| HIDDEN IN SECRETS |

chapter forty-one

THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP

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They all hurried into the woods, following the trail. Verena could hear the sounds of people laughing and singing loudly. Even Damien and Daphne were singing a chorus and Verena couldn't help but join in. They walked for twenty minutes until they finally approached the other side. Before them was a gigantic stadium of gold walls.

"This is all the work you've been doing?" asked Damien in shock. "This place must seat thousands."

"A hundred thousand," Silas corrected. "And getting all these people here from different countries was a nasty feat."

"Oh, of course!" said the Ministry witch checking their tickets. "Prime seats with the Minister! Top Box – straight upstairs, the highest you can go."

"Um... that's really high," Daphne spoke as they trekked up the stairs.

"You're scared of heights?" Damien questioned.

"Not normally, but this... " she trailed off, feeling sick to her stomach the further they went.

"Silas," called a voice, and the four of them stopped.

Behind them, a family of platinum blondes walked toward them, pushing through the crowd.

"Lucius, my good friend," Silas greeted, shaking hands. "The lovely Narcissa."

"Draco," Verena greeted awkwardly.

Suddenly, Cho's words grew back into her mind. She cleared her throat and turned to Daphne as Damien greeted him.

"Top Box as well?" Silas asked as they continued their journey.

"Yes," he replied. "The Minister personally invited us to sit with him."

"Yes, the same to us," Silas said. "Otherwise, we'd have been at the bottom. The seats do fill up quickly, and even as the organizer of this event, it's first come, first serve."

"How's – how was your summer?" Draco asked.

There was silence between them all. It was horrible for the Salvadors and Daphne's sister had gotten incredibly ill. Their silence was the answer to Draco's question and he sighed.

"I've got you a little something, Verena," Narcissa said, taking a small object from her purse.

"Mum," Draco groaned, "she doesn't want that."

"Hush, Draco," Narcissa told him and she gave the item to Verena.

"A book?" she questioned.

"Before she passed, she came to me with this poetry book," she explained. "She said it was her favourite and told me I should read it, but I think you should give this book a try, too."

"Um... thanks," Verena said slowly.

"You don't have to," said Draco as they fell behind the rest. "Mum's been reading it to us since she got it. There's nothing really special in it."

Finally, they reached the top of the stairs. Inside the box, they could see a handful of redheads, Cornelius Fudge, and other important wizards.

The Bulgarian minister had started talking loudly and excitedly, pointing at who Verena realized was Harry Potter.

"Knew we'd get there in the end," said Fudge. "I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Silas Salvador for this sort of thing."

"Well, you're in luck," said Silas, greeting Cornelius Fudge.