The Quidditch World Cup
4th Year

"This way, you two!" Mrs. Mackenzie whispered back to James and Lily. Mrs. Mackenzie was holding four-year-old Erin's hand and leading James and Lily through the night fog that had settled around the banks of the Shannon River.

James and Lily were silent but teeming with excitement. They were headed for the Portkey that would transport them to the Quidditch World Cup!

"Yes, here it is," Mrs. Mackenzie said, pointing to an old, rusted tomato tin. "Everyone put a finger on! That's it. Make sure to keep it there, I'm not coming back for anyone."

James and Lily sniggered, but followed the directions.

"Any second now," Mrs. Mackenzie said.

Lily held her finger on the can and felt the familiar odd jerk behind her belly button. Suddenly, she was whirring forward. She could feel James next to her, but everything else had become a blur of speed and colour. Soon enough, though, Lily felt solid ground beneath her feet, but she couldn't manage to stabilize herself and fell over as the world came back into focus.

James and Erin were on the ground too, but Mrs. Mackenzie had managed to stay up-right. James helped Lily up and she looked around. They'd landed in a deserted moor, and when Lily looked up she saw two wizards dressed in Muggle clothing.

"10:15, from Clare," said one wizard scribbling on a large piece of parchment. Mrs. Mackenzie handed the other wizard the tomato tin, which he threw into a box that contained, what Lily assumed, where other used Portkeys.

"You're in field three," the first wizard said, consulting his parchment, "and your campsite manager is Mr. Delaney."

The second wizard waved his hand towards the left side of a wood. "Over there."

Lily could see the dark shapes of tents scattered across the countryside in front of the wood. After a five minute walk they stopped at a cottage where an old man was stationed.

"Mr. Delaney?" asked Mrs. Mackenzie.

"The very same," Mr. Delaney said.

"We're the Mackenzies. We've booked a tent for two nights?"

"Ah, yep!" Mr. Delaney said, consulting a list on the cottage door. "Yer over there, up the slope a bit."

"Right, thank you," Mrs. Mackenzie said, handing Mr. Delaney exact change and receiving a camp map in return. "Onward!"

The children followed Mrs. Mackenzie along rows of tents that had obviously been undecorated to resemble Muggle tents. Lily had never actually seen a Muggle tent before and didn't think twice when she noticed some had chimneys and weather vanes poking through the canvas.

As they walked on, though, everything suddenly became very green. All the tents in this area had shamrocks sprouting out of them.

"Look Mammy!" Erin said eagerly, pointing to the tents. "Oh, can we decorate our tent too, Mammy, please?!"

Mrs. Mackenzie looked skeptical. "I don't know...we're not supposed to use magic..."

"Everyone else has, Mammy, look!" Erin pleaded.

"Please?" James and Lily said together, mocking Erin.

"Oh, I suppose it wouldn't hurt if everyone else has already done..."

At last they reached their campsite. A little wooden sign sticking out of the ground read "Mackenzie".

"Alright, well," Mrs. Mackenzie said in an exhausted tone, "since we're going to be decorating them by magic anyway...I guess it wouldn't hurt..."

She winked at Lily, took her wand out of her pocket, and gave it a wave. A tent shot out of the rucksack she'd been carrying, assembled itself in midair, and landed neatly in the middle of their campsite. With one more wave the tent was covered in little green shamrocks. All the kids smiled.

"Inside then! Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day."

They scrambled into the tent. It had four rooms; a bedroom containing two sets of bunk beds, a kitchen with an oven, sink and table, a living room with a couch, coffee table and fire place, and a small bathroom.

Lily was very tired from all the walking they'd done and immediately climbed the ladder of one bunk and laid down. James got into the bunk below her a few minutes later. Lily's mind began to drift...tomorrow she would be watching the Quidditch World Cup...with box seats!

Lily and James had a lie-in the next morning and when they woke Mrs. Mackenzie and Erin were sitting at the kitchen table eating sandwiches.

"There're two sandwiches left on the griddle," Mrs. Mackenzie said, nodding towards the stove.

"Thanks Mam," James said, putting the sandwiches onto a plate for Lily and himself.

After they ate and cleaned up, Lily and James walked around a bit. They stopped and talked with friends from school and had short conversations with friends of their parents.

"James? Last time I saw you you were only this tall!" or "Lily? Is your mother well?" and so on.

Just as they were escaping Mr. Bode, one of Mr. Mackenzie's co-workers in the Department of Mysteries, they noticed that it was getting dark and salesmen were now apparating here and there carrying large trays of souvenirs. Lily and James both bought a pair of Omnioculars and programs. Lily also bought a green rosette and James purchased one for Erin, too.

Just as they were reentering their campsite, they heard a giant gong sound in the distance, and instantly green and red torches burst into flame, illuminating the path to the stadium.

"It's time!" Erin squealed. "It's time!"

Mrs. Mackenzie was leading the group, Erin clutching her hand. They entered the wood and followed the torches. After about twenty minutes of walking they exited the wood and stepped into the shadow of the large, golden-walled stadium.

"Wow!"

"Amazing!"

"Look Mammy!" all the kids chimed in turn.

They quickly hurried off to the nearest entrance.

"Oh, nice seats!" said the witch at the gate, checking their tickets. "Up the stairs, second door from the top. Enjoy the match!"

They followed the rich purple carpeted stairs to their box. Lily, James, and Erin hung over the edge of the box to see the velvety green field below, thousands of fans filling the stadium, an odd golden glow that seemed to radiate from the stadium itself, and a giant blackboard that flashed advertisements in golden script.

"This is so wicked!" James said childishly, still leaning over the box's edge.

Lily sat back in her purple seat and flipped through her velvet, tasseled program. The box filled slowly, and soon the booming voice of the commentator rang through the stadium.

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

Everyone cheered, and the giant blackboard now read: BULGARIA: 0 IRELAND: 0.

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

Veela started pouring out onto the pitch. At least, Lily assumed they were. She'd never actually seen one. Her hunch was confirmed, however, when Mrs. Mackenzie whispered to Erin that they were, indeed, veela.

Half of the stadium leaned forward as they started to dance. Lily noticed that all the fans that had just leaned in were male, and she looked around the box to see that three boys in the row behind her looked ready to jump into the crowd. The veela left the pitch and the crowd booed.

"And now," came the announcer's voice again, "kindly put your wands in the air...for the Irish National Team Mascot!"

What appeared to be a greenish gold comet came whirring into the stadium, it changed formation, made a rainbow, formed a shamrock, and then rained down golden coins. Erin scrambled about to pick up the gold, but Lily and James stayed put. They knew the comet had consisted of leprechauns carrying lanterns, and they knew that leprechaun gold disappeared eventually.

As the announcer introduced the teams and the referee stepped onto the field, Lily and James focused their Omnioculars. It was Quidditch like Lily had never seen. The players were amazingly skilled, and so fast.

Before long, Ireland had scored. Three times. The left side of the stadium went wild.

Bulgaria scored and the veela danced again. Then play resumed.

"Look Mam!" squealed Erin, pointing towards the field.

Lily looked too. Speeding towards the ground were Krum and Lynch, the opposing Seekers. Lily focused her Omnioculars on their target, but she couldn't see the Snitch.

"No!" she said to no one in particular, "Pull off it, Lynch! Krum is feinting! Argh!"

The stadium moaned as Krum streaked back into the air and Aidan Lynch crashed into the ground with a thud. Medi-wizards rushed out onto the pitch to aid Lynch.

Once Lynch was back in the air, Ireland began playing more furiously. Soon they were up by ten more goals, leading one hundred and thirty to ten. Ireland received three penalties, causing the leprechauns to dance in the air and make rude gestures at the veela. This quite angered the veela and they started throwing fire at the leprechauns. Lily stared wide-eyed as the creatures clashed, and the once beautiful veela began growing ugly birds' heads and large, scaly wings.

Despite the confusion below, the game carried on. Ireland scored, Krum was hit in the face with a Bludger, and...Lynch was diving for the Snitch! Krum noticed, though, and caught up with him. It looked as though they were going to crash again, and Lynch did, right into the angry veela. Krum rose into the air, holding the Snitch high.

"That's it, Mammy! Bulgaria's won!" Erin cried sadly.

"No they haven't!" said James, pointing at the scoreboard. "Look!"

He was right. The scoreboard was now flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170. After a moment of contemplation and realization the Ireland supporters burst into deafening applause.

"IRELAND WINS!" shouted the announcer. Lily was hugging everyone she could reach, as were the other people in the box.

"We won! I can't believe it!" James said for the hundredth time as they headed back towards their tent. Lily ignored him and kept walking.

James and Lily stayed up for a long time discussing the match. They'd started to doze off on the couch when James was awakened by screaming and laughter.

"Lily!" he said, shaking her lightly, "Lily, wake up!"

Lily merely rolled over.

"Lily! LILY!" James grew impatient and socked her in the shoulder.

"Wah!?" Lily said thickly, sitting up and rubbing her arm.

"Something's going on outside. Wait here..." James went into the bedroom and woke his mother and sister.

"Come, this way..." Mrs. Mackenzie said, pulling out her wand and heading out the tent flap.

It was an awful scene. In the distance four people were levitated twelve feet above the ground and screaming. Hooded figures under them were cackling and crumpling tents as they walked by. Wizards and witches were scrambling for the woods, screaming and scooping up their children.

"James," Mrs. Mackenzie said severely, "I'm going to help stop them. Take Erin and Lily into the woods and stay there. I'll come fetch you when it's safe."

"But Mammy!" Erin pleaded, on the verge of tears.

"GO!"

Erin looked shocked. James quickly hoisted her onto his back and started running towards the woods, Lily following.

After they'd lost all sign of anyone the three sat down in a small clearing and put out their wands. Erin was frightened by the dark, though, so they lit them back up again.

"Now what?" Lily asked James.

"We wait, I guess," he said, twirling his wand agitatedly.

Erin flung her arms around his neck and kept very close to him, crying into his shirt. Suddenly, the clearing was illuminated with a strange green light. Lily looked up.

"James! It's the...no...it can't be...is it?" she stammered, knowing that it was.

"The Dark Mark..." James said solemnly. "We've got to move."

James picked up Erin and they headed out of the clearing back towards the tent. They reached their campsite safely, and although the hooded figures were gone most people seemed to still be awake and nervous. The green skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth, the Dark Mark, was still hanging ominously in the sky.

The three went into the tent and sat on the couch. James was comforting Erin, who was crying hysterically into his lap, and Lily's face was screwed up with concentration. The only sounds were those of the voices outside, and Erin's sobbing.

Mrs. Mackenzie came back half an hour later with a small cut across her cheek. Erin had fallen asleep in James' lap, but Lily and James were staring gravely at Mrs. Mackenzie.

She stared back and sighed, "Well, I suppose you've got all sorts of questions. Go on then."

"No, Mam," James said in a toneless voice, "we understand."

"Yeah," Lily nodded. "We read."

At this Mrs. Mackenzie gave a half smile. "Of course you do," she said with a hollow chuckle. "Ravenclaws..." Mrs. Mackenzie had been in Gryffindor, but Mr. Mackenzie had been a Ravenclaw.

Mrs. Mackenzie made tea, and Lily, feeling quite sleepy after her cup, fell asleep on James shoulder. Lily woke the next morning to an odd picture.

It was still early - the sun was barely up - but Mrs. Mackenzie was packing everything away. James had his head on the arm of the couch, and was seemingly suffocating Erin by lying on her head. Erin's tiny legs could be seen dangling off the edge of the sofa, and Lily only realized then that she was upside down, sitting on James legs with her own legs dangling off the back end of the couch.

Lily flipped over and woke James up. James in turn woke Erin up and they exited the tent. Mrs. Mackenzie magicked the tent back into her rucksack, and they silently headed towards the queue for portkeys home.

A/N: Ah, the joys of editing chapters you wrote when you were fourteen. I had fond memories of this chapter, but looking back now I'm not sure why. It's a pretty boring re-hash of the early part of Goblet of Fire, and though we do get to learn some more about James' family, there's not much else going on. I considered not posting this one at all, but what the hell. For the sake of completeness, here it is.