Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 8: The Quidditch World Cup (pt 1)

9 August 1994
(Day 2)

While Draco had declared Day One of the Quidditch World Cup to be boring, Day Two was another matter: the first match of the day was between perennial powerhouse Germany and "the Balkan Miracle," as the sports reporters referred to the upstart Bulgarian team. As Harry sat down next to Draco in their VIP box, this was the boy's first opportunity to see Malfoy's schoolmate, the famous Viktor Krum, in action. The young Bulgarian, still a month shy of his seventeenth birthday, had been the story of the year. Two days before a crucial Qualifying Round against Macedonia, Borka Chavdarov, the previous Seeker of the Bulgarian National Team, was arrested for getting drunk, getting naked, and riding a bear through the streets of Sofia, shooting fireworks from his wand (his magical wand, to be specific) the whole time. Scores of Muggles witnessed the whole thing, and Chavdarov's Folly, as the papers dubbed it, was a significant violation of the Statute of Secrecy. Chavdarov's situation and that of the Bulgarian Team were only worsened by the fact that the Bulgarian reserve Seeker tried in vain to stop Chavdarov only for the bear to get hold of him with fatal results.

Desperate, the Bulgarian coach extended an invitation to Krum, a Bulgarian national who'd been the top-rated Seeker at Durmstrang since his second year. The coach had held out hope that Krum could keep the team competitive enough for their first three games while the lawyers tried to get Chavdarov out of jail. He was as surprised as anyone when Krum caught the Snitch within fifteen minutes, not only outflying the Macedonian Seeker but also leaving him in the dirt after a flawless Wronski Feint. Krum did just as well in his second match and his third. By his fourth, no one was talking about Borka Chavdarov anymore.

Viktor Krum, the new Bulgarian national hero, would go on a nine-game winning streak as Seeker before the team finally lost a match, and the Bulgarians would only lose three of the sixteen Qualifying Rounds. Most importantly, no one ever beat Krum to the Snitch.

"So," asked Harry Black, "what's he like?"

"For Merlin's sake, Harry," drawled Draco Malfoy. "You make it sound like I'm dating him."

"Not my intention, I assure you." Harry hesitated. "By the way, I never had a chance to ask last night. Is it Draco or Drake?"

"Draco... for the time being anyway. I'm still unhappy with a name my mother picked because of the conventions of a House I'm not a part of. But on the other hand, most of the kids at Durmstrang are Eastern European, and my name sounds a lot more impressive when people pronounce it Draaago!"

Harry laughed. "Fair enough. So leaving aside any suggestion of romantic interest, what is Krum like? I mean, you did say he'd been assigned as your student mentor, whatever that is?"

"It's basically what Granger did for Crabbe and Goyle when we were First Years except, at Durmstrang, we have older students assigned to mentor and tutor new arrivals. Oh, and no money changes hands. Well, not for tutoring, anyway. Usually it's just for First Years, but since I transferred as a Third Year, I got assigned one too. And because I am awesome—and Headmaster Karkaroff owes my father a life debt—I got assigned Krum."

Then, Draco and Harry leaned forward in their seats, their conversation temporarily forgotten, as Krum performed a corkscrew turn in the air to dodge a Bludger at the last possible second. Harry was pretty sure that was the same maneuver he'd used to evade the two Bludgers during his infamous Second Year match when deranged house elves interfered with the game with nearly fatal results. Unlike his desperation move, however, Krum made the maneuver seem deliberate and even casual.

Harry whistled while the crowd around them roared its approval. Draco smirked at him.

"Yes, I thought that would seem familiar to you. I showed Viktor a Pensieve memory of that match. He stole several of your moves, actually. I hope you don't mind."