Dawn Rivera

The Portkey

Hermione, Ginny, Misty and I step out if the passageway and come into the kitchen, pale and drowsy.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Misty says, she and Ginny rubbing their eyes and sitting down at the table.

"We've got a bit of a walk," says Mr Weasley.

"Walk?" says Danny. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"

"No, no, that's miles away," says Mr Weasley, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup -"

"George!" says Mrs Weasley sharply, and we all jump.

"What?" says George, in an innocent tone that deceives nobody.

"What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!"

Mrs Weasley points her wand at George's pocket and says, "Accio!"

Several small, brightly coloured objects zoom out of George's pocket; he makes a grab for them but misses, and they speed right into Mrs Weasley's outstretched hand.

"We told you to destroy them!" says Mrs Weasley furiously, holding up what are unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!"

It is an unpleasant scene; the twins have evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it is only by using her summoning charm that Mrs Weasley manages to find them all.

"Accio! Accio! Accio!" she shouts, and toffees zoom from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George's jacket and the turn-ups of Fred's jeans.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouts at his mother, as she throws the toffees away.

"I do think it's a bit unfair -" I begin, trying to defend the twins, but Mrs Weasley doesn't even hear me.

"Oh, a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieks. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.Ls!"

All in all, the atmosphere is not very friendly as we make our departure. Mrs Weasley is still glowering as she kisses Mr Weasley on the cheek, though not as nearly as much as the twins, who have each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walk out without a word to her.

"Well, have a lovely time," says Mrs Weasley, "and behave yourselves," she calls after the twins' retreating backs, but they do not look back or answer. "I'll send Bill, Charlie and Percy along around midday," Mrs Weasley says to Mr Weasley, as he, Harry, Danny, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Misty and me set off across the dark yard after Fred and George.

It is chilly and the moon is still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to our right shows that daybreak is drawing closer. Harry and Danny speed up to walk with Mr Weasley.

"So how does everyone get there without all the Muggles noticing?" I hear Harry ask.

"It's been a massive organisational problem," I hear Mr Weasley sigh. "The trouble is, about a hundred thousand wizards turn up to the World Cup, and of course we just haven't got a magical site big enough to accommodate them all. There are places Muggles can't penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred thousand wizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine and three-quarters. So we had to find a nice deserted moor, and set up as many anti-Muggle precautions as possible. The whole Ministry's been working on it for months. Firstly, of course, we have to stagger the arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. A limited number use Muggle transport, but we can't have too many clogging up their buses and trains - remember, wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of course, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, well away from Muggles. I believe there's a handy wood they're using as the Apparition point. For those who don't want to Apparate, or can't, we use Portkeys. They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed."