The Fall of Dumbledore: The White King

Quidditch Chaos

As summer rolled on, the excitement and revelry surrounding the upcoming Quidditch World Cup reached a fever pitch throughout wizarding Britain. Even within the cloistered confines of Malfoy Manor, the buzz was palpable.

"Isn't this splendid?" Draco exclaimed one morning as a flock of tiny ominoculars zoomed overhead, replaying highlights of past Cups. "The greatest sporting event in the world, right in our backyard!"

Hades looked up from the ancient tome of Dark magic he had been poring over. While he understood the appeal of Quidditch to some degree, he found his studies far more interesting. "I suppose it's a big event," he replied evenly. "Though I can't fathom risking life and limb just to catch and throw a few balls around."

Draco made a sour face at him. "Leave it to you to suck the fun out of everything. Don't you ever just want to forget about your destiny for one day and live a little?"

The young Slytherin considered this for a moment, then shrugged. "I live for greatness, Draco. Frivolities will only serve as distractions."

His friend opened his mouth to argue further, but they were interrupted by Narcissa sweeping into the garden. "There you two are," she chided. "Come along now, we mustn't keep Lucius waiting. The World Cup venues have special secure areas for our kind."

The three of them, along with Hades' guardian Severus Snape, soon met Lucius at the Apparition point and made their way to the World Cup campgrounds. Even from a distance, the sheer scale of the magical tents, concessions, and visitor areas was staggering. As they passed through security and entered the elite pure-blood section, Narcissa sniffed disdainfully.

"Filthy, the way they allow such riffraff to intermingle so closely with our people," she tutted, eyeing a group of raggedy-looking wizards who were openly gawking at the luxury boxes. "This World Cup would be so much more palatable without the stench of Mudbloods and their ilk polluting our air."

Lucius cast a spell, erecting an opaque sphere of magic around their group to shield them from "undesirable elements" as they made their way to their private skybox tent. Within was a lavish sitting room filled with all manner of indulgent treats and entertainments.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Draco exclaimed happily, grabbing a handful of liquorice wands from a crystal bowl. "Five-star accommodations fit for a pure-blood!"

That evening, they took their plush front-row seats in the skybox as the two finalist teams - Bulgaria and Ireland - took the pitch to raucous applause. Even Hades had to admit, seeing the action up close with world-class athletes was rather exhilarating.

The match itself was filled with remarkable plays, brilliant goals, and incredible feats of aerial acrobatics performed at blinding speeds. Both teams battled fiercely for the coveted Quidditch Cup, the game descending into sudden death overtime when the two seekers simultaneously spotted the Golden Snitch.

In a blur of motion, the two lithe seekers zoomed towards the tiny fluttering ball, the Irish seeker just barely managing to snatch it from the air to secure the Cup in a breathtaking finale. The skyboxes shook with thunderous cheers and applause.

"YEAH! Did you see that?!" Draco whooped wildly. "What a mind-blowing match!"

Even Lucius was chuckling merrily, clapping with genuine enthusiasm. "An absolutely brilliant display of athletics and sportsmanship! Well played, Ireland!"

For his part, Hades found himself getting swept up in the pageantry and revelry. He permitted himself a rare grin as the Irish team did a celebratory lap around the pitch, clutching their hard-won trophy.

However, the jubilant celebration was abruptly cut short by a horribly familiar sight - the haunting emerald glow of the Dark Mark blazing brilliantly in the night sky above the campgrounds. An ominous hush fell over the stadium as every eye was drawn to the sickly green skull with a snake protruding grotesquely from its mouth.

"No..." Narcissa murmured, her face going deathly pale. "Not now, not here..."

The shocked crowd quickly descended into panicked chaos, with thousands of witches and wizards rushing towards the exits and Apparition points in a stampede. Amid the din of screams and shouts, Lucius took charge.

"Get us out of here immediately!" he barked over the bedlam.