Chapter Three: Going Incognito
The twins disentangled themselves from Draco and got to their feet. Harish, who was swaying from Draco falling into him, was helped by Sirius to regain his balance. They had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted, misty moor. In front of them was a pair of tired-looking wizards. One of them was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though inexpertly: The man with the watch had a brown tweed suit and knee high galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho.
"Morning Basil," Mr. Weasley said, picking up the boot and handing it to the man in the kilt, who threw it in a large box that held used Portkeys. Inside it, there was already a newspaper, an empty drink can, and a punctured football.
"Hello there, Arthur," Basil replied wearily. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some…We've been here all night…You'd better get out of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite…Weasley…Weasley…" He consulted his parchment list. "About a quarter's mile walk from here, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory…second field…ask for Mr. Payne. And who are you?" he asked Sirius.
"Blake."
"Blake…Blake…you're field one as well."
They all nodded, said a quick thanks, and walked over across the deserted moor. After about twenty minutes, a small stone cottage next to a gate appeared out of the fog. Beyond it, Harish could just make out the ghostly shapes of hundreds and hundreds of tents, rising up the gentle slope of the hilly field toward a dark wood on the horizon. They said goodbye to the Diggorys and approached the cottage door.
A man was standing in the doorway, looking out at the tents. Harish knew at a glance that this was the only real Muggle for several miles; he was the only one that wasn't dressed in insane fashion. When he heard footsteps, he turned his head to look at them.
"Morning!" Mr. Weasley said brightly.
"Morning," the Muggle replied.
"Would you be Mr. Roberts?"
"Aye, I would," Mr. Roberts replied. "And who're you?"
"Weasley—and this is Blake—two tents booked a couple days ago?"
"Aye," Mr. Roberts replied, consulting a list tacked to the door. "You've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?"
"That's it," Mr. Weasley said.
"And Blake is over to the right a bit. Staying three nights, correct?"
Sirius nodded.
"You'll be paying now, then?" Mr. Roberts asked.
"Ah—right—certainly—" Mr. Weasley fiddled with several Muggle bills in confusion, then Ron nudged him as Sirius walked up with his own stash of money.
"Here's a ten and a five…of and here's another fifteen…for my friend. He's foreign."
"He's not the first one who's had trouble with money," Mr. Roberts said as Mr. Weasley walked up to join them. "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."
"Did you really?" Mr. Weasley asked, concerned.
Mr. Roberts rummaged around in a tin for some change.
"Never been this crowded," he said, suddenly looking out over the misty field again. "Hundreds of pre-bookings. Most people just turn up…"
"Is that right?" Mr. Weasley asked, holding his hand out to take the change. Mr. Roberts didn't give it to him.
"Aye," he said thoughtfully. "People from all over. Loads of foreigners. And not just foreigners. Weirdos, you know? There's a bloke walking 'round in a kilt and poncho."
"Shouldn't he?" Mr. Weasley asked, sounding really worried now.
"It's like some sort of…like some sort of rally. They all seem to know each other. Like a big party."
At that moment, a wizard in plus-fours appeared out of thin air next to Mr. Roberts's front door.
"Obliviate!" he said sharply, pointing his wand at the Muggle.
Instantly his eyes slid out of focus, his eyebrows unknotted, and a look of dreamy unconcern fell over his face. Harish recognized the symptoms of a modified memory.
"Two maps of the campsite for you," Mr. Roberts said placidly. "And your change."
"Thanks very much," Mr. Weasley replied.
The wizard in plus-fours accompanied them to the gate of the campsite. He looked exhausted. There were deep purple shadows under his eyes and he kept running a hand over his face. Once out of earshot, he muttered to them, "Been having a lot of trouble with that one. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day. And Ludo Bagman isn't helping. Parading around in his robes, talking about Quidditch and Bludgers at the top of his voice, not a worry about security. Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you later, Arthur."
Sirius walked over.
"Here," he said, pulling Mr. Weasley's Muggle money over where he could see it. "These are ones…these are tens…" he grabbed a couple of ones. "That's what you owe me."
"Thank you," Mr. Weasley replied hurriedly. "What box will you be in?"
"Top box," the other man replied.
Mr. Weasley nodded. "I'll see you all later then. Boys—" he turned to the twins. "Please behave. I don't know what your mother will do if you get into more trouble."
"Disown us, most likely," George muttered as they turned and headed down a row of tents to the right while Mr. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, and Neville went straight ahead.
Harish followed Sirius, glancing around. Finally, they came to a stop at a wooden post that read, "Blake".
"Well," Sirius said, clapping his hands together and pulling his backpack off. "This is us!"
He pulled a bundle of cloth, poles, and strings out and set it on the ground.
"Now, strictly speaking, I know you're not supposed to be doing magic, but everyone here will be doing some. We are completely out of sight of the Muggle, and it sounds as if he'll be Obliviated again soon, so if you could just help me with this tent—Draco you might want to step back—"
Harish, Fred, and George pulled out their wands as Draco moved out of their way. Then, the tent was soon hovering slightly. As it got higher into the air, it stretched out and the poles snapped into place. They lowered it, and little mallets appeared, pushing stakes into the ground and holding the tent down. While Sirius checked and made sure the tent was secured properly, the boys went inside. Honestly, Harish had expected it to be a lot smaller, as he had thought they had a Muggle tent. It appeared Muggle on the outside, but it was rather large inside.
There was a small kitchen area with an old fashioned stove in the back of the tent. On the other side were six bunks. Three were stacked against the wall and the other three were about two feet away. On the wall of the tent in between them were three bedside tables, floating in between two bunks each. Straight back, in between the kitchen and the beds, was a bathroom. Then, at the front of the tent were a couple chairs and couches. In the very center was a coffee table with a chessboard on it and a pack of Exploding Snap.
Everything was new and shiny. Harish had a sneaking suspicion that Sirius had bought it solely for that occasion. The boys went inside the tent and sat on the couches around the coffee table. Once there, they began rummaging through their rucksacks. Harish and the twins pulled out their merchandise lists. At the top, Harish wrote "Weasley and Co." the twins did the same on the other forms. Sirius walked in while they were doing this.
"So you invented all of this yourselves?" Sirius asked, picking up one of the forms.
They nodded.
"We started about four years ago," Harish replied.
Sirius nodded.
"What's this?" he asked, pointing to one of the sheets.
"'Enfolding String'," Harish read aloud.
He reached into his bag and pulled out a pair. He tapped each of the orbs and waved his wand around, causing the string to zoom around the tent. Sirius looked impressed.
"Too bad Mum took all of our Ton Tongue Toffees," George said moodily.
Sirius grinned at them.
"Do you want me to show you something I learned a little while back?" he asked.
"What?" Harish asked, slightly concerned.
Sirius lazily flicked his wand. With a little pop, dozens of orange sweets appeared one by one.
"How did you do that?" the twins asked, gaping.
"All I had to do was summon them. You'd best put these somewhere safe."
Harish nodded and put them in his own backpack.
Sirius clapped him on the back as he stood up and looked around the kitchen.
"We'll need water," he muttered, looking at the empty kettle.
"There is a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us," Harish said, looking at their map. "It is on the other side of the field."
"Well why don't you boys go get some water while I grab some wood for a fire."
"But we have a stove," Harish said, pointing to the object in the kitchen.
"It's more fun cooking on a campfire," Sirius replied with a grin.
Harish shook his head and led the others out of the tent.
The sun had finally peaked over the horizon. It was large and orange, tinting the sky with reds, pinks, and purples. Directly overhead was still a blue color, but as the sun rose, it got lighter and lighter. The fog had cleared away, and the boys could properly see the city of tents that stretched in every direction. They slowly made their way through the rows, staring around.
Their fellow campers were starting to wake up. Families with small children were the first to rise. Harish had never seen that many young children before in one place. A few little boys were brandishing twigs at each other, or riding toy brooms, their toes skimming the grass. One Ministry worker spotted them, hurrying past the Slytherins muttering distractedly, "In broad daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose—"
Older witches and wizards were appearing as well. A few were casting furtive glances about, starting their fires magically. Others were striking matches, looking doubtful that anything would happen. It was a fairly amusing sight.
Harish noticed that several students that he knew were there as well. He saw Daphne and her parents. They also ran into Marcus Flint, who had graduated Hogwarts the year before. On the next row over, they found where the rest of the Weasleys were staying the night. In a shabby old tent with a post out front that read "Weezly".
There were people from other countries as well.
Some of them were sporting their colors. A national flag here, some sort of banner there…
"Is it just me, or has everything gone green?" Draco asked, rubbing them vigorously.
It wasn't just his eyes. They had walked into a patch of tents that seemed like they were part of the landscape. They were covered in a thick growth of shamrocks. Grinning, painted faces could be seen poking out of the flaps of the tents.
Then, as soon as they passed through, they found the site where all of the Bulgarians were staying. A large flag was fluttering in the breeze—white, red, and green. Instead of smothered in plant life, each tent had a large poster attached to it. It seemed that a surly face with thick eyebrows and a heavy scowl blinked at them from every direction.
"That's their Seeker, Victor Krum?" Harish asked. "Isn't he only eighteen?"
The twins nodded.
Finally they reached the tap. There was already a group of people, milling about as they waited for water. Farther up in the line, Harish could make out a shock of red hair—most likely Ron and Ginny. Right behind them was a pair of men who were having a heated argument. One of them was wearing a flowery nightgown and the other was dressed more fashionably. He was also holding a pair of pin-striped trousers and practically crying with exasperation.
"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that—the Muggle at the gate's already suspicious—"
"I bought this at a Muggle store," Archie replied stubbornly. "It's for Muggles."
"It's for Muggle women…"
Just behind them and right in front of the group of Slytherins, were a pair of African wizards. They were each wearing long white robes and jabbing quickly in some foreign language. Harish sighed as the line crept slowly forward.
Once they finally got their water, they had to move more slowly as each of them were carrying buckets that were nearly filled to the brim. On their way back they ran into more friendly faces. There was Luna Lovegood, looking as dotty as ever. Next they were hailed by Ernie MacMillan, a Hufflepuff fourth year.
When they finally reached their tent again, Sirius was stoking a roaring fire. Above the fire sat a tray that held a metal pan. Sizzling inside it were sausages and bacon. The boys dropped their water off on the tables inside before returning outside and sitting around the fire.
After a few minutes, the food was done and they sat there, eating and listening while Sirius pointed a few people out to them. Most of them he knew because he used to be on the Auror force with them, or because they had helped capture him on the night Voldemort had gone into hiding. Some of them he knew from school.
Once they finally finished, and were lounging around lazily, a man walked up. He had a happy, boyish face and was wearing a pair of Quidditch robes that were black and yellow striped. On the front of them was a picture of a wasp.
"Ahoy there!" he called.
He was walking as though he had springs attached to his feet.
"M'name's Ludo Bagman! And who might you be?"
"My name is Arata Blake," Sirius replied. "And this is my nephew Harish, and his friends, Draco Malfoy, Fred, and George Weasley."
"Weasleys, eh?" Bagman asked. "I thought I recognized your hair. Anyway, fancy a flutter on the match?"
He jingled a pouch of what seemed to be a large amount of gold. Sirius stood up and began digging money out of his pockets.
"How about two Galleons on Ireland to win?" he asked.
"Two Galleons?" Bagman asked, taking the money. "Any other takers?"
"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," Fred said as he and George pooled all of their money, "that Ireland wins—but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh, and we'll throw in a fake wand."
Bagman took the fake wand and his boyish face lit up with delight as it squeaked and changed smoothly to a rubber chicken. Then, he roared with laughter.
"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"
The twins and Harish beamed from the praise.
"You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance…I'll give you excellent odds on that one….We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we…"
He whipped out a notebook and jotted down their names.
"Cheers," George said, taking the slip of paper Bagman handed him and tucked it away carefully.
Just then, a man wearing a suit and tie Apparated to their campfire. Sirius's face suddenly scrunched up and Harish shot him a glance. The man had never looked that unhappy to see someone before.
"I've been looking all over for you, Ludo," the man said. "The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box."
"Oh, is that what they're after?" he asked as he followed the man away. "I thought they were asking for a pair of tweezers…"
"Who was that?" Harish asked once they were out of earshot.
"Barty Crouch Sr." Sirius replied with distaste.
"Sr.?" Harish asked.
"Yes, his son was named after him. Sent him to Azkaban—at least he got a trial."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you know? I was sentenced to life in Azkaban without trial. They had passed a law that any Death Eater wouldn't get a trial if they didn't think they deserved it. It was old Barty that set it."
"But wasn't Barty Crouch Jr. a Death Eater?" the twins asked.
Sirius nodded. "Accused of torturing the Longbottoms. He was in a cell near me…For a while he used to cry out in his sleep that he didn't do it…before he went quiet anyway."
"Went quiet?"
"Most of them do, in Azkaban. They lose the will to live."
Sirius stared into the fire before shaking his head. Draco then said, "Oh I forgot to tell you!"
"Tell us what?" Harish asked, confused.
"About what the other event is that's happening this year! Here—let's go inside."
So they went inside and sat on the couches around the table again, where the order forms were still laying out.
"So what is this top secret—"
"Event no one's supposed to know about?"
"This year Hogwarts is hosting another Triwizard tournament."
"You're joking!" both twins said.
Draco shook his head, grinning.
"How do you know?" Harish asked.
"My father works at the Ministry, remember? He told me ages ago!"
Harish laughed, and soon the others joined in. Triwizard tournaments had been abandoned years ago when too many people were injured. It was a huge surprise that they were attempting to have another one.
They all sat around and chatted about joke products and previous tournaments as they waited for the match to begin, then they finally headed out toward the woods as the sun began to set.