“YES! FINALLY! QUIDDITCH! BEST SPORT EVER!”

            “JAMES! That’s more than enough!” Lily scolded.

The day progressed slowly. Apparently Percy was a tad obsessed with Mr. Crouch (his boss) so the news of what he had done to Sirius shook the new Ministry employee up a little bit. To Percy, Mr. Crouch could do no wrong. Ron, Fred and George could only roll their eyes. They had heard enough about Mr. Crouch to last a life time.

As the day progressed, the large group seemed to split into to. Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie and Percy sat with Remus and Sirius, talking quietly while those still attending Hogwarts ventured off to browse the salesmen who were selling various items. Ron bought a miniature Viktor Krum only to regret it when Harry found someone selling what looked like binoculars with knobs and dials. They were called Omnioculars which allowed one to replay what they saw in slow motion for ten Galleons. Harry bought three pairs while Hermione bought programs.

            “How nice of Harry and Hermione,” Lily said approvingly.

Running low on time, they met up with Fred, George and Ginny then hurried back to see the 'adults' were waiting for them.

            “You do realize we are in the so called ‘adults’ group,” Remus told Sirius.

            Sirius stared at him for a while and then said “Freaky!”

Mr. Weasley led the way with Sirius and Remus following the crowd. Harry tried to take everything in without losing step. He had never seen anything like it. They ventured through the wood for nearly twenty minutes until they reached a clearing with a huge stadium. Gold walls surrounded the enormous pitch which was all Harry could see.

"It seats a hundred thousand," Sirius said softly into Harry's ear. "Close your mouth, Harry. Just wait until we get inside."

            Younger Sirius was gently closing James mouth.

Harry's mouth snapped shut as he looked up at Sirius and smiled. They both knew that this was all new for Harry. The Dursleys had never taken Harry anywhere

            Growls were heard, napkins were shredded.

so it was up to Sirius and Remus to make up for it. They hadn't said anything to Harry because they knew what Harry's response would be. Harry would insist that they didn't have to do anything but seeing the smile now present on Harry's face was all that Sirius and Remus needed to know this was exactly what Harry needed.

            And if they wanted to know how Harry’s smile was they just had to look at James.

Mr. Weasley's voice pulled the three of them out of their thoughts. "Muggle-Repelling Charms are put on every inch of it," he informed the awestruck children. "Whenever Muggles come near they instantly remember some important appointment and leave."

They reached the nearest entrance that was already swarmed with shouting people. Mr. Weasley handed his tickets over to the witch who instructed the Weasleys and Hermione to head up to the Top Box. Once they had entered, Sirius handed his tickets over and was instructed to follow the Weasleys. They walked up the stairs until they reached the very top and into a small box positioned in the middle of the field.

            “I wanna be in the Top Box too!” James whined. Lily patted his head.

There were two rows of chairs. Harry was immediately pulled by Ron to the front row. Looking down, Harry couldn't believe the scene below. Countless witches and wizards were taking their seats above a long oval pitch. There were three golden hoops on each side of the stadium fifty feet high. Directly across from them was a large blackboard with gold writing magically appearing and disappearing. A strange golden light seemed to surround everything, becoming brighter and brighter. It became too overwhelming, too blinding.

            “WA’S HAPPENING!” Sirius cried.

Harry collapsed.

            “WHAT!” James cried.

            “MY BABY IS SICK!” Lily sobbed.

Sirius and Remus hurried to Harry's side as Mr. Weasley quickly pulled Ron and Hermione back. Bill held Ginny back while Charlie and Percy prevented the twins from advancing. Silence filled the box. Remus propped up Harry's upper body, removed Harry's glasses and pried open one of Harry's closed eyes. He could only gasp in alarm at what he saw. Harry's eye was unnaturally bright. He pried the other open and saw the same thing. Remus glanced at Sirius who leaned forward to get a look.

            “WA’S HAPPENING MOONY!” James was shaking Remus.

            “Dunno James! Sirius, help!”

With effort Sirius managed to extricate Remus from James grip.

Sirius could only stare in shock. "That's not normal," he muttered. "Has this ever happened before, Remus?"

Remus shook his head as he released Harry's eyelid. He gently touched Harry's forehead, checking for any sign of a fever. "Harry," he prodded gently. "Harry, wake up."

            “MOONY! You wanna wake him up! Gentle is not going to do it!” Sirius cried.

There was no response. A small hand touched Remus' arm causing Remus to look up and see a house elf staring at him. It was wearing a tea-towel that was wrapped around it in the resemblance of a toga. The creature looked dreadfully frightened. "Young Mr. Wizard needs shielding for his eyes," the elf squeaked. "He is seeing the magic around us. Too much for young Mr. Wizard."

            “Harry can see the magic around?” Lily asked shocked.

Remus instantly pulled out his wand and tapped it on Harry's glasses which suddenly turned into sunglasses. He gently put them back on Harry then looked up at the house elf and smiled. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "May we know your name and the name of your master so we can thank you properly?"

The house elf blushed by the statement. "My name is Winky, sir Mr. Wizard, sir," said the elf. "My master is Mr. Crouch. I is saving his seat for him. He is very busy wizard, master is. Winky is a good house elf."

"Yes you are," Remus said with a smile. "The next time I see your master I will let him know. Thank you again, Winky."

            “You’re so nice Moony!” James said and Remus blushed.

Winky bowed her head and quickly retreated back to her seat. The sound of Harry groaning pulled everyone's attention back to the unconscious teenager. As Harry opened his eyes he was confused to see that the room was significantly darker than before and his head was throbbing. Out of the corner of his eyes (where the sunglasses didn't cover) Harry noticed brightness. He reached up to pull off his glasses only to be stopped by Remus.

"Leave them on, Harry," Remus said softly. "They'll help for now. Do you think you can sit up?"

            Sighs of relief were heard.

Harry nodded and sat up with the help of Sirius and Remus. He looked around and noticed that everyone was looking at him. Harry groaned as he grabbed his aching head. So much for an uneventful day. He felt himself being lifted into a chair and looked up to see the worried face of his godfather. His headache was slowly decreasing but it still hurt too much to ignore.

            “Give him an aspirin!” Lily cried.

            “A what?” the boys asked bewildered.

            “An aspirin, for the pain!” she said with a  ‘most obvious thing in the world’ look.

            “You mean a pain killing potion,” James asked.

            Lily scowled and mumbled, “Always forget about potions on the holidays.”

            The boys tried to muffle their laughter but were unsuccessful.

            Lily’s scowled deeper and said, “Hey, I spend my holidays with muggles ok! I go to my default muggle upbringing!”

            “But it’s very funny!” James said, “Slughorn’s favorite student forgetting about potions!”

"Are you all right Harry?" Sirius asked desperately trying to stay calm. "Can you make it through the game?"

Harry nodded again. "I'm fine," he said with a forced smile. He knew Sirius had been looking forward to this and wasn't about to ruin it for his godfather. "I just have a small headache. It's nothing really."

            “No Harry! Go ahead and say the truth!” Sirius said, “Your health is more important then the cup!”

            All of them were shocked with James nodding in agreement.

Sirius looked at Harry for a moment as if he was internally debating whether to believe the teen or not. "Are you sure?" he asked then stood up when Harry nodded. "All right but if you start feeling any worse I want to know about it; no matter how small it may be, agreed?"

"Agreed," Harry said with a true smile. Of course he had no intention of saying anything no matter what but Sirius and Remus didn't have to know that.

            All of them smacked their own head in one way or the other grunting. Finally Remus had to stop Sirius from banging his head on the floor.

The tension in the room seemed to lift immediately. Hermione sat down to Harry's left while Ron sat down on Harry's right. Sirius and Remus took seats behind Harry with the remaining Weasleys took seats around them. Fred, George and Ginny were in the first row while Bill, Charlie, Percy and Mr. Weasley were in the second. Ron immediately pulled out his Omnioculars and started looking out at the crowd. Hermione started looking through her program but Harry could have sworn that he saw her watching him. He figured she was just worried and ignored it the best he could.

"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed. "We get to see a display of the mascots from each team. That should be quite a sight."

"It will be," Mr. Weasley confirmed. "Creatures are brought from the representing countries, not something you see every day."

Throughout the next half hour the box slowly filled with people. Mr. Weasley shook hands with most of them with Percy right at his side. When the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, arrived,

            Groans were heard.

he basically ignored Percy, moving to Harry who he treated like any concerned parent would.

“WHAT?” Lily cried outraged, “After almost sucking Harry’s and Sirius’ soul out he pretends to be his friend!”

Harry had to hold back any comments or actions he wanted to take towards the man who had tried to send his godfather to the Dementors but it was difficult. Fudge was clearly trying to show everyone in the box how 'close' he was to the-boy-who-lived.

“Well, you’re NOT!” Sirius yelled angry.

Remus was clearly holding Sirius in his seat the entire time even though both of them appeared to be a second away from attacking the Minister.

            “Oh, I’d want to see what happened if I just happened to accidentally let go of Sirius,” Remus said with an evil grin. The other three mirrored his grin.

They hated it when Harry was used as some sort of publicity prop and knew Harry hated it too.

The Minister moved on and was now talking loudly to the Bulgarian Minister even though the man didn't seem to understand a word of English.

            “Why do people think that if someone doesn’t know the language shouting will make them understand,” Remus said annoyed, “HE’S NOT DEAF!”

Annoyed beyond all measure, Remus stood up and started speaking to the Bulgarian in what must have been his native tongue. The Bulgarian smiled at Remus and started talking back. Within a few moments they were laughing much at the disgust of Fudge.

            “You know Bulgarian Moony?” Lily said impressed.

            “I like languages. But I just started with Bulgarian. My mother taught me French,” he answered.

            Sirius coughed something that sounded an awful lot like ‘bookworm’. Remus looked for one of his famous pillows and finding none in the outside had to resort to glaring.

The Bulgarian and Remus shook hands then took their seats. Remus was instantly aware of everyone from his group staring at him. "What?" he asked innocently

            “Oh, Moony, what did you say?” James asked grinning.

and that was all the Weasley's needed to pull their attention away from Remus. Sirius and Harry bit back smiles. They knew Remus had done that to put Fudge in his place more than anything. It was amazing how effective Remus' methods could be.

            “Yep! He’s our little angel with a devil’s tail,” Sirius said fondly.

The Malfoys were the next to enter.

            Everyone groaned again.

 Sirius and Remus kept their faces looking out at the stadium and silently urged Harry to do the same. Harry was only happy to concur. Lucius Malfoy and his son, Draco, seemed to be evil to the core. Draco Malfoy and Harry were rivals ever since Draco had made fun of Ron's family on their first journey to Hogwarts. Harry could never be friends with a bully like that.

Fudge and Mr. Malfoy talked for a bit like they were old friends that made Harry's stomach churn.

            “Birds of a feather,” James mumbled.

            “More like Fudge is stupid enough for Malfoy to manipulate,” Remus groaned.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew that it was Sirius silently reminding him that he wasn't alone. Harry tuned out the rest of his conversation and handed over his Omnioculars to Sirius. He really couldn't see through them with sunglasses anyways.

"A bunch of slimy gits that's what they are," Ron muttered.

Before Harry knew it Bagman's voice filled the now packed stadium. It was a good thing his headache was basically gone or all of the shouting would have only made it worse. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

            James was practically drooling.

Bagman announced. "Without further ado, the Bulgarian Team Mascots!"

The blackboard now read BULGARIA: ZERO, IRELAND: ZERO but no one was watching the blackboard. Everyone was watching a hundred beautiful women gliding onto the pitch. Almost instantly a hand covered Harry's sunglasses. Harry was about to protest when the soft voice of his godfather entered his left ear. "Trust me," Sirius said. "You don't want to make a fool of yourself because of a Veela. Cover your ears, Harry."

            “AHHHHHHH! VEELA!” the boys shut their eyes and covered their ears. Lily rolled her eyes.

            “You can’t feel the effects from the book!”

            “You never know,” James said keeping his eyes screwed shut. Lily kept reading.

Harry did as he was told and covered his ears as he closed his eyes. He waited until a gentle hand on his shoulder told him it was okay to look. There were angry yells from the crowd. The Veela were now lined up along one side of the pitch. Looking over at Ron, Harry held back a laugh to see his best friend in such a dazed state. Harry lightly smacked Ron on the back of the head, bringing the teenager around.

"Huh?" Ron asked. "What'd ya do that for?"

            “Poor Ron,” Sirius said sympathetically.

Harry let out a laugh while Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance. He looked over his shoulder at Sirius and mouthed a 'thank you'. Sirius was right. Harry really didn't want to make a fool of himself especially with so many people around.

"And now the Irish National Team Mascots!" announced Bagman.

A flash of blinding light entered the stadium, forcing Harry to look away and close his eyes. He heard the crowd 'ooooing' and 'aaaaing' at what sounded like loud gunfire. Harry could only guess that it was fireworks. A hand touched each of Harry's shoulders. Slowly, Harry opened his eyes to see a rainbow over the stadium that transformed into a shamrock as it started to rain shimmering objects. As it soared over them, Harry realized that it was gold coins raining down which struck Harry as odd. How could anyone afford to do that?

            “They must be awful rich,” Lily said.

            “Leprechaun gold! It’s not real gold and it vanishes after a while,” Remus explained.

"Leprechauns!" Mr. Weasley said excitedly as he looked up. Harry would have to take his word for it. It just looked like a shamrock to him with the sunglasses on.

The shamrock dissolved as Ron handed over a fistful of coins to Harry. "For the Omnioculars!" he said happily.

            “Oh, poor Ron. He doesn’t know,” Lily said.

            “Yeah but I doubt Harry is going to tell him that the gold vanished,” James said, “He’ll want for Ron to think that he paid his debt.”

It was then that Harry finally saw the leprechauns which were tiny bearded men dressed in red and carrying lamps that were either gold or green. They took their spot on the opposite side of the field from the Veela, sitting cross-legged. Harry made a mental note to research Veela and leprechauns when he got back to Hogwarts.

            “MOONY! STOP POISONING MY SON! YOU’RE TURNING HIM INTO A BOOKWORM!”

            “And what’s wrong with being interested?” Lily asked crossed.

            “No, nothing, Lily dear. Very good thing,” James tried to placate her.

"And now the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team!" Bagman roared. "Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaand Krum!"

Seven scarlet figures arrived onto the pitch so fast that it was impossible to make anyone out. The entire crowd roared the moment Krum's name was announced, Ron being one of them. As they slowed down, Harry was able to see that Krum looked older than the eighteen years he was supposed to be. He was thin with sallow-skin. He had a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows.

"And now the Irish National Quidditch Team!" Bagman continued. "Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaand-Lynch!"

            The boys all applauded hard.

Seven more blurs entered the pitch but these were green. They positioned themselves so they were facing the Bulgarian team. Harry picked out the Seekers and focused on them. There was a loud whistle and the game begun. Harry had tuned out Bagman's voice. The game was so fast paced Harry was afraid to even blink. The crowd was so loud that Harry was certain he would go deaf at this rate. He watched as Krum searched for the Snitch almost lazily. He didn't even realize that Ireland had scored.

            Applauses and whistles were heard.

Every now and then Harry would glance at the rest of the game only to return his gaze quickly to Krum. It was clear that Lynch was watching Krum instead of searching for the Snitch himself. Ireland scored two more times before Bulgaria managed to score. Once they did, Harry thought he heard Mr. Weasley yell something but the crowd was too loud for him to make it out. His eyes were transfixed on Krum as the player took off like a rocket. Had he seen the Snitch?

            James was practically bouncing on his spot on the floor.

Lynch flowed as Krum dived quickly. They were heading towards the pitch too fast for any sane person to attempt. Harry's eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen. Krum hadn't seen the Snitch. He was taking his competition out of the game. Krum quickly pulled out of the dive. Harry closed his eyes and looked away, expecting to hear Lynch hit the ground. All he could do was wish that Lynch didn't get hurt.

            All of them closed their eyes. After a while Sirius opened one eye and cleared his throat.

            “Hum, Lily, you can’t read with your eyes closed.” She blushed and kept reading.

Silence rang through the stadium. Harry quickly opened his eyes to see Lynch on the ground without a mark on him. "Er—what happened?" he asked.

"Lynch bounced," Ron said in amazement. "How could he do that?"

            “How did that happen?” James asked.

            “I think Harry did that,” Remus said.

            “How?” Lily asked.

            “Dunno, just have a feeling he did.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Lynch mounted his broom and took off after Krum. "That was the strangest Wronski Feint I've ever seen," Charlie commented. "He was supposed to go splat not bounce."

Looking up at Krum, Harry could see the Seeker was just as mystified as everyone else then quickly started searching for the Snitch again. The teams jumped out of their astonishment and continued playing. Once again Harry focused on the Seekers, ignoring anything Bagman said. There was a penalty to Ireland which sent the mascots into an uproar. The leprechauns started taunting the Veela who retaliated and started to dance. Harry looked away and covered his ears along with the rest of the males around him. It was only when Hermione started tugging on Harry's arm that he felt it was safe to look.

"The referee!" she shouted pointing at the referee who was now under the Veela's spell.

            Everyone laughed.

The mediwizard quickly came out and kicked the referee, forcing him to come out of his daze. The game continued but was starting to get ugly. The Beaters were doing anything and everything to take out the opposing Chasers, Keeper and Seeker. Some were nearly knocked off their brooms and several fouls were awarded.

The leprechauns started taunting the Veela again who finally lost control. They attacked the leprechauns, throwing handfuls of fire at them. Their faces changed from beauty to birdlike with scaly wings coming out of their shoulders. Harry cringed at the sight and returned his attention to the players flying above the field. Ireland scored again before one of Ireland's Beaters hit a Bludger towards Krum, hitting him hard in the face.

            “OUCH! That’s gotta hurt!” Remus said.

            “You think!” James, who was very acquainted with bludgers, said.

Krum was now covered in blood but before a timeout could be called Lynch suddenly dived with Krum quickly following him. Krum was certainly the better flyer and was catching up to Lynch quickly. They were side by side as they dove towards the ground as fast as their brooms could take them.

"They'll crash!" Hermione cried out.

"No they won't!" Ron shot back.

"Lynch will!" Harry corrected and Lynch did, this time there was no bounce.

            They all winced.

"Where's the Snitch?" Charlie asked loudly.

Harry saw Krum holding the small golden ball in his hand. "Krum's got it!" he shouted. "It's over!"

            “Aw! Already,” James whined.

The scoreboard started to flash: BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170. Screams erupted from the Ireland fans. Even though Krum had caught the Snitch, Ireland still won. It seemed too impossible. In all of Harry's experience the Seeker who caught the Snitch actually won the game.

            “Why did he catch the Snitch then?” Lily asked.

            “Ireland was a lot better. They were already 160 points up. He wanted to end it on his own terms,” James said.

"I can't believe it!" Ron shouted as he clapped his hands. "The idiot! You don't catch the Snitch when you're more than one hundred and fifty points behind!"

"Ireland was better," Harry said matter-of-factly as he also applauded. "Krum wanted to end it his way. Rather brilliant."

            “See! Harry agrees with me!” James said beaming and Lily mumbled “Quidditch nuts”.

"Well look what it got him," Hermione said as she looked down to see Krum. "He looks awful."

Harry turned around to look at Remus and Sirius with a smile on his face. Remus pulled out his wand and tapped Harry's sunglasses turning them back to normal eyeglasses. Harry had to blink a few times to get used to the light but it certainly wasn't as bright as before. Everything looked normal. Now he just wished he knew what happened.

"Have a good time?" Remus asked as he pocketed his wand.

            “EXCELENT! BEST TIME OF MY LIFE!” James cried.

            “I didn’t ask you, James,” Remus said.

Harry nodded. "The best," he said happily as he maneuvered around his chair to them and hugged both of them at the same time. "Thank you," he said sincerely. He really didn't know what else to say. Both Sirius and Remus returned the embrace, not caring who may be watching them.

"Dis is your son?" a gloomy voice curiously asked behind them.

Sirius and Remus quickly turned around to see the Bulgarian Minister of Magic. Remus gently ushered Harry so he was standing in front of them. "My son, no," Remus said diplomatically.

            “He’s as good as. Moony! Why are you not saying that?” James asked.

            “Well, Harry is pretty well known. The Minister would know he is not my son.” James scowled.

 "This is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Mr. Obalonsk, the Bulgarian Minister of Magic."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Harry said as he extended his hand which Mr. Obalonsk shook.

"Da pleasure is mine," Mr. Obalonsk said with a smile. "You are quite a legend, Harry Potter. If you and your family ever vishes to visit, do not hesitate to contact me." He looked up at Remus and Sirius. "Very polite young man," he said. "You must be very proud."

            “VERY!” four cries came.

"We are," Remus said pleasantly. "You have an excellent team and an exceptional Seeker.”

Mr. Obalonsk smile widened as he shook hands with Remus and then with Sirius. The entire box was flabbergasted at the interaction. A werewolf and an ex-convict were on better terms with the Bulgarian Minister than their own Minister was.

            “Serves him right,” James said laughing.

The box suddenly lit up so that everyone could see inside. Harry started to feel uncomfortable with being watched by so many and backed up into Remus.

"Now, a round of applause for the Bulgarian team!" Bagman shouted.

The Bulgarian Quidditch Team came up the stairs and entered the box. The crowd applauded as Bagman announced the players one by one. Each player shook hands with Mr. Obalonsk then with Fudge. Krum, who was last, looked even worse up close. He now had two black eyes and his entire face was covered with blood. Harry couldn't help but notice Krum still had the Snitch in his hand. The moment Krum's name was announced the noise of the crowd seemed to magnify a tenfold.

Once Krum shook hands with Fudge, Mr. Obalonsk pulled him over towards Harry. "Viktor, I vould like you to meet a fellow Seeker, Harry Potter," he said as he motioned to the fourteen-year-old.

            “Harry is meeting Krum! Harry is meeting Krum!” James said exited. Lily rolled her eyes.

 

Krum's eyes widened at the name as he glanced at Harry's forehead, noticing the trademark scar. He reached out and shook Harry's hand. "Pleasure to meet the Harry Potter," Krum said in awe. "I have heard a lot about you."

"The pleasure is mine," Harry said shakily, overwhelmed at actually meeting Viktor Krum.

            “Like father like son,” Lily muttered but James was too overexcited to notice.

He was silently hoping he wasn't looking like an idiot in front of an international Quidditich star. "I've heard a lot about you too."

Krum smiled proudly as he handed the Snitch over to Harry. "Practice hard, Harry Potter," he said. "Maybe ve vill face each other in a few years." Krum nodded to his Minister then followed his team out of box.

            “Uhh! The Malfoy kid is going to go green with envy!” Sirius said.

Harry stared at the Snitch in his hand. He couldn't believe it. Viktor Krum just gave him the Snitch he caught! Harry's hand tightened around the small golden ball, its wings now slowly flapping. He had hardly noticed when the Ireland team came up and was introduced. His brain had seemed to stop working. He barely realized hands resting on his shoulders until a voice filled his right ear.

            James was drooling again and Sirius put a napkin under his chin. James was so entranced that he didn’t even swat Sirius hand away.

"Snap out of it Harry," Sirius whispered. "Everyone's staring."

That did it. Harry quickly turned around and looked up at his guardians with a big smile on his face. Both Sirius and Remus couldn't hold back their amusement as they watched Ron appear at Harry's side, his eyes wide at the sight of the Snitch. The Weasley siblings surrounded Harry, all of them wanting a closer look at the infamous Snitch. All in all, it was a great day for Harry.

            Smiling Lily turned the page for the next chapter.