Chapter 34
Harry was in Black Manor they were about to leave for world cup
"Please say we're not taking a portkey to the cup," Harry said hopefully. It was the day of the World Cup and it was 11 o' clock in the morning. They had to be there by 12 though with apparition and portkeys it wouldn't be too much of a hassle.
"Unfortunately we have to," said Sirius walking into the room with Remus. There were 5 people going to the world cup in that group- Harry, Rigel ,Thomas, Sirius, and Remus. Lily hated Quidditch and James was away on business which meant they sent Thomas to go with Harry, and Marlene was out with Lily and Rosy on shopping.
"Portkey is better over such a long distance when compared to apparition," said Remus unconsciously switching into teacher mode.
"Yes, yes," snapped Harry. He hated portkeys. "Now can we hurry up? I want to get there early for once."
"Alright," smiled Remus, grabbing his hand who in turn grabbed Rigel's while Sirius grabbed Thomas's, "We'll side-appare you three to the portkey where we'll be meeting the Diggorys."
"Diggory?" asked Thomas thoughtfully. "By any chance one of them is Cedric Diggory."
"He's the son of Amos Diggory," sighed Sirius.
"Ready?" asked Sirius. "On 3. 1-" That was all he said before him and Remus apparated them simultaneously to the portkey site.
"I hate you 'Snuffles' 'Dad' 'Padfoot," said Harry , Rigel and Thomas at the same time while Sirius glared at Harry he hated this name which Harry had invented for him and Remus giggled. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and Amos and Cedric had walked up to them.
"So this is who you were bringing?" he asked Remus and Sirius. "The boy-who-lived, Potter Heir and the Black heir. I'm Amos Diggory, and this is my son Cedric," he introduced Cedric himself. "You'd know him, won't you?" he asked Thomas.
"Uh, no," lied Thomas.
"Well didn't he beat you lions in Quidditch last year? My son, beating the house of the boy-who-lived," he boasted while Cedric looked mildly uncomfortable.
"Oh yeah!" interjected Harry. "Your son was the seeker of the team we thrashed to win the Quidditch final!" he said, like he'd just remembered.
Amos Diggory turned red and ignored Harry, choosing to talk to the adults instead. "Thanks," Thomas whispered to Harry.
"Any time," Harry whispered back.
"Shall we go?" Sirius asked, pointing to the shoe in front of them that had started vibrating. "Everyone grab on." It must have been a sight to see had a passer-by gone past them- 3 adults and 3 children all holding onto a single shoe. And then suddenly, the shoe sucked all of them in like a wormhole connected straight to their belly button, and disappeared taking them with it.
Suddenly, his feet slammed into the ground and he nearly toppled over due to the whiplash. He looked around and everyone else was just as discombobulated as him, apart from the adults who despite looking very windswept were already up on their feet. They were in a misty and deserted moor of sorts and in the distance Harry could see several tents along with a humongous stadium. They had arrived at the World Cup
After they had registered with a particularly odd Muggle, though Harry was pretty sure the reason he was so strange was because of the several confundus charms that had been cast upon him, they had found their way to where the tents were located. A few minutes later, they managed to find their tent as well which had been already set up for them (Harry suspected Sirius paid someone to do it). When they entered, it was way larger on the inside.
"Where d'ya get this?" asked Harry as he looked around the massive inside which had 5 very large rooms that could each be curtained off, a living room, a kitchen and basically everything you could need in a house.
"Brand new," replied Sirius. "Cost me a decent amount but it was barely anything compared to the Black fortune."
"And it was worth it," said Rigel, claiming a room as his and collapsing on the bed. Harry and Thomas had claimed their own rooms as well, and so had Remus and Sirius. "Do you guys wanna explore the camp?" Harry asked to get off his bed.
"Yeah sure," said Rigel. "I heard there's a turf war going on between the Irish and the Bulgarian supporters."
"Cool," said Thomas. "5 galleons says that the Bulgarians win."
"I'll take that bet," smirked Rigel.
"Yeah I'm not," replied Harry. "You two can waste your money irresponsibly while I spend it on stuff that's actually useful," he said as they began walking outside, getting a few strange looks since some people recognised Thomas as the 'boy-who-lived'.
As they walked around the camp, they met Seamus Finnigan who both Thomas and Rigel said was 'alright' and Harry managed to strike up a decent enough conversation with him until Rigel and Seamus got into such a heated argument about the Irish and Bulgarian teams that they had to leave before they got attacked by Seamus' family.
"What were you thinking?" Harry asked as they ran away. "Insulting the Irish team in front of an Irishman!"
"Irishboy," interjected Thomas.
"Now you develop a smart mouth," muttered Harry. "Back to my question, what were we thinking?"
"I guess I just got caught up in the argument," said Rigel, the tips of his ears red. "We're out of that area," he sighed, slowing down to walk once again.
"Thank Merlin," said Thomas.
"Oi mate!" called out a voice and they all turned, Harry and Rigel with a groan and Thomas with a smile.
"Hey Ron," smiled Thomas.
"Mate, why are you hanging around them?" Ron asked grumpily but he didn't try to attack Harry or Rigel, clearly showcasing the fact that he'd grown a few brain cells over the summer.
"Harry invited me to the cup," explained Thomas. "And he'd been nice to me."
"But he's a snake!" protested Ron. "Why don't you come hang with me and Hermione?"
"Cya guys then," said Thomas not wanting there to be a scene, Harry and Rigel recognised this as they waved him off.
"Hey guys," called a female voice from behind them.
"Daphne!" said Harry happily, kissing her on the lips. "I was wondering when we'd run into you."
"It's great to see you too Harry," she said happily. "And you too Rigel," she added.
"Glad you've remembered me," frowned Rigel good-naturedly. "Is Tracey here?" he asked. "That way I get to spend time with my girlfriend and I don't have to be around you two lovebirds."
"She over there somewhere helping Tori with something," said Daphne, ignoring Rigel's jab and gesturing off to her left. Rigel promptly excused himself, allowing Daphne and Harry to catch up.
"So how was your summer?" Harry asked, slipping his hand in between hers.
"Bad," sighed Daphne. "Snape set us too much homework, as you know, and Tori was a pest the whole way through. Talking with you guys on the mirrors we have was the only thing that made it bearable. I hope your one wasn't as bad as mine."
"Well, it got off to a decent enough start," Harry admitted. "I am living in Black castle as my grandparents are enjoying their anniversary in hawaii they will be back by next week end and i am leaving for Potter Castle in Dover to train under uncle John"
"How many days will you not be there?"
"I will be returning on 28th August this year we will go through more rough training"
"It means we cannot meet till you return back" Daphne said sadly
"On a happier note," Harry continued, "Grandfather has permitted me to return on sundays to meet you and uncle John as also accepted to give me Sundays off"
"Thank Merlin, I thought we had to wait a whole month to meet each other" sighed Daphne. "And, I think it's time for you to meet my parents."
"Daphne," Harry said, "I've already met your parents about 100 times."
"Yes, but it was as the friend and betrothed of their daughter, not her boyfriend," she said, smiling deviantly.
"I really don't think I should meet them considering I've been snogging their daughter." Harry shifted nervously.
"We haven't snogged yet," Daphne reminded him cheekily.
"Do you wanna change that?" Harry asked, kissing her onto the lips. Daphne's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before her lips adjusted to the kiss, and they deepened the kiss before her eyes widened and he pulled out.
"Oh no," she said, trying to be stern. "You're not getting out of this that easily." She grabbed his hand and began leading him towards where Rigel had gone.
"Well, I had to try," smiled Harry, extracting his hand from her grip. "And trust me, if I wanted to get out of meeting your parents, I would have been long gone," he said confidently.
"Oh yeah," said Daphne, turning around and raising an eyebrow. "How?"
"Like this," said Harry. He pulled out his cloak from his pocket and with a swish pulled it onto his head and disappeared from sight.
"You did not just disappear on me," said Daphne trying to grab him but he remained annoyingly out of reach.
Harry's head popped out, making him seem like a floating head. "Try to catch me if you can!" he teased, popping his head back under.
"I swear to Merlin that when I find you-" raged Daphne.
"You'll what?" Harry asked from behind her. Daphne yelped and fell onto the ground, flailing her arms and accidentally pulling Harry down with her. Harry's foot caught on his cloak and accidentally pulled it off of him, and in the process to stop himself and Daphne from getting hurt, he rolled onto the ground dragging Daphne onto him so that their faces rested just a few millimetres from each other.
"Hey," said Daphne. "I caught you."
"No you didn't," protested Harry. "You tripped and brought me down with you."
"No I didn't," Daphne argued back.
"Yes you did."
"I did not, and you will stop arguing or no more kisses for you," she said, poking his chest lightly.
"Fine," groaned Harry. "Can you move though?"
"But I'm comfortable," said Daphne, putting her head against his chest.
"Merlin's balls, I can't ever win against you," sighed Harry accepting his very adorable fate.
"And my day was going so well," muttered Harry as he entered the Minister's Box with Remus, Sirius, Thomas, Rigel, Daphne, Astoria and Tracey (Daphne and Astoria's parents had to leave on urgent business). The Minister's box supposedly had the best and most important seats in the stadium and had cost Sirius a pretty penny. In the box itself were a few government officials including the Minister of Bulgaria and Ireland, Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge.
What made it bad however was the fact that almost all the Weasleys were there apart from the red-headed harpy. Mr Weasley was shaking hands with everyone since they were important people, and his son Percy Weasley was even more enthusiastic in his celebration. When the Weasleys reached Cornelius Fudge, Percy bowed so low his glasses fell off and broke, and he had to repair them with his wand. Ronald's eyes widened when he saw Harry but he didn't comment, quite possibly because Thomas had already warned him that Harry would be there.
"Ah, Lord Black," said Fudge, moving on from the Weasleys. "It's wonderful to see you here."
"Thank you Cornelius," said Sirius putting on a fake smile. "May I introduce you to my friend Remus Lupin, along with Thomas Potter, My Heir Rigel Black and ofcourse my godson, Heir of Charlus Potter Hadrian Potter"
"Ah yes," said Fudge, shaking Thomas's hand eagerly, recognising him by his red hair. "The boy-who-lived," he greeted him, shaking Rigel's hand as well and gave Harry a small, disdainful hand shake to which Harry was sure if he was with his Grandfather the same Minister would be bowing low in front of him or even if he was with James.
Before Harry could react to Fudge's rudeness, the door opened and 3 more people entered into the nearly full box- the Malfoys.
"Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"
"How do you do, how do you do?" said Fudge, smiling and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy. "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk — Obolensk — Mr. — well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else — you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"
Arthur and Lucious just nodded to each other
"Looks like they're having fun," said Draco as he sat down near Harry.
"How did the Weasleys out of everyone get here?" asked Harry. "Surely the seats would have cost a fortune."
"Apparently they got them from a friend," shrugged Draco as his eyes travelled down the row and eventually landed on Thomas. "What is he doing here?" he asked. Draco was still not happy with Thomas yes he got on well with him but not as Rigel got on well with Thomas
"Nice to meet you too, Malfoy," said Thomas dryly.
"Dear Merlin, the monkey's learned sarcasm," gasped Draco and Harry had to stop himself from giggling.
"Try not to be rude Draco," Rigel said though he was tempted to let the two have at it. "He's less of a jerk now, and he's developed some brain cells when staying round Black Manor"
"Well aren't we blessed," Draco retorted without missing a beat though he did stop the jabs at Thomas.
"NOW!" shouted Bagman from beside them and the crowd went wild. "The moment you've all been waiting for! The Quidditch World Cup!"
"Stop talking and just watch the game," said Daphne, breaking up the boys' conversation.
"That we can do," said Harry and Draco and turned their attention to the game that was just beginning.
Harry and Daphne sat on Daphne's bed talking about the game when they heard screams coming from outside the tent.
"What was that?" asked Daphne as they both broke off from each other and peeped outside the tent.
"Death-eaters," Harry gasped. By the light of the few fires that were still burning, he could see a crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field. Their heads were hooded and their faces covered by masks that seemed to be fashioned out of bone.
"But here?" asked Daphne, grabbing her wand in case. "How?"
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But we're going to need to get out of here."
"Then follow me," said Daphne, taking his hand and hurrying, leading them both out of the tent. "I know a way out of here that goes away from the death-eaters."
As they ran, they could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the centre, but they were having great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared to perform any spell that might make the Roberts family fall. The colored lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air.
"Merlin," muttered Daphne, catching sight of a girl a year or two younger than her that was being led away by her parents. "Where's Tori?" she asked worriedly, since seeing the girl reminded her of her sister.
"She was with your parents and Draco when I last saw her," said Harry consolingly. "She'll be fine, Daph. We should focus on getting out of here. Ah shit!" yelped Harry as he tripped over a tree root. Daphne promptly illuminated her wand and helped Harry up, but before they could continue they heard a voice from behind them.
"Surprised you're running away Greengrass," said a drawling voice from behind them. Harry and Daphne turned sharply to see Ron and Hermione right behind them. "Aren't your parents the schmucks up there torturing muggles?"
"Fuck off Weasley," said Daphne her voice icy cold. "My parents are not death-eaters and if you say they are again, I will not hesitate to leave you sprawled here on the ground holding your crotch in pain." Ron visibly gulped at this and backed off, still following the running Harry and Daphne. The two duos split off somewhere down the path, Harry and Daphne choosing to go right while Ron and Hermione went left.
A rustling noise nearby made Harry and Daphne jump. Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a most peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; it was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back.
"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward and laboured to keep running. "People high — high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"
After pausing weirdly to let her get out of their way, they continued running, eventually coming to a stop in the middle of the woods. Harry looked around. "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."
"Good idea," said Daphne sitting next to him on a fallen tree. "We're going to be alright, right?" she asked worriedly.
"We'll be fine Daph. If any death-eaters come our way, we can take them on," he assured, he personally was use his years of training on those bastards out there but he had Daphne with him so he couldn't risk her life
"You're the best Harry," she said and rested her head against his shoulder.
"So are you," said Harry, laying a small kiss on her forehead. There was the snap of a twig nearby, and they both jumped onto their feet, wands in hand. "What was that?" Harry whispered.
It sounded as though someone was staggering toward their clearing. They waited, listening to the sounds of the uneven steps behind the dark trees. But the footsteps came to a sudden halt. "Hello?" called Harry. There was silence. Harry got to his feet and peered around the tree. It was too dark to see very far, but he could sense somebody standing just beyond the range of his vision. "Who's there?" he said.
And then, without warning, the silence was rent by a voice unlike any they had heard in the wood; and it uttered "MORSMORDRE!"
And something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Harry's eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops and into the sky.
"Merlin's balls," gasped Daphne. The Dark Mark erupted into the air, illuminating everything around them.
"Who's there?" he called again.
Harry turned and both of them began running across the woods— but before they had taken a few hurried steps twenty wizards appeared from thin air, surrounding them. Harry whirled around, and in an instant, he registered one fact: each of these wizards had his wand out, and every wand was pointing right at himself and Daphne.
Without pausing to think, he yelled, "DUCK!" He seized Daphne and pulled her down onto the ground.
"STUPEFY!" roared twenty voices — there was a blinding series of flashes and Harry felt the hair on his head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing.
Raising his head a fraction of an inch he saw jets of fiery red light flying over them from the wizards' wands, crossing one another, bouncing off tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness.
"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognized. "STOP!"
Harry's hair stopped blowing about. He raised his head a little higher. The wizard in front of him had lowered his wand. He rolled over and saw Remus and Sirius striding toward them, unmistakable anger on their faces yet it wasn't directed towards them.
"Harry, Daphne," said Sirius kneeling down, "are you all right?"
"Out of the way, Black," said a cold, curt voice. It was Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Harry got to his feet to face them. Crouch's face was taut with rage.
"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them and he grabbed Harry by the shoulders and shook him. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"
"Crouch," warned Sirius angrily. "Get your hands off Harry unless your pathetic little balls want to meet my boot," he said as Remus drew his wand as well. There was an intense moment where Sirius and Crouch had a wordless battle through their eyes, and Sirius won in the end. Crouch removed his hands yet the furious look on his face did not vanish.
"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.
"Do not lie!" shouted Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Harry, and his eyes were popping — he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"
"Listen up," said Harry angrily, resisting the urge to call Crouch a 'fuckwit.' "We are 14. How the hell are we meant to cast the Dark Mark? Yes unless i am mighty son of barty crouch to be a death eater"
"You brat you dare.." Crouch had his wand in his hand ready to fire spells for which even Harry was ready to face it with his wand gripped in his hand and left hand embraced tightly by Daphne.
"Ah Barty, I wouldn't even dare to raise my wand on or accuse the Heir of Charlus Potter unless I want my hands to be chopped off and moreover only an idiot would believe these kids could cast the dark mark" Moody said entering the commotion while Sirius was boiling in rage had his wand ready to kick crouch's ass.
Crouch had gone pale after hearing what Moody had said he had just accused the Heir Potter family of being a death eater, if he had lost his control and fired a spell and if it had even made a single scratch on Heir Potter's body he would be dead by the end of the hour.
"Precisely, Barty," whispered a witch in a long woollen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to —"
"Where did the Mark come from then?" asked Crouch.
"Over there," said Daphne, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees and they shouted the incantation."
"Oh, stood over there, did they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on Daphne now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy —"
"Crouch If you even look at them the wrong way again, you will have the full force of the Black family bearing down on you, not to mention the Potter and Greengrass family along with our allies." This seemed to shock Crouch into having a more level-head, and he straightened and took a deep breath.
"We're too late," said the witch in the woollen dressing gown, having searched where Daphne had pointed. "They'll have Disapparated."
"Not likely," he said, going into the woods himself. A few seconds later, they heard him shout. "Yes! We got them! There's someone here! It's your house-elf Mr Crouch," said Diggory.
"This — cannot — be," he said jerkily. "No —" He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky.
"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there." When Crouch returned, Mr. Diggory spoke again. "If it's alright with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself." Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, but Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky, and said, "Rennervate!"
Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked several times in a bemused sort of way. Watched by the silent wizards, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position. "What do you have to say about this?" Crouch asked.
"Tis not I master!" yelped Winky. "I not be doing it!"
"Then who was it?" Crouch asked and Winky only looked at him in silence, and they seemed to reach a mutual understanding. "This means clothes Winky," said Crouch almost sadistically.
"No Master! No!" yelped Winky but she accepted the tea-towel Crouch gave her, and began crying on the spot.
"He's an idiot," said Daphne. "Surely he knows Winky couldn't have cast Mark."
"I think he does, but he just doesn't care," said Harry.
"We should go now," said Remus from behind them. "And you two can discuss Crouch's idiocy later."
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