Chapter 37: Let the Match begin!
The atmosphere was truly infectious as they all walked through the thick forest to the foot of a large hill that housed the concealed arena. "here we are, the largest arena anywhere. It's got more than a hundred thousand seats and is decked out with all sorts of muggle-repellant charms" Mr Weasley said as they entered. They had to climb the stairs all the way to the top where they reached the Ministers box which was situated halfway between the goalposts, opposite of the giant blackboard used to keep score. They entered and found two rows of purple chairs. Hermione, Kiba, Harry and Ron sat down in the front row and below them was just a mess of movement, of people scrambling to find their seats. The blackboard was currently writing advertisements for hair care potions and new whacky food products.It was then that the four friends heard a high pitched whimpering behind them "Dobby, is that you?" Harry asked turning around to face the house elf that hid it's face in it's hands.
"Dobby?" the house elf echoed "I is not Dobby, sir. My name is Winky, sir.. and you, sir.." she looked up at Harry and her eyes widened to the size is dinner plates "you is surely Harry Potter"
"yeah, that's me"
"Dobby speaks often of you sir"
"how is he?"
"Sir, i is meaning no disrespect, sir, but i is not sure if you done Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free" she whimpered.
"why is that?"
"Going to Dobby's head, sir, freedom is" Winky replied "can't get another position, sir"
"why not?" asked Hermione suddenly. Winky looked around anxiously and then whispered
"he's wanting paying for his work"
"Paying? Is that so strange?" Kiba questioned the elf "why should he not be paid?"
"house-elfs is not paid, sir. No no. I says to Dobby, i says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby" Winkey said "he's getting into all sorts of hijinks, sir"
"about time he got to live a little" Harry replied "he's having fun, right?"
"House-elfs not supposed to have fun, sir, Harry Potter" Winky said firmly "house-elfs does as told. I is not liking highs at all, Harry Potter. But master send me to top box and i comes, sir"
"why's he sent you up here if you don't like hights?"
"Master, Mr. Crouch, sir, wants me to save him a seat, Master is very busy" she explained "so i does" Hermione opened her mouth to speak but stopped when the door to the box opened. Cornelius Fudge, the minister for magic, entered. Percy shot up from his seat and bowed before the man as he introduced himself "Percy Weasley, I work for Mr. Crouch. It's an honor to meet you Minister" he said as he bowed even lower to the point where his glasses slipped from his nose and shattered on the floor. Embarrassed he quickly mended them and picked them up.
"The pleasure is mine" he said "ah, Harry. How are you?" he stepped over and shook Harry's hand like they had known each other for decades, Percy looked over to them more in jealousy then embarrassment now. The door opened again as the Malfoy's together with Ludo Bagman entered. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had a staredown with Mr. Weasley and the others with Draco. Few words were spoken, nothing more then brief introductions. Fudge stepped forward and placed his Wand to the side of his throat. "Good evening!" his voice was enormous and echoed through the entire arena. Kiba had read of this sort of spell, but theory rarely compares to practice "as Minister for Magic, it gives me great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you, to the final of the Fourhundred-and-twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!" the arena erupted into massive cheer "Now, let me introduce you to your commentary for this match, Ludo Bagman!"
"Thank you very much, Minister!" Ludo spoke, his Wand held infront of his mouth like a microphone. "I am all to eager to get this match started. But first, here come the bulgarian mascots, the Veela!" a dozen or more voices suddenly sang beautifully as they descended from the sky, followed by the voices of men calling to them. One of them stopped by the Ministers box as it danced, it's moon like skin reflecting the lights as it's golden hair swayed with her every move.
"I want to touch her!" Ron suddenly said as he walked closer to the railing. Draco behind them was also on his feet being held back by his father who seemed immune much like the other grown ups. Kiba could feel his gaze ever so harder to remove from her entrancing dance. He too felt like touching her, feeling her soft shimmering skin. "if i jump i can reach her" he mumbled.
"I could show her my scar" Harry said as he pulled off his green tophat. Mr. Weasley quickly held Ron back and Hermione pulled both Harry and Kiba back into their chairs either side of her.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked confused "why are you so so eager to touch that?"
"that's a Veela, dear" Fudge said "they charm men, even unintentionally. Make them do all sorts of things"
"yes, quite a sight. And now, for the Irish, here come the Leprechauns!" and indeed they arrived. The flew in formation, two dozen of them at least, circling over the stands raining golden coins as they passed overhead. Ron quickly took off his hat and dashed forward to catch some which he used to pay Harry back for the Omnioculars he had bought for him. The Leprechauns suddenly let go fireworks which formed one large leprechaun dancing above the arena in all its green Irish glory. "now it's time for the teams to take their positions. The bulgarians Keeper, Zogrof followed by the chasers Dimitrov, Ivanova and levski. Their beaters Volkov and Vulchanov and their Seeker, Krum!" he paused for a moment to let the bulgarian team show off momentarily. "and here come the Irish! Their keeper, Ryan. The chasers Troy, Mullet and Moran followed by the beaters Connolly and Quigley and finally their Seeker and Team captain Lynch!" the Irish fans applauded wildly to their team. The fifteenth person that entered to pit was already there waiting to be introduced. "and of course, from Egypt, part of the international association of Quidditch, here's today's referee, Hassan Mostafa!" the man was dressed in robes that looked like they were made of smoothed gold and he blew into his whistle. Twelve of the players rose to their positions only the two captains remained on the ground to shake hands before they too took their positions.
The referee kicked open the box and blew his whistle as he pushed off the ground flying high with his own broom, Quaffle in hand. He tossed the odd shaped ball to the center and the players were off. Ireland caught it first and proceeded to score quickly and then twice more before Bulgaria scored their first points.
The match was intense with minor fouls here and there and some closer calls with the Snitch. Fifteen minutes had passed and it was Hundred-and-thirty to Ten for the Irish which had already caused a large commotion among the fans and mascots. After a foul on the Irish keeper it was the Veela, the bulgarian mascots, that tried to sway the referee. They charmed him indeed, but not for long and soon, because of the Veela's interference, the Irish were given two penalties. And not much later as the match got slowly more violent, another penalty was issued for the Irish. The Leprechauns, having great joy in their teams lead flew high and turned a mean sign to the bulgarian Veela. The Veela suddenly lost control as they flew over the pitch throwing what appeared to be balls of flame at the Leprechauns.
Kiba used his Omnioculars to look at the creatures closely, no longer were they beautiful, no. Their faces had turned to sharp beaks like those of birds, and their shoulders sprouted scaly wings. The match continued even as the ministry interfered with the mascot fight with little success. However everyone's eyes were fixed on the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch who were diving to the ground once again and a second time Lynch crashed to the ground only to be attacked by the Veela afterwards. Krum however had pulled up in time and as a added bonus the Snitch was firmly in his hand. The blackboard showed 170 – 160 and the stadium erupted with cheers from the Irish fans and supporters.
"why would he catch it? He only had to wait a bit for them to score, they would have won easily!" Ron complained
"i think it's very brave what he did" Hermione replied "the match was getting out of control, we all know that" the door to the box they were in suddenly opened and two men brought in the Quidditch cup and handed it to Fudge. The box lit up so brightly that no one from inside could see out of it anymore. The players all lined up to shake the Ministers hand, even Lynch who was barely conscious and being held up by the other players. Kiba got another close look at Krum then and his posture was very unlike that of him on a broom. He was much less coordinated, duck footed and slumped down a bit with his round shoulders hanging low.
The Irish were handed the cup as several pictures were taken, some of them by Kiba himself. They took the cup to their brooms and flew a few laps around the stadium to present it to their fans.
"time to pay out, Bagman!" they heard George say
"we won, didn't we?" Fred added
"that you did, lads" Ludo replied "i owe you… how much?" They left the stadium soon after without speaking to the Malfoy's and returned to their tent celebrating along the way.
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