Clutching their purchases, they were led by Rob across the trail of lanterns into the woods. They could hear people, laughing, singing, cheering, the atmosphere was infectious. They walked through the wood for twenty minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they emerged on the other side and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Silver could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the field, he could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it. Rob looked amused at Silver and Coral's awestruck faces "Can seat a hundred thousand. Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again… bless them". They headed to the nearest entrance which was already swarming with wizards and showed a witch their tickets "Top Box, Rob. Right upstairs, high as you can go". The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Rob's party kept climbing, and at last they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. A wolf was waiting at the entrance with a box "Sorry, Rob, but your kids will have to hand over their Talismans. Can't risk it in the Top Box". Rob agreed and told them to do so. Silver took off is gloves and bracelets and placed them in the box. The wolf took a note "I'll give you them back once the Ministers have been escorted out".
They entered the top box, about twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, and Silver, filing into the front seats with the others, looked down upon a scene the likes of which he could never have imagined. A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was covered with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high. Occasionally gold writing would appear in the sky advertising products that were sponsoring the game. Silver looked around to see who else was sharing the box. It was mostly empty so far except for a small orange creature sitting two rows behind, it looked familiar "Lue?". The creature poked it's head up and stared at him. Silver turned around and kneeled on his seat. Now with less of the flashing lights outside he was able to tell it wasn't Lue although it was definitely a Marmolim. What Silver thought was orange was actually from the red Sunset Hill fireworks. The Marmolim was actually light blue, a bit shorter that Lue and much skinnier, from the eye lashes Silver assumed this one was female "Did sir just call me Lue?" she asked in a high-pitched voice. Razor and Coral both turned around in their seats as they had never met Lue.
Silver shook his head apologetically "Sorry, I thought you were someone else" "But I know Lue, sir". Her eyes kept shifting to the edge of the box nervously "My name is Momo, sir… And you, sir… You must be Silver the Hedgehog". Silver nodded "Yes, I am" "Lue talks about you all the time, sir" "How is he? How's freedom suiting him". Momo recoiled like Silver had just sworn "Meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Lue a favour, sir, when you is setting him free" "Why? What's wrong with him?" "Freedom is going to his head, sir. Ideas above his station". She glanced around to make sure no one else could hear and then whispered like she was giving away some scandalous gossip "He is wanting paying for his work, sir" "Paying? Why shouldn't he be paid?". Momo looked horrified "Marmolims is not paid, sir. No, no, no. I says to Lue, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Lue. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is unbecoming to a Marmolim. You goes racketing around like this, Lue, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin. Marmolims do what they're told, sir. Look at Momo. I is afraid of heights but my Master sends me up here and so I go". Silver finally realised why she kept glancing to the edge of the box "Why did he send you up here if you were afraid of heights?" "Master… Master wants me to save him a seat, sir". She gestured to the seat next to hers "Momo wished he was back in Master's tent, sir. But Momo is a good Marmolim. Momo does what she is told". Silver felt awkward now "Well, nice talking to you". They turned around "So that's a Marmolim. Weird things, aren't they?" "Lue was weirder" Silver joked. Razor put on his Treasure scope and brought the lens down over his left eye "Wow. I can make that old bloke down their pick nose over and over again. Haha".
Coral meanwhile was looking through the program "We should be seeing the team mascots before the match begins". Rob looked excited "Oh, that'll be fun. Mascots are usually creatures native to the team's country. They always put on a bit of a show". The box gradually filled up over the next half hour. Rob and Hamlin would both keep getting up to shake hands with important Ministry members. When Max, the Minister of Magic entered Hamlin bowed so low he fell over. He got back up very embarrassed, sat back down and gave Silver jealous looks when Max greeted him like an old friend. Max shook his hand and introduced him to the Sunset Hill Minister, a deer "Silver the Hedgehog, you know?". The deer didn't seem to speak a word of English "Silver… the… Hedgehog. The one who made You Know Who disappear". The deer stared at Silver who guessed his eyes turned gold because the deer suddenly grinned "Silver!" "Knew we'd get there in the end. I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Puff for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his Marmolim's saving him a seat. Oh, and here's Clutch". The trio turned quickly, edging across the row three free back from them was Lue's old masters, Clutch, Rutan and a red Echidna woman who Silver assumed to be Rutan's mother. She had bands decorated into her dreadlocks except for one which looked to be metal and she wore a leather shirt and trousers. Clutch shook the Minister's hand "Ah, Max, how are you? I don't believe you've met my wife, Lien-Da. And our son Rutan" "How do you do?". Max bowed low "And allow me to introduce you to Mr Obli… Obli- Ob… Well, he's the Sunset Hill Minister and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else. You know Rob O'Hedge, I daresay?". It was a tense moment, the memory of their last encounter two years ago was clearly still fresh in both their minds "Good Lord, Rob, what did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?". Max who wasn't listening said "Clutch has just given a very generous contribution to Eldorado Zone District Hospital, Rob. He's here as my guest" "How… nice" Rob said with a strained smile. Clutch gave a sneering glance at Coral who held his gaze before giving Rob a polite nod and continued to his line of seats. Rutan gave the trio a contemptuous look before sitting between his mother and father "Slimy git" Razor said. Not long after Barker into the box "Is everyone ready, Minister?" "When you are, Barker".
Barker raised his cane and held it like the top was a microphone. He now spoke in a magnified voice that filled the stadium "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome! Welcome to the four hundred and twenty second Sky Chase Cup". The stadium filled with cheers and waving flags. A black board on the four ends of the stadium were marked with the scores "And now without further ado let me introduce the Sunset Hill national mascots". The right-hand side of the stadium roared with applause. Rob used his binoculars "Ah… Illuminas" "What are-". But Silver's question was answered when the Illuminas were dancing onto the stadium. Illuminas were woman, the most beautiful woman Silver had ever seen. Each one resembled a different species, humans, Mongoose, hedgehogs, echidnas, foxes but they couldn't be human or Mobian. Their bodies shined and their beautiful Kimonos and dresses gracefully waved in the wind. As they danced Silver stopped worrying about what they were, in fact he stopped worrying about anything at all. Silver's mind was now completely and blissfully blank. All he wanted to do was keep watching them because if he stopped something terrible would happen. He had to do something to impress them, maybe he could borrow one of the players boards and show off his flying skill, but would that be enough "Silver, what're you doing?" Coral said from very far away. Silver was snapped out of his trance and realised that he was now standing at the edge of the box leaning against the railing. He looked next to him and saw that all the O'Hedge boys had done the same except Rob who seemed to be prepared and was looking up to the sky with his fingers in his ears. Razor was the worst as he looked like he was about to burn his Starfall Hat to show his support to Sunset Hill. Boos echoed through the stadium, no one wanted the Illuminas to stop dancing. Silver agreed, he would of course be supporting Sunset Hill and wondered why he had a green badge on his chest. He and Razor sat back down next to Coral who gave a tut and muttered "Honestly". Barker moved back to the front of the box "And now please give a warm welcome to the Starfall national mascots". Suddenly four creatures flew over the Stadium which created beautiful fireworks the crowd oooohed and aaaaahed. As the creatures got close on one of their passes Coral recognised what they are "Guardian sharks".
They were indeed flying metal sharks. As they made another pass their stomachs opened, and it was raining gold coins. Razor grabbed as many as he could "Excellent". He gave a handful to Silver "For the scope. Now you have to get me a Christmas present". Barker had a look of boyish glee at the sight of the happy stadium "And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time to welcome the Sunset Hill National Sky Chase Team!". He began introducing each team member until finally "And finally… REYNARD!". Razor got excited "That's him" he and Silver both watched Reynard with their scope. Silver had never seen someone look so natural in the air, he was amazed he was only seventeen. The Starfall team was introduced next and Silver could tell that apart from Reynard they were clearly the superiors flyers to Sunset Hill, they were practically blurs as they swept onto the field "And now our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Sky Chase, Albert Butler!". A human man in a blue suit and an orange cap walked onto the stadium. The balls were released to begin the game, Silver used his scope and just managed to spot the Ga before it sped off "Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Barker. It was Sky Chase as Silver had never seen it played before. He was pressing his Treasure Scope so hard to his face that they were cutting into the bridge of his nose. The speed of the players was incredible. The Chasers were throwing the Ball to one another so fast that Barker only had time to say their names. Silver spun the slow dial on the right of his Treasure Scope again, pressed the play-by-play button on the top, and he was immediately watching in slow motion, while glittering purple lettering flashed across the lens and the noise of the crowd pounded against his eardrums. "HAWKSHEAD ATTACKING FORMATION", he read on the lens as he watched the three Starfall Chasers zoom closely together, Troy in the centre, slightly ahead of Mullet and Moran, bearing down upon the Sunset Hill. "PORSKOFF PLOY" flashed up next, as Troy made as though to dart upward with the Ball, drawing away the Sunset Hill Chaser Ivanova and dropping the Ball to Moran.
One of the Sunset Hill Beaters, Volkov, swung hard at a passing Thunderball with his small club, knocking it into Moran's path; Moran ducked to avoid the Thunderball and dropped the Ball; and Levski, soaring beneath, caught it. "TROY SCORES!" roared Barker, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Starfall!" "What?" Silver yelled, looking wildly around through his Treasure Scope "But Levski's got the Ball!" "Silver, if you're not going to watch at normal speed, you're going to miss things!" shouted Coral, who was dancing up and down, waving her arms in the air while Troy did a lap of honour around the field. Silver looked quickly over the top of his Treasure Scope and saw that the Guardian Sharks watching from the sidelines had all risen into the air again and formed the great, glittering symbol of the Starfall Islands from a top down view. Across the field, the Illuminas were watching them sulkily. Furious with himself, Silver spun his speed dial back to normal as play resumed. Silver knew enough about Sky Chase to see that the Starfall Chasers were superb. They worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be reading one another's minds as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on Silver's chest kept squeaking their names: "Troy- Mullet- Moran!" And within ten minutes, Starfall had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the green-clad supporters. The match became still faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Sunset Hill Beaters, were whacking the Thunderballs as fiercely as possible at the Starfall Chasers and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves, twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan and score Sunset Hill's first goal. "Look up!" Rob bellowed as the Illuminas started to dance in celebration.
Silver screwed up his eyes too, he wanted to keep his mind on the game. After a few seconds, he chanced a glance at the field. The Illuminas had stopped dancing, and Sunset Hill was again in possession of the Ball. "Oh, i say!" roared Barker. One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Reynard and Lynch, plummeted through the centre of the Chasers so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from airplanes without parachutes. Silver followed their descent through his Treasure Scope, squinting to see where the Ga was. "They're going to crash!" screamed Coral next to Silver. She was half right at the very last second, Reynard pulled out of the dive and spiralled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the stadium. A huge groan rose from the Starfall seats. "Fool! Reynard was feinting!" Rob moaned. "It's time-out!" yelled Barker's voice as trained Medi-Wizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch. "He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Rotor said reassuringly to Blaze, who was hanging over the side of the box, looking horror-struck "Which is what Reynard was after, of course" he added impressed Silver hastily pressed the replay and play-by-play buttons on his Treasure Scope, twiddled the speed dial, and put them back up to his left eye. He watched as Reynard and Lynch dived again in slow motion "WRONSKI DEFENSIVE FEINT. DANGEROUS SEEKER DIVERSION" read the shining purple lettering across his lenses. He saw Reynard's face contorted with concentration as he pulled out of the dive just in time, while Lynch was flattened, and he understood. Reynard hadn't seen the Ga at all, he was just making Lynch copy him. Silver had never seen anyone fly like that. Reynard hardly looked as though he was using a board at all; he moved so easily through the air that he looked unsupported and weightless. Silver turned his Treasure Scope back to normal and focused them on Reynard. He was now circling high above Lynch, who was being revived by Medi-Wizards with cups of potion. Silver, focusing still more closely upon Reynard's face, saw his dark eyes darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He was using the time while Lynch was revived to look for the Ga without interference. Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the green-clad supporters, mounted his Psychic Wave, and kicked back off into the air. His revival seemed to give Starfall new heart. When Butler blew his whistle again, the Chasers moved into action with a skill unrivalled by anything Silver had seen so far. After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Starfall had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier.
As Mullet shot toward the goal posts yet again, clutching the Ball tightly under her arm, the Sunset Hill Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Whatever happened was over so quickly Silver didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Starfall crowd, and Butler's long, shrill whistle blast, told him it had been a foul "And Butler takes the Sunset Hill Keeper to task for cobbing… excessive use of elbows! And… yes, it's a penalty to Starfall!" Barker announced. The Guardian Sharks, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!". The Illuminas on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again. As one, the O'Hedge boys and Silver stuffed their fingers into their ears, but Coral, who hadn't bothered, was soon tugging on Silver's arm. He turned to look at her, and she pulled his fingers impatiently out of his ears. "Look at the referee!" she said giggling. Silver looked down at the field. Butler had landed right in front of the dancing human Illumina and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles excitedly "Now, we can't have that!" said Barker, though he sounded highly amused. He tried to speak through his laughter "Somebody slap the referee!". A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Butler hard in the shins. Butler seemed to come to his senses. Silver, watching through the Treasure Scope again, saw that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the Illuminas, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous. "And unless I'm much mistaken, Butler is actually attempting to send off the Sunset Hill team mascots! Oh, folks, this could turn nasty" said Barker's voice. It did turn nasty, the Sunset Hill Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, landed on either side of Butler and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulating toward the Guardian Sharks, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." Butler was not impressed by the Sunset Hills' arguments, however; he was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.
"Two penalties for Starfall!" shouted Barker, and the Sunset Hill crowd howled with anger. Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy. Volkov and Vulchanov in particular seemed not to care whether their clubs made contact with Thunderball or Mobian as they swung them violently through the air. Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Ball, nearly knocking her off her board. "Foul!" roared the Starfall supporters as one, all standing up in a great wave of green. "Foul! Dimitrov skins Moran deliberately flying to collide there, and it's got to be another penalty. Yes, there's the whistle!" echoed Barker's magically magnified voice. The Guardian Sharks had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the Illuminas across the field. At this, the Illuminas lost control. Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the Guardian Sharks. Watching through his Treasure Scope, Silver saw that they didn't look remotely beautiful now "And that, boys, is why you should never go for looks alone". Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the Illuminas and the Guardian Sharks, but with little success. Meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one taking place above. Silver turned this way and that, staring through his Treasure Scope, as the Ball changed hands with the speed of a bullet "MORAN SCORES!". But the cheers of the Starfall supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the Illuminas, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' Talismans, and the furious roars of the Sunset Hills. The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Ball, now Dimitrov. The Starfall Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing Thunderball, and hit it as hard as possible toward Reynard, who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him full in the face. There was a deafening groan from the crowd. Reynard's nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but Butler didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted, and Silver couldn't blame him. One of the Illuminas had thrown a handful of fire and set his hat alight.
Silver wanted someone to realize that Reynard was injured, even though he was supporting Starfall, Reynard was the most exciting player on the field. Razor obviously felt the same "Time-out! Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him". "Look at Lynch!" Silver yelled, for the Starfall Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and Silver was quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint, this was the real thing "He's seen the Ga!" Silver shouted. Barker had noticed as well "He's seen it! Look at him go!" half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening. The Starfall supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on but Reynard was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, Silver had no idea. There were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again "They're going to crash!" shrieked Coral. "No, they're not!" roared Razor with Silver adding "Lynch is!". And he was right — for the second time, Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force and was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry Illuminas. "The Ga, where's the Ga?" bellowed Rotor, along the row. "He's got it. Reynard's got it. It's all over!" shouted Silver. Reynard, his face shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a blinking red light in his hand. The scoreboard was flashing SUNSET HILL: 160, STARFALL: 170 across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what had happened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Starfall supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight. "STARFALL WINS!" Barker shouted, who like the Starfall, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match "REYNARD GETS THE GA. BUT STARFALL WINS. Good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!" "What did he catch the Ga for?" Razor bellowed, even as he jumped up and down, applauding with his hands over his head. "He ended it when Starfall were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!" "He knew they were never going to catch up!" Silver shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly. "The Starfall Chasers were too good. He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all" he continued. Coral was awestruck "He was very brave, wasn't he?". Silver tried to get a better look at Reynard which was difficult as the Guardian Sharks were whooshing all around the stadium in celebration. He could just make out Reynard being checked by Medi-Wizards as his team stood around him looking dejected.
The Starfall team on the other hand were dancing gleefully in the shower of gold from the sharks "Vell, ve fought bravely" said someone behind Silver. He turned and realised it was the Sunset Hill Minister. Max looked outraged "You can speak English? And you've been letting me mime everything all day!" "Vell, it vos very funny". Barker made his end of game announcement "And as the Starfall team performs a lap of honour, flanked by their mascots, the Sky Chase World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box". The trio were excited as the box they were all in illuminated. Max was handed a vast golden cup "Lets have a round of applause for the gallant losers! Sunset Hill!". And up the stairs into the box came the seven defeated sunset players. The crowd below was applauding appreciatively. Silver could see thousands and thousands of Treasure Scope lenses flashing and winking in their direction. One by one, the players filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Barker called out the name of each as they shook hands with their own minister and then with Max. Reynard, who was last in line, looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming spectacularly on his bloody face. He was still holding the Ga. Silver noticed that he seemed much less coordinated on the ground. But when Reynard's name was announced, the whole stadium gave him a resounding, ear-splitting roar. And then came the Starfall team, Lynch was being supported by two of his teammates, his last crash seemed to still leave him dazed. Two of the players took the cup and raised it high above them. The crowd below thundered its approval, Silver's hands went numb from clapping. The team went back on their boards to do another victory lap. Barker sat down laughing next to Rob and spoke in a hoarse voice "Oh… They'll be speaking of this one for ages. Shame it couldn't have lasted longer. And… Oh, yes, how much do I owe you?" he asked finally noticing Mighty and Ray who had their hands outstretched.