Those eyes || Harry J. Potter

the quidditch world cup ||XVI

Chapter sixteen
"the quidditch world cup"
XVI

☆:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✯☆:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✯☆:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✯☆

Clutching their purchases, Mr. Weasley in the lead, they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern-lit trail.

They could hear the sounds of thousands of people moving around them, shouts and laughter, snatches of singing. The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious; Ara couldn't stop grinning.

They walked through the wood for twenty minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they emerged on the other side and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium.

"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again . . . bless them," he added fondly, lead- ing the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already sur- rounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."

The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last, they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the high- est point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts.

About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here.

A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position.

"This is so cool!" Ginny told Ara, shaking her arm. Ginny and Ara were testing out her omnioculars, zooming in and out across the stadium.

Hermione, meanwhile, was skimming eagerly through her velvet- covered, tasseled program.
" 'A display from the team mascots will precede the match,' " she read aloud.

"Oh that's always worth watching," said Mr. Weasley. "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show."

The box filled gradually around them over the next half hour. Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with people who were obviously very important wizards. Percy jumped to his feet so often that he looked as though he were trying to sit on a hedgehog.

When Cornelius Fudge arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off and shattered.

Ara, who was still messing with her omnioculars, got a glimpse of someone walking straight in front of her.

"Wouldn't it be better to wait until the match starts to use that?"

Draco Malfoy.

He had completely ignored Harry, Ron, and Hermione, simply talking to just Ara. "Piss off." She rolled her eyes, turning to face Harry.

She hoped that if she turned away he would leave. She was right. The boy huffed and walked away.

"Stop staring at me." Said Harry. "If you blink, you lose." She told him. "Wha-" "No questions."