Chapter Seven

England vs. the United States of America

They all followed the path towards the woods were the sounds of merchants were Apparating with trolleys. Harry looked at what they had to offer. There were the nation's flags of both teams that sang the national anthem of their country, miniature bird-like statues that stretched and flapped their wings when stroked, Omnioculars, and stones that shouted out the players names. Harry bought a flag of England and a program. They continued holding their purchases as they continued through the woods on a lantern-lit trail. Immense golden wall were seen as they approached the stadium and Harry could hear Emily's awing as she too saw the stadium.

They gave their tickets to the Ministry official and proceeded toward the prime seats of the stadium. They made their ways toward the prime seats; which were situated half-ways on the field where they had an excellent view of the stadium. The stadium slowly filled up as the witches and wizards from all parts of the world gathered to their seats.

"Hello Arthur," a voice spoke.

Harry turned to see a short witch with gray hair that Harry had seen before.

"Hello Minister. How are you?" Mr. Weasley replied.

"This is one of the Ministers of Magic here; along with his son and friend," she said introducing another wizard with black hair. Beside him were the same couple they had seen by the lake and near the American campsite. They continued to talk as both Jason and Juliet took seats next to Harry.

"Hello Aurelio," the American Minister said to another person and Harry could tell from his voice that he was displeased. Harry turned to see a man with dark brown hair with hints of gray. With him was Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and the two that were with them.

"Hello Minister," the man named Aurelio said. "This is my son, Nelson, and his friend, Helen. My nephew, Draco, and his friend, Pansy."

Malfoy took a look at Harry then a look on Jason and Harry could tell that there was dried blood on Malfoy's face. Malfoy took his seat with his uncle and cousin. Harry faced forward to face the pitch as the stadium slowly filled. On one side of the field was a blackboard with writing appearing as if an invisible hand was writing on it with advertisements.

"Are we ready to go Minister?" a voice said.

"Ready when you are, Thomas," the Minister for America said.

The man named Thomas crossed Harry's line of vision and pointed his wand at his throat. The man had gray hair and round spectacles. His voice echoed throughout the stadium.

"Welcome to the four hundred and twenty-fifth Quidditch World Cup!"

The spectators screamed and clapped while others waved banners of the teams they were supporting. The blackboard wiped the last message and now displayed: ENGLAND: 0, USA: 0.

"Allow me to introduce the national mascots for England!"

On the right-hand side of the field came creatures that had the head of an eagle and the body of a lion as music was being played. Harry could tell they were griffins and they were led by other wizards. Some of the wizards climbed on the backs of some of the griffins as they proceeded to ride them around the pitch with banners of the flag of England in their hands. They continued to ride them around the pitch; then landed on the far end of the pitch.

"Now it's time for the national mascots for the United States of America!"

A screech was heard and coming high above the left-hand side of the field came five birds in a V-formation flying over the hoops before diving toward the pitch with majestic music being played. Harry could tell when they passed by him as they circled the pitch that they were brown birds with white heads. Fireworks were seen exploding overhead and in tune with the music being played. The music changed tune and some of the fireworks became fiery birds; that looked liked the ones circling the pitch, as they started to play a game of Quidditch. They acted like a real team with fourteen birds flying in the game. One of the birds scored by hitting the Quaffle with its wing after it had tossed it up with its talons, another hit a Bludger with its wing toward the one who shot the goal just as it hit the Quaffle, and another caught the Golden Snitch in its talons just as the tempo slowed down and became a slow majestic tune. At that time the fourteen birds converged into one magnificent large bird. It flew around the pitch showering the pitch and crowd with sparks. As the song neared its end; on the final note, the bird made a majestic pose before exploding in the center of the pitch.

The crowd erupted into applause and Harry heard Ron mutter 'show-offs' as the birds flew towards some wizards on the ground while maintaining their V-formation.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome the England National Quidditch Team! I give you Smith, Johns, Johnson, David, White, Thompson, and Young!"

Seven white blurs came from the entrance far below as Harry and the rest of the supporters of England applauded. They came too fast to be seen and Harry heard Emily's awed sounds as they came on the pitch.

"And now I present the United States of America National Quidditch Team! I give you Kelley, Kelley, Nira, Broussard, Cabello, Williams, and Sheffield!"

Seven red blurs came from the same entrance as Harry heard the United States supporters made themselves heard.

"And now our official for today all the way from France, Beau Campbell!"

Harry got his Omnioculars ready as Campbell released the balls.

"They're off! Broussard, David, Cabello, back to Williams!"

It was as intense as it was when Harry watched Ireland and Bulgaria played. The Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to each other. The England Chasers were; although superior, couldn't keep hold of the Quaffle since the United States Beaters were removing the possession of the Quaffle from them. The England Chasers shot at the goal, but the United States Keeper was able to defend the goal and pass it to Broussard. The game was becoming intense with both sides loosing possession to the Quaffle due to it being intercepted or being knocked out by the Beaters. It took nearly an hour until England scored making the score 10-nil. The game continued with the United States Beaters clearly making themselves noticed as they continued to hit the Bludgers toward the England Chasers.

Both Seekers made a very steep dive which caused the crowd to gasp. Harry rose out of his seat with Ron and Jason as the Seekers neared the ground. They both pulled out of the dive and the England Seeker, Young, was hit by a Bludger in the shoulder and hit the ground hard. Campbell's whistle sounded as trained mediwizards rushed on the field to check on Young. Play then resumed with the United States in possession of the Quaffle.

Two hours past with the score tied at 10-10 and no one could hold onto the Quaffle for just a few seconds. Both Seekers dove toward the ground again, but the United States' Seeker was hit by a Bludger, and; unfortunately, hit the Seeker for England as he was shot off-course. They both hit the ground hard landing one on top of the other. The game stopped as the mediwizards came on the field again to check on them, and no penalty was given; despite Ron's protest.

The game continued for the next hour as both teams scored twice making the score 30-30. The game continued to become intense as the United States Beaters started to hit a single Bludger at the same time. Their tactics worked and the United States now led 40-30. Both Seekers dove again to the ground. They both pulled out of the dive and streaked across the pitch. Young was hit by a Bludger in the chest and the United States Seeker, Sheffield, caught the Snitch. The United States supporters erupted into applause as the United States team did a victory lap around the pitch. The scoreboard flashed: ENGLAND: 30, USA: 190.

"Let's give a loud hand for England for playing a great game!" Thomas bellowed over the crowd.

The England team did one lap around the field and went toward the entrance they came from.

The night was loud as the United States supporters shot off fireworks and sang their national anthem loudly.

"I hope the Americans don't celebrate too late," Mr. Weasley said after they had returned to their tents.

Emily started talking to Hermione about the game and wanted to learn more about the game. The Weasleys and Harry talked too about the game as the fireworks from the American camp can be seen from where they were. Emily and Ginny decided to go to bed leaving the others awake. Mr. Weasley and Percy, one of Ron's older brothers, had to help make sure that the Americans were not getting too loud since they were on duty.

Ron, Bill, and Charlie all turned in as Harry watched the fireworks coming from the American camp.

"Want to go for a walk Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Sure," he said getting up off the ground.

They walked in the direction of the American camp to watch the fireworks since it look beautiful from where they stood, and they couldn't both sleep yet. They came to the crest of the field to find the American Minister's son and his friend lying on the ground watching the fireworks.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Jason said as he saw them approach.

"It sure is and I hope they don't get too loud," Hermione said.

"They are going to be loud all night," Jason's friend, Juliet, said.

Not far from them was a group of people singing the end of a song:

"O'er the land of the free

and the home of the brave?"

Jason chuckled, "I can never get tired of hearing that song over and over again."

"Were they singing the national anthem of the United States?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes, that is the National Anthem."

"I thought it was played during the presentation of your mascots. Your mascot is an eagle?"

"Yes, but we prefer to call it the Bald Eagle, and it is the national symbol of America to both Muggles and Wizards. The song that was played during the mascot's presentation was 'Stars and Stripes Forever' by John Philip Sousa, a famous American Muggle composer."

"Is that song usually played during special events?"

"Correct, it is played during parades and our National Anthem is played at all sporting events in the Muggle world."

The group that was near them started to sing the National Anthem again as they made their way towards the campsite. Harry and Hermione continued to watch the fireworks and Harry didn't notice that Hermione was closer to him than usual; who was holding his hand with her head on his shoulder. They continued to watch the fireworks until they ran out of fireworks and Ministry officials stopped them from using their wands to send up sparks. They returned to the tents where Hermione gave Harry a kiss on his cheek before heading into the girls' tent. Harry was again taken back by Hermione's kiss as he went into the boys' tent. He got into bed thinking of what Hermione had just done before falling asleep.