Quidditch World Cup – Part 6
"And now, without further delay, allow me to present to you… THEEEE MASCOTS OF THE BULGARIAN TEAM!" Bagman shouted, as the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. Excitement rolled through the stands like a wave, especially on the right side of the stadium, where most people were dressed in reddish tones, clearly showing their support for Bulgaria.
"The veela again…", Hermione said with a clearly displeased tone, while around her the men began shouting enthusiastic cheers without the slightest bit of restraint.
On the field, a line of beautiful women dressed as cheerleaders began to enter with elegant steps. Each one was more beautiful than the last, and together they seemed to multiply their beauty a hundredfold. The veela's skin shimmered softly under the stadium lights, and their golden hair moved delicately, even without wind, as if dancing by its own will, creating an image that was as captivating as it was dangerous.
When the music began and the veela's dance started, everything turned into pure chaos. Especially among the male visitors, many of whom looked as if they were ready to jump from the stands to join the dance, completely dominated by the enchantment of their presence.
Meanwhile, Draco and Harry remained seated with serious expressions, calm, just like in the past. However, this time, for brief moments, their eyes drifted slightly toward the veela before returning forward. It seemed that their mental resistance was not as solid as when they were younger… or perhaps something else was involved.
Both of them felt several gazes fixed on them from the sides, so they turned their heads almost at the same time. Hermione was staring at them with an expression of absolute disdain; Daphne wore a mocking smile, as did Astoria. Luna, on the other hand, was cheering for the veela without paying them any attention at all. On the opposite side, Fleur was also giving them an amused and clearly teasing look, as if she had finally gotten her small revenge for certain words spoken long ago.
That was enough for the two of them to clear their throats in annoyance and sit even straighter in their seats, paying no attention whatsoever to the dancers.
They even began looking around, until their gazes crossed with Wendell's, who looked like a buddha or a being who had transcended all earthly temptation. Susan was staring at him intently, and the scene felt so familiar that it caused a clear sense of déjà vu. Both of them could not help but laugh lightly.
Then their attention shifted toward the section where the Weasleys were holding Ron back before he could jump from the stands. Ginny was covering her face in embarrassment, seated between Astoria and Luna.
After that, they looked toward Billy and Tommy. Billy was perfectly fine, watching the veela's dance with interest but without being truly affected. Tommy, on the other hand… well, let's just say Wanda caught him just in time before he embarrassed himself, while she herself lightly covered her face, clearly embarrassed by her son. Even so, Tommy's smile made it clear that rather than falling under the veela's charm, he was simply having fun being himself.
When the dance came to an end, many people began to protest, clearly annoyed because they did not want it to end. The most curious part was that Aunt Pandora was one of them, while Xenophilius supported her enthusiastically. Knowing the Lovegood family, that was not strange at all, especially considering that Luna also looked slightly upset at the end of the show, while Astoria gently patted her on the back.
The most interesting thing to watch was how Ireland's fans began destroying anything that identified them with their team, as if they had immediately switched sides after seeing Bulgaria's mascots.
Although Draco and Harry behaved themselves quite well, limiting themselves to a few glances, they could not help but hear Hermione click her tongue in mild annoyance.
"Tsk. Men," she said.
Naturally, both of them decided they had heard absolutely nothing.
"And nowaaa… let us welcome the mascots of Ireland!" Ludo Bagman shouted.
At that moment, numerous green and gold comets entered through the sky, lighting up the surroundings with their glow, followed by a golden rain that fell over the stadium. A rainbow formed above the field, striking and beautiful, before fading away. Then, two enormous spheres of golden light gathered at the center and took shape, forming a massive shamrock that began floating gently toward the sky.
The golden rain soon revealed its true nature. They were Galleon coins, falling like rain, and the shamrock drifting above the stands seemed to throw even more of them onto the spectators.
Many people jumped from their seats to catch the coins, while Harry watched the small little men forming the shamrock with keen attention. With a subtle movement of his hand, he redirected the coins falling over his head to the side, sending them straight toward Ron Weasley, who was picking them up from the ground with overwhelming excitement.
"Why is he collecting them?" Draco asked, watching Ron with mild disapproval as he stuffed as much gold as he could into his pockets.
"Maybe he does not know that leprechaun gold fades with time," Harry replied calmly. He picked up a coin and examined it with interest before tossing it onto the small pile Billy had gathered for Tommy. Both of them knew they were fake, but according to them, they still worked as projectiles for a while.
After all, while they had been investigating the Potter Mansion, they had seen a huge number of gold golems scattered around the grounds, so they simply picked up the coins to play with them.
As the players entered riding their brooms and performed a presentation lap under the roar of the crowd, Tommy grew excited again upon finally seeing them in the air. Wendell was also watching attentively, having resisted the veela's temptation solely thanks to his mental resistance as a normal human. It was not the first time he had done so, which made it far less difficult than that first occasion, when he had barely managed it by almost biting his tongue.
"Uncle Wendell, who do you think will win?", Tommy asked, already calling him uncle, since the two of them had grown genuinely close over the past few days, constantly talking about Quidditch.
"Mmm… it's a bit difficult," Wendell replied thoughtfully. "Ireland has a very solid team overall, and in their last matches they played extremely well as a unit. Bulgaria, on the other hand, does not perform very well when it comes to teamwork, but they have an exceptional Seeker. Many of their matches were won thanks to him," he said, acting like a true professional as he placed a hand under his chin.
Meanwhile, the referee of the match, a man named Mustafa, along with the president of the Quidditch Association, lightly struck the wooden box. Instantly, the bludgers, the quaffle, and the golden snitch shot into the air, which Harry followed with his eyes almost automatically, though with a faint hint of boredom.
"You can still follow it with your eyes?", Draco asked when he noticed how Harry's gaze moved rapidly across the field.
"Yes. I could even catch it right now," Harry replied jokingly, lifting one hand slightly.
Before he could say anything else, he earned a gentle tap on the back of his head from his mother.
"Do not interfere in other people's game," Wanda said at once.
Harry answered with an amused smile and raised both hands in surrender.
Another one following the snitch using nothing but his gaze was Tommy, who moved his head from side to side without losing sight of it for even a second, as if it were some kind of personal game. However, he soon got distracted by the sight of the players passing the quaffle at an incredible speed, while the Chasers dodged and the bludgers were launched with clear intent to knock their opponents out. The pace was so frenetic that Bagman could barely keep up with the commentary or even say the players' names.
All spectators using omnoculars had to switch them to slow mode just to be able to process what was happening on the field. It felt as if the players had started the match using all their strength from the very first second.
"Woooo!", Tommy shouted in pure excitement as he watched the speed at which everything unfolded, lifting both hands as if he wanted to jump into the field and play himself.
That made Wanda smile faintly at the sight of her son's happiness. After all, it was obvious that he loved this kind of sport. Extreme speed, aerial combat, and the constant threat of magical flying balls trying to take your head off.
In a matter of minutes, with a masterful team play, Ireland had already scored forty points. Their players seemed to read each other's minds in every movement, executing passes and maneuvers with flawless synchronization.
The deafening cheers from the stands grew even louder, while the game became faster and more brutal with every passing second.
Bulgaria, for their part, focused on relentlessly striking Ireland's Chasers with the bludgers. Finally, under constant pressure, they managed their first score when, in the middle of the chaos, Ivanova seized the quaffle and pushed her way toward the opposing Keeper.
That alone was enough for the veela to begin dancing once again, plunging the stadium into yet another wave of complete disorder.
Krum then executed a perfect feint against the Irish Seeker, diving straight toward the ground. Just before impact, Krum pulled up with precise control, but the Irish player failed to react in time and crashed violently into the ground. The dull sound of the impact made the entire stadium hold its breath.
"Time out!", Bagman shouted at once.
As Lynch, Ireland's Seeker, was checked on, the game came to a halt, giving everyone present a brief moment to breathe after the true emotional roller coaster that had been unleashed since the very start of the match.