Year Four: The Goblet of Fire
The three magical schools of Europe compete for eternal glory in the form of the Triwizard Tournament. Death Eaters are rising, gathering followers to join Voldemort. Dark times are approaching, threatening everything Marie loves. It's time for bravery. To be the light in terrible darkness...
Chapter Two-The Quidditch World Cup
"Draco, wake up already."
The blonde rolled over, tugging the blanket up over his head. There was groan, giving his answer. Marie smirked, already fully dressed. She shook his shoulder again. "Come on, your mum says to get up."
"It's early," he groaned.
"I understand," she laughed. "Up and at 'em, sunshine. World Cup today!" He groaned again, rolling over and finally sitting up to give her a half focused glare. She giggled at the sight of his usually well kept hair sticking up at strange angles, a prominent cowlick standing straight up. He looked her over, noticing that she was completely ready and wide awake, wearing jeans, a green striped shirt and her grey jacket.
"Did you even go to sleep last night?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Yes, of course," she answered. "Maybe not for very long, but I did sleep. Now, get up! Your parents are almost ready to go!" As she left the room she was sure to pull the curtain aside, allowing the early light to brighten the room and to discourage the thought of falling back asleep once she was gone.
Marie was so excited for the match she would've skipped down the stairs if she didn't think she would trip. She walked into the kitchen where Narcissa was cradling a hot cup of tea in her hands. She took a seat, but could only remain still for a few moments before she found herself wandering about, pouring herself a cup of tea that she did not drink.
"Excited, are we?" teased the lady of the house. Marie smiled, guilty.
"A bit," she laughed. There was the sound of footsteps and she perked up, turning to see Lucius and Draco entering the kitchen. Ready to leave, the girl's intentions were put on hold as Narcissa made sure that everyone had something to eat before they left, not wanting anyone to be sick because they Apparated on an empty stomach. The two fourth years quickly ate their food, ready to go. Now that Draco was awake and functional, his own enthusiasm was apparent as they exchanged excited glances while his parents spoke and double checked everything.
They followed the parents out to the lovely back yard where the garden was in full bloom with its red Valerian, and Marie's favorite, 'Goblin' Blanket flowers. Lucius stepped forward and extended his arm to the girl. Familiar with Apparation, she took her place at his side and linked her arm through his, gripping the material of his sleeve tightly with her other hand. She saw Draco take a similar stance beside his mother and with one last breath, Apparation pulled them away from Wiltshire.
The morning and early afternoon had passed by in a blur of scarlet, emerald and overwhelming excitement. Marie and Draco were linked together as they went to go explore the vast campsite, the wild haired girl leading the way every time something caught her eye. There were hundreds of tents crammed together on the allotted campsite, smoke stacks puffing away from the more elaborate tents. With the help of magic, the interiors were much larger than they appeared so to save room and maintain comfort. Children were running about with fake wands and toy broomsticks while official wizards ran about to try and keep all degrees of magic discreet and to avoid Muggle detection, despite the heavy enchantments that were already in place surrounding the area.
The air was filled with dozens of languages and singing while witches and wizards were dressed in typical Muggle clothing, with little consideration to what items matched. They saw plenty of their classmates while the two were out and about. Pansy Parkinson and her little sister Violet, as well as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Later they spotted Blaise Zabini and his lovely mother, although they didn't recognize the man with her. They came to the conclusion that it was Ms. Zabini's new husband, the fourth man if they counted correctly. The former husbands had all mysteriously died, leaving the Zabini name more fortune than before.
Finally, the sun was beginning to set and Draco laughed openly at his friend's thrill, having never been to such an extraordinary event. They hurried to meet up with his parents who led the way down the lantern lit path through the woods. Thousands of people were migrating to the large stadium, Marie not the only excited one as the exhilaration was spreading like a fire, the singing only growing in volume and she even found herself humming along. After walking for about twenty minutes or so, chatting pleasantly with her friend and his parents they were suddenly in the shadow of a massive formation that could only be the stadium. It was constructed with gold walls and she couldn't even begin to fathom just how large it was.
"It seats a hundred thousand," answered Mr. Malfoy after seeing her shocked expression.
"A hundred thousand?" she repeated in awe. "My gosh..."
"There's been a task force of five hundred working on it all year. They've been setting up Muggle repelling charms so not to gain any unfavorable attention," he explained. They approached a Ministry witch who was helping direct the flow of people. She gave a nod once she spotted the influential Malfoy.
"Prime seats! Top Box! As high as you can go!" she instructed. With their seats approved the four started their climb up the purple carpeted stairs. Marie's head turned left and right as she watched the other people disappear past their doors on different levels of the stadium, thinning out the crowd the higher they ascended. Finally, the stairs ended and they stood at the edge of a small box that was placed perfectly at the highest point of the stands and centered between the golden posts.
Marie was stunned for a moment by how simply beautiful the Quidditch field looked. The three posts on either side of the field were gleeming with the perfect amount of shine while the vivid grass appeared as though it could be nothing else but velvet. Taking all of it in, she never wanted to just take off and fly so badly. Not to mention that there was some type of gold light encompassing the stadium though she couldn't find any kind of source. Across from them was a giant blackboard at their eye level that had a golden message scrawling across its surface only to vanish and be replaced by another:
The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family-safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burglar Buzzer...Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!...Gladrags Wizardwear-London, Paris, Hogsmeade...
"Miss Marie, it is nice to see you again," rumbled a low voice. Startled, Marie jumped and turned to face the large form of Aleksander Bolokov who was sporting the proper shade of scarlet for Bulgaria. Once she recovered from her scare, she smiled in return, overly aware of the green rosette pinned to her jacket for Ireland.
"Hello again, Mr. Bolokov," she returned, accepting his offered handshake. "It's nice to see you as well."
"I had no idea you vould be sitting vith us. It is a nice surprise," he smiled, his beard twitching in agreement. Marie grinned, excitement bubbling up again.
"Yes, I'm here with the Malfoy family," she explained gesturing to the three blonde figures. Mr. Malfoy was busy speaking to Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic and Mr. Weasley. Marie hardly the chance to notice the rest of the Weasley children with addition of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger before the Bulgarian warranted her attention again. Aleksander waved over the other man he had arrived with who wore black robes with gold trim, another reference to Bulgaria's team colors. Aleksander lowered his head so whisper a few quick words and Marie was certain she heard Tess' name.
"Marie Rogue, this is Minister Obolensky, Bulgaria's Minister of Magic," he introduced proudly. Flattered and rather embarrassed, Marie shook hands with the Minister as well, his grip not as formidable as Mr. Bolokov's to her relief.
"It is nice to meet you. I have heard many things about your Tess Captain," he stated, mildly mixing up her nickname. The Minister looked to Bolokov for a moment before looking to her again.
"How old are you, Miss Marie? Seventeen?" he guessed. Confused by the question, she gave a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, I'm afraid not. I'm fourteen, sir," she corrected. He gave a huff of disappointment at the news.
"A shame. I vould have liked to see history repeated, perhaps. Vouldn't you, Alek?" he asked with a teasing undertone.
"Perhaps not entirely repeated, Minister. Ve vould like to have the honor of hosting again, don't you agree?" countered Bolokov, a bit sheepish himself. He was quickly quieted when the Minister shushed him as Cornelius Fudge turned his attention their way, Aleksander giving Marie a mischevious wink before facing Britain's Minister of Magic.
"Harry Potter, you know," Fudge told the foreign Minister loudly, gesturing to Harry. "Harry Potter...oh come on now, you know who he is...the boy who survived You-Know-Who...you do know who he is-" The Bulgarian wizard noticed Harry's scar and began to gabble loudly and excitedly, pointing at the iconic mark. Marie had to cover her mouth quickly to keep from laughing and ruining their joke. They were pretending not to speak any English so that Fudge was miming like a bit of a fool. Full grown wizards of influential power and status were playing a joke of their fellow Minister.
"Knew we'd get there in the end," sighed Fudge. "Allow me to introduce everyone 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 nevermind. I really need Barty Crouch for this kind of thing, I'm no great shakes at languages I'm afraid."
Marie and the Malfoys continued down the line of purple and gold seats after Lucius and Arthur had spared a moment to formally glare before passing each other. Marie managed the briefest wave to Hermione which was seriptiously returned, proving their good terms. The last time she had spoken to the Gryffindor was at the end of the term where Hermione proved her status as the brightest witch by connecting all of the dots between Marie and Harry. Though she had agreed to keep the information to herself, it was somewhat of a relief to the Slytherin to have a degree of the secrecy lifted. In a way, she was happy that Hermione figured it out.
"Ah, Mathias! Glad you could make it!" spoke up Fudge, extending his hand for the other man to shake. Marie turned at the familiar name to see the Minister shaking hands with a tall, broad shouldered man with short kept dark hair and a stern expression. He was the new Head of the Auror Office, taking over Tess' position after she passed. He had always been next in rank to Tess, giving the pair a healthy competitive relationship in the workplace.
"Wouldn't miss it, Minister," he returned. A few more people arrived and stood beside Mathias, a lovely woman with dark hair twisted into a tight elaborate bun, a young girl with her own hair plaited and the last figure stepped forward as well, the easiest for the Slytherin to recognize.
"Oh! Marcus is here!" she turned to tell Draco who was fiddling with the settings on his Omnioculars. The blonde had to fight a flinch as he looked around his friend to confirm her statement. Indeed, the hulking upperclassman was standing beside his father, superior in height and size due to his genetic make up being receptive to the Flint family troll curse. Due to his curse rearing its ugly head last year and the emotional instability coupled with his poor grades, he was going to repeat his last year at Hogwarts.
Marie gave a wave when his gaze wandered their way and he gave a short wave in response and she smiled. He turned to speak to speak to his mother for a short moment who regarded Marie with an icy look before he stepped away from his family and walked down their aisle, stopping just before Marie. She hopped to her feet to greet him and they both suddenly paused, unsure. She wanted to give him a hug, but was that too much? His mother was certainly giving her a stern glare. She did her best to best to break the awkward silence.
"Care to sit with us, Marcus?" she offered. He made to answer but stopped when he looked past her to the three blondes. Face flushing at her impulsive request, she turned quickly to earn the desired approval.
"I-if that's all right, I mean! Sorry, I should have asked first," she apologized, flustered by her own rude behavior. Narcissa waved a dismissing hand.
"It's fine, Marie. You're welcome to sit with us, Marcus," she confirmed.
"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy, but it's not needed," he politely declined. His hand rested on Marie's arm, snapping her focus back to him. "The match is about to start, I just wanted to say hello."
"Hello," she greeted, an easy smile appearing.
"Hello," he echoed. He was called for by his younger sister and gave a slight smile in return, going back to his family as Marie settled back into her seat. Draco gave a soft snort, not wanting to earn a reprimand from his mother at the poor form. Marie raised a brow at the blonde boy.
"What're you snorting about?" she asked. He mimcked her expression, looking between her and the Flint heir.
"That was so incredibly awkward," he teased, shaking his head. Cheeks burning again, Marie fumbled for a proper retort.
"Y-you're...so incredibly awkward," she mumbled as Draco fully laughed at her weak insult.
"Come on, Rogue, I've trained you better than that," he mocked. Fortunately, Marie's moment of embarrassment was short lived by Ludo Bagman turning to the Minister of Magic.
"Everyone ready?" he asked, excited as well. "Minister, ready to go?"
"Ready when you are, Ludo," he confirmed, finally finding his seat. Ludo pulled out his wand with great flourish and pointed it at his throat, casting the spell with the enchantment, "Sonorus!" His voice became vastly magnified so to boom and be heard throughout the entire stadium.
"Ladies and gentlemen...welcome! Welcome to the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"
The stadium reverberated with the sound of the fans cheering and clapping, including the two fourth years. Flags were waving throughout the stadium, clashing scarlet and emerald. The large blackboard across from the Top Box was wiped clear of any advertisements and it read, BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce...the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!" The scarlet supporters roared in approval as Marie looked down at the field to see what was going to happen. A hundred figures glided onto the field, confusing Marie with their appearance. They were women, beautiful women to be specific, but something was jilted about them somehow. As if they weren't in focus properly. They were practically luminescent with their perfectly white skin and white-gold hair as they danced about the field. The girl thought they were indeed very pretty but apart from that, she didn't see their appeal. Then they started to dance faster and faster they started to lose their human appearance to her, becoming more creature like.
"Do grab him, Marie dear," instructed Narcissa. Brought out of her thoughts, she noticed that Draco was leaning against the rail of the Top Box, foot prepped so to hop onto the highest point.
"Draco, what on earth are you doing?" she demanded, gripping his arm tightly and directing him back to his seat. The dancers had stopped moving and the crowd was in an outrage that the beautiful women were moving to their side of the field. Her friend seemed dazed as he looked at her, confused by her sudden appearance. "What were you thinking? Climbing the rail like that?"
"It was the veela," explained Mrs. Malfoy, gesturing to the Bulgarian mascots. "Their looks and dance are magical and can entrance any man. It makes men very foolish in their attempts to impress them." Marie was about to ask why Mr. Malfoy didn't do anything but she saw that Narcissa had their arms linked tightly so that was acting as a proper tether and her husband couldn't go making a fool of himself.
"Oh, well, that's certainly interesting," she commented. She copied Mrs. Malfoy and linked her arm with Draco's, just in case he felt like swan diving again.
"What happened?" he asked, finally gathering his bearings. Marie patted his hand sympathetically.
"It's all right. You were just trying to impress a pretty girl," she teased. He only stared, confused by her words and they turned their focus to the field again.
"And now," roared Bagman's magicked voice, "kindly put your wands in the air...for the Irish National Team Mascots!"
A dazzling gold and green comet zipped about the stadium once before spliting into two and heading foor the goal posts, a rainbow arch connecting the two brilliants spheres of light. Marie awed openly with the crowd, far more impressed with the Irish show rather than Bulgaria's. The rainbow faded and the two sources of light became one again, merging so to become a giant green shamrock that shimmered as it rose high into the air. Next it began to soar over the stands and it looked like gold dust was trailing behind. It wasn't until she could hear the connecting pieces and being hit on the head herself for her to see that it was raining gold coins. Grabbing her own Omniocuulars, she focused on the shamrock to see that it was composed of hundreds, maybe thousands, of little bearded men with red vests, each hold a minuscule lamp of gold or green.
"Leprechauns!" chirped Marie. "My gosh, they're leprechauns!" Her words were lost over the thunderous applause the Ireland Mascots received as they took their place on the opposite side of the field.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome-the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you-Dimitrov!" The figure was nothing but a crimson blur as he shot out onto the field to a roaring applause from the Bulgarian fans.
"Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Aaaaaand-Krum!"
"That's him!" pointed out Draco, who was sporting his own Bulgarian rosette "Viktor Krum, youngest player in National Quidditch, youngest ever to be in the World Cup!"
"And now, please greet-the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Ludo. "Presenting-Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaaand-Lynch!" This time Marie cheered loudly as the seven green blurs raced around the stadium, difficult to follow with their high level speeds.
"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!" A wisp of a dark skinned man stepped onto the field, completely bald headed but it was made up for by his substantial grey mustache. He had his broomstick under one arm and a wooden crate under the other. He mounted his broom and kicked the crate open and the four balls took off into the air and he gave a blast on his whistle and the game had begun.
"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman, adding to the thrill of the match. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Morgan! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"
It was almost impossible to keep up with the plays, Marie was very surprised how well Ludo Bagman could do so, even if it was just saying their names, it was all the time he had. Marie had tried to watch the plays at a slower rate with her Omnioculars and so that she could read the names of their plays, but then it put her so far behind in regards to the actual game she simply gave up and did her best to keep up.
"TROY SCORES!" roared Ludo. "Ten-zero to Ireland!" The girl gave a cheer as Troy did a victory lap around the stadium, nothing but a smear of green. Adrenaline flooded Marie as she continued to watch the Ireland Chasers with admiration and awe. They were the perfect team, seemlessly working together as a unit and they had scored twice more just under ten minutes making the score thirty-zero to Ireland.
Just as it always did with Quidditch, the game became more brutal. The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, were terrifying with their ability as they were starting to slow down the Troy-Mullet-Moran combination, effectively blocking them from using their best moves and even forcing them to scatter to avoid a Bludger rocketing their way. Then Ivanova managed to break through, dodge Ireland's Keeper, Ryan, and score Bulgaria's first goal. Thirty-ten.
"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova-oh I say!"
The entire stadium of one hundred thousand people gasped as the two Seekers dived through the mess of Chasers, heading straight for the ground at alarming speeds. They both looked as if they were on a one way ticket to the very hard ground. At the absolutely last second, Krum was able to pull up and spiral away from the ground, while Marie gave a shriek and dropped her Omnioculars as Lynch hit the ground so loud the connection could be heard throughout the stadium.
"It's time-out!" called Bagman. "As trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aiden Lynch!"
"Oh my stars, I hope he's all right!" fretted Marie. Draco pointed up at Krum who was above everyone, taking the moment to look for the Snitch without any interference, the blonde explained.
Once Lynch was revived, Ireland's motivation seem to go through the roof. If she thought the Chasers were formidable before, they were unstoppable now. Fifteen minutes later Ireland had scored ten more goals, making the score one hundred thirty to ten. The game was becoming incredibly fierce, especially after the mascots started to edge each other on. The leprechauns formed the words "HA, HA, HA!" and the veela started to dance, pulling the referee himself into a daze. He started to flex his muscles and smooth his mustache.
"Now, we can't have that!" sounded Bagman, although very amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"
A mediwizard came running across the field, his own fingers in his ears and he gave Mostafa a good kick in the shin. The poor referee looked properly embarrassed and started to shout at the veela who had stopped dancing and they looked angry.
"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" narrated Bagman. "Now there's something we haven't seen before...Oh this could turn nasty..." He was very right. The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, dismounted from their brooms and started to argue furiously with the referee, trying to split the blame with the leprechauns that were now forming the words "HEE, HEE, HEE!" Mostafa was not impressed and he was pointing up at the air, which meant that they better get back on their brooms or there would be trouble. They didn't mind his warning and he gave two blasts on his whistle.
"Two penalities for Ireland!" shouted Bagman while the Bulgarian side booed. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms...yes...there they go...and Troy takes the Quaffle..."
Marie was thankful that she wasn't on the field playing, not with the way those Bulgarian Beaters were hitting, clubs cracking against Bludgers or anyone who dared to get too close. Dimitrov then shot straight at Moran, who was in possession of the Quaffle, and nearly knoncked her off her broom.
"Foul!" called Marie and the other Irish supporters.
"Foul!" confirmed Bagman. "Dimitrov skins Moran-deliberately flying to collide there-and it's got to be be another penalty-yes, there's the whistle!" This time the leprechauns merged to form a very rude hand gesture to the veela who had enough of the Irish antics. Their once beautiful faces morphed to long sharp beaks with talon nails, wings bursting from their backs as they started to throw handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. While the mascots fought, the match continued on.
"Levski-Dimitrov-Moran-Troy-Mullet-Ivanova-Moran again-Moran-MORAN SCORES!" While Ministry members tried to seperate the veela and leprechauns, the Irish Beater Quigley swung as hard as he could at the nearby Bludger, sending flying straight at Krum who did not duck in time. Marie yelped again at the dark sphere crashed directly into his face. His nose was obviously broken and blood was everywhere but the referee didn't call anything as a nearby veela had set the tail of his broom on fire.
"Aren't they going to call anything?" asked Draco. "He's a mess!"
Marie gasped, pointing at Lynch. "Wait-look!"
The Ireland Seeker had gone into a spectacular dive, no tricks, he had his eyes set on the Snitch and Krum was close behind, no mind to his nose that was bleeding freely. He was even with him now, the pair hurtling toward the ground once again, the end of the match in sight if one of them could manage to grab the golden Snitch.
"They'll crash!"
"No, they won't!" countered Draco.
"Lynch will!" And Marie was right, unfortunately, for the second time that game, Aiden Lynch connected with the hard ground with tremendous force.
"But what about the Snitch?" asked Draco, Omnioculars up to his eyes as he zoomed in on the scene. Gasping sharply, she tugged on his sleeve and pointed at the scoreboard across from them.
BULAGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170
"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted to the stunned audience. It only took a moment for the Irish fans to rumble and then belt out in cheers. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH-BUT IRELAND WINS-good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"
In the midst of the cheering, Marie glanced back to Aleksander Bolokov who gave her a nod due to her winning team. Cornelius Fudge could then be heard, talking with Mr. Obolensky.
"Vell, ve fought bravely," he admitted. Fudge looked completely stunned.
"You can speak English!" he said, sounding close to outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"
Mr. Obolensky shrugged, trying not to smirk. "Vell, it vos very funny."
The stadium seemed to rise in noise as the Irish team came into the Top Box to claim their vast golden cup that was so very dazzling, Lynch being supported by Connolley as he was very dazed, the second hit really taking a toll on him. Noise rebounded against the golden walls of the stadium as Ireland took their victory lap, basking in their well deserved glory. Marie joined, her voice lost in the multitude of sound, celebrating her team's well deserved victory.
"Ireland wins the Quidditch World Cup!"
REVIEW! Your thoughts would be lovely as always, my readers! And my Tumblr address is on my profile if anyone wants to follow, I follow back, I tend to reblog a lot when I get specific ideas so it may provide certain insight for what is to come, mwahaahahaa ; )
Ahhh! Quidditch is always so exciting to write about! I understand we all know what happens, but its still fun!
Some repeating characters, hints at how Tess' run in the Tournament went, the thrill of the World Cup!
Next Time: The Dark Mark appears! Oh no!
I hope you enjoyed!
(ps: the song I See Fire by Ed Sheeran is super good, if anyone's interested)