FINITE | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [4]

𝘃𝗶𝗶 | 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘆

Gwen couldn't stop grinning. As the group hurried into the woods, following the lantern lit trail, the shouts of singing and laughter surrounded them, joined by the pounding of thousands of footsteps. All around them, the atmosphere was of pure, feverish excitement. They walked through the woods for twenty minutes 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, spotting the looks of awe on the teenagers' faces. He led them towards the nearest entrance, which was already swarmed with witches and wizards.

'How do you hide this from Muggles?' Harry asked, gazing at the stadium.

'Anti-Muggle spells,' Mr Weasley explained. 'It repels them, if they get too close, they suddenly remember urgent appointments and have to dash away again... bless them.'

As they got to the entrance, they were met with a Ministry witch who checked their tickets. 'Prime seats! Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go!'

The stairs in the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. As the group clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly began to filter through doors to the left and right, the Weasleys, Gwen, Harry and Hermione continued to climb upward and upward, until, at long last, they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box.

They were set at the highest point of the stadium, situated exactly halfway between the golden goalposts. About twenty purple chairs stood in two rows here, and Gwen, filing into the seats with the rest of their party, looked down upon the stadium.

It was a scene she could only marvel at. A hundred thousand wizards and witches were taking their seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was bathed in a warm golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field, the golden goalposts stood tall and proud, over fifty feet high; directly opposite them was a gigantic blackboard with golden writing that kept dashing across it, as though an invisible giant hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again. It advertised wizarding businesses, wiped them off and advertised another one.

So far, the box was empty save for Mr Weasley's party, except for a lone house elf in the second from last seat in the row behind them.

Gwen paid it no attention, until, next to her, having clocked the house elf too, Harry said, 'Dobby?'

The house elf looked up, turning its giant brown eyes to face Harry.

'Did sir just call me Dobby?' it squeaked. Gwen had heard about Dobby from Harry but she had never met him. Ron and Hermione turned in their seats, also having heard the stories of Dobby from Harry. Even Mr Weasley looked around.

'Sorry,' Harry said to the elf. 'I just thought you were someone I knew.'

'But I knows Dobby too, sir!' the elf squeaked. She was shielding her face with her long fingers, as though blinded by the light of the pitch. 'My name is Winky, sir-- and you, sir--' her dark brown eyes found the scar on Harry's forehead. 'You is surely Harry Potter!'