Mr. Weasley jumped up the mont he saw the newcors, while Percy hastily swallowed the food he’d been eating.
“Ludo! The man of the hour!” Mr. Weasley exclaid. “Head of the Departnt of Magical Gas and Sports... That’s Aaron Hall, Deputy Head of the Departnt for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures… And next to them is, ”
Percy quickly chid in, voice trembling with excitent, “Deputy Head of the Departnt of International Magical Cooperation, and President of the International Association for Magical Trade Standards, Diana Roland! I t her once over the sumr break. She’s incredibly capable and very serious. I’ve written loads of reports for her…”
Very serious? So Diana left that kind of impression on her subordinates.
“Arthur, old chap!” Ludo Bagman called out cheerfully. “What fantastic weather, isn’t it? Absolutely perfect! Not a cloud in the sky! Everything’s going off without a hitch…”
Mr. Weasley grinned and greeted both Aaron and Diana with a friendly nod. Percy, anwhile, stood to the side nervously eyeing Diana, unsure if she rembered the intern she had briefly t.
It appeared she didn’t, her professional expression remained unchanged. That was, until her eyes landed on Anne, standing nearby. A warm smile instantly spread across Diana’s face.
She stepped toward Anne and affectionately ruffled her hair. “Anne, sweetheart, what are you doing here?”
Both Mr. Weasley and Ludo Bagman froze. One didn’t know Anne had a connection to Diana Roland, and the other didn’t know Anne at all. The surprise didn’t stop there, Percy, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Fred and George (who only knew Anne ca from a wealthy family) were all caught off guard.
Hermione, however, began to grow a little nervous. She had guessed that the woman in front of her might be Anne’s aunt from France, but she hadn’t known that Anne’s aunt was the Deputy Head of International Cooperation and the President of a global trade association.
“Good morning, Aunt Diana,” Anne said politely. “I got up early and decided to take a stroll. Then I bumped into so schoolmates.”
“Oh?” Diana looked intrigued. “School friends, Anne?”
Anne nodded and stepped aside to introduce her companions. When she got to Hermione, Hermione awkwardly extended a hand, which Diana shook with a kind smile. “Lovely to et you, Miss Granger. I’ve heard your na quite often from Anne, Gryffindor’s top student.”
Hermione shot Anne a quick glance, silently scolding herself for acting so stiff. Since both Diana and Hermione had reached out at the sa ti, no one else noticed anything unusual.
Anne couldn’t help but wonder, do I really talk about Hermione that much at ho?
As the introductions continued, Diana only lingered on Harry for a mont. Even Fred and George received no more than a nod.
After so small talk, Diana, Aaron, and Ludo left to continue coordinating the arrival of international officials and handle last-minute logistics.
Before departing, Aaron and Diana told Anne they would pick her up before dinner.
Once the three adults were out of sight, Fred and George imdiately sward Anne, with others gathering curiously nearby. They had only learned the news last night and were clearly still reeling.
“We had no idea your aunt was the president of an international trade organization!” Fred exclaid.
“I didn’t think it was worth ntioning…” Anne replied calmly.
“Ah-hah!” Fred and George exchanged a look. “So does that an the things we’re making…”
“…can actually be sold to wizards in other countries?” George asked excitedly.
“I don’t know the full scope of the Roland family’s business yet,” Anne said, eyeing the curious crowd around her, “but international distribution is definitely on the table. Still, don’t forget what Mrs. Weasley said last night…”
Fred and George nodded solemnly. “Don’t worry, we’d never drag you into our sses.”
Anne gave them a skeptical look. As the twins quieted down, Ron piped up, “Anne, why’d you invest in their joke shop? Mum’s treating them completely differently this morning!”
“In the na of the Roland family,” Anne said, pointing to the crest on her cloak. “The best possible solution.”
“We’re officially shop managers now!” Fred and George puffed out their chests proudly. “We could open a shop in Diagon Alley tomorrow if we wanted to, and sell all our magical prank products!”
Mr. Weasley ca over and ruffled the twins’ hair. “Don’t forget, your mother said you have to graduate first! Now go finish tidying up the tent!”
The twins winked at Anne and cheerfully ran off.
Ron watched them longingly and turned to Anne. “Do you think I have any talents worth investing in?”
Anne gave him a once-over and then shook her head apologetically. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione burst out laughing.
As the morning went on, a tangible buzz of excitent spread across the campsite like a thick, electric fog. By late afternoon, even the sumr air seed to tremble in anticipation. Around 6 p.m., the Ministry of Magic seed to finally give up resisting, allowing clear magical activity to show up across the camp.
Vendors began popping in with loud cracks of Apparition every few steps, so carrying trays, others pushing carts filled with all sorts of strange and wonderful items: glowing rose-shaped pins, green for Ireland, red for Bulgaria, that scread players’ nas; tall green hats topped with dancing shamrocks; enchanted Bulgarian ribbons that roared like lions; flags from both nations that played their national anthems when waved; flying Firebolt and Arrow model broomsticks; and collectible mini-statues of famous players that strutted proudly across your palm.
Before dinner, Aaron and Diana ca to pick Anne up. With their work finished, they could finally relax. Dinner was prepared by “Lekko,” a house-elf from the Roland family’s English estate. Anne was surprised to find such an elaborate al possible in such a simple campsite.
She had visited the Roland estate once the previous year, a castle on a beautiful hillside, near a forest and a small lake. Six house-elves had served the family for generations, and they all addressed Anne as “young mistress.”
“Master specially brought Lekko along… Lekko is honored! Lekko is the best cook! Lekko brought the finest ingredients from the estate… Young mistress praised Lekko’s soup! This is the first ti Lekko has ever been praised!”
After Anne complinted the soup, Lekko gushed with excitent.
Wearing a green shamrock hat, Anne walked with Aaron and Diana down a lantern-lit path into the forest. Aaron was decked out in green and enthusiastically discussed each Bulgarian and Irish team mber with Anne. She responded with polite nods and occasionally threw out a few Quidditch-related questions, which Aaron eagerly answered. Diana wore casual clothing, with only the Roland family crest as an accessory.
They were swept up in the festive crowd, laughter, cheering, snatches of songs ringing all around. The contagious excitent kept them smiling the whole way.
After about twenty minutes of walking, they erged from the trees and found themselves in the looming shadow of a massive stadium. Anne could only see part of its towering golden walls.
This is about the size of the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, Anne thought, impressed. Can the magical world handle large events on this scale?
“Holds fifty thousand,” Aaron said, noticing the flicker of amazent on Anne’s face. “The Ministry had five hundred staff working on this for a full year. Every inch is warded against Muggles. Whenever one gets close, they suddenly rember sothing urgent and walk away…”
Anne laughed. “That reminds , one afternoon, not long after I first moved into the house, I saw two people trying to climb over our back wall. But as soon as they touched it, they turned around and left in a hurry. They ca back twice more, but the sa thing happened. Is there a Muggle-Repelling Charm in our garden too?”
“Oh yes, Anne,” Aaron replied. “That’s one downside of living in central London, Muggles are always curious about what's behind the walls.”
As they chatted, the three arrived at the entrance, where a crowd of shouting witches and wizards had already gathered.
“Top-tier tickets,” said the witch guarding the door after inspecting theirs. “Private box, head straight to the top floor, Aaron.”
Clearly a familiar face, Aaron smiled and led Anne and Diana upstairs. Anne was amazed at how many Ministry officials Aaron seed to know, he greeted nearly every person they passed. Diana, on the other hand, mostly stopped to greet mid- and high-level officials from both the British and French Ministries. Her introductions always included departnt heads, deputy heads, and directors.
What a team, Anne mused. One knows nearly every low- to mid-level official, the other knows nearly every mid- to high-level one.
They reached the top level, and Anne found herself in a luxurious, perfectly placed private box, directly across from the golden goalposts. There were about fifty gilded purple chairs in two rows.
Several people were already there. Anne spotted the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione, along with the Malfoy family, seated in the front row.
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If you're enjoying the journey so far and want to read ahead, you can check out 25 advance chapters on Patreon: Patreon/Crimson_Lore
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