Knowledge is Power / Cedric Diggory

Don't Freak Out!

Illeana reached the campsite just on time flanked by her Gammy and Grandpa. Saying the grounds were huge would be an understatement.

It was simply magestic.

She mentally thanked all of her lucky stars that she made the decision to try out for Chaser all the while back in her first year. A vivid memory of her mother's smiling face as she flew on her broom with a young Illeana flashed across her mind. Her mother's smiling face was a sting to Illeana's already vulnerable heart.

She had achieved the impossible but the people she most wanted to wrap her hands around could never see it. The pain of losing her parents and her uncle was never far away, a box that she often tried to lock away but never succeeded in.

Nevertheless, she was happy that atleast her grandparents and her aunt were here.

Speaking of her grandparents, she looked over to see what they made of the grounds and almost burst out laughing.

Her Grandma or Gammy

( as Illeana called her) had an expression of horror on her face.

Now, Gammy was not a woman to be easily spooked. But she was also not Gammy to most of the world.
She was Magnolia Roberts.

One of the most accomplished Spellcrafters in the world . A prominent figure in the Wizarding World, one of the few who had occupied the position of both Minister of Magic and The Head of the Auror Department. In other words, she had seen a lot of shit go down.

But it was the game of quidditch that somehow always frightened her. The recklessness, the injuries and the lack of control made her hate it with all her heart. Even more so when her kids started playing and now that her granddaughter was playing? It cemented her hatred for the sport.

Suffice to say, in her mind Gammy was running through all the probabilities of how Illeana, a mere 16 year old, was going to fare against men & women double her size AND age.

Illeana's grandfather on the other hand, had an expression on his face that could either indicate- bewilderment or pride. But if he was at all scared for his granddaughter, Illeana couldn't see it.

Now, Igor Porskoff loved Quidditch. He lived for it during his time at Durmstrang. Granted that was a long time ago. Yet he never let go of his love for it. No matter how much his wife protested (quite logically) about the dangers of it, Quidditch always remained dear to his heart.

Evgenia, his youngest never took it to her heart and followed her mother's stance on the sport. Andrey liked it as an extracurricular in school but mostly played it as the only form of rebellion he could think of in his "tumultuous teenage years", not so silently revelling at his mother's amusing hatred for the sport. But Alina?

She lived for it.

Correction, she used to live for it.

But pushing her daughter's ghost to the back of his mind Igor came back to the present. Right now, he was in a state of shock at the sheer size of the stadium. He was happy that his granddaughter was going to play in this stadium, and very likely win. But his happiness was tinged with the current of sadness that always filled him up whenever he looked at Illeana.