A/N: And now it has been updated on 06/23/2016

Chapter 2: The Quidditch World Cup

Harry felt like he was being squeezed through a very thin rubber tube. It put pressure on him from all sides, squeezing the breath out of him. Then it stopped, as quickly as it started, and his feet hit the ground hard, causing his knees to buckle, and he almost fell over.

"Sorry about that, Harry." Mr. Weasley apologized, helping Harry to steady himself, seemingly unaffected by the change. "Apparition is one of those things that takes getting used to. Most wizards prefer brooms. Slower, but much safer." They continued up the road they landed on until they reached the Burrow. "Molly, we're back!" Mr. Weasley called as they walked in the kitchen door.

Mrs. Weasley came bustling in, catching Mr. Weasley in a tight hug and kiss, before she started fussing over Harry. "Oh, my dear boy! Come in, come in and let me take a look at you. Hmmm…you seem to be doing much better than you normally are after the summer."

"Yeah, some stuff happened with my relatives and we have come to an...understanding…" Harry smiled softly, accepting her warm touches, while dodging around the larger questions. She chided him on the length of his hair, something that made him feel loved for the first time since he had been able to speak with Sirius.

"Well, that's good." She said, having finished her examination. "Now, everyone is out by the orchard, if you want to see them, while I question my husband. Now, Arthur," Molly said sweetly, her cold glare contrasting sharply with her tone, "Why. Are. You. Late?"

Mr. Weasley gulped at the cold use of his first name. "Well you see, dear, Harry's cousin offered to show me how those Muggle automobiles worked." He tried weakly, while Harry made a break for the front door. Once he was outside, and away from the feminine shrieking, he began the small trek to the apple orchard, wary of any stray apples coming to hit him.

Coming to the clearing next to the orchard, he saw five Weasley men and Ginny in the air. Hermione was off to the side, acting as an impromptu referee their pickup game of Quidditch. Smiling mischievously, he quickly changed his voice to sound like Dumbledore, and snuck up on Hermione.

"Ah, hello there, Miss Granger." Harry said, laughing as Hermione screamed and jumped a three feet before looking around. She didn't seem to enjoy being pranked like that, if the string of jinxes and hexes he had to dodge were anything to go on. Harry quickly stopped laughing and instead started running. "Hey, help out a friend here!" He called to the guys and girl in the air.

"No way." One of the twins called.

"You should have seen it coming." The other called back.

"I'd have to agree with Hermione's reaction." He heard Ginny yell, while he heard laughter coming from the other three men.

Hermione eventually caught Harry, and as payment, he got a whole lot of stinging hexes in the back. All eight trooped back to the Burrow, to calls of "Boys! Girls! Dinner's ready!"

Hurrying back, they all settled in to Mrs. Weasley's expert cooking. Talk spread throughout the table, with Ron, Bill, Charlie and Mr. Weasley discussing how the Quidditch match would turn out the next day. Hermione tried to discuss school with Harry, but failed to engage him, so turned to Percy and tried to talk about his new job at the Ministry. After dinner and a couple of Mrs. Weasley's excellent pies, the group sat around the table in a sleepy, companionable silence. "C'mon, off to bed. We all have to be up very early tomorrow." Mrs. Weasley said, shooing everyone off to bed. Harry and Ron climbed up to Ron's room and they both got onto their beds, where they promptly fell asleep.

Harry again had the recurring nightmare about Voldemort, but this time it was different.

He wasn't the snake this time. He was sitting in the armchair, looking down at Wormtail.

"You're certain that it will be a success?" Harry said, in a high cold voice.

"Yes, My Lord." Wormtail whimpered, as Harry realized he was looking through Voldemort's eyes.

"Good, my spy will ensure that the boy is entered into the tournament, then he will make sure that he is brought to me." He seemed to relax back into the enormous chair, as a hissing sound came to him. emWe are being watched./em Without needing to turn, he spoke louder, "Wormtail, Nagini tells me that we have a visitor at the door." Wormtail was by the door in an instant, wrenching it open, showing an older man. "Avada Kedavra!" The room became bathed in the cruel green light, followed by the thump of a body hitting the ground.

Waking with a start, Harry saw the door open and heard Hermione say, "Harry! Ron! You need to get up!", while trying to contain her own yawns.

Harry roused Ron from his own dreamland and the two began to change into cleaner clothes. After tiredly making their way downstairs, they were greeted by the picture of Hermione almost falling asleep into her stack of pancakes, while Ginny was dozing on her shoulder. Only the four oldest Weasleys of the house seemed to actually be awake, and Percy was nowhere to be seen.

"C'mon, you lot." Mr. Weasley said, as the twins stumbled downstairs. "We need to leave in five minutes."

"Why are we up?" One of the twins asked, a wide-mouthed yawn coming from the other, "It's still dark outside."

"This is when the portkey is scheduled for." Mr. Weasley answered. Five minutes later, everyone had grabbed their packs and said their goodbyes. Mrs. Weasley hugged them all and told them to have fun, "Within reason!" She added at the twins' retreating backs, and the group began the trek for the "portkey".

"Hermione, what's...what's a Portkey?" Harry asked, a yawn briefly interrupting him.

"It's really just a spelled item to take a person or a group of people to a specific place." Hermione answered, not yawning, but still seeming just as tired. Harry's mind worked sluggishly to process this, even as he laughed internally at the lack of a lecture.

As they entered a more wooded area, a voice rang out from ahead of them, "Morning, Arthur!", causing more than one of them to jump in surprise.

"Good morning, Amos." Mr. Weasley called back, as the two groups got closer. "This is Lord Amos Diggory," Mr. Weasley introduced the man to the group, "and you probably know his son, Cedric. He's the Hufflepuff Seeker." Cedric shook hands with them all. Fred and George seemed to not shake quite as long. They still hadn't forgotten that Cedric beat them last year when Harry fell from his broom, even though Cedric had done all he could to try to get a rematch. Harry had no such quarrel with Cedric; he was the truest definition of a Hufflepuff that Harry had ever met.

"Well, we need to keep moving. I take it you and I are headed to roughly the same place?" Mr. Weasley asked Mr. Diggory.

"The Cup, yes." The larger group then moved off to find their portkey.

Twenty minutes later, they were all gathered around a boot, hanging on for dear life, as they flew through a swirl of color and noise, before they all hit the ground hard. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, Bill, Charlie, and Cedric all kept their footing, but the others collapsed, the suddenness jarring them awake. "Good. Everyone awake now?" Mr. Weasley asked jokingly, as the adults helped the others to their feet.

"Party of nine and party of two, from Stoatshead Hill, at six." A sleepy voice said, "C'mon, let's go, we're…we're expecting a party of fifteen from the Black Forest any minute now." The man insisted, yawning widely.

You alright there, Basil?" Mr. Weasley asked, throwing the boot into a bin of, what Harry could only assume, were other portkeys. He could see a couple newspapers, a few soda cans, and a punctured football, among other items.

"Been here for the last twenty-four hours." The man said, consulting another floating clipboard, "Weasley…Weasley…Here we are. Far campsite on the left, ask for Mr. Roberts. Now, Diggory…Campsite on the right, ask for Mr. Payne."

"C'mon, we need to get going." The two groups proceeded up the hill only to be met by a veritable city of tents. Tents of all different sizes, shapes, and colors adorned the massive field, with an enormous stadium on a nearby hill, overlooking the tents. "See you later, Amos." Mr. Weasley waved to the retreating form of his colleague, "We're over in the far right campsite. Let's go."

They quickly went into the chaos of the campsites. Sights and sounds assaulted them from all angles. Vendors stood by their stalls, food stalls creating enticing smells. Ron was looking at the food stalls longingly, while the others tried to see everything there was to see. The group quickly found their campsite, already with a tent in place.

It wasn't that big to begin with, only about 8 feet by 5 feet, however, once Harry got inside the tent, he smiled. Magic could still work wonders on such mundane objects. The canopy of the tent rose twenty feet into the air and there were two separate sleeping areas, a kitchen, and a communal living space in the middle of it all. "I love magic." Harry said to himself, dropping his pack near his own sleeping bag on the guys side.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione." Mr. Weasley called, "I need some firewood to start up the stove here. Could you get some, as well as some water?"

"Where can we find the water?" Harry asked, standing up, walking over to the kitchen, where, he found Mr. Weasley with a map of the campgrounds.

"We're here." Mr. Weasley indicated the map, pointing to a corner far away from the stadium, "And here is the well." He said, sliding his finger along to the adjacent campsite, stopping at the end of it.

"Of course, Mr. Weasley." Hermione said, having almost memorized the map. The three got out and began looking for firewood. A few hours and several friend sightings later, the trio eventually found their way back into the Weasley tent.

"Harry, Fred, George and Bill were sitting watching the intense match in front of them. To pass the time they had decided to play some games and Ron had challenged Charlie to a chess match. Harry had thought that Charlie would be soundly defeated, but was amazed when Charlie seemed to keep pace with Ron and even seemed to be winning in a few instances. Ron had Charlie's king backed up into a corner and Charlie was still able to make some excellent counterattacks of his own, letting his king finally move. As Ron was poised to win, Mr. Weasley's yell startled them all, causing Charlie to almost flip the board.

"Ludo!"

Sure enough, a man seemed to be making his way over from the crowd of people, his arms held wide in greeting. Harry remembered hearing about Ludo Bagman before, from Percy. The night before, Percy and Mr. Weasley had been talking about preparations and Percy had said some disparaging remarks about Bagman, that Harry was shocked to be hearing from the former Head Boy. Mr. Weasley seemed to be easier on him, maybe because Ludo had been the one to get Arthur tickets for the game.

"Arthur!" Bagman called back, in greeting. "Just a splendid night. It'll be clear. People aren't using excessive amounts of magic..." He said as a twenty foot flare erupted further down the line of tents, forcing nearby Ministry personnel to investigate. Bagman, however, just kept going like it was nothing. "You decided not to bring the missus with you?" He continued.

"You know her, Ludo. She doesn't like the game, grew to like it even less when Charlie started playing."

"Ah, well. So, who did you bring with you then?"/

"Myself, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter." Mr. Weasley said, pointing to each in turn

Ludo's eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the mention of Harry's name. "A pleasure to meet you all." He said with a half bow. "Now, anyone care to put a...Barty!"

Looking in the direction that Bagman was looking, Harry saw another wizard. Harry couldn't think of someone who appeared to be the complete opposite of Bagman's child-like energy and enthusiasm. He was dressed for working behind a desk and walked right on by, not taking notice of Bagman and the Weasleys, with...Percy. So, this was Percy's boss. Both of them walked past, without so much as a glance in their direction.

Bagman shrugged. "Guess he isn't into this like the rest of us are. Oh well." His eyes lit up again, "As I was saying, would anyone care to put up a bet for the game?"

The twins instantly perked up at the word "bet". Harry saw this and shook his head. No one ever bet against the twins. It was an unspoken rule at Hogwarts. They almost always had luck on their side, as Harry had learned one time...

Looking back, he heard one of them say, "We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, and three Knuts, that Ireland wins, but Krum will catch the Snitch." Bagman's smile grew larger at the amount and Harry could tell that even Hermione knew just what kind of miracle the twin were banking on to see this bet come through. Ireland's chasers would have to be in top form today and Krum would have to catch when his team was down by at least one hundred-sixty points, or Fred and George were losing all of their money.

"Not a chance, boys. I'll give you four hundred to one odds on that one." Bagman said, writing down the twins' names, their bet, and their condition in a small black book. Then he left, stopping at a few other tents along the way.

Several hours later, there was a loud gong, followed by a deep voice, resonating over the various campsites, "The 422nd Quidditch World Cup will be starting in two hours. Please find your seats." The Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry moved towards the stadium with the crowd, doing their best to stay together. Ron grumbled about them having to go to their seats now and wait for two hours.

However, as soon as they got to their seats, the pregame show began. Ireland's team flew into the stadium to tumultuous applause from their fans. From the green and white smoke, gold coins flew around, before arranging into a giant leprechaun, which then began to dance a quick jig around the stadium, before it vanished in a flash. Then the Bulgarian team entered the field. One of the players flew out in front of the others, appearing to show off.

"Who's that?" Hermione asked, as Harry focused his omnioculars on him, the name 'Krum, Victor' popping up. 'So these could identify players? Useful.' Looking downwards, Harry saw a gorgeous woman stepping onto the field, walking with a grace that he had not known existed.

Dropping his omnioculars, so they hung around his neck, he saw that she was not alone. About a hundred women stood in a circle, in the middle of the field, their blonde hair moving down in flowing waves around them.

"As soon as he saw them, Mr. Weasley turned to the kids, "Veela. Fingers in your ears, boys." He said as the women opened their mouths, seeming to prepare to sing.

Hermione's face went a little white, before her fingers almost dug to her brain. Harry wasn't quite as fast, and heard the smallest of the Veela's song. It was so sweet, and called to him. They wanted him to join them. Then his fingers were in his ears and he was able to block out the rest of it.

Unfortunately, Ron had been unable to cover his ears quick enough, and a small, blank smile came over his face, followed by him standing and trying to get to the beautiful creatures. Ginny quickly caught him and Charlie sat in his lap to hold him down. Then, after another five minutes of speeches, the match began.

Harry had his share of physical Quidditch games, but this was a game that he wanted no part in. Numerous fouls were called throughout the game, the Irish Seeker was fooled twice, and both times, ended with him flying straight into the hard ground. The mascots actually almost got into a fight. In short, it became as intense as the football games that he had seen his uncle watching from time to time. By the end of the two hour match, Krum had caught the Snitch for Bulgaria, but the point difference was so much that, even with the Snitch catch, Bulgaria lost.

The twins left to collect the winnings that they had earned from making their almost impossible, but correct, bet. The rest of them, except Ron, who seemed to want to build up Krum to being a legend, making Harry question Ron's sexual orientation, celebrated Ireland's victory late into the night. The twins came back later in the evening, seeming to be annoyed very briefly before joining the celebrations. Loud booms began sounding outside and Mr. Weasley went to investigate. Everyone inside remained unfazed, until the white face of Mr. Weasley re-entered the tent. "Get your things. Get into the woods."

"Dad, what's going on?" Ron asked, looking up from where the twins were draping him with Irish flags.

"Death Eaters." Fred, George, Bill, and Charlie went from joking to serious in an instant. Each of them quickly grabbed their essentials. "Charlie, take Ginny. Bill, take Hermione. Fred, Harry. George, Ron." Mr. Weasley ordered, the older ones all pairing off as directed. Each exited the tent, taking off for the woods, while trying to stay together. Fred and Harry sprinted as fast as they could go, lights of all colors flying around them as fires burned and people screamed. As soon as all the groups got to the woods, two loud cracks sounded out, as the eight people there vanished.

A/N: Hopefully the next update will be in a few weeks...