The Quidditch World Cup had finally arrived!

Aria had been back in England two weeks and now she was off on another adventure, this time with Harry. She and Harry had been packed for two days, eagerly awaiting departure to the point that Kenneth and Remus had banned them from the house during most the day to keep them from trouble. Aria and Harry had hung out at the park that lay between Spinner's End and Hydrangea Street, a well-to-do neighborhood in Cokesworth, earning a few stink-eyes from mothers who knew they lived over on Spinner's End, and a side-eye from DS Redmayne when he came walking by to check on an elderly lady another street over. A few older couples that came to walk in the park recognized Aria from when she had spent a summer pulling weeds and tending gardens and struck up friendly conversations with her and Harry.

Robert, Tommy, and Samuel were jealous that Aria had gotten to go to Amsterdam. Even though she had told them that it was for a school related function. She had taken pictures with another disposable camera and happily showed them pictures from the Muggle side. All three of them were in their last year of school and were busily deciding which universities to apply to, how to get scholarships, and busy saving money like they were Ebenezer Scrooge. Still, all three of them shared that someday they wanted to take a Grand Tour of Europe.

Finally, Remus woke Harry and Aria up for an early breakfast. Kenneth was up, as he always up, as he had swapped to the early shift at the mill in order to be home more in the evening. Too excited to be tired, Aria and Harry shoveled breakfast into the mouths to the point that both Kenneth and Remus had to tell them to slow down.

Finally, Remus told them to get their bags and shoes and Aria and Harry nearly tripped over each other to get it done. Within minutes they were standing by the front door with backpacks on, each of them with their own small duffel that Sirius had sent as a gift to them both. Both were Slytherin green with the Slytherin crest on one side with their name monogrammed on the other. Each duffel came with all sorts of enchantments such as anti-theft and anti-odor.

"Dad!" Aria whined as he and Remus slowly ambled into the entry way, hand in hand.

"Remus!" Harry cried.

"I think Aria and Harry want to get somewhere," Kenneth teased.

"I can't imagine where they want to go," Remus answered. Kenneth and he kissed while the two teens made the appropriate noises and whines of horror before Remus opened the front door.

"Have fun, be safe!" Kenneth said, kissing Aria's head and ruffling Harry's hair. "Don't do anything stupid. Don't drink, no drugs, and listen to Remus and Mr. Weasley."

"Drugs?" Aria questioned.

"I have to cover all the bases. I know you're a good kid, but I'd be a bad father if I didn't at least give you boundaries."

Aria rolled her eyes. Living on Spinner's End, she had seen what drugs could do to a person, so had no desire to replicate some of the adults that had passed by in her life.

Waving good-bye, with promises of taking lots of pictures (Sirius had sent Harry a wizarding camera and Aria was going to see if a Muggle disposable camera could function in a highly magical environment), they set off down the road towards the park and down one of the nature paths that would eventually take them down by the river.

In a little patch of cleared woodland near the river, away from any curious eyes, was a beat-up coffee can. Aria frowned at Remus.

"This is a Portkey?" she questioned.

"Portkeys can be anything," Remus told her, looking at his watch. "For the World Cup, Portkeys have had to be left unattended in various places, so the ministry's made them as inconspicuous as possible in hopes that no Muggle accidentally picks one up."

"No . . . only those old people who go about picking up garbage along the riverbank," Aria muttered. Remus snorted and waved them closer.

"Hang on tight to those duffels," he instructed, picking up the coffee can. Aria slipped the handles over her arm as did Harry and they both grabbed hold of the coffee hand with both hands.

"Don't let go," Remus instructed. "It'll activate in three . . . two . . . one!"

Aria screeched as she was lifted off the ground, legs flying out behind her as she was spun around rapidly. She could hear Harry's cry of fear and her nails dug into the coffee can, even as the force of the spinning threatened to dislodge her.

As quickly as the spinning began, it stopped. The three wixen were dropped and Aria landed heavily on her knees. Her stomach rolled and she promptly threw up her breakfast.

Remus, who had somehow managed to keep not only his breakfast but his feet, handed Aria a potion which took away the nausea and calmed her rolling stomach.

"Portkey travel can be tricky the first few times," Remus said.

"I am never doing that again!" Aria cried.

"We're taking another Portkey to get back home."

Aria groaned.

Harry, wobbling to his feet, also took the same potion, although he had managed not to completely sick up. When both of them were feeling better, Remus started off across the moor they hand landed in.

"Where exactly are we?" Aria asked.

"Dartmoor," Remus answered. "The host country always has to find a remote area to host the event to keep Muggles unaware."

"Ron said that Percy's been working with the World Cup," Harry said. "He's in the Department of International Cooperation."

"Ah, yes, that would be a department up to their necks with this event. They, probably the DMLE, and the ICW are all involved with the World Cup. It's the ICW which determines which countries get to host. Some countries will never get to host, due to lack of remote enough areas. That's why the UK hosts a lot. We've got the space."

They came across a house with a little road leading behind it. They stopped off at a little gatehouse where a man, clearly Muggle, met them. He introduced himself as Mr. Roberts and Aria could see his wife and children over by the house.

Remus paid the camping fare to the man, and they continued walking up the road.

"What was wrong with him?" Harry asked Remus.

"Probably a Memory Modifying Charm," Remus answered. "Not everyone gets to Portkey directly into the campsite, so to keep any nearby Muggles from questioning anything, a light Memory Modifying Charm is usually applied to keep them from asking too many questions."

"Why use an area owned by a Muggle then?" Aria questioned. "It's like you said, we've got enough remote areas that we shouldn't even had to involve Muggles at all!"

Remus shrugged.

"Unfortunately, Aria, I am not in charge," he said.

"Sometimes I think magical folks are obtuse," Aria muttered.

"That they are," Remus answered. "That they are."

After a mile, they crested a hill and looked down upon small valley filled with a city of tents. In the distance, towering over tents, they could see the Quidditch stadium. Aria could see people zooming about on brooms and others walking about on the ground. Smoke up from many tents, and tantalizing smell of food wafted up to them.

"Wow!" Harry cried. "This is amazing!"

"Come on," Remus cried. "We've got to find our tent in all this mess."

They descended the hill and were stopped before entering the tent city by security aurors dressed in their snappy red uniform robes with gold details. The auror had an American accent and wanted to see some kind of proof that they had tent reservations. Remus put down his backpack and began digging through for their tent reservations.

"Do all aurors wear red in the wizarding world?" Aria asked the man.

"In America," the auror said, "our uniforms are silver and gold, but when we work for international events like the World Cup, we use the uniforms of the host country."

Remus produced a piece of parchment and the auror looked over it. A breeze came through, ruffling Harry's hair, revealing his lightning bolt scar. The American auror paused briefly, looking Harry up and down, before handing the parchment back to Remus.

"Everything's in order," the auror said. "Your section is over in that direction." He pointed, rather vaguely, towards the left. "Closer about halfway between here and the stadium."

Thanking the man, Remus led them into the tent city.

Tents of all shapes, sizes and colors surrounded them. Aria laughed seeing how large some of the tents seemed, or how some were decorated to look like little cottages. All over she saw a wide range of horrible Muggle fashion and a large amount of various wizarding fashion. They passed a section with wixen from Africa, based off the flags flying, and their clothes were bright, cheerful, in the most splendid of patterns.

They passed a section with Irish flags flying proudly, clearly excited for the upcoming final between Ireland and Bulgaria, and Harry was the first to spot Seamus in the midst of the Irish group. Seamus bounded over to them, a wide grin on his face.

"Professor Lupin!" he cried, after greeting Harry and Aria. "It's good to see you."

"As with you, Mr. Finnegan," Remus answered. "Who're you here with?"

"My uncle and his family and my mum," Seamus answered. "Dean's also with us, though I don't know where he's got to. One of my cousins went off with him."

"We will have to hang out later," Harry cried. "I saw that there's a whole area for cultural exchange and shopping!"

"What sort of cultural exchange do you need to know that we Irish are the best?" Seamus demanded with a laugh. They waved good-bye and continued on.

As they walked, Aria kept her eyes peeled for any area that might indicate that it was where the Bulgarian team was tenting. On the last day of the YEP Symposium, Nikola said had asked if she was going to the World Cup.

"Come find me," he had told her, "I'll be tenting near the Bulgarian team."

There were just so many tents that it was hard to tell where anyone was. She hoped she didn't get lost, and that there was a map somewhere.

"Ah!" Remus cried. "Here we are. Arthur!"

Mr. Weasley spun around from where he was talking to a tall man. Harry gasped and sprinted ahead.

"Sirius!" he screamed, launching himself at the man. Sirius Black laughed as he wrapped his arms around Harry, giving him half a spin. Aria glanced at Remus who was staring at the two with a little nostalgic look, and grabbed his hand, suddenly worried that Sirius would snatch Remus away from her and her dad.

"When did you get here?" Harry cried. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I got here yesterday," Sirius said, "and it wouldn't have been a surprise if I had told you now, would it?" He clapped Remus on the shoulder, unable to do much more as Harry still clung to him.

"Aria! Harry!" Ron and Hermione came running out of the Weasley tent and Aria had to stare at the tent for a moment. It did not look like it could fit all of the Weasley family and Hermione.

"You've got to see your tent!" Hermione cried. "It's absolutely amazing!" She and Ron yanked Aria and Harry towards a tent next door with a little black metal chimney coming out of the top. Aria and Harry froze just inside the tent.

"It's bigger on the inside," Aria said in disbelief.

"I love magic!" Harry breathed.

Aria stumbled back outside the tent and walked around it. It appeared to be a normal round yurt type tent with the ability to have a stone in it. She came back around to the front to see Arthur, Remus, and Sirius watching her with grins.

"It's a TARDIS!" she exclaimed. Remus laughed even as Sirius and Arthur blinked in confusion. Aria dipped back into the tent where Harry had already claimed one of the small bedrooms as his own and she claimed another. A quick peek into the third bedroom revealed two cots. There was a little kitchen area where there was a wood stove which was attached to the chimney sticking out the top of the tent and it was all part of a larger living space with a kitchen table and a living room with couches and chairs and a radio.

"What do you think?" Sirius asked as he and Remus ducked into the tent. Harry and Ron were already rummaging in the kitchen pantry for snacks while Hermione had settled on the squashy couch.

"It's amazing!" Harry cried. "It's so huge!"

"Expansion Charm," Remus told him. "You've got to have a license to perform it on objects though, so no learning it to use on your school bags."

"We would never!" Hermione cried, a little scandalized.

"Come on!" Ron cried, munching on a granola bar. "I want to go exploring. Ginny and the twins are already off, but I wanted to wait for you guys."

"Be sure to come back for dinner," Arthur told Ron. "Bill is arriving later this afternoon and I want to have a family dinner. Percy will be joining us by then too."

"He wasn't sure he was going to be able to come!" Ron excitedly told Aria, Harry, and Hermione. "I can't wait for you to meet him again!"

"That's the cursebreaker in Egypt, right?" Aria asked. "The one who came to the school in second year for the whole diary incident?"

"Yes! But . . . er . . . Dad doesn't know about it so maybe keep that on the down low."

The four of them weaved through the crowds, taking in the sights and sounds. Hermione did have a map of the entire area and they used it to navigate towards the cultural exhibitions and merchants' row.

In merchants' row they began buying paraphernalia for the team they had decided to support. Ron was in full Bulgarian mode and used most of his pocket money to purchase a model of the Bulgarian team's Seeker, Viktor Krum. Aria watched in fascination as the model moved about and waved and was reminded of the time when she had made her dolls dance around her in her bedroom when she was five.

She and Harry purchased two Omnioculars at a stand, keeping one for themselves and gifting the other to Ron and Hermione. Since she did not care who won the World Cup, seeing as England had already been knocked out by Transylvania 390-10, she decided she would go with Ron and support Bulgaria. A part of her thought that, since Wales and Scotland had also been trounced out, that maybe she should support Ireland. But Bulgaria was the underdog according to the rankings, even if they had one of the best Seekers in the world (according to both Ron and Harry), and she had a thing for underdogs.

Purchasing a Krum jersey, she managed to buy another one and hide it from Ron, knowing that he would love it come Christmas. She also got team flags so that she and Ron could wave them while Harry got team flags for Ireland as he and Hermione had decided to support them. Aria also got a Bulgarian team poster (again, another Christmas gift for Ron which he was oblivious to) and a poster of just Krum for Harry for his Christmas gift.

"Aria! Harry!"

Daphne's voice carried through the crowd as they came to a slightly less congested area. The four friends paused as Daphne came darting through the crowd followed by several other Slytherins. Tracey was ever by her friend's side, and Pansy and Millicent were with them. Draco, Theo, and Blaise materialized a few seconds behind the girls.

"Aria, Hermione, what are you wearing?" Tracey cried. Aria and Hermione glanced at their clothes, which were still quite Muggle. As many wizards and witches were trying to dress Muggle for their arrival to the site, their clothes did not seem out of place in the mass of people. However, Aria was reminded of Draco's shock at seeing her summer attire and she realized that her witch friends never wore skirts higher than their knees and never without tights or knee highs. During Hogsmeade weekends, they were either some kind of trouser or, again, a knee length skirt with knee highs or tights. All under wizarding robes.

"These are what Muggle girls wear in the summer," Hermione explained. "This is a t-shirt, shorts, and Aria and I are wearing different types of a shoe called a sneaker or trainers."

Aria had on her favorite pair of Converse. And their shorts were not very short! Her shorts were a little shorter than Hermione's, as Hermione's jean shorts came to the top of her knees and Aria's were mid-thigh.

"But your legs!" Daphne cried.

"Yes . . . I've got two," Aria replied. She rolled her eyes. "Merlin's sake! Next time I'll just through a robe on or something. Didn't realize that a pair of shorts would cause such scandal!"

There was a short, awkward pause.

"I see you guys have been shopping," Daphne said, breaking the silence. "Why haven't you sent your purchases back to your tent site?"

Aria's confusion must have shown on her face. Draco sighed.

"Dobby!" he called.

That infernal house elf from second year popped up in front of them, bowing low at Draco.

"Dobby, I want you take the purchases of my . . ." Draco glanced at Aria, Hermione, Harry, and Ron, "classmates . . . back to their tents. What section are you guys in?"

Ron rattled off coordinates and Dobby took their purchases, popping away with them.

"House elves are dead useful," Aria commented.

"They're insane," Harry reminded her.

"We're heading over to the cultural exhibitions," Tracey said. "There's going to be food vendors and today there's going to be music. I've been told sometimes there's space for dancing!"

The group migrated towards the cultural exhibitions, chatting about their summers and who they were cheering for. Much of the group was for Ireland, though Draco was for Bulgaria as was Blaise. Aria told them about being invited to the YEP Symposium which impressed them all, especially when she told them that, if she got her Potions OWL, then Snape would take her on as his official apprentice.

"Depending on how well you do, you might just beat his record as youngest potions master in Europe," Theo said.

"That's not the goal," Aria said.

"Why're you so interested in potions all of a sudden?" Blaise asked. "Not that you're never not interested in things, but I didn't think you had a particular love for one subject."

Aria glanced at Harry then caught Draco's eye really quick. Draco folded his arms.

"Yeah, Bourne," he said, "why are you interested?"

Aria tried to recall if she had even mentioned her lycanthropy research while he had been at Spinner's End and realized that she had never outright told him why she had been invited to the symposium.

"I . . . uh . . . Professor Snape gave me letters of introduction to Potions Masters Belby and Babic, and I think they somehow got me an invitation because Professor Snape known to never give letter of introduction or taken on apprentices and so people were curious."

"Okay . . ." Pansy drawled, "still doesn't explain why you needed letters of introduction."

Aria straightened her shoulders, remembering their reactions to Professor Lupin being a werewolf.

"I'm going to try and find a cure for lycanthropy," she declared.

Her classmates all blinked at her. Even Ron and Hermione.

"Aria," Theo said slowly, "you're only fourteen."

"Don't care," Aria stated.

"Only you, Bourne, would decide to find a cure for the incurable," Draco said with a shake of his head. "I wouldn't even be surprised if you somehow managed to do it."

Aria grinned and Draco gave her a smile when no one else was looking. Except Harry. He gave Aria a knowing smirk.

The friends came to the exhibitions and found seats listening to Irish musicians and watching Irish dancing. There did not seem to be a whole lot of difference between Muggle and Wizarding Irish dancing, except for the costumes and the fact that hard-shoe dancing came with sparks every time the feet met the floor. They spotted a bunch of their classmates: Dean, Seamus, and Neville were watching together, and so were Lavender and the Patil twins.

When the dancing ended the three groups got together to find lunch, each scattering to find food from the various food vendors and congregating at a designated eating area where picnic benches had been set up. They scooted a few tables together, especially when Susan and Hannah showed up with Ernie and Justin.

Aria had decided to get a thick falafel sandwich and Greek fries while Harry had settled on a gyro. Draco got kebabs, purchasing extra so that Pansy and Millicent could try them. Lavender decided to try curry that Parvati and Padma suggested she try, and they all had a good laugh when Lavender struggled with the spice levels, though by the time she finished her dish she seemed to have grown accustomed to it. Hermione, Susan, and Hannah had gotten fish and chips while Theo and Blaise had decided to try something completely new, and each got sushi from a Japanese vendor. Blaise had ended up only liking a few of the pieces he had gotten so Theo and Aria split the rest while Blaise went and purchased a chicken and pesto sandwich from another vendor. Ernie and Justin settled on an interesting looking dish from a Canadian vendor called poutine which consisted of chips topped with cheese curds and gravy.

They all chatted about their summers, stole food from each other, and harassed each other based off which team each of them was supporting. They were pretty evenly split between Ireland and Bulgaria. Daphne spilled the beans about Aria's summer at the YEP Symposium and how she was going to find a cure for lycanthropy. Once again, her friends pointed out that she was only fourteen, but Justin and Susan were quick to support her endeavor, even Lavender, even if she still seemed very hesitant about Professor Lupin now.

Once food was consumed the group parted ways again. Aria, Ron, Harry, and Hermione continued to wander about taking in sights before heading back to their campsite.

Percy was there, along with Oliver, sitting outside their tents at a camp table someone had set up, drinking butterbeers. Another Weasley, tall with long hair, freckles, and an earring in the shape of a fang, was also there. Aria assumed this was Bill, and she was proven correct when Ron launched himself into his brother's arms with a cry of "Bill!"

Rapid reintroductions were made. Hermione had a thousand questions for Bill about curse breaking and Egypt which he answered as patiently as he could.

That evening, Remus and Arthur cooked up a scrumptious meal of bangers and mash. Percy regaled them with tales about helping put together the cultural exhibitions which the twins found boring, but Aria managed to sneakily send a stinging hex at them which shut them up. Which was good because Oliver had looked like he was seconds away from hexing the twins himself.

When Aria fell into bed that evening, she was full of good food and excited for the game which would take place tomorrow morning. Remus had told her and Harry that they would be up early, not as early as today, but early enough so that they could make their way through the crowds to their seats. Apparently, with his connection in the Ministry, and Sirius being rich and the Ministry wanting to stay in his good graces, they were all sitting together, but no one would say exactly where that was. Aria assumed that the seats were going to be decent, but she didn't really care where they sat. She had her omnioculars and would be able to see everything!

She could hardly wait!