A.N: Update for all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter 14
If there was one thing in the magical world that Harry had learned to despise-read: hate utterly and wish to the depths of Hell-it was portkeys.
He landed less than gracefully, falling into Draco who, thankfully, did not fall to the ground-instead he held him up. Harry thanked him silently, feeling the slightest bit of embarrassment. He was to be one of the key players in their plan to take over the wizarding world, had had eight years of training, and still could not land after traveling by portkey.
He blamed it on Dumbledore, somehow he knew he could trace it back to the old man.
Childishness aside he looked to the stadium, it was so…big…and though he could only see a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the field, he could tell that at least ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it. Seating a hundred thousand people would require something this enormous; his mind wandered to the amount of spells that must be cast on the entire surrounding area.
He felt himself being tugged by Draco and Hermione, he shook his head clearing it of thoughts. Walking into the stadium and up towards the top he kept a watch for Tom, he didn't know when he would arrive, but hoped it would be before the game began.
Entering the top box they were met with the sight of the entire Weasley family, Harry nodded to the twins, they were still friends-of a sort-the older boys were usually busy with their school work (so they said, everyone knew they were experimenting with potions and charms) and last year they had drifted apart a little. The rest of the family was ignored.
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Others in the box were the minister of magic-the trio all agreed he was an idiot, the Bulgarian minister-who seemed to be taking great joy in frustrating Fudge to no end, and the Irish Minister of Magic-who watched the exchange with feigned interest.
Harry and Draco sat on either side of Hermione as three very important looking wizards entered the box, one seemed to be the French minister of magic, if her robes were anything to go by. They took up conversation with the ministers of magic, eventually sitting down. Harry worried that Tom was not coming, but the door to the top box opened once more and in he walked, cloak being folded as he sat next to Lucius.
Fudge seemed to jump in elation at Tom's presence. "Ah, Mr. Riddle so wonderful of you to have accepted my invitation." He turned to the Irish and Bulgarian ministers. "Please allow me to introduce Tom Riddle, he has been an essential part of the ministry these past five years."
Fudge continued to expound on what Tom had done. The ministers were impressed with Tom's political affluence and they still were speaking when Ludo Bagman charged into the box and asked if he could begin the game. All talk halted in response and Bagman stepped up pointing his wand to his throat saying "Sonorous."
"Ladies and Gentlemen.welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"
Screaming, clapping, flags waving and the discordant addition of the various national anthems filled the stadium. The blackboard previously flashing various ads now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce…the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"
The right hand side of the stands, a solid block of scarlet, roared in approval.
A hundred veela now glided out onto the field, their skin shining moon-bright under the lights and their white-gold hair fanning behind them despite the lack of wind. Harry stared at them, feeling strange-he had never met a full blooded Veela before, Narcissa was only half and Draco was a quarter. They were beautiful beings and he could understand how easily a man could become ensnared in their dance.
Soon the veela were being asked to leave. Angry yells filled the stadium, the crowd didn't want them to leave. They lined up against the right side of the field and had stopped dancing.
Ludo Bagman opened his mouth once more. "And now, kindly put your wands in the air… for the Irish National Team Mascots!"
What looked like a great, green comet zoomed into the stadium. It circled the stadium once, then split into two smaller comets, which hurtled towards the goalposts. A rainbow arced between the two comets, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaahed, as though watching a fireworks display. The rainbow faded and the two balls of light merged; they formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and soared over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it-
"Leprechaun Gold!" exclaimed Draco. Harry and Hermione eyed the gold in wonder, fascinated by the display. Draco sneered as he watched the Ron Weasley scramble to pick up the gold near him. He turned back to Harry and Hermione and explained, "Leprechaun gold vanishes after a few hours," He motioned towards Ron and continued, "Weasley is going to be in for a shock when the gold disappears." Harry and Hermione smirked. The shamrock ball broke and Ludo's voice filled the stadium once again, he introduced the players and the game began.
"That was fantastic!" Hermione rolled her eyes as Draco excitedly continued to talk about the game with Harry. She liked Quidditch as much as the next witch but really, did the boys have to go on about it for hours. She rolled her eyes as the adults eyed them fondly.
Harry was now going on and on and on about the Wronski Feint Krum had used in the game and how he wanted to practice it before the Quidditch season started up. Both he and Draco had made it on their respective house teams as seekers. Every Slytherin-Gryffindor match was awaited by the spectators. They had turned it into a friendly competition between them to see who could catch the snitch faster-which annoyed their teammates at times.
Hermione watched her boys' animated discussion for a few minutes before there was a loud banging sound around the manor. They stepped outside only to have a house elf pop in front of them.
"Young masters and mistress must get back in their rooms!" The house elf wailed.
"What is going on?" Hermione asked.
"Aurors!! They is trying to break the wards!" The house elf cried. "Master and Mistress are hiding the artifacts."
Hermione nodded and dragged the boys back into Draco's room. She sat them down in a circle on the floor and grabbed their hands. "We must strengthen the wards!" She said as they shot questioning looks to her.
They nodded and completed the circle. Closing their eyes Draco led them along his connection to the manor wards. They poured their magic into the wards until they felt them pulse and triple in strength.
Outside the aurors were caught off guard as the wards expanded and flung them away. The force was such that some of the aurors were knocked unconscious while others simply bounced away. The aurors gaped at the now benign looking expanse of land. Now that none of them were near the wards had melted away.
A young auror stood and charged towards the wards. He ignored the screams of his fellow aurors and threw himself forward, seeking to plow his way through the wards with brute strength. His body froze in mid stride as he reached the middle of the wards. He let out a shriek of pain and began to convulse, his friends watched in horror as his eyes rolled back into his head and his mouth opened in a silent cry. They stared helplessly as his skin began to smoke and crack. His hands and feet began to crumble, followed by his legs and arms, his eyes tearing in agony, his thighs and shoulders began to deteriorate and soon his eyes glazed, death claiming his just as his torso began to fall apart. All that remained was his head and even that was rapidly disintegrating. Soon a dark mass occupied the space the auror had filled. The wards were still discontent, despite the fact that the man was dead. With only a whisper the ashes of the dead man were cast away from the wards, coming to settle on the aurors assembled.
The aurors watched as the ward disappeared again. Even the most experienced of the aurors had never seen lethal wards protecting a home. The wards hadn't simply killed the threat but had destroyed it. It was a sight that would haunt the gathered witches and wizards for the rest of their lives. Alastor Moody pulled himself up and snarled.
He snapped "Stay away from the perimeter, these bastards have to let us in at some point."
Nymphadora Tonks shook her head and asked, "What's the point, by the time they let down the wards the Malfoy's will have hid anything incriminating." Moody nodded in resignation and raised his wand.
He ordered, "Let's go, before the Ministry gets here and starts asking questions." The aurors nodded and began to apparate away.
Lucius stopped suddenly and spun, "They've gone." Narcissa dropped her armload of artifacts and exhaled in relief. Lucius ground out "I can't believe Dumbledore ordered a raid! If I ever get a chance I am going to remove his head and present it to the Dark Lord on a platter." Narcissa sighed and motioned to a house elf.
She ordered, "Take our possessions back to where they belong." Narcissa scowled and turned towards the stairs. She announced to her husband, "I am going to bed." Lucius nodded and turned back to supervise the house elves.
Hermione, Harry, and Draco shuddered violently as their magic slammed back into their bodies. Draco's connection to the wards had alerted him to the fact that the threat was gone and the trio had tried to draw their magic back slowly. They had failed. Their magic had rushed back, brutally assaulting their young bodies. It was not a painful experience however as their magic mixed and rushed through all of them, each feeling pleasure as power coursed through their veins. They collapsed to the floor, gasping and trembling in ecstasy. As their power settled their trembling eased. As they sat up slowly their faces flamed as the realization of what they had experienced dawned on them. Hermione stood quickly and fled from the room, her face as red as Weasley hair. Harry followed, bolting from the room as if he were being chased by one of Professor Hagrid's nutty 'pets'.
Draco sat, slack jawed on the floor, stunned at the feelings that the experience had evoked in him. He was used to associating desire with Harry, but desiring Hermione was not something he had ever considered. He was struck with a sense of confusion as he pondered his reaction to both Harry and Hermione. He set his jaw and resolved to believe that this was a single isolated event in which he had desired Hermione and as far as he was concerned it would remain a single occurrence. He nodded decisively and climbed into bed. He slept fitfully.
The past week had been the worst of Harry's life. He had barely been able to say two words to Hermione and Draco. Breakfast was painful for all three teens as it was filled with awkward silences, blushing faces, and questioning glances from the adults at the table. Tom, Narcissa, and Lucius were bursting with curiosity as to why the trio was suddenly so nervous around each other.
It had been Hermione who had finally overcome her embarrassment long enough to voice her opinion, "This is stupid! It's not like we meant for it to happen, we should just forget it and move forward." Harry and Draco had readily agreed, happy to go back to the easy friendship they were used to sharing. Fourth year at Hogwarts was to start the next day and the three were happy to have this messy awkwardness behind them.
Read and Review, and maybe pray cause this strange, motivated feeling that is coursing through us probably won't last.
