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Chapter 455: Departure (End of Chapter)
Chapter 455: Departure (End of Chapter)
The arrival of Kyle's friends had brought liveliness to the humble dwelling, with everyone chatting noisily, chasing gnomes in the garden, or dueling with tables under the control of their wands. It was only late into the night that Mrs. Weasley finally ushered them back to their rooms.
The next day, as dawn broke, Kyle was awakened and dressed, ready to join the group at the Burrow.
The Weasley family seemed to have just rolled out of bed as well, their hair disheveled and yawning continuously, looking like they had not fully awakened yet.
"Dear, I was just about to send someone to fetch you," Mrs. Weasley said as she walked over, carrying a plate of pickled beef sandwiches. "We're about to set off, so have something to eat first."
Kyle nodded and took a bite of a sandwich.
Beside them, Mr. Weasley was showing off his outfit for the day to Harry.
"Well, what do you think?" he asked eagerly. "We should disguise ourselves on the way there. Do I look like a Muggle in this, Harry?"
"Yes," Harry replied with a smile.
While the combination of a golf jersey and jeans was unusual, it wasn't too bad, and people wouldn't have found it strange if he'd worn it on the street.
"Where are Bill, Charlie... and Percy?" Fred asked between bites of his sandwich.
"They can Apparate, can't they?" Mrs. Weasley said as she placed a large pot on the table and began ladling porridge into bowls for everyone. "So they can sleep in a bit longer."
Fred mumbled something, but no one could make out the words as his mouth was full of sandwich.
Kyle sighed.
He could Apparate too, but he was not yet old enough to take the test and obtain a license. Apparating without a license could get him into trouble with the Ministry, so he had no choice but to wake up early and depart with the rest of the group.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway, and Autumn, Hermione, and Ginny walked into the kitchen, their faces pale and their hair looking like bird's nests.
Ginny sat down at the table, grumbling about the early wake-up call.
After a quick breakfast of porridge and sandwiches, they didn't waste much more time.
"It's time to go. Have a wonderful time," Mrs. Weasley said, checking the time. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy at noon."
Soon, they made their way through the dark yard and headed toward a small hill in the distance.
Along the way, Harry curiously asked about the location of the Quidditch match.
"Organizing everything has been quite challenging," Mr. Weasley sighed. "There will be around a hundred thousand wizards coming to watch the World Cup, and we certainly can't fit them all in Diagon Alley or on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
So we had to find a deserted marshland and take all sorts of precautions to keep Muggles away. The Ministry has been busy with this for several months."
"How will we get there?" Harry asked. "Will we walk?"
"Of course not," Mr. Weasley said. "We'll use Portkeys. They're objects that transport witches and wizards to a set destination at a set time. The nearest Portkey is on Wildmoor Hill, which is where we're headed."
The journey turned out to be much longer than they had anticipated, especially the climb up Wildmoor Hill. Kyle could clearly hear Harry's increasingly heavy breathing.
By the time they reached level ground again, the sky was bright, and everyone was exhausted.
Mr. Weasley wiped the sweat from his forehead and panted, "Not bad, we're right on time... with ten minutes to spare."
"Yo, Arthur!" a voice suddenly called out from ahead. A man with a brown beard stood there, holding a moldy old boot.
Cedric stood beside the man, waving at them cheerfully.
"Let me introduce you all," Mr. Weasley said, turning to Harry and Hermione, "...this is Amos Diggory, he works at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and this is his son, Cedric, I believe you know each other."
They certainly knew Cedric.
"Hey, guys!" Cedric walked over to greet them before making his way to the back of the group.
"Autumn, how did you sleep last night?"
"It was alright, but we had to get up so early."
Due to the climb, Autumn's cheeks were flushed, and Cedric couldn't help but stare at her.
"Tsk..." Fred scowled, speaking to Kyle, "Why isn't he looking at us? Are we invisible to him or something?"
"At least, it seems that way to him..." Kyle replied.
"Hehe," George let out a strange laugh, "I really want to stuff a balloon candy into his mouth and let him float off to the Quidditch stadium."
"Stuff in a couple more," Kyle said, "Let him float a little higher."
As Kyle and the others discussed how to deal with Cedric, the adults were also in conversation.
"You've come quite a distance, Arthur," Mr. Diggory said, handing over the old boot he was holding.
"There's no other choice but to meet here, away from Muggles," Mr. Weasley said, "What about you?"
"We got up at two in the morning," Mr. Diggory said, rubbing his eyes, "To be honest, I really wish Cedric had passed his Apparition test earlier, but I can't complain...it's the Quidditch World Cup, we can't miss it."
"Which section are your tickets for?"
"The top box," Mr. Diggory said with a smile, "Cris helped Ludo Bagman with a little problem, and as a result, I got the best tickets.
Unfortunately, I only got one, so I decided to let Ced have it."
"You didn't get a ticket?" Mr. Weasley frowned.
"I have stand tickets, but I didn't want them," Mr. Diggory shook his head, "However, it's fine, as you know, most people are busy with the World Cup, and there's a shortage of hands for the other matter.
Luckily, Bagman mentioned that you would be coming too, so I was hoping you could keep an eye on Ced for me."
"Of course, I'd be happy to," Mr. Weasley said, "But I recall that you're quite the Quidditch fan yourself?"
"Yes, but I don't like the teams this time around!" Mr. Diggory's voice rose in volume, "Not even the Peruvian team made it to the finals. There's no point in watching this World Cup."
It was then that Mr. Weasley remembered Amos was a loyal supporter of the Peruvian team, who had been eliminated in the semifinals by Ireland.
Seeing Amos still ranting about the match being rigged, Mr. Weasley wisely refrained from commenting further, simply nodding and saying, "Rest assured, I'll take care of Ced, he'll be fine with me."
After checking the time, he shouted,
"We have one minute left, hurry over here, we should all be in position... just stretch out a finger, make sure you can touch the Portkey."
With their large backpacks, they finally gathered around Mr. Weasley, who was holding the old boot.
They stood in a tight circle.
"Three..." Mr. Weasley eyed his watch, whispering, "Two... one..."
(End of Chapter)
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