It was hard to see what was happening below, because leprechauns were zooming delightedly all over the field, but we could just make out Krum, surrounded by mediwizards. He looked surlier than ever and refused to let them mop him up. His team members were around him, shaking their heads and looking dejected; a short way away, the Irish players were dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from their mascots. Flags were waving all over the stadium, the Irish national anthem blared from all sides; the veela were shrinking back into their usual, beautiful selves now, though looking dispirited and forlorn.
"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.
"You can speak English!" said Fudge, sounding outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day"
"Vell, it vos very funny," said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging. I had to agree there.
"And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!" roared Bagman.
Our eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blinding white light, as the Top Box was magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see the inside. Squinting toward the entrance, we saw two panting wizards carrying a vast golden cup into the box, which they handed to Cornelius Fudge, who was still looking very disgruntled that he'd been using sign language all day for nothing.
"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers — Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted.
And up the stairs into the box came the seven defeated Bulgarian players. The crowd below was applauding appreciatively; we could see thousands and thousands of Omniocular lenses flashing and winking in their direction. Amy also respectfully clapped. One by one, the Bulgarians filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Bagman called out the name of each as they shook hands with their own minister and then with Fudge. Krum, who was last in line, looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming spectacularly on his bloody face. He was still holding the Snitch. We noticed that he seemed much less coordinated on the ground. He was slightly duck-footed and distinctly round-shouldered. But when Krum's name was announced, the whole stadium gave him a resounding, earsplitting roar, which I thought was fully deserved.
And then came the Irish team. Aidan Lynch was being supported by Moran and Connolly; the second crash seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked strangely unfocused. But he grinned happily as Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval, Amy taking great pleasure in joining in of course.
At last, when the Irish team had left the box to perform another lap of honor on their brooms (Aidan Lynch on the back of Connolly's, clutching hard around his waist and still grinning in a bemused sort of way), Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Quietus."
"They'll be talking about this one for years," he said hoarsely, "a really unexpected twist, that. . . . shame it couldn't have lasted longer. . . . Ah yes. . . . yes, I owe you . . . how much?" For Fred and George had just scrambled over the backs of their seats and were standing in front of Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their hands outstretched.
Amy ran up to them, and tried to rip the money bag out of Ludo's hands before he could hand it over.
"Oi, what on earth are you doing?!" yelled Fred.
"Stopping my uncle being an idiot!" Amy shot back, now fully engaged in a wrestling match with Ludo over the bag.
"That's our money, we won it fair and square, he owes it to us! Not handing it over would be a crime!" said George.
"I don't give a shit, our family is struggling enough already, we don't need it to get any worse!" Amy replied
"Yeah, well, we don't give a shit either!" said Fred, and without wasting any more time, he said "Accio gold!"
The gold flew out of the bag very quickly, so much so that it knocked them over, then there was a whole scene of Fred, George, Ludo and Amy frantically trying to gather up as much of it as they could. Amy however, only managed to collect a few coins before Ludo hit her with a full body bind. Then he gathered up the rest of them, and finally, panting and sweating, handed it all over to the twins.
"I do apologise for that boys, I hope you aren't too offended by my niece's actions" said Ludo
"No don't worry about it mate, we've got the money and that's it" said George.
Everyone was now filing out of the box.
"We'll be a couple minutes" I told Dad "we just need to thaw Amy and have a word with her"
"We'll be just outside the door" he said, nodding. Ludo removed the body bind as he left.
"What were you thinking?!" I said to Amy as she sat up.
"What do you mean, of course I was going to try and stop it! Ludo is making things worse and worse for us every day!" Amy said
"Fred and George legally own that money now. They made a bet with him and he accepted, he had to pay up or face prosecution!" Demelza said
"Yeah, plus it doesn't look good on you, attacking your own uncle like that!" I added
"What am I going to do?" Amy moped "Sarah, Mum, Dad, Ludo, my life is cursed honestly! What the fuck is next, getting expelled from Hogwarts, the Wimbourne Wasps disbanding, what? Suddenly the Irish victory tonight isn't feeling like anything fucking much anymore!"
Demelza and I shared a glance.
"Look" said Demelza patiently "there isn't much we can do about the first three. Once we're back at Hogwarts, maybe we can work out some type of legal strategy in regards to Ludo's actions, as like a side project. Honestly, you're overexaggerating about the last 2, there's no reason for you to get expelled from Hogwarts, and Wimbourne are the defending champions and one of the richest teams in the league, there's no risk of them disbanding anytime soon. We know it's hard mate, you're going through a rough patch in life, rougher than either of us have ever experienced, but it will all get better one day. Everything happens for a reason, trust me. Things will take a turn for the better soon, you just have to be patient and get through it"
Amy shrugged
"I'll believe that when I see it" she said
"Come on, let's go, they're waiting for us" I said
"Don't tell your mother you've been gambling," Dad implored Fred and George as we all made our way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs.
"Don't worry, Dad," said Fred gleefully, "we've got big plans for this money. We don't want it confiscated."
Dad looked for a moment as though he was going to ask what these big plans were, but seemed to decide, upon reflection, that he didn't want to know.
"That's my money" said Amy bitterly
"Oh give it up already" said George exasperatedly
We were soon caught up in the crowds now flooding out of the stadium and back to their campsites. Raucous singing was borne toward us on the night air as we retraced our steps along the lantern-lit path, and leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns. When we finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around us, Dad agreed that we could all have one last cup of hot chocolate together before turning in.
We were soon arguing enjoyably about the match, and this seemed to have finally cheered Amy up again. Dad and Charlie had a disagreement about cobbing and Hermione and Demelza were drawn into a debate about Bulgaria's tactics with Amy and I. Hermione was insisting that her detailed analysis showed that Bulgaria had got their setup all wrong, and Demelza wholeheartedly agreed, while Amy and I insisted it was just the Irish chasers being that good, and that Bulgaria couldn't possibly have done anything differently.
It was almost 1am when Dad finally insisted that we all go to bed. Hermione, Demelza, Amy and I all went into the next tent. I fell asleep almost immediately.
"Ginny, come on, wake up, something terrible is happening!" Hermione was shouting frantically, and I felt her shaking me roughly. I could hear screaming and loud bangs, and there was a smell of burning in the air!