The Quidditch World Cup was something Evie could hardly describe. Amos had gotten seats next to the Weasleys so they didn't have to separate again. Evie was grateful she and her friends could all share their first World Cup together.
The stadium was the biggest one Evie had ever seen. Their group was sitting as high up as they could go and everywhere she looked there were vendors trying to sell things, witches and wizards decked out in their team's colors, and Ministry officials trying to keep everything moving smoothly.
In their box, when everyone was situated Evie was staring at the pitch in absolute delight when she heard a squeaky voice behind her. She turned to find Harry conversing with a small house elf which big brown eyes and a nose the shape of a tomato. She said her name was Winky and she was saving the spot for her master. She said Dobby, the house elf Evie had heard so much about from Harry, was out demanding pay for his work and having fun. Winky herself seemed against the idea, something Hermione was clearly finding absolutely horrible.
The box started filling in with Ministry officials Evie didn't know. Her father and Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with them though. And for a while Percy kept jumping up to greet them, that was until the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, came in and he bowed so low his glasses slid off his face and shattered. After fixing them with a face the color of a beet, Percy decided it best he stay sitting. Evie couldn't have agreed more. Fudge greeted Harry as though they were old friends and Evie raised an eyebrow, thinking she didn't remember Harry and Fudge being on such close terms. Fudge introduced Harry to the Bulgarian Minister, who took quite a bit of time to recognize him. In that space of time Evie had wondered if perhaps Harry wasn't nearly as widely known as living in Britain would lead her to believe. Then the excited understanding began and she quickly banished that thought.
"…ah, and here's Lucius!" Evie caught the tail end of Fudge jabbering on to Harry and her mood immediately dropped.
The four friends turned quickly to see the Malfoys shuffling gracefully down to the three empty seats left in the box. The Malfoys greeted the Minister and then for a tense moment when the Minister pointed out Mr. Weasley, he and Mr. Malfoy just stared at each other. Then Mr. Malfoy spoke.
"Good lord, Arthur," he says softly. "What did you have to sell to get these seats? Certainly your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"
Fudge apparently missed this entirely, as he next comment was to tell Mr. Weasley that the Malfoys just contributed a large sum of money to St. Mungo's.
"How – how nice." Mr. Weasley commented with a tight smile. Evie could feel the anger bubbling up inside of her.
Mr. Malfoy turned to notice Hermione with a sneer on his face. Evie felt Hermione tense beside her and pressed her shoulder against her friend's for support. They glared at the Malfoys together. Had the Minister not been there, Evie was sure he would have said something about Hermione's heritage. Instead, he nodded with a sneer to Mr. Weasley and continued on. Draco passed next, shot Evie and her friends a contemptuous look and settled himself between his mother and father. Mrs. Malfoy always seemed much more bearable than the two Malfoy men. She kept a cold air about her, and never looked particularly pleased by anything, but she never said ill words towards anyone openly, and prided herself in being a true lady, so she never would.
"Slimy git." Ron muttered before they all turned back to the field.
Then Ludo Bagman entered excitedly and announced the Bulgarian team mascots and the right side of the stands, a solid mass of scarlet, cheered loudly.
"I wonder what they've brought," Mr. Weasley said, leaning forward in his seat. "Ahhh!" He suddenly cried, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them on his robes. "Veela!"
Evie nodded in understanding as Hermione turned to her for an answer.
"What are Veel –" Harry started to ask before he was pulled into the trance of the Veela.
"Veela are semi-human, semi-magical humanoids. They are known for being really beautiful. Their looks and especially their dance are magically seductive to almost all males, and make them do crazy things. That's why Mr. Weasley looked away." Evie explains to Hermione as she pointed to Mr. Weasley, and then to a few of the other men in the booth, including her own father who had realized what they were quickly enough to look away also. "Now look at Harry, Ron, and the others who didn't look away." She directed and she and Hermione watched as the boys leaned closer and closer, stuck in the Veela's trance. Harry put his foot on the wall of the box, as though he might jump to try to reach them. "Watch him; he will jump if they don't end this soon."
The song stopped and the Veela move to the sideline. Hermione grabs Harry who was still standing dazed as he tried to understand what just happened. "Honestly!" She yanked him down to a sitting position finally.
Mr. Weasley had taken Ron's hat from him as Ron had started ripping apart the shamrock on it. Evie was trying very hard to keep herself from laughing. She turned to find even Malfoy had succumbed to the Veela. Mrs. Malfoy was holding him in his seat as he slowly stopped fighting against her and realized what was happening. This caused Evie to break and finally laugh.
Then Ireland's mascots were called out. A great green and gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circle around the stadium and then split into two smaller comets. They flew over to the ends of the field and a rainbow arched through the sky, joining the two comets. They weren't actually comets, of course. They were Leprechauns, each holding a little gold or green lantern. The rainbow faded and the two groups of Leprechauns joined back together and formed a giant shamrock high above the pitch. Then the gold began to rain down. It was bouncing off their heads and in their seats and all over the floor.
Once they were done, Mr. Bagman introduced the two teams and the match finally began. It was brilliant! Just as Evie and Charlie had stated, Bulgaria's Keeper and Chasers were no match for Ireland's players. The only player worth anything on Bulgaria's team was Krum; there could be no doubt about that. He faked out Ireland's Seeker, Lynch with a Wronski Defensive Feint, which was a brilliant tactic, Evie felt because if he found the Snitch first Lynch would second guess it before going after it, giving Krum a better chance of catching it, which as the game continued, it became painfully clear he would have to do.
As Ireland pulled further ahead of Bulgaria, the game got dirtier. Ireland got two fouls and Bulgaria got one. Ireland stayed steadily ahead though. The Leprechauns of Ireland began making rude gestures at Bulgaria's Veela, who lost their cool and launched across the field, throwing balls of fire at the Leprechauns. Evie watched and finally saw what Veela looked like when they got angry, as she had only ever read about them. Their faces became birdlike, with sharp beaks, and they grew scaly wings from their backs. Harry and Ron looked very shocked indeed to see them now.
"And that boys, is why you never go for looks alone." Mr. Weasley called over the roar of the crowd and Evie had to laugh at that one. It was very true, as much as any man would love to have a Veela bride, get her mad and you'd be living with that Harpy-esque creature.
The Veela were sent off the field and suddenly Lynch started diving. "Look!" Evie called excitedly.
"He's seen the Snitch!" Harry was watching exactly where she was and they excitedly got to their feet as they watched Krum, who was bleeding from his nose after Ireland's Beaters sent a Bludger in his direction, was gaining on Lynch as they both barreled towards the ground.
"They're going to crash!" Hermione yelled, horror struck.
"They aren't!" Ron corrected.
"Lynch is!" Harry said over the roar of the crowd, and just as predicted Lynch crashed into the ground again with tremendous force and was immediately trampled by a stampede of angry Veela. Evie looked on in shock.
Where's the Snitch?" Charlie yelled and Evie tore her eyes away from the trampled Lynch to search for Krum.
"He's got it! Krum's got it – it's all over!" Harry shouted in excitement.
Evie found Krum, who was indeed holding up the Snitch in triumph, then her eyes flew to the score board, which read: Bulgaria: 160 Ireland: 170. The realization hit her immediately and she joined in the cheers of joy as Ireland fans celebrated the win. Turning to Cedric they both began cheering, jumping and laughing as Bagman announced their team's victory.
"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman announced loudly across the pitch as fans continued to cheer and yell. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH BUT IRELAND WINS! Good lord, I don't think any of us could've seen this coming!"
"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron wondered.
"He knew they were never going to catch up." Harry explained. "He just wanted to go out on his terms."
"He's very brave, isn't he?" Hermione said leaning over the rails, with her Omnioculars trained on the spot where Krum was refusing to let the Mediwitches mop up the blood still pouring from his nose.
"He's absolutely mad! But he is bloody brilliant too." Evie shook her head in awe, releasing Cedric from her excited embrace and following Hermione's line of sight to the burly Bulgarian.
Behind them the Bulgarian Minister of Magic had just began speaking English to Fudge, who had been under the impression all day that the man could not understand a word he was saying. Fudge was a bit huffy about that new development, but Evie found the Bulgarian Minister to be a rather funny, making Fudge mime all day just for the amusing image it presented.
The Top Box where they sat was suddenly lit up so everyone in the stands could see the two panting wizards bringing the Cup to Fudge. Then the Bulgarian team came up into the box as well. Evie's eyes almost popped out of her head as she tried to contain her excitement at being in such close proximity to the players she had just watched play. Krum was the last to file in and shake the Minister's hand. He was sporting the beginnings of two black eyes and his front was still covered in blood. He was also clumsier on the ground than he was on a broom.
After the Bulgarian team came Ireland, and Evie had to restrain herself as a small squeal bubbled in the back of her throat. When the team walked in Lynch was being supported by Moran, one of the Chasers, and Connolly, the Keeper. Lynch was clearly dazed, but he still enjoyed the moment when Troy, another Chaser, and Quigley, a Beater, lifted the World Cup into the air to the thunderous applause of the crowd.
After it was over the whole group was walking back to the camp grounds in high spirits.
Everyone's energy was too high to sleep, not to mention the amount of noise coming from the others at the campsite made it impossible for them to even think of sleeping. Amos agreed that Evie and Hermione could have one last cup of cocoa with the Weasleys before they had to head back to their tent and sleep. Cedric had run off somewhere with a few friends he'd run into earlier that day and Amos retired to the tent alone.
At the Weasley tent, there was much good natured arguing about the match. They laughed and replayed their favorite moments until Ginny fell asleep right at the table and knocked over her hot chocolate. That's when Mr. Weasley requested they call it a night.
Evie and Hermione waved goodnight to the Weasleys and Harry before heading back towards the Diggory tent. When they got back it seemed both Amos and Cedric had already gone to sleep. They quietly crept to their room and got ready for bed.
They were just settling into bed when Evie sat upright quickly. "Hermione!" She whispered urgently.
"What?" Hermione mumbled as sleep had already started to claim her.
""Hermione, listen!" Evie spoke normally now. Hermione sat up slowly and they listened for a moment. The sounds they heard made Evie's blood run cold. "That's not singing," she whispered.
"We need to go!" Hermione jumped up off of her bunk. Evie followed suit quickly and tossed her shoes on just as Amos burst into their room with Cedric close behind.
"Oh, thank Merlin, you're here! " Amos sighed only slightly reassured. "Yes, quickly, we need to move!" He and Cedric already had their shoes on.
"Dad, what's happening?" Evie asked as she straightened up and she, Hermione, Amos and Cedric rushed out of the tent.
The scene they took in was just as terrifying as the noise. Everyone was running towards the woods in fear. There were hardly any fires still lit, and jeers and laughter flowed eerily through the screams. A sudden burst of green light lit up the scene and Evie saw what everyone was running from. A group of wizards, black hoods covering their masked faces, wands raised to the sky, marched towards them. Above them were four floating figures, their bodies contorted in horrific shapes.
The marching crowd was gaining members, which joined in the jeers and laughter, adding their wands to the group pointed up at the figures. Tents toppled and crumpled as the marching crowd swelled. Every now and then a member of the marching group would blast a tent out of his way, some of which caught fire. The screams continued to grow louder.
Some of the fire illuminated the four figures being floated, and Evie realized it was a family. A slightly older man, his wife and children. The poor woman was flipped upside down and her nightdress fell over her head and she struggled to cover herself.
"This is horrible!" Hermione said in shock. Evie couldn't find words, she just nodded.
"Cedric, get the girls into the woods! Keep them safe," Amos instructed with his wand out and at the ready.
"Where are you going?" Evie asked scared.
"I'm going to help the Ministry. Stay with your brother," Amos ordered, before turning and rushed towards the problem.
"Come on!" Cedric grabbed Evie's hand and began pulling her towards the woods. Evie grabbed onto Hermione and they rushed with the crowd towards the woods. Evie looked back only once, just before they entered the woods. Ministry officials were trying to make their way to the marching crowd, but they also seemed afraid of sending any spells flying, as it might harm the floating family.
All the lanterns that had been in the woods leading people to the World Cup had gone out by this point. People all around them were stumbling their way through the woods. Evie kept getting bumped into. One particularly strong man bumped into and dropped her to the ground. She lost Cedric's hand.
"Cedric!" She called in absolute fear. Hermione had dropped right on top of her because of how closely they had been following each other.
"Evie?" She could hear Cedric call back to her. He sounded like he was being pushed forward by the crowd of terrified people.
"Cedric!" The panic in Evie's voice was evident even to her. She couldn't see anything, and as she and Hermione stood up they both reached for their wands and called a "Lumos." The area around them lit up and all they could see was people rushing past them to get further into the woods and further away from the masked marching men.
"Evie?" She turned as a new voice coming from the left called out to her. "Hermione?" It called.
"I think that's Harry! Come on!" Hermione said quickly, before pulling Evie as they rushed to the left, fighting off the flow of scared people. "Harry?" Hermione called.
"Over here!" His voice was closer now. They ran faster, almost crashing into Harry and Ron in the end.
"Oh, thank Merlin, you're both alright," Evie sighed when she saw them unharmed. "Where's the rest of your family?" Evie noticed there were no other Weasley's with them.
"Dad, Bill, Charlie and Percy went to help the Ministry. We lost Fred, George and Ginny when I tripped over a tree root," Ron explained.
"Where are your dad and Cedric?" Harry asked Evie. She could hear the hint of worry in his voice as he looked back towards the marching wizards.
"Dad went to help the Ministry as well. We've just lost Cedric when some heavy set Wizard crashed into me sending Hermione and me toppling over each other." Evie looked back in the direction they had come from, worried about where Cedric would end up.
"Evie, we'll find him once all of this is over. We have to get away from here now, though." Hermione placed her hand on Evie's shoulder. Evie looked at her best friend, then sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, alright, let's go." The four friends turned to see that there was hardly a soul left around them.