black and white ✰ g.w.

CHAPTER THREE

When they heard the distant but loud gong, they all rushed out of their tents and into the flowing crowd heading towards the stadium. After twenty minutes of walking, they finally reached the Ministry witches and wizards who would be taking their tickets. The wizard who took their tickets greeted David and Henry, who he knew from work, and instructed them all to head up to the Top Box. It was a long and tiring journey, and they were all glad when they finally reached it.

Already in the Top Box were a few people Olivia recognized: Percy Weasley, who had been Head Boy the previous school year; Fred and George Weasley, identical twin brothers who were in Olivia's year at Hogwarts; Harry Potter, the famous Boy-Who-Lived; Ron Weasley, a fellow Gryffindor in his fourth year; his twin sister Arabella, a very smart girl who liked to discuss Quidditch with Olivia and her friends; Hermione Granger, another very smart girl who had confided in Olivia last school year when her classes were becoming too much for her; and Ginny Weasley, another fellow Gryffindor in her third year who was best friends with Olivia's cousin Evelyn. The three redheaded men sitting in their row, Olivia assumed, were Mr. Weasley and the eldest Weasley brothers.

The Wood party took their seats behind the Weasley party, Olivia in between Angelina and Alicia. Fred and George turned around in their seats.

"Hello ladies," they said in unison. Olivia couldn't help but notice that one of them (whether it was Fred or George, she couldn't tell, but she thought it was Fred) had his eyes only on Angelina, and she knew exactly what was going on.

"Hello, boys," the girls responded, also in unison.

"Having a nice summer so far?" one of the twins asked.

"Oh, excellent," Angelina answered. "What about you two? Staying out of trouble?"

"Not at all."

The girls laughed and the boys turned back around, as it looked like the match would be starting soon.

"Their hair has gotten long," Olivia commented.

"I like it," Angelina said.

"Me too."

Angelina raised her eyebrows at her. "Oh, yeah? Anything else you like?"

"Shove off."

The match started not long after that, and after only just a few minutes, Olivia was not at all surprised that these two teams had made it to the World Cup. The Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, was absolutely brilliant. Even more so once you took into account that he was just barely of age and still in school. Olivia half-wished he went to Hogwarts so she could have him on her team. Harry was good, even amazing according to Hogwarts House team standards, but in Olivia's eyes, there was no other Seeker better than Krum, not even the Irish Seeker, Lynch.

Back in the tent after the match, Oliver had pulled aside Olivia, Angelina, and Alicia and was telling them what they must do in order for Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup again. A few feet away from them, in a corner, Sarah and Ben were having a quiet, serious, civilized conversation. Evelyn, Fraser, and Duncan were hosting their own little celebration over the Irish victory. Scarlett and Gregory were playing with their toys on a rug in the middle of everything. David, Henry, Blair, Aaron, and Faustus were discussing the match rather loudly. In the other tent, Helena, Elizabeth, Amelia, Catrina, Natalia, Jade, and Abigail were having a cup of tea. That is, until they showed up in the opening of the tent with serious looks on their faces.

"David!" Helena whispered harshly, trying not to attract the attention of the children so as not to worry them. "Do you hear that?"

The men quieted immediately and listened. Over the excited voices of Evelyn, Fraser, and Duncan, they could hear screaming from the campground. In order to hear better, they walked out of the tent, and what they saw was very serious indeed. There were panicked witches and wizards running every which way, screaming for people to get out. Marching through the campground and setting tents on fire at random were cloaked figures with masks. Having been around during the First Wizarding War, they all recognized these people as Death Eaters, the followers of Lord Voldemort. With a heavy sigh, David turned and went back inside the tent.

He cleared his throat and they all turned to face him except for Scarlett and Gregory, who were much too young to know what this meant. They all became anxious at the sight of the adults' serious faces.

"I need you all to get out of the campground and into the woods," he said. "Stay calm. It will do no good to panic. Stick together and keep track of your wands. We will come to get you once it is safe. We will explain then."

"Shouldn't Oliver, Ben, and I stay to help?" Sarah asked, getting to her feet. "We're of age."

"I really wish you wouldn't."

"With all due respect, Grandpa, I don't think your wishes matter much in this situation," Ben said, also getting to his feet. Now that they were all quiet, they could hear the fearful screaming all around them.

"Fine, then. The rest of you, do as I say, and get out." He turned and left the tent, the rest of the adults and Sarah, Oliver, and Ben following.

Olivia rushed forward and scooped up Scarlett. She looked at Faustus and he picked up Gregory.

"You three," Olivia said, looking at Evelyn, Fraser, and Duncan, "hold onto Angelina and Alicia." She turned to the girls and Faustus. "Stay close."

And with that, they rushed out of the tent and ran towards the woods. None of them stopped until they were so far into the forest they couldn't see anyone and the screaming sounded distant. Scarlett and Gregory, of course, were crying again, and Evelyn was close to it. Fraser and Duncan were so scared they, for once, weren't saying a word. The older teens tried their best to comfort them and keep them quiet, but because they were also fearful of what was going on, it didn't do much good. Eventually, the screaming lessened and eventually died out altogether. After being in the woods for twenty minutes, the trees and ground around them were illuminated in a green glow that seemed to be coming from above. They looked up, and there, floating above the trees, was a green skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. The blood of those that were old enough to understand ran cold.

"Oh, no," Olivia and Faustus said at the same time.

[word count: 1120]
[written: 5/3/20]
[published: 6/3/20]