The next day proved to be a difficult one when Hermione was woken up by the sound of feet stopping down the stairs outside and light swearing by Ginny. It was 4:00 in the morning, a time most people were still snuggled in their beds for at least another two to three hours. For her specifically, it would be another hour until her usual 5:15 wake up time. Still, she was not used to so much noise at this hour, nor the smell of edible food.
Mr. Weasley had told them the night before they would have food on the way. She was not entirely convinced at the time he was being truthful. A full breakfast packed and ready to go at 4:15 in the morning? Impossible, yet she was witnessing it. She had to learn how Mrs. Weasley did this all and still managed to reign in her sons to the degree they were all very successful in their chosen paths. For example, Charlie (the second oldest of her children) is living in Romania working with the local dragon reserve to keep up their numbers, but still keep the general population safe and knowledgeable of what exists. From what she understood, it was a very hefty job that left no room for diddy-dadeling since one step behind could get you killed - not a job for her.
The oldest son of the Weasleys, Bill or William as he was named, had been out of school for almost 7 years and is currently working with Gringotts as a curse-breaker. Also not a job that interests her as the goblins who run Gringotts are well known for being unkind to wizards. It is somewhat warranted, after all the treatment goes both ways, but she was not sure why they volunteered to take care of all the Wizarding U.K.'s money when it requires them to interact with wizards more. Her only conclusion she could draw is that there is a stipulation in each contract that is made (from what she would assume) that states if the goblins are in need of money they have the ability to use the money that is housed in Gringotts. She does admire their stealth if that is truly the case. It is a good thing she did not house her money there, just converted pounds to galleons when needed.
Last night she could have used all the money she had if she was able. She would have paid a pretty penny to permanently solve Fred and George's firework issues (and they had many) since they decided it was a wonderful idea to explode all the bad ones they had created to ensure no one would get their hands on them. It was after 1 in the morning when she was able to fully crawl in her bed and crash. If she got no sleep, it was a wonder if the rest of the family did. Everyone was bound to be cranky with them.
She was ready in no time. She had thought to pack a separate bag when she was leaving her parent's house so she would have an easier time separating fun items from school items. Now, it was a benefit of not having to use her brain too much this morning.
When she made her way down the stairs, she was greeted by the twins who were looking far too innocent and tired for her sympathy.
"How was last night boys, pop your entire collection of fireworks or were you just needed to make some extra space and thought it was a great time to light them up for your entire wall to see?" She asked them both sarcastically once she had thanked Mrs. Weasley for the food and storing it away in her bag. She was not hungry yet, instead was seeking retribution and blood from the devil twins.
"Why, Hermione, what are you insinuating?" George asked, looking at her like she was the crazy one. "We were sleeping soundly just like the rest of the family. Are you feeling alright? Bump your head last night when unpacking? Accidentally have a Nargle infestation? We heard those were very hard to get rid of and require you to wear radishes. We have some outfront if you do need some?"
"Oh no you don't, we are not about to turn this situation into a gaslighting conversation. You both decided to keep the entire house up, despite knowing we needed to be rested for this very early morning, and blast your fireworks until one in the morning." Hermione stated, getting slightly more annoyed than she was already when she entered the kitchen a few moments prior. She could feel her face starting to turn red from her utter frustration and their blatant lying. She did have to wonder how they planned to turn this around and not get completely bested by their parents, who she could only assume would contradict them until they were grounded.
"Not possible," Fred whispered, looking over at his brother and walking over to Hermione to get closer so they weren't overheard by their mom, "I set silencing wards on all the doors ages ago using Dad's wand to prevent the family from hearing what we got up to in our room. They have never broken so the family has no idea what we are up to and what we are creating. How were you able to hear?"
"I don't know how I was able to hear all your racket from last night. Didn't everyone else physically feeling the effects of your fireworks every time? Maybe due to me not being apart of your family in any way, as I am a muggle born and Harry is probably distantly related to you enough that he slips into the ward parameters. I don't know how long it takes for wards ware off, either, but I would check them because it was a horrible night and I was really hoping it could have been better than what I had been experiencing with my parent's the last few weeks." This was true, the bed situation really was the ideal way to finally feel like she was gone from her parents and help her feel like she was in a home that was fully functional and housed people who enjoyed her presence.
"No idea, but I can tell you that no one else heard anything that went on. Mom and Dad slept great from what was heard. Percy would have already been down there if he were able to hear any noise, other than the sound of his own obnoxious breathing, that is." George stated. He looked around for his mother and asked again how she slept, only to answer that she had not slept so wonderfully in a few years because she knew all her missing children were home at last. She looked over at Hermione when she said that and it took all she had to not run into the older women's arms and burst out into tears.
By the time this emotion had passed over her, Harry, Ginny, Mr. Weasley, and Ron were all downstairs and ready to go, preventing her from giving Mrs. Weasley the much deserved hug. It was only 4:12, so she was impressed that everyone was on time and ready to head out earlier than anticipated. The three oldest sons, including Percy who was upstairs sleeping, would be joining them at 7:30 that morning when the portkey was anticipated to arrive at the World Cup location. She did question why they were deciding to go the portkey route if it was much more economical to just use apparation and disapparate to the location a few times rather than walking to the portkey a few miles away.
Nonetheless, she was thankful to be invited to such a monumental event by wizards who understood what was going on. She was useless with quidditch, only really being able to tell when things were good and when things were bad. She was not interested in stats or the more intrinsic rules of the game. She was not meant to know that information since she could barely ride on a broom properly just for short distance travel and convenience. While she was considered smart, or even smartest, in her year, even she could not grasp the point of knowing somewhat useless information. Filter out the stuff that does not matter and just move on.
The walk from The Burrow to the portkey was more enjoyable than she would have anticipated, especially as her mood (and Ginny's, for that matter) was not up for the ruckus of people. The hills and orchards they walked through, all blooming in summer blues, reds and pinks, were beautiful at sunrise. The light captured the few that had formed and the birds who were chirping. It was very different from her typical London morning, full of bustling cars and fog.
At some point in the journey, the Diggory family joined the walk. Cedric, who she had heard about from the older girls, was just as attractive as they described with his golden hair and strong quidditch build. It was a wonder the girls did not have posters hanging up all over the dorm. But, as most girls wish for, he was a one-woman show. His girlfriend of two years, Cho, was just as beautiful and extremely down to earth. She was a quidditch player herself but was still there to support and cheer on Cedric at his games, just as he was for hers. They were very cute and she hoped she would find someone one day as dedicated to their relationship as Cho and Cedric are to theirs.
"Hi, your Hermione, correct?" Cedric asked her, walk up beside her to keep pace.
"Yes, and your Cedric? I've heard about you. You're working on a mastery in Ancient Ruins, correct?" She responded. She already knew the answer, after all he was the leading reason the class has become popular the last few years as he was then tutor for the school.
"Yes. I will graduate with my mastery in June of next year. I've heard of you, as well. You really are quite impressive. Cho and her house talk a lot about you, many of them wondering how you ended up in Gryffindor when you are a literal genius. Did you know they have a game going, or more so a bet, of who can guess how many points you win a day? So far you are averaging twenty-five." She was shocked. Of course she knew her average, it was a challenge for herself to see if she could move her day average up by three points a semester. She had been on track and had plans to push to five a semester this year. After all, fourth year was a show off year as prefects were selected the summer before fifth year.
"Not that it does much good, but I have a trajectory for myself," she stops and moves closer to him to whisper, "Please don't share this with the Ravenclaws, it sounds like they are having fun, but I would like to hit thirty-five points per day by the end of year. I want to be a prefect starting fifth year. Not that gaining higher points does anything for my house, all my efforts go to waste between the Weasley twins and Ron and Harry antics. It's practically useless, but I do study more to make the point difference possible. Otherwise, we would have long known the negatives as a house. Bravery and sheer stupidity are only slightly different, as Professor McGonagall tells us in our house meetings regularly, one gains the house points and one will surely take them all." What she said was true. On average, the Weasley twins lost fifteen points a day between themselves and Ron and Harry's antics of not doing homework lost them at least twenty-five points a week. Netting, if they all stay true to form, 45 points per week. Not great all things considered, but still positive.
"Well, I highly doubt the professors would consider anyone else from your house's year. You're very hard to beat, and that is coming from a Puff that believes in equality and everyone having an even playing field. Just not in quidditch, mind you. You really are impressive."
Cedric's compliment and ending comment before joining his dad was, very obviously, heard by the rest of the group who were trying to listen in on the most unexpected conversation between such different people. Quidditch junkies and nerds apparently do not mix, despite Harry, Hermione, and Ron all working out quite well together.
"Well, Granger, you can die a happy woman now. The hunk of the school knows you are, in fact, a genius with emotions." Fred said, sounding slightly annoyed with her intentionally louder comments around putting the house into negatives.
"Oh, he's not my type. I prefer redheads." She said, walking away from him to avoid a fight. It was true, she consistently thought redhead men were the most attractive men in existence. She thinks it because they are so different from other people with their coppery mix highlights and brown lowlights. She was slightly jealous since she had fairly plain brown hair with a little curl left.
Lucky for her, she stumbles upon the site and subsequently the shoe for portkeying before Fred could say another snarky comment back or before Ron's face could turn completely red in embarrassment and wonder.
Mr. Weasley told everyone to touch a part of the shoe before the portkey took off and she managed to grab ahold of the top of the shoe, where she could grip it. She had read about this form of travel and what it entailed, but she still was very nervous. They were going to drop out of the sky and land, presumably, on solid ground if the portkey's calculations were correctly set. There was always a chance they could end up falling into the ocean or the middle of a busy road and she simply did not have the energy for that.
Upon landing, she was ever so lucky to not land on the solid ground, instead impacting someone who was either already there or had come on the portkey with her. As she stumbled up, starting to profusely apologize for landing on who it was, she saw that it was Cedric who she had landed on. She had landed on his legs, so it probably did not hurt as much as it could have, but it was still better than the solid ground for her.
"It's ok, no harm no foul." He said, grabbing onto her backpack on her bag to assist her getting up further. "Are you ok? Could not have been a smooth landing."
"Yes, perfectly ok. Thank you for helping me. Although, it should be me who is asking if you are ok as I landed on you, not the other way around." she replied.
"Perfectly ok! Quidditch has really prepared me for rough impacts and I tend to always be on guard now and days. Cho says it's probably some form of traumatic stress to always be this way, but obviously it has helped more than harmed at this point." Cedric had started leading them both to the rest of the group, who were standing in a line to get their camping spot.
As they approached the line, which was formed on the side of the hill they had landed on, she got a better view of the venue. There were thousands of tents, ranging in size and ostentatiousness, with thousands more people wandering around and celebrating. It was truly a sight that could not be replicated in the true muggle world.
The man giving out the site number was a muggle from what she could understand, as she saw an Auror (wizard police) in their red robes standing right behind him, doing memory charms (she had studied these last year after hearing about Professor Lockhart's incident) everytime someone did magic in front of him. Quite sad and she did wonder why they didn't just have a wizard doing this part rather than doing so many memory charms. It really could not be good for him.
She walked with Ginny behind Mr. Weasley to their tent. On the way there, she saw tents that could only exist in the Wizarding World and she was fascinated to know how they were made and the spells that were used.
One tent was made to resemble a skyscraper, standing five stories tall and five feet wide. The tent "doors" were of the sliding variety, moving open and closed when people went in and out. On the outside, there was a moving picture of a Quidditch player who she heard Ron say was Victor Krum, the Seeker for the Bulgaria team. What a horrendous name and why were they only representing one person on the team? How incredibly rude of them to single out one person who they would not have gotten to this point without the entire team. She was not impressed.
Next to this tent was another one that was very amusing for her muggleborn background. It was a small cottage made from sweets, resembling a gingerbread house. In the front, there was a cauldron burning over a fire with what looked to be a pudding being made. Hansel and Gretel, the childhood fairy tale of the two children who visited a witch with a house made of sweets in the woods, only to be almost eaten, would surely be lured to this one. She had to wonder if they knew of the story, or if this was simply the best eye-catching design they could come up with.
They passed quite a few more, moving toward the middle of the "tents". She passed a large tent, resembling a manner, with albino peacocks roaming around and heard distantly someone say it was Malfoy's tent. Very fitting with their pompous manners and very white hair. Maybe they had taken the blood of one of their peacocks and mixed it with theirs to get the effect a long time ago. She had heard of stranger things, afterall, so she would not be surprised.
Their own tents were quite plain in comparison to the rest of them, albeit still not nearly the same thing as the tents she had grown up around with her parents on their family holidays in the woods. She had helped Mr. Weasley set the tents up, with additional help from the twins as they had played in them a few times in their younger years when their parents had been tired of them wreaking havoc at home.
The first tent, the larger of the two, held four rooms comfortably with a large living space and kitchen area to complement. The only down size was the smell, which smelled an awful lot like cows and cats. It was homey, and everything she would expect from a Weasley tent. It made her want to crawl into a ball and fall asleep next to her greatest friends and family whom she loved.
The smaller tent, which was only smaller because there were fewer bedrooms with only two, was very similar. Ginny and her would take one room and Fred and George had plans to take the other one. The older Weasley boys, Mr. Weasley, and Harry and Ron would be taking the other tent. She hoped her and Ginny would get a good night sleep tonight, as Fred and George did not have their prank supplies packed because Mrs. Weasley had confiscated a large part of it that morning on their way out so they could not disturb the peace. Plus, she suspected, she was still angry about the Dudley incident from yesterday. She had never been so thankful that the mother figure of Mrs. Weasley could not be bothered by the complaining of the twins and the bargaining they tried to do with her. She knew them much too well, and had virtually no trust they would not pull pranks the entire time they were there.
They had gotten there mid afternoon, about three hours until the game was set to start, and she was never so thankful to have gotten a quick nap in before the true festivities started. Harry and Ron had dressed her in green to support the Irish team when she said she didn't know who she was supporting. This comment, and her comment about how she was here to see the cultures and people, had not been a popular one amongst her peers who were all quidditch enthusiasts. They all saw it fit to give her a run down of the team players, what to look out for, and why they thought either team could win.
Fred and George had placed a bet with Ludo Bagmen on the Irish winning but Krum catches the snitch, a risky bet if she had ever heard one. Bagmen had been all too enthusiastic to take the bet, even though she knew that placing a bet with minors was highly illegal and if the twins lost, they could still get their money back since they were not old enough by the eyes of the ministry to be taking bets. He was blatantly taking advantage of the situation since he assumed they did not know the laws. Mr. Weasley had told them to not take any bets, but they had done it anyway when he had turned his back to greet another colleague of his who had walked up.
Once they had all finished their early supper of sausage and boiled potatoes, courtesy of the fire she had started, they started their journey to the stadium that stood proudly at the top of a hill overlooking the small town in Scotland they were staying in, unseen by the rest of muggle society. The stadium, from what the newspapers published, could house three-hundred-thousand wizards comfortably and squeeze in another eighty-thousand if pressed. It stood eighty stories high, with the lowest set of seats just above the field where each team's area was situated with their extra players and on the ground coaching staff. The announcers and ministry boxes for all the attending countries ministry officials were situated around the most middle part of the stadium, some forty to forty-five stories up.That is where their group was sitting, as Mr. Weasley had managed to grab tickets for them all after talking to a Ludo Bagmen. It did help, I am sure, that Harry was with them as the minister was particularly fond of having such a famous person around him to brag.
"At last, Arthur, you have arrived. I see you have brought your family, as well?" She could only assume this was the Minister or another colleague. Their current minister, for whatever reason he gave, did not like press photo shoots so she was not very familiar with how to identify him. Most of the ministry was run by white, older men so it was hard to tell sometimes.
"Yes, Minister, this is my family and a few friends of my younger son. I am sure you are familiar with Percy, but this is my oldest son Bill" refereeing to Bill, who was standing to his left and then to his right where everyone else stood. "This is my second oldest Charlie, my two twins Fred and George, my youngest son Ron, and my only daughter, Ginny." Mr. Weasley rambled off quickly.
The minister turned to Percy and very dismissively said, "Yes, Percy, you are the one who brings me the newspaper in the morning, correct?" he did not give him a chance to reply before turning to her and Harry. "How are you, Harry? Surely you are not getting into any more spots of trouble this year? And who might you be, not a Weasley child, I assume? You don't have very identifiable red hair."
Before she could reply, Harry stepped in to answer his question. "No sir, never plan for trouble, it just seems to find me. Thank you for having us up here, sir."
She jumped in quickly after this comment. "Hello, sir, I am Hermione Granger. Pleasure to meet you sir."
"Yes, yes, Harry. It does always seem to find you in the most unexpected ways." He turned to her directly again, taking the hand she had offered and shaking it in introduction. "It is a pleasure to meet you, dear. Are you the same Granger I signed the approval for to use the time-turner last year due to taking so many classes? We are only privy to the last name, even at my level, as the Unspeakables regulate them for the most part and just need signatures on requests to take them outside the Department of Mysteries for tracking purposes."
"Yes sir, that was me. Thank you for allowing me to use it, I would not have been successful in my schedule last year without it." She said quickly, not realizing he had been on that chain of approval.
"How many years did you end up aging last year, Mrs. Granger? They put an estimate of one year on the paperwork based on hours needed to go back and class schedule, but they were not sure. You are the first student to receive this accommodation, did you know?" He asked, sounding very interested in her experience.
"Somewhere around one year and two months, sir, from the log I kept. I do not think they took into account study time, which is necessary to get through the additional workload and still have eight hours of sleep. Madam Pomfrey, our school Medi-Witch, confirmed these findings at the end of last year." She replied, shocked that he knew of the repercussions of time travel in such an extended period of time. This is why there was such an increase in her womanly development over the summer as she was closer to fifteen years old now than just turning fourteen like her peers.
"Professor McGonagall informed me when we discussed it in my second year I would be the first person to receive these accommodations if all went well, and I am very grateful for the opportunity that was provided to me. I won't need the accommodation this year, thank goodness, as I dropped one of the classes, Divinations, and I tested out of my arithmancy class over the summer, so my course schedule now is achievable in one school year."
"Mrs. Granger, once you have graduated Hogwarts, please do write to me. I think you have a bright future ahead of you and I am sure this next year will be an interesting and exciting one for you. I wish you all the best, and please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you would like to work over the summer as an Intern. We are always looking to escalate our brightest and best students up the chain as quickly as possible upon graduation." Minister Fudge offered her. It was a true honor, and she was going to reach out as quickly as she could once her O.W.L results came in next year and she could prove her abilities.
"Thank you, Minster, I will keep that in mind and reach out." Shaking hands again, both walked away back to their respective groups.
When she got back to her group, she was bombarded by Percy Weasley on what they had discussed and if he had been mentioned. She simply told him that the minister had heard of her and offered to put in a good word for a position post graduation and to get her an internship one of the summers she was available.
Fred, on the other hand, had whispered in her ear, "So, that is how you were sneaking around so well last year and we weren't able to prank you. You had a rudy time-turned the entire year? How did we not know?"
"Well, if you knew anything about time-travel and physics, you would know I was not allowed to tell you because it could, quite literally, change the course of time itself and make us fall into a different reality if you were to see two of me at once in one place, for example. Very dangerous and I did not enjoy the experience."
"On the upside, you gained a year of life and are closer to being a legal adult than the rest of your friends. Only one year younger than me now - how exciting for you." He commented, walking them back over to wear the edge of the stadium overlooking the field where a group of Veela had started dancing to provoke the Irish supporters and team. It was quite a grotesque move on their part, as most witches and wizards were married off by the time they were twenty years old - it was an idea she had come to terms with about the society a few years ago when she learned about it.
She ignored him, choosing to turn to the match that had just started and focusing on the game at hand.
The game was a fairly short one by World Cups standards, which were known to go on for days or even months, only lasting four hours until the snitch was indeed caught by Krum. The entire stadium had blown up in outrage or cheers of happiness at that point since Krum catching the snitch might have been the stupidest idea in the world.
Bulgaria had been behind on points with the Irish's Keeper not letting anything practically through the hoops. Catching the snitch meant one-hundred and fifty points were added to the final score, and Krum must have miscalculated because the Irish won the game by twenty points once he caught it.
Bulgaria's supporters were mad, stating the Irish leprechauns had done something to him to make him make such a bad move and that they needed a re-do. Obviously, that was a false statement since the Leprechauns and Veela had been dragged out mid-way through the game because they started fighting each other over who was better. The refs actually had to call a timeout, maybe the first one ever called in history, to handle the situation since one of the Veela had grabbed a Beater's bat in anger. And the Veela, who were known to fireballs, were using the bat to hit these balls at the opposing team and leprechaun.
That night, once they returned to the tent after celebrating, she crashed in her bed, only to be woken up in the middle of the night to their tent being on fire and Fred and George both grabbing her and Ginny and running out. Apparently, some stupid group of Bulgarians thought it was funny to trapeze around the campsite in protest of the results, mimicking the fire the Veela had produced. Stupid men, but thank god she had been woken up or she would be fried. Mr. Weasley saw it fit to bring them home after that, only running into Draco Malfoy for the second time that day and having to deal with his less than ideal snarkiness. Honestly, you would think with all the money his family had, they would have got him manners tutoring for how to treat women and how to be charitable.