Wicked Love | Fred Weasley

Chapter 28

The summer before 6th year
(From book 4-Triwizard Tournament)

Clad in white and green clothing, we all head out into the woods, following the trail of a faintly lit lantern trail. Sounds of thousands of people moving around us, sounds of laughter and shouts and the occasional singing. The atmosphere of excitement was contagious as our entire group was in high spirits.

We checked our tickets and the Ministry witch directed us to head up to the Top Box. It was straight up and the highest you could possibly get- filled with some of the most important people in the Wizarding World. It was pretty lucky that I got the right ticket so I could sit with the Weasley’s.

At long last we reached the top of the staircase and found ourselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly between two golden goal posts.

As we all took our seats in the front, I saw a seen I had only witnessed twice before. A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their seats, which rose in levels around the oval field. Everything was suffused in a deep golden light, which seemed to arise from the stadium itself. The giant billboard in the middle of the stadium flashing advertisement for brooms, candy, and among other things.

Lee gasped upon reaching the edge of the box. “It’s so… so…”

He trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence so I filled in for him. “Magical?”

He sighed dreamily, leaning over the railing. “Exactly!”

Fred hummed beside me. “It is beautiful, everything is just so vibrant— I never thought I would get to go to one of these.”

George nodded in agreement. “I’m so glad all of us are here too.”

“I’m excited for the team mascots— I’ve never seen Bulgaria's.” I say, leaning over the railing with Lee.

“Team mascots?” Lee asks.

George facepalms. “I keep forgetting that you’re only familiar with school Quidditch and the rule books don’t mention them.”

“National teams bring creatures from their native lands- or cultures, to put on a show. Romania has trained dragons, but I only know that from Charlie.”

I nodded. “And Ireland is probably going to do something with gold, unicorns, or leprechauns. Maybe all three- I have no clue, I was really young the last time I went to an Ireland match.”

We kept on talking for the next thirty minutes, the box gradually filling up in the process. Lee kept asking more questions and fixing our drawn on face paint.

Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with people who were obviously very important wizards- no witches as far as I could see (absurd in my opinion). In fact there were no witches in the Top Box besides Ginny and myself.

When Cornelius Fudge himself entered, Percy bowed so deeply that his glasses fell off and shattered. It was an easy fix, but that didn’t stop his face from flushing a deep red from embarrassment or the rest of us older teens laughing our arses off.

Harry was the main center of attraction, causing the skittish boy to dash towards me in hopes I would shield him from any other weary onslaught. It made me chuckle that he had such trust in me. In his defense it did work from me being much taller than him.

“...Ah, and here’s Lucius!” Fudge exclaimed.

Now, I, for the most part, was ignoring and tuning out anything the minister was saying, but that made me snap my head quickly towards the exclamation. Sure enough I quickly recognized each of the Malfoy’s.