A/N: Hello and welcome back to another chapter in this story.
Once again, HowInMadeHowie helped me with the finer details in this chapter.
I want to apologice for the delay, but i had enough work to do that i almost drowned in it. I hope the lenght is an apologicy enough, as HowInMadeHowie also added many things that i would have forgotten, and that would open many plotholes.
I hope you all find this chapter entertaining, and until next time.
Harry held a bucket in his hand, as they had decided that he should go and get some water to cook lunch for now. Thanks to the map that Sirius had brought with him from the reception, Harry knew where he could get it on this campinggrounds. . He knew that Callie could also have scanned the surroundings and found the water pump, but with all these tents around them Harry thought that his partner would have a hard time to scan everything as long as he had only the sensors in his glasses.
Hermione, Susan and Daphne were also walking with him, with the latter two wondering how muggles could camp without magic. Hermione smiled and told them that she and her parents often went camping in a forest when they were on holiday. "My father had explained to me that camping is good for your health, as well realizing that we take many things for granted these days. As for me, I just liked to be out in the forest and breathe the fresh air. I even saw a deer with its fawn. It was so cute."
As they walked and talked, Harry observed the other visitors from other countries. Thanks to Yen and Keira's lessons he recognized the different countries thanks to the flags some had placed on their tents. But other tents, Harry did not need to see a flag, as for few, such as the Egypt delegation the tent looked like a small pyramid. The owner of the pyramid was discussing something with a ministry wizard in Arabic, according to Callie that was the language Harry was hearing.
Callie was also comparing the wizards on this camp site with her data to see if either Crouch or Bagman were close by. Thanks to the scan, she noticed that the Ministry wizard talking with the Egyptian wizard was indeed Bartemius Crouch. She told Harry that she had found Crouch, to which he glanced behind him to look at the man to see if he looked like the picture.
Walking past one of the people he was warned about, Harry turned towards the marker that Callie had placed in his glasses' HUD to get the water he and his friends were tasked to get. John would surely scold him for taking this long for such a simple task. Even as they had to wait some time until they could get to the pump, some people were looking at him in wonder how tall he was. Harry wondered why they did not ask him why he was carrying such a big bucket.
—-
John and Triss were sitting around the firepit he had made, while Hermione's parents were preparing the food they brought so the group had a variety of options to cook over the fire. The two couples had owled each other on what food each would bring that would be cooked on the open fire. Since this would be normal for muggles on a camping trip to do, plus John was not sure if the magicals coming with them had any experience with real camping Thinking of the aforementioned wizard and witches, John glanced over at them to check if they were properly attired to blend in as muggles. Although John was not surprised Amelia knew how to blend in he was sure Sirius would have some problem finding appropriate clothes. Glancing briefly at Daphne's mother, John wondered if the Greengrass family frequented the muggle world often because she was wearing a simple sundress. Nodding to himself satisfied that the others would not be a security risk he looked back at the large pan to check the bratwursts. Just then Triss came to his side to deposit the chopped onions and peppers into the pan to go with the brats. While he was satisfied that the sausages were cooking well he placed them on a holder and picked up a second frying pan that contained salmon and haddock. Normally John would be satisfied with one type of food but he had to agree cooking for eleven people meant variety was in order.
Sirius looked in awe at how John handled the fish, and what looked to Sirius as sausages without magic on the frying pans that were placed over the fire, Sirius wondered how the food would taste after he had witnessed Triss and Janet seasoning it. John had asked Sirius if he knew how to cook over an open flame, to which the wizard shook his head. "We had relied on house elves to do our cooking. I can cook for myself, but to be honest I am just good enough for the food to be edible. How did you learn how to cook?"
John turned the fish and the brats around , so it would be evenly cooked from all sides. "It was something I had to pick up during my training. We had to find our own food in the field and prepare the ingredients. During that time, we also learned how to make a fire in a way that it was safe to leave it unattended. Recently I passed on what I learned onto Harry when I taught him how to set traps to catch animals like rabbits."
Sirius raised a brow that Harry knew how to do this too but nodded, accepting the explanation. Walking over to Triss, Sirius asked if he could help her with the salad.
—-
When Harry returned with the water to their spot, he and the others prepared the rest for their lunch. Just as John had placed some fish on the pan, Harry heard someone coming closer that was greeting Sirius with his booming voice. "Ah, Lord Black, how good to see you well. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ludo Bagman. But I think you know that already. Do you mind if I would sit with you?"
Sirius turned towards the visitor with a neutral expression on his face, but the tone in his voice betrayed that he was cautious. "Good day Mr. Bagman. Yes, I know who you are, as well your reputation inside the ministry. So, what do you want?"
Bagman was a bit taken aback by the reaction that Sirius had, but he caught himself and played the well-mannered man again. "Ah, Lord Black, I just wanted to know if you or your friends here are interested in a little bet before the game. Like who will win the Cup, and with what margin. Many people bet on this game, and you could win a lot of gold." As for emphasis, he took out a satchel that made the sound of many coins inside it. But before Sirius could tell Bagman to go away, John was about to confront Bagman until he heard Amelia's cold voice coming from her tent. John smiled in amusement when he saw Bagman nearly jump in fright at hearing her voice.
Amelia stepped out of her tent when she saw Bagman looking around for her and when he finally laid eyes on her he looked like he was about to bolt. Amelia then began to speak with a serious tone. "Ludo, I hope that these bets are allowed by the ministry. Especially held by an official like yourself. Else we would have to report this to another ministry wizard that works on this campsite. But more importantly, I better not hear you were taking bets with underage children."
Bagman gulped nervously and was getting pale; he apologized and almost ran away from Amelia as he left their camp. Sirius laughed out loud when Bagman was a bit further away, thanking Amelia for putting Bagman in his place.
Amelia waved her thanks and just shook her head as she watched Bagman from a distance. "Honestly, I still wonder how that fool still has a job. He may know Quidditch but he's more irresponsible now than he was ten years ago." Amelia turned back towards the others as the smell of the well cooked food was making her hungry. She was somewhat surprised to see the Chief was the one handling the food over the fire. Amelia's brow raised in a curious look to which Sirius noted.
Sirius spoke quietly to her of what he learned about the big man. "Apparently, he even taught Harry survival camping, how to live off the land and all that. I'm not even sure Mad-Eye taught that back in the day."
Amelia frowned in thought as she considered that. Shaking her head she responded in a low tone. "No, I don't believe he made emphasis on that level of survival. Well, in the wild anyway. That is more something you find in muggle military than in law enforcement." She noticed Sirius' surprised look and nodded. "Oh yes, I believe he is indeed a former military. Tonks told me people still refer to him by his rank, Master Chief. I looked it up, that's the highest rank of a non-commissioned officer there is, Master Chief Petty Officer."
Sirius nodded his head slowly on hearing that. "I can believe it. I saw how he handled Tonks when we went to Hogwarts to watch Harry's last game." Sirius chuckled ruefully. "Made her run his obstacle course again when she thought she could be a smartass. She didn't complain though she just accepted it and ran like her life depended on it."
—-
As the group sat around the pit and ate their food from the plates that Hermione's parents had brought with them together with the plastic forks and knives, Samuel and Janet were surprised at how well John could cook. Samuel asked John if he was a cook in the military, but John said that he was just a run of the mille soldier. "But when we were in the field, we were taught how to hunt our own food for emergencies, which also meant that we needed to know how to cook. Some of my friends even became so proficient at it that they could season the meat with herbs they found around the campsite, resulting in some of the best meals I had during my service."
Sirius was looking between Harry and John again. Having a sudden realization, he put his fork on his plate and asked Harry if he also had trained like John. Harry nodded, having finished his lunch. "Yes, John taught me the same things that he had learned during his time in the military. We even camped outside for a few days only surviving on what was around us. It was hard in the beginning. Setting traps for animals and finding edible plants were just one of the challenges, but after several days at a time since I was getting used to it. And before you ask Sirius, I was never in danger of starving as Kear Morhen was always close by. But going there would have meant that I failed the exercise. And even back then, I wanted to make John and the others proud of me, so I did everything I could to stay away from Kear Morhen while sleeping in a small tent." Harry smiled and shrugged simply to say, "It was fun"
Samuel shook his head amused by Harry's statement. "I have heard of kids enjoy camping, but survival camping is never easy or fun. At most, it's a test of one's patience in unknown." Samuel gestured to John and continued. "Unlike the Chief, he was trained for it. Soldiers have to endure this sort of thing on deployment." Turning back to Harry Samuel smiled. "I'll give you credit though, to endure that and enjoy it speaks highly of your character."
As they finished their lunch, Harry heard a familiar voice complaining about the time her father needed to start a fire with matches. Recognizing the voice as Ginny's, he concluded that the Wealseys were close by. Asking to be excused, he stood up and was about to walk over to them and see how they fared at their campsite. Sirius asked Harry where he was headed off to.
Harry told his godfather that he was going to visit some friends close by. Amelia asked which friends those were, covering for Harry in case Sirius and the Grangers did not know that Harry was a Witcher. Susan told her aunt that they had seen the Weasley twins when they returned back from the water pump, and she had heard them discussing how to prank someone.
Amelia massaged her forehead, she had heard from her niece the level of pranks those two get up to in Hogwarts; she glanced at Sirius, who had an intrigued look at that bit of gossip, so Sirius, Amelia and John told Harry that they also would come with him, while the girls had decided to clean their dishes and cooking utensils. Amelia mostly decided to accompany the boys to keep an eye on Sirius. Sirius rolled his eyes when he saw Amelia coming with them, mumbling that he didn't need a chaperone.
—-
As Harry walked around the tent from where he had heard Ginny, he saw that Ludo Bagman was also sitting with the Weasleys. Wondering why Arthur talked with this ministry wizard, Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw Amelia frowning when she too noticed Bagman, he thought best to subtly pick up his pace as he walked closer and greeted Ron and Ginny.
Ginny smiled and looked up from the book she was reading, only to have to look further up to see Harry's face. Ginny blinked in surprise as she blurted out. "Damn Harry, what did they feed you over the summer? I mean you were already taller than Ron before, but now you are almost as tall as Chief here." Ginny waved at John with a smile. John nodded a polite greeting in return.
Hearing the Chief's name, the two oldest Weasley brothers turned around and stood up in attention when they realized John was standing in their campsite.
Arthur was looking between his two eldest sons when he also turned around to see who had caused that reaction. "Ah, Madam Bones, Sirius, how wonderful for you to visit us." Arthur glanced over at two tall figures, one he recognized as Harry and other as the Chief. "Ah Mr. Wulf and Harry, it seems that the time over the summer was good to you. Oh, do you know how to use these small firesticks?"
Bagman was nervous when he saw Amelia coming closer and looking angry, so he decided to leave the Weasley´s camp and wished them a good time until the match would start. Arthur frowned at Bagman's odd behavior until he noticed Amelia's angry look. Arthur nodded his thanks to the head of DMLE, he knew Bagman was likely to try to hook some of his sons into a bet that he was worried that Bagman could pay back.
Ron was watching Harry walking over to the campfire with his father, but wondering why his two oldest brothers still stood still in front of Mr. Chief. Asking Bill why he reacted like that, his oldest brother grinned as he began to explain. "While we were in Hogwarts, Mr. Chief had trained us well and instilled the discipline to keep our senses sharpened. Thanks to that, I survived the first dungeon I was assigned to, as the trap in the entrance was still active. But thanks to the training, my reaction was fast enough for me to evade the trap. And as for Charlie, he once told me that thanks to the training, he was fast enough to step out of the way of an attack from a dragon. Because of that, we still respect the Chief." Arthur held up the small matchbook that he has been using trying to start their campfire. Harry nodded and walked over to him and took the matchbook and crouched down to light kindling with a single match.
John nodded towards the two eldest Weasley brothers and told them that they could relax. John had a small smile at his former students, "We are no longer in school and you are no longer my trainees. But thank you for your respect, that only shows that some of my training sticks." Hearing the Chief's words the two young men relaxed their stance.
Fred and George were now looking up from something they were working on. As their gaze first landed on Harry, they almost spit out the drink they had in their mouths.
After Fred had swallowed the rest of his drink, he asked Harry what he ate for such a growth spurt.
Harry shook his head and shrugged with his shoulders. "If I had a galleon for everytime someone asked me that question, I could have bought another broom, maybe even a Nimbus 2000. And before you ask, yes my firebolt still can carry me, I checked it at home." Harry glanced back down at the campfire to make sure all the wood was burning properly.
Arthur then introduces his two oldest sons to Harry, as they are meeting him for the first time. Harry shook their hands, noticing the scars on Charlie's hands. Charlie also noticed Harry looking at his hands, grinning widely. "Ah these? I got those from my job. I work with dragons in the dragon reserve in Romania. Some of them are really aggressive, you know. But sometimes there is a golden dragon who seems to have a calming effect on the others, but he never stays long."
Harry was curious how someone could care for dragons without being friends with one in the first place. He would ask Geralt if they could talk with Borch another time in the future. But he was distracted by Bill, a curse-breaker for Gringotts, something Harry was interested in.
Ron asked Charlie why he and Bill behaved like they were soldiers after Chief Wulf had arrived with Harry. Ron was just a bit jealous of how much taller Harry had gotten over the summer, but he tried to hide it.
Charlie smiled and told his youngest brother why they respected the Chief so much. "It's because of the training session we had with the Chief during our time in Hogwarts; me and Bill have become so good at our jobs because we trained our bodies so much. Be it as a curse breaker or to study dragons, it is paramount to be disciplined when you do your job. That was one of the first lessons that Chief Wulf had taught us, so we live by it."
Bill nodded and gestured to his earring. "You think this simple decoration? No, I got this from the viper that nearly killed me. If not for Chief's rigorous training I would have been dead. His courses don't just train your body physically they teach you to react faster, to be aware of your surroundings. After I killed the viper the goblin I was working with told me I should keep a piece of the snake as a reminder of how close I came to death."
Most of the Weasleys, as well as Sirius and Amelia were rather impressed by that story. Arthur turned to John and thanked him for training his sons to stay alive in their dangerous jobs.
They talked a bit more about their jobs and what they could think of who would win today while Arthur was watching their lunch. When Harry heard Fred and George agreeing to a bet with Sirius, Harry wondered what this bet was about.
Sirius laughed when he heard what Fred and George wanted to bet on. "Seriously? Ireland wins, but Krum will catch the snitch? You know what, if that happens, I give you double what you wanted to give Bagman, but when you lose you come over to my place and help me clean it for the rest of the summer. Do we have a deal?" Sirius grinned at the young pranksters.
Fred and George failed to see how that would be fair and asked Sirius how he thought about it. Sirius laughed again and told them that his house was right in the middle of a muggle neighborhood, so they had to clean his house without any magic.
George pointed out that they would turn 17 this coming April so they could legally use magic.
Sirius shook his head and grimaced. "If only that were that simple boys. I do have a house elf and, quite frankly, he's useless. Refuses to clean the house. ANd it hasn't been cleaned for over a decade." Sirius shrugged as it wasn't a total loss that it hasn't been cleaned for so long. "Point is, you can't wave a wand and clean it like you would your own house. It has to be done by hand, without magic."
Harry decided to join their conversation; he offered to match the twins' bet with his own and add that he'd help them clean the house if they lost. Sirius grinned and looked to the twins to see if they accepted.
Fred and George exchanged a look having a silent conversation. They figured if Harry was willing to add his own gold that can't be a total loss. Fred turned to Sirius and held out his hand. "Deal!"
—-
Harry and the girls decided to see what the vendors around the stadium had to sell before the match began. They had talked with the adults that they would meet a bit later on the grounds surrounding the stadium. Sirius was also walking with them together with Amelia, wanting to see what was sold before he would come back with the full group.
Daphne explained that they will likely sell team memorabilia, but Susan reminded her they might sell things like omnioculars. Hermione asked if they were anything like binoculars but the two pureblood witches gave her a blank look; Hermione rolled her eyes muttering why purebloods can't be aware of muggle things. Harry pointed out that binoculars were not that old compared to telescopes and spy glasses. Hermione conceded his point knowing how old telescopes were.
The group found the various vendors near the stadium entrance offering various team memorabilia and Quidditch memorabilia. Hermione was surprised to see pictures and what looked like a muggle action figure of one player. Daphne explained that the person they were looking at was Viktor Krum, Bulgaria's star seeker. He is said to be the youngest Quidditch World cup player in history. Hermione frowned as she saw that Krum was not smiling in any of his pictures. Shrugging her shoulders she doubted Krum could be a better seeker than Harry. Speaking of Harry she saw him standing by a cart talking to a vendor that, at first glance, sold binoculars. The three girls walked over and heard the vendor explain the various features of the omnioculars.
The man was smiling proudly at his wares. "Yes, slow motion is a useful feature if you want to see how players' skills work. But the real feature I'm proud of is a play by play mode. That one took a while to add. It shows all known plays and formations that can be used for future games." The man noticed the girls coming towards his cart and continued his sales pitch. "10 galleons a pair, a true bargain!"
Before Harry could even open his mouth to buy several Daphne spoke up. "I would remind you that some of us already owned a pair."
Harry smiled sheepishly at the reminder. He glanced over to Hermione and asked if she would like to get one but she'd have to keep it because of the statute of secrecy. Hermione nodded her thanks. Harry turned back to the vendor and told him he'll buy three omnioculars. Harry reached into his pocket where he kept his Gringotts money bag and pulled out a handful of galleons and stacked them on the cart. The vendor smiled in satisfaction that Harry had the correct amount of gold, pulled out three omnioculars and handed them to the young man.
Harry thanked him and handed a pair to Hermione as he placed the third in a jacket pocket. Internally Harry asked Callie if ONI had any idea how omnioculars worked, especially how the device stored its data. Callie tilted her head in thought. She would have to look into that later.
Harry and the girls, were walking along the various stalls the different vendors had set up near the entrance. One even sold brooms. When Harry looked closer at a broom, he noticed that even as it was labeled as a Firebolt, it was nowhere near his own in quality. Harry just shrugged and walked on towards another stall when he heard Amelia lecturing the seller of the brooms. It seemed that she was right behind them when Harry looked at the brooms.
Amelia had also noticed that the broom was mislabeled and got right up the seller's face with the accusation that he was scamming people. "And since this is a crime, I will have you arrested if you will not clarify that these brooms are just souvenirs and not the real deal. Am I understood?" Amelia glared at the shifty looking man who was looking around nervously and nodding his head.
Sirius tried to calm her down, but soon found that this was an impossible endeavor as Amelia stood still until the seller relented and changed his sign to be a souvenir shop. After this, Sirius asked Amelia if they should return back to camp and calm down a bit. She nodded and walked off in front of Sirius, who had to run a bit to keep up.
Harry laughed and walked towards several food stalls that sold some exotic looking items. Callie reported some aren't that exotic, seeing they appear to be Irish fares that he would sometimes find in Hogwarts. Hermione told her friends to refrain from telling Ron about this part of the vendors; he will never stop complaining that he doesn't have the money to buy the food. Daphne quipped, "You mean he'll never stop complaining that he needs money to buy food." That statement got a small laugh from the others.
One seller explained that these were Takioaki, a Japanese dish made out of squid. Being curious, Harry took a portion and walked behind his friends when he took one of the skewers and put one of the small balls in his mouth. Finding it satisfactory, he took the next one when Hermione looked back at him and asked what he was eating. Harry then held another skewer out to her and told her to try it. Afterwards Daphne and Susan also demanded a taste test. The group arrived at the entrance to the stadium. Having seen enough for now, they turned back towards their campsite and waited for the evening to come around.
—-
When Harry and his friends returned to their campsite, Sirius playing a game of Wizards chess with Hermione's Father Samuel almost jumped on this opportunity, liking to play chess regularly with his colleagues. Soon, the board was placed on the small table and Sirius explained to Samuel how wizards play chess.
Hermione walked over to the game and asked her father how he could use the chess pieces like Sirius did.
Sirius turned away from the board to answer her question. "The chess pieces are fairly new, so all I had to do was tell them to follow his orders. This way, we can hide the fact that your father is a muggle, just in case someone would come snooping around. I also placed a notice me not charm on the bracelets, so your parents can blend in better." Sirius then turned back to the board, ordering his pawn to do the first move.
Susan noticed her aunt subtly glaring at Sirius's back as the two men started a new game. Walking over to her aunt she quietly asked, "What did he do now?"
Amelia shook her head and explained that Sirius is only getting away with blatantly breaking the Statute of Secrecy by placing a muggle repelling charm on the board. She begrudgingly admitted that while the Grangers can overlook the ward with their bracelets, it's still tubing the law a bit doing it in the open.
Harry walked over to John and Triss, who were watching the chess game in amusement. Harry took out the second omnioculars and handed it to Triss. Harry explained these omnioculars were very interesting devices, looking towards John Harry quietly mentioned that some of his friends might be interested in reverse engineering them. John asked what makes these useful for his friends. Harry explained that it has an ability to store data, "As a Quidditch version it shows all the various plays, formations, tactics and such if you look at players through it."
Triss blinked in surprise. "That's very advanced charms and runes work applied to these, you think there are other versions of omnioculars?" Harry shrugged, nodding towards Amelia he said she'd be the one to ask.
—-
The group soon left their campsite to head towards the stadium, with Hermione's parents marveling at the different stalls along the way to the stadium entrance. They stopped multiple times to look at different food items, before they finally arrived at the entrance to the stadium. There, a witch was checking their tickets and pointed towards the lift that would bring them to their private box that Sirius had reserved for them.
After a short ride up, they left the lift to walk into their box. Harry saw that they were just one floor beneath the top box, which would be the seats that were reserved for the guests of the ministry. Sirius was smiling as he sat down on one of the chairs, looking out to the pitch. "We should see the game very well from here. Hold your omnioculars ready, we will need them if we want to see everything."
While they waited, thanks to his enhanced hearing, Harry heard Ron complaining that they had to share the box with the Malfoys. Harry thought on how Draco would react seeing him now. Callie shook her head and pointed out that more likely Lucius would have a bigger reaction to seeing how much taller Harry was than him; especially as Lucius was a grown adult. Hary had to admit the irony of the father and son always looking down on people would be diffcult to do with Harry.
Harry frowned as he heard a voice that sounded…like a house elf, talking to Ginny. Harry focused his hearing on the pair and learned that the house elf, named Winky, was Crouch's elf and he sent her there to watch his seat for him. Even Callie was frowning in his glasses, she was wondering why Crouch was not in the top box already because she could also pick up Fudge bungling his way through a conversation with the Bulgarian Minister. Callie decided that this was a curious oddity and filed the report to pass on to her sister and ONI respectively.
Soon, they heard Bagman's voice from everywhere, causing Sirius to lose his good mood for a second. "Oh damn, Bagman is commenting on this match. Please ignore what he says, he will blabber unnecessary things about his past during the match."
Shortly after everyone in the box had taken their seat and listened, at least, at the beginning, to what Bagman had to say. "Hello and welcome to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup final. In the name of the British Ministry, I thank you all for visiting this event and hope you all will have fun watching the athletes doing their best to secure the victory for their team. But before we welcome the players, we will have a small show from the mascots of each team. First, the Irish mascots!"
After Bagman ended that sentence, the light was dimmed a bit so everyone could see a green light coming down to the field. Harry saw that there were many flying beings that looked like kobolds and after a short time to think, he recognized those beings as leprechauns.
The leprechauns then formed a shamrock and flew over the spectators, letting something fall down behind them. Soon, the leprechauns flew over the top box and Harry saw what was falling behind them. Looking down at the other spectators, he saw that many witches and wizards were almost fighting for the gold coins on the ground around them.
Sirius explained to the Grangers that this was not real gold. "Leprechaun gold looks very convincing I'll give them that, but it will vanish after an hour and any competent business knows the differences between leprechaun gold and real galleons, so there is no risk for the economy."
Harry heard Ron cheering in the box above them, having all this gold now. Harry wondered if Ron really was this greedy because of the money problem his family has, but Harry hoped that his ginger friend would see the error in this way of thinking.
Soon after, the leprechauns were finished with their little show and gathered at one end of the stadium before Bagman spoke again. "I think this little show is worth a lot of applause. Now, for the Bulgarian mascots!"
Harry saw how the lights were directed to a gate down in the stadium as music started to play. Harry guessed that it was also magical, as Callie could not find any kind of speaker system in the stadium as Harry looked down into the stadium.
Harry saw multiple women coming from the gate as they formed a small circle on the field. As they began to dance to the music, he noticed that the male spectators also began to act strangely.
While Harry tried to make sense of all this, he saw that Sirius, John and Samuel were seemingly unaffected by whatever was happening right now.
Sirius glanced over at Harry with a curious look, he was wondering why his godson was unaffected by the Veela, but then glanced at the three witches sitting by him. The old Marauder smirked and wondered when his godson would realize the effect those girls had on him.
Soon, the music died down and the mascots took their position on the field. Harry asked Sirius if he knew what those women were, to which Sirius laughed.
Amelia was also smiling and explained to the others what those women are. "Those women are Veela. They are classified as creatures by the British ministry, but to be honest if they wouldn't have toned down their allure just now you would not notice that they are different from the other woman." Seeing the confused looks from the others save Triss, John and Sirius, Amelia explained further.
"Ah, their allure I just mentioned is one trait that defines a Veela, it causes those who are affected to try and impress them. But if you have found your true love or have a very strong magic, you can resist it. The Veela use this ability to find their partners; according to their tradition they can only take someone who can resist their allure, even when they dial it up to eleven."
Hermione snuck a glance at Harry and traded a look with Daphne and Susan. It seemed all three witches were of two minds. Was Harry able to resist because he is a Witcher or Hermione dared to hope it was the latter, that Harry had found his true love.
Harry nodded in understanding, as this would also explain why John just sat in his seat the whole time with a bored expression on his face, and turned his sight back to the field.
Harry once more concentrated on his hearing, listening to the things that he could hear from the top box. Harry had to chuckle when he heard Ginny telling Ron that he and Malfoy seem to have something in common, as both had tried to jump off from the reiling, while Fred and George only had a dumbfounded look on their faces during the Veela dancing.
It also seemed that Draco's mother had to hold her son and husband back from jumping down to the field.
Bagman was now announcing the players as they flew in on their brooms. One player was especially cheered on when he flew on the field and performed a few maneuvers to show the spectators what they could expect from him. Harry was listening to Bagman again, hearing that this man was Victor Krum, the seeker for Bulgaria. Watching him fly, Harry did notice some things that he could use when he would play again in Hogwarts.
Soon after, the game began and it was soon clear that the Irish chasers were in a different league compared to their Bulgarian opponents.
Even Samuel, who had attended a Quidditch match for the first time together with Daphne's father, commented that Bulgaria seemed to have a bad day. "It is like when the Holyhead Harpies played against the Falmouth Falcons. Do you think that the Bulgarian players have eaten something bad?"
John looked through Triss's omnioculars and hummed in thought, while he pushed the different buttons on the magical device. "I don't know about that, but from what I see the Bulgarians seem to be the second rate team in this match. I saw quite a few matches during my job at Hogwarts, and I am sure that some house teams over the past few years could compete against Bulgaria if they would have been in this state back then. I suppose they hoped their Seeker finding the snitch fast enough and underestimated the Irish chasers."
Sirius looked at John with a raised eyebrow. "That's pretty much what I was thinking too. Hell, James and I both played Quiddtich for our Gryffindor and we could have done better than this."
Harry shook his head. "You're forgetting Ireland has a major leg up over Bulgaria, all of them are flying on Firebolts."
Sirius winced at the penalty that Bulgaria committed against the Irish chaser and sighed in dismay. "Merlin I hope Krum catches the snitch soon, I don't mind losing gold I was hoping to use Harry and the twins to clean Grimmauld Place for free." Sirius bemoaned.
Amelia shook her head amused at Sirius's whining. "Serves you right for gambling."
Sirius waved his hand dismissively. "Eh, it's for a good cause."
While Krum was doing his best to distract the Irish seeker, it was clear that Bulgaria could only win if Krum caught the Snitch very soon. Harry found it strange that the Bulgarian chasers seemed so weak compared to Ireland's, Harry even thought about how Bulgaria compared to his house team's chasers, thinking they could beat Bulgaria in that regard.
The game continued, but Harry saw a golden glint by the Irish's middle goalpost and he recognized the snitch. It was flying as fast as it could over the pitch and Harry soon heard Ron calling out that Krum must have found the Snitch as he was now in a fast dive towards the ground.
Harry was surprised that he had seen it before the pros did, but Callie speculated it was due to Harry was not under stress of being part of the game. Harry internally frowned, 'I was never stressed during any of my matches, was I?' Callie gave him a deadpan look reminding him she has access to all of his bio signs and can tell when he's stressed.
As both seekers flew down at top speed, the other player did not stop to watch while them getting dangerously close to the ground; the Irish chasers were making one last play for Bulgarian goalposts The Irish chaser with the Quaffle saw that their seeker was no match for Krum, and the chaser stormed off towards the Bulgarian goal posts, evading a Bludger shot towards him from a Bulgarian Beater and threw the quaffle in to score one last time.
The snitch had other ideas than being caught and evading the seekers, and while the Irish seeker did hit the ground, Krum seemed to have a better reaction and soon closed his hand around the snitch. But just before he had closed his fist around the snitch, the Irish chaser was successful on throwing the Quaffel through a Bulgarian Goal post, making it count towards the end result.
Bagman was now announcing the result. "KRUM HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! IRELAND WINS BUT KRUM HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Bagman yelled in shock at the surprise outcome. He managed to catch himself and calm down and give his post game commentary. And that is it folks. I am not sure when we had a short final, but I am sure that this match is one for the history books. And the end result is: 170 to Ireland and 160 to Bulgaria."
Harry watched all the spectators cheering, happy to have witnessed such a good match. Sirius also laughed, just not as loud as the others in the stands. Harry then heard him mumbling something about how the Weasley twins would wait for him at the entrance to the stadium.
Just as Sirius had predicted, both of the Weasley's twins were waiting with a big grin on their faces just outside the entrance as Harry and his friends left the lift from their box.
Sirius held out a small pouch with the gold inside it, asking Fred what they were going to do with the money. They explained to him that they had plans to open up a joke shop in Diagon Alley, after they had graduated Hogwarts, with the products they had invented.
Sirius was now looking at them with curiosity and thought about something. "You know what? Show me some of your product samples and maybe I can help you get a good location for your shop and even help you coming off the ground. All I ask for it is a 10 percent share of the business and monthly reports on how the sales go. If you agree to that, I can make a contract when I visit Gringotts the next time and open a business vault until you graduate, so the money would be safe. So, how about you give me half of that back, so you still have some spending money for the new school year?"
Fred and George told Sirius that they would think about it and let him know. Sirius just nodded with a smile towards them as the door to the lift behind them opened to let in the teams that just had their match to receive their trophies.
—-
Sirius was going into his tent to get some drinks out while John and Triss told them that they would go to sleep early, so they could return the next day as the match was over so soon. Harry joined his godfather for a butterbeer before he would go to bed. But before the bottle reached his lips, he heard a scream.
At the same time, Callie told him to be on alert, as some Death Eaters were walking around the campgrounds with the owner's family suspended in the air.
Looking over to Amelia, Harry saw her becoming pale and grabbing her wand. "Sirius, bring the others into the forest, we are under attack."
Sirius nodded and told the others to follow him into the forest. He took his wand out of his holster and watched the others while they tried to hide between the trees. Susan looked at her aunt with fear of losing her, but nodded and told Amelia that she should watch herself. She then followed Daphne and her mother , while Triss brought up the rear, just after Sirius and the Grangers. Harry looked over his shoulder, asking Callie where John was.
She told him that he was already in his armor and on his way to the center of the campgrounds to engage the enemy. Harry nodded while he ran close by his friends.
—-
In the forest, Hermione was running just behind her father, who was holding the hands of his wife to pull her along. Hermione was also afraid, but at least she could use magic in an emergency. Looking over her shoulder, she saw how Sirius , Susan and Daphne with her mother ran after them, but she did not see Harry anywhere close by. But she was not worried that something would happen to him, Harry was a Witcher afterall.
Suddenly her father stopped when they heard another scream close by, followed by a cracking sound of wood. Just as they looked towards the direction, a tree exploded and threw splinters towards them. Before Hermione could lift her wand to cast a shield, Sirius had already cast the spell between them and now stood in front of the Grangers, Triss and the Greengrasses. The blood of the small group froze almost instantly when they saw what was on the other side of the exploded tree.
A young family was on the ground, with the father lying face down and bleeding from a wound on his arm. A young girl next to him was crying while his wife tried to protect them both. But the man who attacked them laughed behind his mask before talking with his friends next to him. "Look at these mudbloods. They really thought they could beat us."
Just as Sirius wanted to cast a spell, his wand was removed from his hand by another wizard close by, who also laughed behind his mask. "Oho, and here we have a blood traitor. Honestly Black, how could you betray your own kind and even try to protect these mudbloods?"
—-
Harry had just turned around a tree when he saw how Sirius was surprised by this disarming charm. Not waiting for the others to react, he crouched down and told Callie to bring out GUNGNIR. "Let's show those supposed Death Eaters that they just attacked the wrong event."
Callie nodded in his HUD and Harry felt how his body was getting encased in armor. He felt the helmet closing around his head and soon he looked through his blue tinted visor with the HUD active and Callie taller than in his glasses alone. "Show them what a SPARTAN can do Harry."