Quidditch World Cup – Part 4
"I can't believe England didn't even make it close to the final," Wendell said as they all walked together after once again touring the family shops. Now they were heading toward the private boxes in the stands where their seats were located, moving through the crowd.
Wendell was, without a doubt, the biggest fan in the group; perhaps they were even attending the World Cup mainly because of him. Though now there seemed to be a new enthusiast arguing with equal excitement at his side: Tommy.
"It's true. They were defeated by Transylvania, 390 to 10. Horrible," Tommy said as he shook his head in disapproval.
"At least their match lasted more than an hour. Maybe no one told you, but when we came to the first World Cup where Brazil played, the moment the match started, they caught the Snitch almost immediately," Wendell said, recalling the past with a mix of nostalgia and amusement.
"That really happened?" Tommy asked, genuinely excited. "That's awesome… I should have seen it," he added, his tone turning slightly dejected.
"I think I still have a recording of that match. I'll give it to you later; consider it a late gift from your uncle," Wendell said with a truly proud smile. After all, he had always wanted someone to talk to about Quidditch.
With Hermione, it was impossible; she really was not a fan, and she even believed the game had far too many flaws. Then there was Harry, whom Wendell had thought would be more excited, especially considering what he had heard from Sirius about his father, who had been a great player. However, Harry did not seem particularly interested either. Draco, like Harry, was only interested in the combat golems they created and their competitions, which were genuinely exciting, but still something entirely different. Daphne… it was possible she did not even fully understand how Quidditch was played. Luna and Astoria… well, it was better not to touch that subject at all; sometimes it felt like no one could understand them the way they understood each other. Now, with Tommy, maybe he could finally find a good nephew to share his interests with. Too bad Billy was not very interested either.
"Really?" Billy asked, this time genuinely excited. "Thank you so much," he added happily.
That made Wendell nod with satisfaction as well.
The people around them were moving toward their seats. It was such a crowded place that every step required care to avoid bumping into others. Even in the private box section, a small line was forming, making it clear that the Quidditch World Cup was something enormous; perhaps even the only sport of such scale capable of drawing massive crowds.
"It keeps getting more crowded every time," Harry said, looking around with a slightly tired expression from seeing so many people.
"Yeah… maybe we should just come for the festival and then leave without even watching the match," Daphne said with an amused expression, watching as Wendell's and Tommy's faces turned utterly stunned, as if she had just committed a sacrilege.
However, they quickly realized that Daphne was only teasing them.
"Hey, Harry, I think someone's smiling at you over there," Astoria said, poking his arm to get his attention.
Harry turned around for a moment and, not too far away, spotted Cho Chang among the crowd, standing in line to enter. She seemed to recognize him; instantly, she smiled and raised her hand in greeting. Alongside her, other girls who appeared to be with her also waved at Harry, clearly delighted.
Harry simply raised his hand in a quick, slightly awkward greeting.
"Playboy," Daphne said instantly, smiling mischievously.
"Playboy," Hermione added, joining in.
"Playboy," Astoria echoed, amused.
"Playboy," Luna said as well, not quite understanding, but joining anyway.
Selene, Susan, Pandora, and even Wanda seemed amused and joined the teasing.
"Mom, you too?" Harry said tiredly, rolling his eyes and causing the women to laugh.
It was nothing new; they had teased Harry about the same thing ever since he was a child. While everyone was enjoying themselves, they finally reached the box. The noise of the stadium seemed to close in around them like a constant tide.
Other witches and wizards had already arrived, many of them casting barely concealed looks of hatred toward the newly arrived group. Most notably, Lucius Carrow and his entourage. They ignored them without hesitation before taking their seats, which were divided into two rows: one in front and one behind.
The younger ones sat in the front row and the adults behind, as always. They did have to shift slightly to the side, since Tommy and Billy had now joined them, which left Hermione sitting a bit closer to where Carrow and the others were seated.
As for the Quidditch field, it hardly needed any description. After seeing it so many times, it was always prepared with an impressive, almost unbelievable level of detail. The number of witches and wizards present surely exceeded one hundred thousand, all shouting and celebrating, creating a deafening uproar.
Harry turned his head to the side and saw Tommy shouting just like everyone else, visibly excited, while Billy covered one ear slightly because of his brother's yelling. That made Harry chuckle softly; it was surely the same smile his mother had when she saw the three of them sitting together like that.
For a moment, Harry turned around, and his gaze locked onto what appeared to be a house elf, seated in the third row from the back. It wore a kitchen towel like a toga and seemed to be partially covering its face with its hands.
But Harry's gaze was not fixed on the house elf, but rather on the supposedly empty seat beside her. From there came an intense stare, locked directly onto him. For a fraction of a second, he had the strange impression that he was looking at something that did not want to be seen.
The house elf who had been covering her face seemed to feel Harry's gaze, lifting her head immediately. When she realized that Harry was looking at the empty seat, her eyes widened in clear fear and she quickly stood up, placing herself in front of it as if trying to shield the seat with her small body.
"Do you need anything, sir? Perhaps Winky can help you, sir… although I am guarding Mr. Crouch's seat," Winky said quickly and nervously.
Harry looked at the little elf for a moment. His friends also turned when they heard her suddenly speaking to him, watching her with curiosity.
Wanda's gaze slid calmly to the side. She scanned the empty seat from top to bottom for a second, raised an eyebrow, and then completely lost interest; whatever was happening there did not concern her in the slightest.
"No, I don't need anything, thank you," Harry replied calmly, giving the empty seat one last glance before turning his attention back to the field.
"Crouch?" Draco asked from beside him. "Isn't that the idiot who was fired from the Ministry? Wasn't he in prison?" he added with disdain.
"Neither one nor the other," Sirius said from behind them, his expression filled with hatred at the sound of that name. The man who had sent him to prison without a trial. Although the Ministry, as an apology, had given him money, and plenty of it, Crouch had escaped far too easily thanks to his connections, losing only his position and being reassigned to a lesser post. If Sirius hated Peter, then Crouch came next.
"Oh… godfather, when did you get here?" Harry said, as if he had only just noticed him.
The hatred on Sirius's face immediately turned into hurt. "I've been here since the beginning," he replied, sounding slightly wounded.
"Ah," Harry said, glancing at him for barely a second before looking away again with no interest.
That seemed to depress Sirius even further.
Selene gave him an amused smile when she saw his expression. "What did you do this time?" she asked, clearly enjoying his suffering.
"Ugh… I just didn't want to tell him what the exciting event at Hogwarts is going to be, or who the headmaster will be," Sirius replied dejectedly. "But if I tell him now, it won't be a surprise anymore," he added, clearly torn between keeping the secret and giving in.
A sharp look from Edward, Narcissa, and Wanda was enough to make him shut his mouth immediately, resigned. Selene, on the other hand, seemed even more amused by his reaction.
Meanwhile, Harry, wearing a slightly bored expression, began to watch the people entering the section one by one. At one point, he saw the Weasleys arrive, which, to be honest, surprised him a little; they should not have had the money to be there. However, when he saw the exaggeratedly happy smiles on Fred's and George's faces upon spotting Daphne, and heard them shout "Boss!" with an almost military salute, it was easy to figure out who had helped them.
After all, they were her loyal servants, even if they did not seem to realize it themselves.
Percy Weasley, for his part, looked even more delighted than all the other Weasleys combined, greeting every high-ranking person he saw with an almost noble, if imperfect, gesture.
"Hello, nice to meet you," Arthur said, probably seeing Wanda's group and the other adults up close for the first time. "Arthur Weasley," he introduced himself, shaking hands with Edward, Sirius, and the others.
Meanwhile, Molly, who already knew Wanda, greeted her with that characteristic air of a small creature standing before a predator. At the same time, Luna and Astoria immediately grabbed Ginny and dragged her toward their seats. On the way, as they passed in front of Harry, they accidentally made her trip, causing her to fall straight onto his legs.
Ginny lifted her face, completely surprised and embarrassed, while Harry looked at her calmly.
"Ah… ah… I'm sorry," she said, almost stuttering.
"Mmm… it's fine. But it would be good if you got up," Harry replied, with his usual calm demeanor.
"Yes!" she said, standing up immediately, her face turning even redder, before pushing Luna and Astoria to force them to go sit down.
Harry could already feel the gaze of all the women in his family on him; there was no need for them to say anything for it to be obvious what they were thinking. So he made an effort to ignore them, knowing that simply waiting for them to lose interest was the best way to make the attention drift away from him.
But to make matters worse, someone else suddenly appeared, entering the box. She was wearing a beautiful dress that drew everyone's attention, while her platinum-blonde hair fell softly around her, giving her an almost transcendent beauty.
"Oh, Mr. Villain, I found you," Fleur said, looking at Harry for a moment before greeting everyone else with complete familiarity.
The looks from the women now seemed to pierce straight through Harry.
"Women are troublesome," Harry muttered tiredly.
Fleur, meanwhile, watched the expressions on the women's faces with clear confusion, unable to understand why they all seemed so amused.