to hit the balls at other players."

"They purposely try to hit balls at players? That is awesome!" Emmett exclaimed, impressed at the obvious brutality of the sport.

"It looks like it has begun." I said as I watched the referee kick open the crate and the various balls flew into the air. We all sat in stunned silence as we watched the game unfold. Nothing in all my long existence could have prepared me for this. It was a fast paced exciting game – made all the more exciting by the fact that they were flying on brooms and could fall at any moment.

"TROY SCORES!" roared Ludo, "Ten – zero to Ireland!"

"Ha!" Jasper laughed.

"Just you wait – we never bet on first goal!" Emmett bantered.

The Irish team appeared to out match the Bulgarians. As the game continued it sped up and got more brutal – players hitting each other on their brooms, and the Bulgarian Beaters, as I had learned they were called, batting the large balls, called Bludgers at the Irish Chasers with greater frequency and intensity. Still the Irish continued to out play the Bulgarians.

The one exception to the Irish dominance of the game was the Seeker, Viktor Krum. I was mesmerized as I watched him fly on his broom as if it were simply an extension of himself.

"They're going to crash!" I suddenly heard Hermione scream and I looked around to find the source of her distress.

"Look!" Bella pointed to the two Seekers plummeting through the Centre of the Chasers quickly approaching the earth. "Oh my" she said in alarm, rising to her feet… Then at the last minute, Krum pulled up, leaving the Irish Seeker to hit the ground with a thud.

"Way to go Krum" Emmett cheered.

"That was a cheep move." Jasper defended, as the medical team treated the Irish Seeker.

"Hey, check these out," Ron twisted backward in his seat facing Bella, handing her what looked like a pair of binoculars. She looked at him questioningly. "They're Omnioculars – you can speed up, slow down or replay the game" he explained.

Bella looked through them briefly, and then more closely… then she handed them to me, "That is really neat, Ron. I hadn't ever seen those before." She said politely.

I looked through the lenses – it was replaying the dive to the ground over and over. I played with the dial and the scene sped up and slowed down accordingly. "That is really interesting, Ron. Do you mind if I show my brother?"

"Sure" he said, not really excited about losing his Omnioculars.

"It will just be for a second, I'll give them right back." I handed them to Jasper. "Hey guys, check these out..."

Jasper looked through them, playing with the dial. "Cool!"

Emmett took them from Jasper repeating the process. "These are awesome!" He exclaimed before handing them to Carlisle.

"Fascinating" he said in awe. The women weren't interested so I handed them back to a relieved Ron, who gave Bella a quick, shy smile before turning around.

She really is very pretty, he thought to himself. Too bad she would never go for the likes of me… I'm too young for her anyway… He returned his focus to the game.

The Irish Seeker, obviously doing better, was back in the game. As if in response to the stunt, the Irish scored several more goals, and were now ahead by ten goals, one hundred thirty points to ten. The game got more violent and, apparently, more dirty as various fouls began to be called, and the crowd complained and yelled at those that weren't. The energy was intense and emotions were rising. The mascots also got into the spirit of competition, taunted each other. At one point there rose a dispute as the referee became entranced with the Veela and then attempted to throw them out of the game when he came to his senses.

The play further intensified, the Beaters hitting at each other without mercy. A Bulgarian Beater hit the bludger toward an Irish player, almost knocking her off her broom.

"Ha!" Emmett laughed.

"Foul!" roared Ludo.

"Doesn't count!" Jasper laughed.

The Leprechauns then made a rude gesture toward the Veela and the Veela shifting in their appearance. "Look" I pointed out, as their faced elongated into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders –

"And that, boys." Yelled Mr. Weasley, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"

At that, Rosalie, of all people, broke out into hysterical laughing. "Emmett, what do you think of your girl friends now?"

"Awe, Rose!" he slumped in his seat.

The game was back on, the Irish easily cutting through the Bulgarians, passing up the field… "MORAN SCORES!" and they added to their lead. As the game commenced after the goal, the Irish Beater swung heavily at the passing Bludger, sending it straight toward Krum. Not noticing it in time, Krum was nailed hard in the face.

"That counts!" Jasper said smugly to Emmett.

"Aren't they going to help him?" Bella asked… but then the Irish seeker took off into a dive.

"He's seen the Snitch!" Harry shouted. "He's seen it! Look at him go!"

We rose in our seats, watching the Irish seeker closing in on the small golden ball, invisible to human eyes, but which we could clearly see. Krum was on his tail and closing in fast. Blood was streaming from his face… I notice Jasper blanch at the site and quickly clamp himself down in his seat. Even from this distance, we could smell it. I noticed the most of the rest of my family stop breathing as a precaution.

"They're going to crash!" Hermione shrieked in front of us. But it didn't appear they both would. The Irish seeker seemed as though he was going to lose it, while Krum remained in perfect control. In a split second, the Irish Seeker hit the ground, hard, while Krum pulled up, snatching the snitch from the air.

"He's got it – Krum's got it – it's all over" Harry shouted as Krum held his hand up high, the small golden ball in his hand.

"And that counts too!" Emmett said with a quick shove at Jasper.

Jasper, who was still keeping himself locked in place, grinned grimly.

"Ireland wins!" Ludo shouted.

"What? Oh, I guess…" Emmett said as he looked at the scoreboard and counted up the scoring in his head.

The crowd went wild with cheers and jeers from fans and mascots alike. It was pandemonium. Flags were flying, the Irish national anthem blared from an unknown source, the Irish players dancing while the leprechauns danced and threw gold coins. The Bulgarians and the Veela looked forlorn at the loss.

The World Cup was awarded and we shuffled out of the stadium back to our tent.

"So you owe me fifty bucks!" Emmett teased Jasper.

"And you owe me fifty!" Jasper shoved back. "So I guess we're even!"

"That was quite the game" Bella said, stumbling along, not quite seeing where she was going.

"It certainly was." Carlisle nodded.

It was the first night in a long, long time, that any of us had seen anything that completely surprised and amazed us. What more would this year bring?