The Alchemic Wizard

by IcePhoenix2005

It's been almost a year since the Promised Day and when Ed is called in on a mission, he certainty did not expect it to involve flying brooms and fire breathing dragons. Being the bodyguard for the Boy Who Lived is no easy task, but he's the Fullmetal Alchemist! He can surely basically babysit a teenager... right? Takes place in Goblet of Fire and After the Promised Day.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mcgonagall's POV

Edward Elric... he is quite the individual, that is for sure. His appearance was quite unique. He had long, golden hair tied in a ponytail and golden eyes. Mcgonagall was one of the few who knows where he comes from and what he does. Over here, alchemy is a lost art but in Amestris it seems to flourish. Ed is the youngest State Alchemist in history. Not to mention apparently one of the best. Why a 12 year old kid, now 17, signed up for the military of all things baffled her, but all he said was he had his reasons.

He was nice enough. Unlike Severus. Although, Severus does believe he is just a simple exchange student. The only people aware of Elric would be herself, Dumbledore, and Fudge. Still, Severus knows his manners and he should use them, no excuses.

Within the first few days of Ed being here, he managed to scare Peeves by shooting spells at him and shouting at him. It was quite the sight. Later on, she realised they were 2nd year spells. He was apparently just learning magic and he was already onto the 2nd year? Very impressive. Dumbledore did not exaggerate when he said Ed was a prodigy. Although, what would one expect from the son of Van Hohenheim?

He went through the books very quickly. He was also in the library practically 24/7, only coming out for meals and perhaps to stretch. When it was time to give him his first test, after one month of being here, Severus and Mcgonagall were floored by how much Ed had learned by then. He showed that he was on the same level as 5th year students, maybe even 6th year. Goodness, if he wasn't assigned to be in Gryffindor to keep an eye out for Mr. Potter, he would most likely be a Ravenclaw or maybe Slytherin. No… he's not like the rest of them. He seems very noble, like a Gryffindor.

"Ok, Mr. Elric. You have the whole day today to finish these exams," Mcgonagall said to him.

He simply replied with an "Ok."

After just five hours, he came up to her with all the written exams complete. She was shocked to say the least. Not only that, but he had gotten every question correct. Severus was also very shocked. When the two of them dualed, it was over in mere minutes, with Ed as the victor.

They even allowed him to take the OWLS, NEWTS, and apparition tests however, although Severus seemed unhappy about that. 'Just who is this boy?'

Normal POV

By the time summer was nearly over, Ed was very proficient in magic. He could even to nonverbal spells. He was still however, working on wandless magic, but it's coming along slowly. The ghost, Peeves, never bothered him again after Ed went crazy at him. According to the professors, only the Bloody Baron could control Peeves or maybe Dumbledore.

Speaking of the professors, the looks on their faces were shocking everytime Ed finished a test or did complex magic. It was hilarious. Dumbledore merely looked amused.

When he's not learning magic, Ed would usually be in the library or helping Hagrid with his crazy creatures. (Those poor kids who have to deal with Hagrid and his love of animals.)

Ed would be lying if the library wasn't amazing. There were shelves upon shelves of books there. I've gotten through a good chunk of them. He would definitely finish the whole library before the end of the school year. The librarian was very strict, but he guessed it's due to the amount of kids she's got to supervise in the library. He wouldn't be happy with that job either. He's pretty sure she's got a thing for the caretaker Filch too.

What's really annoying here though, is the lack of technology. Magic's great and all but technology is extremely useful as well. What's with these wizards and thinking non magical people are weak? If they said that to General Armstrong, they would be wetting their pants in seconds.

Since they didn't have phones here, Ed had to use Celosia to send letters to Mustang and Al. Al absolutely loves her and gushes over her in practically every letter. Mustang's just happy that she burnt some paperwork for him. 'Lazy bastard.'

Dumbledore called Ed to his office so he headed over there. When he arrived he said "Chocolate Frog" to the gargoyle and it let him pass.

Ed knocked on the door and he heard Dumbledore say "Enter."

Ed did so and he motioned for him to sit. "What is it that you need, Professor?"

"First, let me congratulate you on your progress on magic. I daresay you're just as good, if not better than some of my friends. Or perhaps even me," Dumbledore said.

"The other thing is, is that Harry's relatives have allowed him to go to the Quidditch World Cup and like I said when you first arrived, I want you to go as well. I've already informed Molly Weasley of your arrival and I'll give you some time to pack and you can floo there. It's called The Burrow. I assume you already know how to?"

Ed nodded. "Yes, sir. Anything else you need to tell me?"

"Since you are of age, you can use magic outside of school, but obviously we can't let anyone else know that so I must ask that you do not use magic or alchemy unless it's an absolute emergency. And even then, try to make it discreet," said Dumbledore.

"Ok, that should be simple enough," he said, standing up.

Ed left the office to go pack some items that he would be bringing at my stay there. He didn't bring Celosia since he could just call her when needed. Ed brought his stuff to the common room and with the pot of floo powder, he threw some into the fireplace, and the flames turned emerald green. Placing down the pot and holding his suitcase, he called out, "The Burrow!" and walked through the flames.

The sensation was weird. But he just ignored it, and soon arrived in a living room. The house looked rather old, but it was a homey old. He saw a rather strange clock. It had multiple hands, each with a face on it. They all had red hair and freckles so they must be family. Instead of numbers, it had locations like 'work' or 'school'. There was also one called 'mortal peril'. 'That's one useful clock unless you want to know the time,' Ed thought.

Ed then heard footsteps and saw a short, red haired woman enter. "You must be Edward!" She greeted him.

Ed nodded. "Is there a place where I can put my stuff?" He asked her.

"Oh let me handle that. I'll take it up to Ronald's room. You'll be sharing a room with him and Harry once he gets here. My husband and some of my sons are picking him up right now. I don't know what's taking them so long though…" she said as she carried my suitcase away.

Ed walked around the house, exploring all of it. He had exited the kitchen when he heard two male voices. He walked over to them. Both of them had red hair and while one was very tall, the other was shorter and more muscular.

"Hello," Ed said to them.

They turned towards me, looking surprised. "Who are you?" The one with the ponytail asked.

"Oh. I'm Edward Elric. Dumbledore sent me here to come with you guys to the World Cup," Ed explained to them. "I'm gonna be a 4th year exchange student at Hogwarts this year."

"Huh, mum didn't mention any other guests," the shorter one said thoughtfully. "Well it's nice to meet you. I'm Charlie Weasley and this is my older brother Bill."

Bill nodded and held out his hand. Ed took it, making sure he didn't shake it too hard. He also shook Charlie's hand.

"So...big family huh?" Ed said to them.

Bill laughed. "Yeah. I'm the oldest, then it's Charlie. Then Percy, he's in his room right now, the twins Fred and George, absolute pranksters so watch out for them, Ron, Harry Potter's best friend, and Ginny, the only girl of the siblings."

Ed whistled. "Wow you ain't kidding. That is one big family. I just have a brother at home."

"What about your parents?" Charlie asked.

"I… rather not talk about them if that's ok," Ed said.

They nodded. "Sorry, didn't mean to bring up sore subjects."

"It's fine. It's been mainly me and my brother for a while now."

"You said you were an exchange student right? I can hear a bit of accent in your voice. Where are you and your brother from?" Asked Bill.

"Germany," Ed said, remembering what Dumbledore told me.

Charlie nodded. "Makes sense."

We talked for a bit until we heard a noise in the living room. "Looks like Harry finally arrived," Bill said. "Let's go meet them."

We walked over to the living room when we heard someone ask a black haired boy "Did he eat it?"

The black haired boy responded saying, "Yeah, what was it?"

"Ton-Tongue Toffee," the twin said proudly. "George and I invented it over the summer and we've been looking for someone to test it on..."

'What's going on?' Ed thought, as everyone laughed.

"Hey, I think some introductions are in order?" Ed asked them.

All of them looked at Bill, Charlie, and Ed.

Charlie walked up to Harry with his hand out. "How's it going Harry?" He grinned.

Harry took it. And then Bill took out his hand as well. As Harry also shook it, his eyes widened slightly.

"Sorry," Harry said hastily. "I just heard that you were Head Boy back when you were at Hogwarts and well...I thought you would be like Percy." He said apologetically.

Everyone laughed again. "It's all good Harry," Bill said.

Harry then turned to Ed. "I've never met you before. Who are you?"

Ed held out my hand. "I'm Edward Elric. Just call me Ed though. I'm gonna be a 4th year exchange student at Hogwarts this year. Dumbledore sent me here to join you guys at the World Cup."

Harry took it. "Nice to meet you Ed."

Ed quietly observed him. He seemed quite ordinary other than the lightning scar on his forehead. Seemed pretty nice as well. Thank goodness cause he doesn't wanna watch over some kid who let fame get into his head.

The others started introducing themselves. "We're Gred and Forge!" The twins said with jazz hands. Ed rolled his eyes at their antics.

"Aw come on Eddie," Ed's eye twitched at that, "Lighten up! We're actually Fred and George. Can you guess who's Fred and who's George?" One of them said.

Ed pointed to the one on the right. "You're Fred and you're George," he said, pointing to the other one.

They looked shocked. "Blimey! How'd you know?"

"I noticed that George said Fred's name with a little bit of pride and also his eyes are a darker shade," Ed said.

"Wow!" Said one of the red haired boys. 'That must be Ron.' "No one was able to tell who was who! You got some keen observation skills!"

Ed turned to him. "You're Ron right?"

He nodded. "The one and only!" The brunette girl rolled her eyes at that.

Ed turned to her. "So who are you?" Ed asked.

"Hermione Granger," she said. "I'm a friend of theirs."

"Also the smartest witch of our age!" Harry said. Hermione looked a bit flustered.

'Interesting. She must be really smart to be considered that,' Ed thought.

Ed then looked at the last person, who was a red haired girl. "Ginny right? You're brothers mentioned you."

She nodded. "Nice to meet you Ed."

Ed noticed both Hermione and Ginny were slightly blushing at him. 'What's up with them?' Ed thought.

The fireplace suddenly turned green and a tall, lanky red haired (also balding) man came out looking very mad.

"Fred! That was not funny! What on Earth did you give that muggle boy?" The man said.

"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly.

"It was about four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!" Everyone roared with laughter. 'Wow that kid's parents were pretty stupid denying his help.'

"I didn't give him anything," Fred grinned. "I just dropped it. It's not my fault he went ahead and ate it."

"Cheeky," Ed grinned.

"It still isn't funny! You knew he was on a diet! I didn't raise my sons to bully innocent muggles! I've spent half my life campaigning for the treatment of muggles and my own sons..."

"We didn't do it because he was a muggle!" Fred said indignantly.

"Yeah! We did it because he was a great bullying git!" George said. "Right, Harry?"

"He honestly is, Mr. Weasley," Harry said.

"That's not the point!" Mr. Weasley said. "You just wait until I tell your mother-"

"Tell me what?" Said a female voice.

They all turned to see Mrs. Weasley glaring at them. 'That glare's almost as scary as Teacher's or General Armstrong's!'

She stopped glaring for a second to smile at Harry. "Hello Harry dear," she said, before glaring back at her husband. "Tell me what Arthur?"

Mr. Weasley suddenly looked scared. 'Clearly he wasn't gonna tell her.'

"I-It's nothing Molly," he mumbled. "Fred and George just...but I've had words with them…"

"What have they done this time?" Molly asked. "I swear, if it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes…"

"Hey Ron," Hermione suddenly said. "Why don't you show where Harry is sleeping?"

"But he already knows-"

"I'm apparently sleeping in your room too," Ed said.

"Besides, we can all go," Hermione added.

Ron, finally catching on, said, "Oh okay."

"Yeah, we'll come too," George said.

"You're not going anywhere!" Mrs. Weasley snarled.

Ed, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny went out of the room and walked up the stairs towards Ron's.

"What's Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked.

Ginny and Ron laughed. Hermione, Ed noticed, didn't. 'She seems to just stick by the rules. Probably a goody two-shoes.'

"Mum found a stack of order forms in their room," Ron said quietly. "It had great long lists of what they've been making. It's all joke stuff. Fake wands and treats, that kind of stuff. It's honestly brilliant. None of us knew what they were doing."

"We've been hearing noises from their room for ages," Ginny added. "We all just thought they liked the noise."

"Most of the stuff was dangerous apparently-," Ron said, "and they were planning to sell them at Hogwarts for money. Mum went ballistic at them. She forbade them to make anymore and burned all their order forms."

"Harsh," Ed commented.

"Yeah. Mum's already mad at them anyways. They didn't get as many OWLS as she wanted apparently," Ginny said.

Ginny continued. "They had this huge row. Mum wanted them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad but they just wanted to open a joke shop."

"I know that she wants the best for her children but she should just let them do what they want to. She's not gonna be able to stop them," Ed said.

"Man, parents nowadays, am I right?" Ron said.

Harry and Ed were quiet at that.

A door near them then opened, revealing yet another red head. This one had horn-rimmed glasses. 'Must be Percy. From what I've heard about him. He's one that also sticks to the rules, if that was what Harry was implying.'

Percy frowned at them. "Hey Harry. I was wondering what all that noise was. I'm trying to work here. I got to finish a report and it's rather difficult with all this noise. Especially with people thundering on the stairs."

"We're not thundering," Ron grumbled. "We're walking. Sorry if we're disturbing the top- secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."

"What are you working on?" Harry asked.

"A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation," Percy said rather smugly. "We're trying to standardise cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin - leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year -" Ed rolled his eyes. 'That's what they're working on?'

"That'll change the world, that report will," Ron said sarcastically. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks. Ed sniggered.

Percy turned a little red, saying, "You might sneer Ron, but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger -"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Ron said.

They started to walk again as Percy slammed his door closed. As they continued up, they heard even more shouts from downstairs. 'Looks like she found out about the toffees,' Ed thought as he continued walking.

They finally reached Ron's room, which was at the very top. Ron opened the door to reveal a very orange room. Ed squinted a bit at the brightness. 'Geez. This is kinda excessive, not to mention it clashes horribly with his hair.'

Ed found a bed that had his suitcase on it and started to unpack. The others then decided to start a conversation with him.

"What can you tell about yourself, Ed?" Hermione asked.

Ed thought for a moment to make sure he didn't reveal anything too important. "Well I'm an exchange student from Germany. I had a private teacher and she sent me here to further my studies," he said. "I also have a brother one year younger than me but he's not coming since he's been recovering from an illness," Ed lied.

"Wow! That's really cool!" Hermione said.

"What's your teacher like?" Ron asked.

"Well...to be honest, she's terrifying," Ed admitted. "She would probably make you piss your pants."

Harry and Ron snorted and Hermione frowned at them.

"Yeah, she's scary but she's taught me everything I know. She's like my mother figure," Ed said.

"What happened to your mum?" Ron said bluntly.

Ed was quiet and it became very awkward. Hermione and Ginny both smacked Ron on the head.

"Sorry about Ron," Ginny said. "He's an idiot."

"Hey!"

"It's fine," Ed said.

Then a tiny owl started hooting and flying about in his cage. Ron groaned as he walked towards it.

"Shut up Pig," Ron said. 'Who the hell names their name Pig? Crazy wizards and their weird names…'

Harry looked confused. "Er- why are you calling that owl pig?"

"Because it's being stupid. It's actual name is Pigwidgeon," Ginny replied.

"Yeah that's totally not a stupid name at all," Ron said sarcastically. "Ginny was the one who named him. She thinks it's a cute name. I tried changing it but he won't respond to anything else. So now he's Pig." Ed couldn't help but snort at that.

"He is pretty cute though," Ed said.

"Do you have one Ed?" Hermione asked.

"No, but I do have a pet."

"Can we see it?" Harry asked curiously.

Ed shrugged. "Sure. Celosia!" He called.

The others jumped back as Celosia suddenly 'flamed' here. Then they all started gaping. Ron's expression was the most hilarious.

"T-that's a phoenix!" Hermione finally said.

"Gee I couldn't tell," Ed said sarcastically.

"How'd you get him?!" Ron exclaimed.

"I got her," the girls snorted, "at the Magical Menagerie a few months ago. I was just in the shop looking for a pet when she landed on my shoulder," Ed explained.

"The only other phoenix we know of is Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix," Harry said.

Ron couldn't help but look at the phoenix jealously.

"Where's Crookshanks?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Who's that?" Ed asked.

"My pet cat," Hermione said. "He's probably out in the garden messing with the gnomes."

"So Percy's enjoying work?" Harry asked Ron as he sat down on his bed.

"Enjoying it? More like obsessed," Ron said darkly. "I bet he would never come home unless Dad made him. Make sure you NEVER mention his boss. According to Mr. Crouch. . . as I was saying to Mr. Crouch. . . Mr. Crouch is of the opinion. . . Mr. Crouch was telling me. . . They'll be announcing their engagement any day now. "

Ed laughed. "You're pretty funny Ron." Ron grinned at him.

"How was your summer Harry?" Hermione asked him. "I hope you've got all our food parcels."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, those cakes saved my life."

"Are your relatives really that bad?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, we're not that fond of each other, that's for sure. I live with my aunt and uncle. They have a son named Dudley," Harry explained.

Ed snorted. "Poor kid. Imagine having that name for the rest of your life. I bet job employment would be embarrassing."

Harry laughed. "His mum calls him 'Duddikins'."

"That's even worse!"

We all just started laughing and had a nice conversation. It helped Ed get to know them more. They seemed like nice people. Ed made observations on all of them. Harry was very humble, not wanting to take credit for everything. Ron was the jokester out of them (although that probably suits the twins more). Hermione was the brains of the group. She also seemed to come off as a know-it-all. He got the feeling that while Ginny was pretty associated with them that she doesn't really spend a lot of time with them. Ginny was nice but had a bit of a fiery temper. It reminded him of Winry.

What happened next however, interested him.

Ron said, "Hey have you heard from-?" Hermione suddenly glared intensely at him.

Ginny looked curiously between them while Ed thought about it. 'Who were they talking about? And why can't they talk about them?'

Hermione then decided to avert the conversation, saying, "Let's go help your mum prepare dinner. I think they've stopped arguing."

"Yeah, let's do that," Ron agreed.

They all walked out of the room and went down the multiple stairways to the kitchen. There, they found a bad-tempered Mrs. Weasley preparing dinner.

"Hello dears," she said. "We're eating in the garden. There's not enough room in here for all of us. Girls, if you could take the plates out, that would be great. And Harry and Ron can get the silverware. Ed, I'd like to ask you to see if Bill and Charlie need help setting up the tables outside."

They all nodded and decided to just do the tasks to prevent Mrs. Weasley from blowing up again. Ed went outside to where Bill and Charlie were setting up two tables. He then saw a flash of orange fur and saw a cat land near him. The cat began chasing what looked to be a muddy potato. Ed recognized it as a gnome from one of the books he read at Hogwarts.

Suddenly, he heard a 'BANG' and turned around to see Bill and Charlie using their wands to levitate the tables and trying to smash the other's out of the air. Ed walked over and began to cheer along with the twins. Ginny began giggling and Ed saw Hermione unsure of what to do. "Lighten up, Hermione!" Ed said to her. She nodded and for some reason started blushing again.

Soon, Harry and Ron were outside watching the fight as well. Bill then hit Charlie's table and managed to knock off one of its legs. Then a window busted open and Percy's head poked out of it.

"Will you keep it down?!" He bellowed.

"Sorry, Percy," Bill said, grinning. "How are the cauldron bottoms going?"

"Very badly," Percy said Peevishly, slamming the window closed. Bill and Charlie then placed the tables on the ground. Bill repaired Charlie's table and Charlie made tablecloths appear and draped them over the tables.

"Hey Ed, you should show them Celosia!" Ginny said.

Ed then called out for her and she once again appeared, flames and everything. As they all watch the flame bird in awe, Mrs. Weasley brings out the food. They all sat down to eat and Ed helped himself to 2nd and 3rd helpings. Mrs. Weasley seemed happy at his appetite.

Everyone at the table was having mini conversations. Percy was telling his dad about the cauldron bottoms. ('No one gives a damn about cauldron bottoms!')

"I've already told Mr. Crouch that the report will be ready on Tuesday," Percy told his dad in a pompous manner. "It's a bit sooner than he expected, but I like to be on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time, I mean, it's extremely busy in our department just now, what with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman -"

"I like Ludo," Mr. Weasley said. "He's the one that got us such good tickets for the Cup. I did him a favor. His brother Otto got into a spot of trouble - a lawnmower with supernatural powers - I smoothed the whole thing over."

"Bagman's likable enough," Percy dismissed. "But how he became Head of Department...when I compare him to Mr. Crouch!" 'We get it, he's some sort of god to you! You might as well be married to him…'

"I can't see Mr. Crouch losing a member of our department and not trying to find out what's happened to them. You realize Bertha Jorkins has been missing for over a month now? Went on holiday to Albania and never came back?"

Ed frowned. 'How odd. Isn't Albania the last place Voldemort was rumoured to be? That can't be too much of a coincidence, right? I'll ask Dumbledore about it later. It's also suspicious that this Bagman hasn't looked for her yet. Then again, these wizards seem to think he's very carefree. Could it be a cover though?'

"Yes, I was asking Ludo about that," said Mr. Weasley, frowning. "He says Bertha's gotten lost plenty of times before now - though I must say, if it was someone in my department, I'd be worried. . . . "

"Oh Bertha's hopeless, all right," said Percy. "I hear she's been shunted from department to department for years, much more trouble than she's worth. . . but all the same, Bagman ought to be trying to find her. Mr. Crouch has been taking a personal interest, she worked in our department at one time, you know, and I think Mr. Crouch was quite fond of her - but Bagman just keeps laughing and saying she probably misread the map and ended up in Australia instead of Albania. However" - Percy heaved an impressive sigh and took a deep swig of elderflower wine - "we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Cooperation without trying to find members of other departments too. As you know, we've got another big event to organize right after the World Cup. "

'That's also odd. If Bertha's so hopeless, why would someone like Mr. Crouch, someone like Percy idolizes, be interested in her? This whole Bertha thing seems fishy.'

Percy cleared his throat. "You know the one I'm talking about, Father. " He raised his voice slightly. "The top-secret one. "

Ron rolled his eyes at that. "He's been trying to get us to ask him what that event is, ever since he's started work. Probably an exhibition of thick-cauldron bottoms." Ed laughed at that. 'The only big event I know of is the Triwizard Tournament. Percy's probably talking about that.'

Ed then turned to see Fred, George, and Charlie's conversation about the World Cup. Ed read about Quidditch at Hogwarts and he didn't think that much of it. Maybe he'll give it a go but honestly, he would rather stay on the ground.

"...Krum's one decent player. Ireland's got seven," Charlie argued. "I wish England had got through. That was embarrassing, that was. "

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten," said Charlie gloomily. "Shocking performance. And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland was slaughtered by Luxembourg. "

Ed whistled. "You really keep up on Quidditch don't you?"

Charlie laughed. "Yeah. I was on the Gryffindor quidditch team back when I went to Hogwarts. Probably would have played for England if I didn't decide to be a dragon keeper."

"That sounds really cool. Can you tell me about it?"

Ed and Charlie talked about Charlie's job for a little while. Out of the corner of his eye, Ed noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione talking secretly. They were talking too quietly for Ed to hear what they were saying though.

"Look at the time," Mrs. Weasley said. "You lot should get to bed. You'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup."

Ed groaned eternally. He had also mastered apparition but obviously couldn't do it, otherwise it would raise suspicion.

"Harry, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup, the match went on for five days last time. Do you need me to get your supplies as well, Ed? "

"I already bought my things, but thanks for offering," Ed said to her.

"I didn't see you bring that much stuff here though?" Ron said.

"It's at Hogwarts."

"How come it's already there?" Hermione asked.

'Damn these nosy wizards!' "I was taken there a bit early for some final arrangements!" Ed said hastily. They seemed to accept that as an answer, luckily for Ed.

"I hope the match lasts for five days!" Harry said.

"Well, I certainly don't," said Percy sanctimoniously. "I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days."

'Of course you would.' "Yeah, I'm not a very big fan of quidditch." Ed said.

Harry and Ron looked somewhat scandalized at that.

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" said Fred.

"That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!" said Percy, going very red in the face. "It was nothing personal!"

"It was," Fred whispered to them as they got up from the table. "We sent it. "

The Next Day

Ed felt himself being shaken lightly. "It's time to get up," Mrs. Weasley whispered to him.

Ed yawned and stretched as she woke the others up. The room was very crowded since five people were staying there.

"S time already?" Fred said groggily.

Everyone dressed in muggle, or Ed would rather say, normal clothing. 'I wouldn't say wearing basically a dress is normal.' They were all tired so they dressed in silence. Ed simply dressed up in black pants and a black shirt with a dark green jacket and black sneakers. He finished off, by putting his pocket watch in a pocket.

They came downstairs, where Mrs. Weasley was preparing breakfast for them. Mr. Weasley looked at them anxiously, wearing a golfing sweater with jeans a little too big for him held up by a large belt. "How do I look? Like a muggle?"

Ed found out very quickly that Mr. Weasley was very interested in 'muggle things'. He was tempted to show him his automail, but knew he couldn't do so.

"You look good Mr. Weasley," Harry said, smiling.

Ed also gave his approval. "You look just like a muggle dad," he agreed.

"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in. "

Harry knew that Apparating meant disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly in another, but had never known any Hogwarts student to do it, and understood that it was very difficult.

"So they're still in bed?" said Fred grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. "Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped Mrs. Weasley. 'Wish I could apparate…'

"Where have those girls got to?" Mrs. Weasley said, going out of the kitchen.

"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley, tucking the tickets safely into the back pocket of his jeans. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparition, and when it's not done property it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves. "

Everyone around the table except Harry winced. 'Luckily I haven't lost something like my leg when I learned how to.'

"Er - splinched?" said Harry.

"They left half of themselves behind," said Mr. Weasley, now spooning large amounts of treacle onto his porridge. "So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn't move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind. . . . . "

"Were they okay?" he asked, startled.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley matter-of-factly. "But they got a heavy fine, and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms - slower, but safer. "

'And also probably won't make you want to throw up.'

"But Bill and Charlie and Percy can all do it?"

"Charlie had to take the test twice," said Fred, grinning. "He failed the first time. Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?"

"She must have been so confused," Ed said, amused.

"Yes, well, he passed the second time," said Mrs. Weasley, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers.

"Percy only passed two weeks ago," said George. "He's been Apparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can. "

There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.

"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.

"Walk?" said Harry. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"

"Of course not. You guys would probably die by the time we get there," Ed said, rolling his eyes.

"And you won't?" Ron said grumpily.

"My teacher also made me exercise my body to stay in shape," Ed said. "Being fit in a battle helps a lot you know."

They were quiet as they took in this information.

"Your teacher sounds like a great person," Mr. Weasley said.

"Yeah," Ed smiled. "She's not doing too well at the moment though…" He remembered that her condition was getting worse and worse. She had a few more years at most. That put him in a bad mood.

It was quiet yet again, until Mrs. Weasley came back in with Hermione and Ginny in tow.

"We only need to walk a short way," Mr. Weasley said. "It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup. . . "

"George," Mrs. Weasley suddenly said. "What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!"

She took out her wand, pointing it at George and said, "Accio!"

Multiple colored sweets came out and George tried to grab them. Mrs. Weasley was furious. "I told you two to throw the lot away! Empty your pockets, the both of you!"

Ed wasn't sure whether he should be more amazed at the amount of sweets they had on them or the places where they were hidden.

"I told you two to throw them all away!" Mrs. Weasley said. "Accio! Accio! Accio!"

"We've spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at his mom.

"What a fine way to spend six months!" She shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more OWLS!"

The atmosphere was very tense after that and she was still glowering as she said goodbye to them. Although not as much as the twins.

"Well, have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday," Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley.

They began walking in the chilly air as the sun was rising.

"How does everyone get there without muggles noticing?" Harry asked Mr. Weasley.

"It was quite the hassle and planning," Mr. Weasley said. "At least 100,000 wizards come to the World Cup and we don't have a magical site where all of them could fit. We had to find a nice clear space to host it. We also had to stagger the arrivals so it doesn't seem too suspicious. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. A limited number use Muggle transport, but we can't have too many clogging up their buses and trains - remember, wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of course, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, well away from Muggles. I believe there's a handy wood they're using as the Apparition point. For those who don't want to Apparate, or can't, we use Portkeys. They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed. "

"What do portkeys look like?"

Ed answered this one. "They can look like anything. To make an object a portkey, you have to do an enchantment. Most people do ordinary objects that muggles can ignore."

They then started to climb up a hill and by the time they reached the top, everyone but Ed was panting and catching their breath.

"Ah, we've got 10 minutes before the portkey activates," Mr. Weasley said, after catching his breath. "Let's go find it."

They all started to search for it and then they heard a voice. "We've got it Arthur!"

They all turned to see two males, the older one holding an old shoe.

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley said, smiling.

They all strode over to them and Mr. Weasley shook the hand of the older male.

"This is Amos Diggory, Everyone," Mr. Weasley said. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Animals. I believe most of you know his son, Cedric?"

The other male raised a hand and smiled slightly. "Hey," he said to them.

Everyone said hi except Fred and George, for some reason.

"Long walk Arthur?" Amos asked him.

"Not too bad. We live just on the other side of the village. You?"

"Ha! We had to get up at two didn't we, Cedric? You don't know how happy I'll be once he passes his apparition test. Still, not complaining. I wouldn't miss the World Cup, even for a bag of galleons! And the tickets cost about half of that." Amos then looked at the others. "All of these yours?"

Ed snorted. "I would feel bad if they all were," he said.

Amos laughed at that. "Ho ho! And who might you be then?"

Ed stuck out his hand. "Edward Elric. I'm gonna be a 4th year exchange student at Hogwarts this year."

Mr. Diggory raised his eyebrows at that. "Really? I believe the last exchange student Hogwarts had was centuries ago!"

Mr. Weasley then introduced the others. "Only the red heads are mine. This is Hermione- a friend of Ron's and this is Harry…"

"Harry Potter?" Mr. Diggory said, looking wide eyed. 'I feel bad for him if that's the same reaction people have when they meet him.'

Harry shuffled his feet slightly. "Er- yeah?"

"Ced's talked about you of course! Told us all about playing against you last year. I just couldn't believe it! You've beaten Harry Potter!"

'So that's why the twins acted like that earlier.' Ed remembered that Harry and the twins told him that they were on the Gryffindor quidditch team.

Harry didn't reply and Fred and George scowled. Cedric just seemed embarrassed.

Amos kept talking about his son and then Ed decided to step in.

"Sir? You're embarrassing your son," Ed said, pointing to a blushing Cedric.

"Ah, sorry son, I got carried away…"

"Anyone else we're waiting for?" Mr Weasley asked, changing the subject.

"No, I don't think so. The Lovegoods are already there and Fawcetts couldn't get tickets. There aren't more of us are there?"

"No, that seems to be everyone." Mr. Weasley looked at his watch. "It's leaving in a minute, so everyone grab the boot!"

They all scrambled to place a finger on it. Ed touched it rather gingerly. No one else seemed to want to put more than a finger on it as well.

"Three...two...one," Mr. Weasley mumbled.

Suddenly they were transported and Ed felt the same feeling of his navel being jerked forward. Then they were on the ground again. Everyone but the Diggory's, Mr. Weasley, and Ed were all sprawled on the ground.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice.

They all stood up to see two wizards with parchment paper wearing muggle clothes, although very poorly. 'God these wizards need to up their knowledge on the outside world.'

"Morning Basil," Mr. Weasley said cheerfully. He handed him the portkey and Basil simply tossed it on a large pile of used portkeys.

"Hello there, Arthur," said Basil wearily. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right 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, the first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory. . . second field. . . ask for Mr. Payne. "

"Thanks Basil," Mr. Weasley said, beckoning the others to follow.

They began walking across the misty moor. Around 20 minutes later, they came across a stone cottage next to a gate. Behind it, were hundreds of tents they could make out if they focused. Then they seperated from the Diggory's and walked to the cottage.

A man was standing near the door. Ed could tell he was a non magic because he actually dresses normally and seemed baffled by the amount of tents.

"Good morning!," Mr. Weasley said to the man. "Would you be Mr. Roberts?"

"Aye, I would," the man replied. "And who are you?"

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

"Yep," Mr. Roberts said. "You've got a space up in the wood there. Just the one night?"

"Yes, that's it."

"So you'll be paying now then, right?"

"Oh yes, of course... let's see here." Mr. Weasley walked a couple of steps away, with some 'muggle money'. "So… this is a 10? And this is a 20? No… there's a five…"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Just let me deal with the money, sir." 'God these wizards can be so useless…'

Mr. Weasley gave him the money and Ed asked Mr. Roberts, "How much?"

"About 100 notes for the lot of you," he replied. Ed gave him that amount.

"So, you lot foreign?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Foreign?" Mr. Weasley said.

"You weren't the only ones who had trouble with money. Earlier these people tried giving me these giant gold coins!" Mr. Roberts said.

'Wow these wizards are even stupider than I thought.' "Uh yeah, we're not from around here," Ed said hastily. "Can we have change back?"

Mr. Roberts rummaged in a tin for change. "Come to think of it… it's never been this crowded before. Some sort of occasion?"

Ed impatiently held out his hand for the change, wanting to get out.

"Yeah, some of them were weirdos. One of them was wearing a poncho and a kilt." Ed facepalmed at that.

"It's like they all know each other. Like some sort of rally," Mr. Roberts said, looking at the tents.

Suddenly, a wizard appeared and shouted out, "Obliviate!"

"Woah!" Ed shouted, jumping back.

"Here's a map of the campsite. And your change," Mr. Roberts said, as if anything didn't happen.

"Thanks," said Ed.

The other wizard accompanied them to their campsite. The man looked like he hadn't had a good sleep in a decade.

"How many times did you have to do that to him?" Ed asked him.

"At least 10 times a day," he said tiredly. "Ludo Bagman's not helping either. Keeps on talking about bludgers and quaffles at the top of his voice. Man doesn't give a damn about anything. See you later, Arthur." The wizard walked away.

"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?"

"From what I've heard about him, he's an idiot," Ed snorted.

"Ed! That's not very nice!" Hermione reprimanded.

"Ludo's always been… rather lax about security. He used to play for the Wimbourne Wasps though. Best beater they ever had," Mr. Weasley said.

They continued walking towards their campsite and Ed saw all the tents around them. They clearly tried to not be suspicious, but they added weathervanes and chimneys on them. Ed saw one that was practically a house. 'Do these wizards not know the word discreet? I'm losing my mind with these crazy people. Damn you Grumman and Mustang. Speaking of them, I should write back to Mustang once this Cup is over. Haven't written to him in a little while.'

Finally, they reached the area they were given, indicated by a sign that said WEEZLY.

"This is a great spot!" Mr. Weasley said happily. "We're pretty close to the quidditch field here." He placed his backpack down.

"Don't do any magic," 'We can't do magic anywhere outside of school.' "We'll be putting up these tents by hand! Let's see- where should we start?"

Ed, Hermione, and Harry were the ones who set up the tents since they were the only ones who had some sort of knowledge about this.

"I think we'll be a bit cramped, but it'll be nice and cozy," Mr. Weasley said. "Let's go check it out."

The boys went into their tent and the girls went to theirs, which was smaller since there were only two of them. When they went in, Ed noticed Harry's jaw drop. Ed snickered slightly, bringing Harry out of his state of shock. The inside of the tent looked just like an apartment. It also smelled strangely of cats.

"Well, it's not for long," said Mr. Weasley, mopping his bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago. "

Mr. Weasley grabbed a rusty kettle and said, "We'll need to find someplace to get water."

"Why can't you just fill it using magic?" Ron whined.

"Ron, anti-Muggle security!" Mr. Weasley said at the same time as Ed said, "You wizards rely on magic too much!"

Ed then realised his small slip when he referred to himself as not one. Well, he was one he wasn't just… ok never mind. Luckily, no one seemed to notice his mistake.

Ed, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to go get the water. The other campers were starting to wake up, with the young ones waking up first. A tiny boy no older than two was crouched outside a large pyramid-shaped tent, holding a wand and poking happily at a slug in the grass, which was swelling slowly to the size of a salami. As they drew level with him, his mother came hurrying out of the tent.

"How many times, Kevin? You don't - touch - Daddy's - wand - yecchh!"

She had trodden on the giant slug, which burst. Her scolding carried after them on the still air, mingling with the little boy's yells "You bust slug! You bust slug!"

A short way farther on, they saw two little witches, barely older than Kevin, who were riding toy broomsticks that rose only high enough for the girls' toes to skim the dewy grass. A Ministry wizard had already spotted them; as he hurried past Harry, Ron, and Hermione he muttered distractedly, "In broad daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose -"

"Remind me to never have kids," Ed mumbled, which got the others chuckling.

Ed noticed a tent with a banner saying THE SALEM WITCHES' INSTITUTE. He remembered that it was a school for witches in a country called America.

They then all looked to see a tent so green that Ed thought something was wrong with his vision for a bit.

"Hey guys!," said a boy about the Golden Trio's age who was at the green tent.

"Hey Seamus, hey Dean," Ron said. Ed also saw a woman that he assumed was Seamus's mother.

"Ministry's not too happy with our decorations," Seamus said, grinning. 'I wouldn't be either.'

Ah, why shouldn't we show our colors?" said Mrs. Finnigan. "You should see what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents. You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?" she added, eyeing Harry, Ron,Hermione, and Ed beadily. When they had assured her that they were indeed supporting Ireland, they set off again, though, as Ron said, "Like we'd say anything else surrounded by that lot."

"Let's go see what the Bulgarians got," Ed suggested.

They walked over to their tents, which was marked by their flag. They didn't have any decorations like the Irish, but they all seemed to have posters of this one male, grouchy looking person.

"Krum," said Ron quietly.

"What?" said Hermione.

"Krum!" said Ron. "Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker!"

"He looks really grumpy," said Hermione, looking around at the many Krum's blinking and scowling at them.

"'Really grumpy?" Ron raised his eyes to the heavens. "Who cares what he looks like? He's unbelievable. He's really young too. Only just eighteen or something. He's a genius, you wait until tonight, you'll see. "

"Actually I'm pretty sure he's still in-" Ed tried to say but he was interrupted by two wizards having a heated argument.

"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious -"

"I bought this in a Muggle shop," said the old wizard stubbornly. "Muggles wear them. "

"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these," said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers.

"I'm not putting them on," said old Archie in indignation. "I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks. "

Hermione had a serious case of the giggles and Ed had pretty much given up on these people.

After they made a few more stops, to Ed's annoyance, they finally got the damn water and started walking back to the campsite.

"What took you guys so long?" Asked George.

"Just catching up with some people we know," Ron said. "How's the fire going?"

"Dad's having fun with the matches." Fred said.

They all look to see Mr. Weasley failing at lighting a match, although looked excited.

Ed couldn't help but smirk when he imagined Mustang seeing this. He could imagine his hands itching for him to snap them and watching painfully.

When he finally lit one up, but dropped it in surprise, Ed then turned to Hermione. "Please help him. I can't watch this anymore."

Hermione helped Mr. Weasley set up the fire and then they had to wait before it was hot enough to cook anything. Mr. Weasley then pointed to ministry workers explaining their jobs as they walked by to Harry, Hermione, and Ed.

"That was Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of the Goblin Liaison Office. . . . Here comes Gilbert Wimple; he's with the Committee on Experimental Charms; he's had those horns for a while now. . . Hello, Arnie. . . Arnold Peasegood, he's an Obliviator - member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, you know. . . and that's Bode and Croaker. . . they're Unspeakables. . . . "

"They're what?"

"From the Department of Mysteries, top secret, no idea what they get up to. . . . "

"Probably spy work or top-secret research," Ed guessed.

"That would make sense," Hermione agreed.

Finally, the fire was ready and as they started cooking eggs and sausages, Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived.

"Just Apparated, Dad," said Percy loudly. Ed couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Ah, excellent, lunch!"

They were halfway through their plates of eggs and sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man who was striding toward them. "Aha!" he said. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"

Ludo Bagman was easily the most noticeable person Harry had seen so far, even including old Archie in his flowered nightdress. 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, but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like a very overgrown schoolboy. 'Exactly how I expected for him to look.'

"Ahoy there!" The man grinned, practically skipping over to them.

"Arthur, old man," he puffed as he reached the campfire, "what a day, eh? What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming. . . and hardly a hiccough in the arrangements. . . . Not much for me to do!"

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 his disapproval of the way Ludo Bagman ran his department did not prevent him from wanting to make a good impression.

"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, Harry Potter, and Edward Elric."

Bagman did the smallest of double takes when he heard Harry's name, and his eyes performed the familiar flick upward to the scar on Harry's forehead. He also looked at Ed curiously.

"This is Ludo Bagman," Mr. Weasley introduced. "He's the reason we've got such good tickets for the Cup!"

Ludo merely waved his hand, acting as though it was nothing.

"Fancy a flutter on the match?" Bagman said eagerly. "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. "

'This guy's definitely gonna go broke. And Hagrid says I'm irresponsible with my money,' Ed thought irritatedly.

"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!"

Arthur looked disapproving at his sons. "Boys… that has to be all your savings! What would your mother think?"

Ed agreed with him on this one. "I think betting all of your money is a bad idea. Don't you need that?"

"Aw come on Eddie," they said.

"Quit calling me that!"

"What's the fun," Fred said.

"Without the risk?" George finished.

Ed sighed and mumbled, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Don't be a spoilsport, my boy!" boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum Will 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. . . . "

Bagman gave a slip of paper to George, who said, "Cheers." And then turned to Mr. Weasley and asked for a brew.

Bagman then mentioned Mr. Crouch. To Percy, the name was like a switch. He immediately became animated and talked and bragged about his boss.

"He speaks over 200 languages! Mermish and Gobbledegook and troll…"

"Anyone can speak Troll," said Fred dismissively. "All you have to do is point and grunt." To which Percy glared fiercely at and began stoking the kettle vigorously to bring it back to a boil.

Ed then remembered that Bertha Jorkins was a member of his department. "Have you looked for Bertha yet?" He asked Bagman.

"Oh I'm sure she'll turn up eventually," Bagman dismissed. "Her memory and sense of direction are hopeless. She's probably just lost."

"Even so, then there's a reason to find her. If someone's lost or missing, I'm pretty sure you don't ignore that," Ed pointed out.

Bagman actually quieted down, thinking about it. Mr. Weasley looked at him gratefully and Percy looked kinda impressed by his logic.

"Well we can't even spare anyone at the moment," Bagman finally said. 'Excuses,' Ed mentally scoffed. "Dear old Barty keeps on telling me to do so."

Ed remembered about Crouch. 'Does he do it because it's the right thing to do, or because he has some sort of interest in her?' Ed knew it wasn't really his place or his mission to think about this, but it may be useful in some way, so he stored it in his mind.

"Speak of the devil! Barty over here!" Bagman said.

A man with a toothbrush moustache and dressed in a stiff suit suddenly aparated near them. Ed could definitely see how someone like Percy would idolize him. Ed made sure to analyze him thoroughly.

"Pull up a bit of grass, Barty," Bagman said cheerfully.

"No, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, looking impatient. "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians want an extra 12 seats in the Top Box."

"Oh is that what they're after?" said Bagman. I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent." Ed snorted.

"Mr. Crouch!" Said Percy, quickly going in front of him and did a sort of bow. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

He looked slightly surprised. "Yes, uh thank you Weatherby."

Percy went a little pink, getting him the tea as almost everyone had to stifle their giggles.

"I've been needing a word with you as well, Arthur," Mr. Crouch said, turning to him. "Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets. "

Mr. Weasley sighed, saying, "I've owled him about that issue. Carpets are defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?"

"Highly doubt it. He's desperate to export here," Mr. Crouch replied.

"Well us english men will stick with brooms, right?" Mr. Bagman asked.

Ed rather not stick with them. It sounded more appealing to fly on a nice carpet then on a stick.

"Ali thinks there's a niche in the market for a family vehicle, said Mr. Crouch. "I remember my grandfather had an Axminster that could seat twelve - but that was before carpets were banned, of course. "

This made Ed think. 'He talks like he wants everyone to get it in their heads that he and his family don't associate with anything bad. Is he hiding something? Or did something happen to his family in the past? Could this connect to Bertha? Let's review the facts. Crouch apparently wants to prove he's a good guy for some reason. He seems interested in Bertha for some reason. But why would a clearly respected man like him be interested in someone like Bertha? An apparently useless and hopeless person? She doesn't really have anything to offer. Maybe something about her family? I've never heard of her family in any of the books I've read though. Something she has? That could be it, but her family doesn't seem to have anything of importance. The only thing that I think could be it is if she found something about him or his family that she wasn't supposed to know. That fits. Percy said that she was in his department at one point, so she would be pretty close to him. But she was also shunted out of his department. Maybe because she found out something.'

'But he's also interested in her. Maybe Percy saw it as interest when really, he was just keeping an eye on her. There's one problem though. A respected man like him must be a decent wizard. He could have simply done a memory charm. Still, this still seems most likely. Bertha went missing in Albania, where Voldemort was rumoured to last be. Maybe Crouch decided to simply snuff her out? No. He kept on insisting that Bagman looked for her. Maybe it's to avoid suspicion, but no one would accuse him of anything. Maybe I'm looking into this too much.'

As Ed was deep in thought, Crouch and Bagman left, saying something about meeting the Bulgarians.

"What are they talking about dad?" Fred asked. "What's happening at Hogwarts this year?"

"Oh, are you talking about the-" Mr. Weasley's mouth went over Ed's.

"It's classified information. We shouldn't be talking about it. You'll find out soon enough," Mr. Weasley said, smiling.

"Wait, you know what's going on?" Ron exclaimed.

"Uh, yeah. Dumbledore told me when I went to Hogwarts," Ed said. It was the truth, he just didn't say why.

"Why did he tell you?" Ginny asked.

Ed shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "I guess he just wanted to tell me about it along with everything else about Hogwarts."

"Come on Ed! Can't you tell us? We're your best pals!" The twins said.

The twins reminded him of Ling. "Sorry guys. If I'm not supposed to tell you, I can't."

They then decided to go out and buy some merch.

"I've been saving every knut for this!" Ron said as he, Ed, Harry, and Hermione walked.

Ron bought a green shamrock hat and a large green rosette. He also bought a small Viktor Krum figurine that kept scowling.

Ed then noticed a cart with what looked like brass binoculars but with weird settings. "What are these ma'am?"

The lady smiled. "Omnioculars! You can replay action. . . slow everything down. . . and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. Bargain - ten Galleons each."

Ron looked longingly at them. Ed then decided. "I would like to buy four of them please," he told the witch.

The Golden Trio looked wide eyed at him. "You shouldn't be spending that much money, Ed!" Harry said.

Ron's ears went red. "You really shouldn't…" he said weakly.

Ed waved it off, saying, "This won't even make a difference to me. Just consider this as an early Christmas or birthday present."

Hermione looked curious. "Really? How do you have so much money?"

Ed cursed to himself. "My parents left me a fortune," he made up. "They were really wealthy but you've probably never heard of them. They're pretty humble and careful with money."

Hermione looked somewhat sceptical but decided to let it slide. As Ed paid for the omniculars, the witch handed each of them one.

They finally finished buying souvenirs and headed back, to where the rest of them, except Fred and George, bought something as well.

"Good you guys are back," Mr. Weasley said. "Let's go!"

They all followed the lantern trail, making sure they don't get separated by the people surrounding them. Everyone was chattering and singing excitedly as they walked to the stadium.

They finally arrived, and Ed can say he was definitely impressed. The thing was made of golden walls and the size of it was incredible.

"Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. 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," Mr. Weasley said.

He led the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards. A ministry witch was there and gave them approval to the Top Box when she saw their tickets. "Go up as high as you can," she said to them.

Their lot kept on climbing and climbing until they reached a small box at the very top and had a perfect view of the field below. They watched as other witches and wizards were settling down as they did the same.

He then heard Harry say, "Dobby?" to a house elf. Who's Dobby?

Apparently not this house elf, who said, "Did yous just call me Dobby, Sir?" She asked Harry.

"Sorry," Harry said hastily. "I thought you were someone else."

"But I knows Dobby too!" The house elf replied. She then noticed Harry's scar. "Yous is surely Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, I am," Harry said.

"Dobby talks of you all the time!" She said, looking awestruck.

"How freedom suiting him?" Harry asked. 'Dobby must be a house elf.'

"I don't think yous is doing a favor when setting Dobby free, sir," she said, shaking her head.

Harry looked confused. "Why not?"

"Freedom has gotten to Dobby's head, sir."

She hesitated for a bit, and then said in a whisper, "He is wanting pay for his work."

Harry frowned. "What's wrong with that?"

"Harry, it's not the house elves' way. A house elf cannot survive without someone to serve. They also enjoy work and don't care about money. Dobby must be just a special case," Ed interjected. He then turned to the house elf. "What's your name?" Ed asked.

"I-it be Winky Sir!" She squeaked.

"I'm Edward Elric," he greeted her.

"Thank yous for understanding about the duty of us house elves!" She squeaked.

He shrugged. "I just read."

Ed then noticed her looking afraid. "What's wrong Winky?"

"Winky is afraid of heights, sir. But Winky obeys Master Crouch so she does as he says. Master Crouch told Winky to saves him a spot."

Ed frowned slightly. 'So this is Mr. Crouch's house elf, huh? What also interests me is that he wants her to save him a spot. But this is the top box. He probably has a reserved seat already.' Ed keeps on telling himself that this isn't what he should be focusing on but he just has a bad feeling about this that he just can't shake off.

"House elves are weird," Ron muttered.

"Dobby was weirder," Harry admitted.

Ron then started to test out his omnioculars. "Woah, these are wicked!"

Hermione was reading the program. "Ooh! There's a display from the team mascots before the match!"

"Those are always worth watching," Mr. Weasley said.

As people piled in, they all greeted them. When the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge came, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off and broke. Ed had to try really hard to not laugh.

Fudge greeted Harry like an old friend or a relative, which made Percy rather jealous. Fudge beckoned the Bulgarian Minister over. He looked like an idiot, trying to mime. "This is HARRY POTTER. See the scar," he pointed at it. The Bulgarian Minister looked at it excitedly.

"Хубаво е да се запознаем с вас," ("It's nice to meet you sir,") Ed said.

All of them looked surprised at him, especially the ministers. "Well I'll be! Someone that knows English AND Bulgarian!" Fudge said. "You're Edward Elric, right? Dumbledore told me about you!"

Ed saw the recognition in his eyes and knew that Fudge was told about him. It made sense after all. He WAS the Minister of Magic. Although, from what Ed had seen from him, he seems to care a lot about his image. Maybe even more than the good of the people, unless it boosts his image. That's how politicians are, and Ed hated them. Still, he greeted him and forced a smile.

"How'd you learn Bulgarian?" Ginny asked Ed.

"I just like learning languages in my spare time," Ed said.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Great. Another Hermione." That caused him to get a slap from Hermione.

"Ah... Lucius!" Fudge exclaimed, beckoning over a man with platinum blonde hair along with his wife and son. Ed heard Ron mutter 'Malfoy' under his breath. So these were the Malfoy's? They just looked like stuck up people with sticks up their ass. Ed dealt with plenty of them.

"Ah, Fudge." Lucius said, holding out his hand. I don't think you've met my wife Narcissa? Or our son Draco?" 'Draco? Pfft. You can't even shorten it to make it sound normal!'

It was obvious that they were being nice to Fudge because they also want to boost their image and get in with powerful people. Pity Fudge is too dense to see that.

"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 very tense and awkward moment. Clearly these two have some bad blood. Or at least, dislike each other.

"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?" Ed couldn't help but clench his fist.

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.

Mr. Malfoy's eyes had returned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared determinedly back at him. Ed remembered Hermione mentioning that she was a muggleborn, therefore a pureblood wizard like Lucius, would look at her like scum. 'Wizards. The whole pureblood and half-blood thing is absolute bullshit. Who cares who you're descended from? Wizards probably just existed from muggleborns. And if the wizards kept to themselves, they would have gone extinct long ago.'

"It's rude to stare at people you know, sir," Ed said to Lucius.

Lucius then turned to Ed. "And who might you be?"

"Edward Elric."

"I've never heard of an Elric before. Who are your parents, boy?" Lucius demanded.

"None of your business," Ed said coolly.

Lucius looked at him and sneered, "Haven't you've been taught to respect your elders?"

"Haven't you've been taught to not be a dick?" Ed shot back.

Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley's all fought back laughter.

Lucius narrowed his eyes. "Be careful of who you mess with." Then he and his family went to get some seats. Draco turned around for a second and shot them a contemptuous look.

"Slimy gits," Ron muttered. Ed grunted in agreement.

"Seriously though Ed," Hermione said, blushing. 'Why does she keep on blushing?' "I'm flattered that you did that for me but that was really risky! Imagine what he could do to you!"

Ed snorted. "He could try." Ed was silently grateful for the protection the Amestris Military gives him.

Ludo Bagman then charged into the box. "Everyone ready?" He asked excitedly.

"Ready when you are Ludo," Fudge replied.

Bagman beamed and then took out his wand and muttered, "Sonorus" and began talking to the crowd, his voice magnified.

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

The crowd began to scream and cheer, with flags waving around. The giant blackboard was then cleared of a commercial and instead had a scoreboard, each team having zero points.

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

Pretty much everyone there began to be placed in a trance. For the mascots were veela, women with perfect, pale skin and white blonde hair. Ed had to fight in order to not fall under the trance. He began to repeat 'I'm in love with Winry' multiple times in his head.

Hermione looked crossed as she dragged Ron and Harry back into the box as they looked like they were gonna jump off. Ron had already brought a leg over. The crowd began booing angrily once the veela left. Harry and Ron suddenly looked confused as to why they were wearing green shamrocks and Ron began to shred them. Mr. Weasley stopped him though.

"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air. . . for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

The crowd began to oohhh and ahhhh as a rainbow shot across the field. A giant green shamrock that was made of leprechauns began to fly overhead raining leprechaun gold from above.

"Excellent!" Cheered Ron, as he grabbed some. He then stuffed some of the gold coins into Ed's hands. "Now you'll have to buy me a Christmas present. Ha!"

Ed felt bad for Ron, knowing that it'll disappear, so he didn't tell him. The leprechauns then left the field and sat crossed legged across the veela.

"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 Krum! Viktor Krum!" Ron said excitedly, pointing at him with his omnioculars on.

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

Ed watched through the omnioculars at the seven quidditch players in green and saw the world Firebolt on each of their brooms.

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

A short, bald man with an impressive moustache walked onto the field, broomstick and hand and some sort of container in the other. He placed the container on the ground and kicked it open. Four balls soared into the air and soon he got onto his broom as well.

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

Ed watched all of this, finding himself surprised as he was actually enjoying it. Ed was glad he bought the omnioculars. These guys were so fast it was hard to keep track of them.

HAWKSHEAD ATTACKING FORMATION, he read as he 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?" Harry yelled, looking wildly around through his Omnioculars. "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"

"Harry, 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. Harry looked quickly over the top of his 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.

It was intense, as the Irish players had an intense defence, but finally the Bulgarians were able to break through and score their first goal. Ed had to avert his gaze when the veela started dancing again.

"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. Harry followed their descent through his Omnioculars, squinting to see where the Snitch was -

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

She was half right - at the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiraled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the stadium. A huge groan rose from the Irish seats. Ed was impressed at the grouchy seeker's skill.

"Fool!" moaned Mr. Weasley. "Krum was feinting!"

"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. . . . "

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 goal posts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Whatever happened was over so quickly Harry didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowd, and Mostafa's long, shrill whistle blast, told him 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 and Harry and Ed stuffed their fingers into their ears, but Hermione, who hadn't bothered, was soon laughing. They turned to look at her.

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

They 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; Harry, 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, Ed saw that they didn't look remotely beautiful now. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders -

"And that, boys," yelled Mr. Weasley 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.

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

"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 Ed couldn't blame him; one of the veela had thrown a handful of fire and set his broom tail alight.

"Look at Lynch!" Harry suddenly yelled.

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

"He's seen the Snitch!" Harry 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, Harry 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 Harry.

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 Harry.

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!" Harry 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. . . . "

"Looks like someones got a crush," Ed teased Hermione.

Hermione flushed. "I-I'm just saying the truth!" Ed noticed Ron suddenly scowling. He already knew that Hermione and Ron liked each other but they were both too stupid to see it.

They then looked to see the Bulgarian Minister looking forlorn, but accepting, talking with Fudge.

"Vell, ve fought bravely," The Bulgarian Minister said.

Fudge looked outraged. "You can speak english! I've been miming all day!"

The Bulgarian Minister shrugged. "Vell it vos very funny."

"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.

"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.

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.

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 Confolly'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.

After the match had ended, they all went back to their campsite. They decided to sleep before going back to The Burrow. As Ed closed his eyes, he could hear the ministry officials outside, trying to calm everyone down. His last thought before sleeping was about those poor poor people.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes again when he heard screaming.