In the main hall, Cedric was chatting with Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory.
"How did you all get here?" Mr. Weasley stood up excitedly upon seeing Roy and asked, "By car?"
"We took a Portkey, Mr. Weasley." William replied, holding up a gold coin from his pocket.
He knew Mr. Weasley was experimenting with magically modifying a car; Mr. Weasley had written to him over the summer with several questions about automobiles.
"Ah, a Portkey—of course," Mr. Weasley replied, looking a bit disappointed. "I suppose the Ministry wanted to play it safe. Last time, some Muggles from a tour group nearly spotted us."
The Merlin Lodge location was a popular tourist site for Muggles, so it was easy for wizards to get noticed if they weren't careful.
Mr. Diggory walked over and shook William's hand warmly. "William, thank you for inviting me."
"Every year, the Order of Merlin awards banquet attracts top officials from all over the world, along with notable leaders from various industries," he explained.
"However, invitations from the UK are notoriously hard to come by, and it's a huge deal if you get one. Lovegood even offered me two hundred Galleons for my place so he could bring his daughter, Luna. Of course, I refused."
"It's no trouble," William said politely. "Cedric is my good friend."
"Is everyone here now?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Professors Flitwick and McGonagall arrived with Professor Dumbledore earlier. We can go in now," William said.
They all began to make their way out.
They had arrived in a small, charming village called Salisbury, which was a mixed community of wizards and Muggles. The village residents had carefully concealed their identities and worked in tourism to provide cover for the annual Merlin awards.
After walking a short distance, they reached a stunningly grand site: Stonehenge.
"Oh, I've been here before, but I never realized there was anything magical about it." Hermione gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.
Stonehenge was a wellknown landmark, but she hadn't known that it concealed Merlin's Lodge below.
Fred explained, "All wizard kids know the bedtime story about Merlin and Stonehenge."
"The story goes that Merlin, in honor of King Arthur's uncle, chanted a magical song to call forth massive stones from Ireland, which flew here overnight to build Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain."
William shrugged, "My bedtime stories were about Snow White and her dramatic feud with the Seven Calabash Brothers."
Hermione looked at him, completely puzzled. What on earth were the "Seven Calabash Brothers"?
They stepped into Stonehenge's inner circle, and the gold coin floated from William's pocket, casting a beam of light.
Everything faded to darkness, and suddenly, they found themselves at one end of a vast, majestic hall.
The floor was polished ebony wood, and the ceiling, a brilliant peacock blue, sparkled with moving gold symbols that shifted and transformed.
"This way," Mr. Weasley directed them.
Following his lead, they arrived at an area marked "Security."
As they approached, a wizard behind a desk lowered his Daily Prophet and looked up.
"Step over here," he said in a bored tone.
They lined up, and he pulled out a long, thin golden rod that looked like a car antenna. He waved it slowly over each of them, thoroughly checking them from head to toe.
"Wands, please," he said, extending his hand.
William, Hermione, Cedric, and the others handed over their wands, which he placed on a peculiar brass device that looked a bit like a small satellite dish.
The device vibrated, and five narrow strips of parchment fed out from its base. The wizard picked up one of them, reading aloud.
"Cherry wood, phoenix feather, twelve and three-quarter inches—does that sound right?"
"Yes, that's mine," William replied.
The wizard pinned the strip to a tiny brass hook and handed William back his wand.
"Thank you."
"Wait a moment…" The wizard glanced up. "You're…William Stark?"
He looked at the Daily Prophet in front of him, which had a photo of William on the front page.
"Yes, that's me."
"Ha! The boy who single-handedly captured a Death Eater in the Ministry. I've heard my son talk about you—he's in Hufflepuff, name's Chubb."
William remembered Chubb—the same boy who had nearly fallen into the lake during flying lessons.
The security wizard started digging around for a piece of parchment, apparently hoping for an autograph.
"Thank you, Ollie," Mr. Weasley interrupted smoothly. "Please finish checking the other wands—we have places to be."
"Oh, right."
The wizard finished inspecting the remaining wands and announced, "Bertha Jorkins will guide you to the Merlin Memorial Hall."
Mr. Diggory raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, don't give me that look, Diggory. We're short-staffed today. It's the Merlin Awards ceremony—practically every wizard in the world is here."
The wizard muttered, "In my opinion, they shouldn't have sent so many invitations. Just invite the awardees and their relatives, but all these officials and wealthy wizards…you just know the Ministry made a fortune selling these invites…"
"Alright, that's enough," Mr. Weasley interrupted, glancing around. "Where's Bertha? She hasn't gotten lost again, has she?"
"Most likely." Ollie grinned wickedly. "With her sense of direction, she'll probably find her way here only after the ceremony ends. Her memory's getting so terrible these days, like an old woman who keeps misplacing everything."
"Mr. Crouch should just transfer her to Magical Games and Sports. She'd fit right in with Ludo Bagman—he's scatterbrained enough to appreciate her."
"Hello! Hello!" A voice called out from the other end of the hall. "Is there a new group of guests? I got a bit lost on my way back from the bathroom."
A witch with a name badge and a handful of parchment hurried toward them. She was a bit round, and as she waved at them, her golden curls peeked out from under her stylishly knitted wizard's hat.
Hmm…if she got lost just coming back from the restroom, could she really lead them to the Memorial Hall?
William had his doubts.
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