Chapter Text
"Haven't you always wanted a snorkack?"
Sirius came to an abrupt halt as he walked into the living room. Harry, Hermione and Sally were sat on the floor, and Hermione had a large writing pad in her hands.
"Why a snorkack?" Hermione looked at Sally questioningly.
"Because an actomantula would be too big, and an owl would be too small"
"Oh - okay" She looked up and spotted Sirius "Hi, Uncle Mike"
"Hello Min" Sirius stared at her for a moment "Are we getting a pet?" They all stared at him, then Hermione laughed and held up the pad she was holding. He leaned over, and read the first words on the page "If I Had A Million Galleons?"
"It kind of started as a joke" Harry replied "But after a while we realised it might work"
"We were just working on the last verse" Sally added, then continued "Although we skipped a lot of other lines" She smiled at the look on his face "But enough about us - how can we help you?"
"I just received this from Minister Fudge" He held up an envelope "He has invited us - the seven of us - to The Quidditch World Cup as his guests"
"Wow" Hermione said, then frowned "Even my parents?"
"Yes - I guess he thought leaving them out would be too obvious"
"That was nice of him" She smiled "But they are going on a second honeymoon this summer, and will be away until mid-August"
"But you will still come?" Harry asked, and smiled when Hermione nodded.
"Sally - would Susan like to join us?"
"I can go and ask her!" Sally jumped to her feet, and bounded over to the fireplace, and vanished in a puff of flames.
While they were waiting for her to return, Sirius walked up behind Hermione and started reading over her shoulder.
"Like a fat lady or a Weasley?" He snorted in disbelief.
"Well - this isn't a finished version, obviously" Harry was saved from further explanations by another flash of green fire, and the arrival of Sally and her mother in the living room.
"So - Aunty Sue - will you be coming with us?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes" She smiled back, then she gave him a letter "This came for you just before Sally came to get me"
"Did you..."
"Yes - I checked for portkeys and so on. I think it's from the Weasleys"
"Oh joy" Harry smirked, then opened it and read it through.
"So?" Sally asked.
"They would like to invite me to be their guest at The Cup, and then spend the summer with them" He smiled "It seams that Mr Weasley got some tickets from work as well"
"And let me guess" Hermione looked at him "They only have one ticket spare"
"Of course" He handed the letter to Sally, then turned to Susan "If I write a quick reply, would you be able to send it back for me?"
"Of course"
"Thanks" He turned to his Uncle "So - when is it?"
"Two weeks - the day after your birthday - so, if it is alright with everyone, I would say we spend the night here, then go to The Ministry the next morning, and leave from there" He smiled "Then we camp over night, and return the following day"
"Urgh! Camping!" Hermione moaned, then saw the amused looks on their faces "What?"
"Oh - you'll see"
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"Is everyone ready?" The five of them had flooed to The Ministry, and were stood in front of Fudge "The portkey will send you to the stadium, and you can set up your tent. I will be along later - I have some work to finish here, but I will be there for the start of the match"
"Thank you Minister" Susan replied.
"Call me Cornelius"
"Thank you, Cornelius"
"You are welcome" He held up his wand, then looked at them "Ready?" They all nodded "Then I will see you later" He tapped the portkey, and a moment later they all felt a tug, and then appeared in a field.
"Have I mentioned how much I HATE portkeys?" Harry moaned, picking himself up off the floor.
"Well - if summer goes as planned, we should be able to teach you another way to travel" Sirius smiled "But, for now, I think we can walk the rest of the way" He pointed to his left, and then turned just in time to see a sparkle of stars shoot up over the ridge.
"Someone's getting excited" Susan smirked "The Ministry must be working overtime on the wards"
"Wards?" Sally asked.
"Anti-muggle wards, notice-me-not wards and so on" Hermione replied "This is, apparently, the largest single magical structure after The Ministry and Hogwarts"
"Cool" Harry looked around, then followed Sirius as he lead them towards the camp site.
Five minutes later, the three kids were looking around in wonder. There were small tents as far as the eye could see, and in the distance there was a huge stadium.
"Wow" Harry said again, as they passed another well decked out Irish tent.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Susan smiled at the expressions on their faces.
"I've never seen anything like it" Hermione beamed. Then, as they came to a stop, she stared at the tent in front of her.
"Min?"
"We are staying in this?" She gestured to the small tent.
"Minnie - what have you been learning for the last three years?" Harry smirked. Hermione looked at him, then at the tent, then back at Harry.
"Really?"
"Really" He watched as first Hermione, then Sally and Susan went in. He turned to Sirius and smiled "If you will excuse the phrase, and the repetition , but magic really does have its Perks"
"Yes" Sirius laughed "It does"
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"Sally?"
"Oh joy" Sally turned at the voices behind them "Hello Ginny. Ron. Weasleys"
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, glaring at her.
"We were invited" Sally smiled.
"We?" Ginny looked over in surprise "Harry is here as well?"
"And Min... Hermione, and Uncle Mike and my mother"
"Who were you invited by?" Arthur asked, walking up behind Sally.
"Minister Fudge" Hermione said, walking up behind Sally.
"Or Cornelius, as he asked us to call him" Susan added, with a smirk. Ginny stared at her for a moment, then her smile brightened as she saw Harry and Sirius come over to them.
"Ginny - how've you been?" Harry asked.
"Fine, thank you" Ginny smiled at him, then glanced at Sally, then back at him "And you?"
"Well - we had our birthday yesterday - we nearly share the same birthday you know" He nodded at Sally "And we are out on the north hill, if you'd like to visit later" He realised the rest of his group was staring at him in surprise "But, if you will excuse us, we are supposed to meet the Minister, and I don't think we should be late" He took Sally's hand, and the five of them walked off up the stairs. Ginny watched them go, then turned to her family.
"So - do you believe me now?" She asked softly, and then smiled as the others nodded.
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"Welcome to The Quidditch World Cup"
Fudge's voice echoed through the stadium as he announced the match. Harry stared out at the pitch, then realised he was staring at himself - lit up on a magical TV screen. The image switched to Sirius, then it shifted again to an image of him, Sirius and Fudge.
He turned and looked up at his uncle.
"You know he is using us, don't you?"
"Yes Harry" Sirius nodded , then smiled "But would you rather be used by Fudge, who has done us some good and is on our side, or by the Headmaster" Harry smiled back, then turned his attention back to the match.
"First - the IRISH TEAM!"
Seven players flew on to the pitch in a blaze of fireworks, causing the three students to take a step back in surprise. Sally glanced at her friends' faces, and burst out laughing.
"Yes - we do know what we look like" Hermione said without looking round.
"And here come the BULGARIANS!" Another seven players came onto the pitch, then the stadium came alive with thousands of people shouting a single word. Harry and Hermione looked around in shock, then they both turned to Sally.
"Who is Krum? And why is everyone shouting his name?"
"Viktor Krum - a seventh year student at Durmstrang School Of Magic, and quite probably the best seeker in the world" Sally glanced at Hermione, then smiled at Harry "So - Minnie - you think he's good then?" She stared at her friend "Min? You still with us?"
"Sorry?" Hermione tuned "You were saying... something?" She blushed, and they both laughed at the expression on her face.
"I was just asking if you were impressed by Krum or not?" Sally asked, still smirking.
"He is very good!" Hermione protested, then she sagged "Yeah - I know"
They all looked back at the pitch as the teams lined up.
"And now" Fudge's voice echoed trough the stadium "We BEGIN!"
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The match had been over for an hour, and Harry and Hermione were still raving about what they had seen.
"You don't think that was amazing?" Harry asked as Sally stared at him.
"Yes - it was amazing" She smiled fondly at him.
"So why are you staring at me as if I am mental?"
"Because you haven't stopped talking for an hour, and between you and Min, I am surprised Krum's head hasn't burst" She leaned over and hugged him, then turned as Sirius and Susan came running into the tent "Mum?"
"All of you - come with us" Both adults had their wands out, and they were looking agitated.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, but before they could get an answer, there was a loud scream from outside.
"Just get your wands, and come with us" Sirius repeated. The students glanced at each other, then did as they were told. Once they were all ready, Sirius pushed the tent flap open, then stepped out. Susan gestured to the students, and the three of them followed Sirius out, while Susan brought up the rear.
"What... Death Eaters?" Sally said in a terrified voice. Once they had left the tent, it had become obvious why Sirius and Susan were so uptight.
A group of figures, dressed in jet-black robes and bone-white masks, were marching through the tented area, firing off what seemed to be every curse under the sun. Then Harry caught sight of something else, and gasped.
A little way off from the main tented area, he could see a five year old girl being levitated in the air.
His face went hard, but before he could move, Susan grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't"
"But..."
"I know - you want to stop them. You want to hurt them and make them pay. But there are ten or twenty of them, and they were sent by whoever sent Lucius, and will kill you on sight"
"But..."
"The Aurors will deal with them" Sirius said "We need to get you to somewhere safe" He looked over at a small copse, and signalled to Susan.
"But if we are to fight Voldemort, shouldn't we start now?"
"No" Susan asked "You aren't ready and you have a choice - so you hide, and only draw your wands when you have to"
They arrived at the trees, and the three kids went inside, then watched as Susan and Sirius went back the way they had come.
"So they get to fight, and we don't?" Harry said in an annoyed tone.
"They are adults, and Sirius is an ex-Auror" Hermione slapped him on the arm, then turned to Sally "You okay?"
"I... will be" She smiled weakly "I am just not a fan of Death Eaters" She saw the looks of concern on her friends' faces "I will be fine once this is done"
"GINNY!" A loud scream of anguish caused them all to look round. Ron Weasley was crouched on the ground, next to the prone figure of his sister. Sally turned back to Harry, her tone teasing.
"Well - you said you wanted us to do something"
"Saving the wacky Slytherin wasn't what I had in mind, but what the hell" He glanced out again, and saw a lone figure in black coming up behind the Weasleys. Ron was still protecting his sister, and hadn't noticed "Sal?"
"If you can stop the black-coat over there, or at least distract him - Minnie and I can summon Ron and Ginny"
"Okay" He ducked down, then yelled "REDUCTO! EXPELLIRAMUS!! STUPEFY!! PETRIFICUS TOTALUS! INCARCEROUS!"
"ACCIO RON!"
"ACCIO GINNY!"
As the Death Eater dived to the floor to avoid Harry's volley of curses, the two red-heads suddenly flew towards the three students. Both girls braced themselves, but they were knocked off their feet as the Weasleys crashed in to them.
"STUP..." Harry started another curse, but stopped as he saw two Aurors do the same. They glanced in his direction, then took hold of the Death Eater, and vanished.
Harry looked around, but the area was empty. He gave a brief smiled, then turned back to his friends.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Ron yelled at Hermione as they both got to their feet.
"She was saving your life" Harry said quietly "There was a Death Eater behind you"
"Oh" Ron looked around, then back at them "How did you do magic?"
"With our wands" Sally said. She was running her hands through Ginny's hair. She stared at him, then her eyes lit up with understanding "You man the underage thing?"
"Don't tell me - your friend Cornelius gave you permission?"
"No" Hermione said, then she waved to the field "There is so much magic out there that they won't be able to tell who did what" She paused "But even if we would have been punished and expelled, we still would have done it"
"Thank you" Ginny said, sitting up. She turned to Sally "Will I live?"
"You have a huge bump on your head, and you might want to see a healer about that, but otherwise you should be fine"
"Better than dead" Ginny said with a half-laugh, then she looked up at Sally again "Really - thank you"
"Yeah - thanks Hermione" Ron added.
"It's okay" She replied "I am..." Suddenly the air was split by a chorus of terrified screams. They all turned to the source, then stared up at the sky with horrified faces.
"Oh my god!" Sally yelled, then turned as Susan came running towards them.
"We are leaving - now" Susan said "Ron, Ginny - you are coming with us. Sirius will tell your father"
"Okay" The five kids reached out as Susan held up a portkey.
"You all ready?" She asked, then, after they all said yes, she tapped it with her wand. The last thing they saw before they vanished was a huge skull, hanging in the night sky.