Departure

The arrival of their friends made the Burrow even more lively than before. They chatted and laughed, chasing Gnome in the garden or dueling with their wands on two tables, until Mrs. Weasley finally sent them back to their rooms late at night.

The next day arrived.

Just as dawn was breaking, Kyle was woken up, dressed, and brought to the Burrow.

The Weasley family seemed to have just woken up; their hair was all messy, and they kept yawning, looking like they hadn't slept well.

"Darling, I was just wondering whether I should go and call you," Mrs. Weasley said, walking over with a plate of corned beef sandwiches. "We're leaving soon, have something to eat first."

Kyle nodded, picked up a sandwich, and took a bite.

Nearby, Mr. Weasley was showing Harry the clothes he was wearing that day.

"How was it?" he asked eagerly. "Should we hide our identities when we go? Do I look like Muggle, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry replied with a smile.

Although Goyle shirts and jeans don't really go well together, it's still a decent outfit, and no one would have thought it looked strange if I walked down the street like that before.

"Where are Bill, Charlie... and Percy...?" Fred asked while eating his sandwich.

"Don't they Apparition?" Mrs. Weasley placed a large pot on the table and began serving porridge to everyone. "So they can sleep in a little longer."

Fred mumbled something, but because his mouth was full of sandwiches, no one could hear him.

Kyle sighed.

He could Apparition, but he was too young to pass the exam and get a license, so he was considered to be Apparating without a license. If he were caught by the Ministry of Magic, it would be very troublesome, so he had to get up early and set off with the main group.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway. Cho, Hermione, and Ginny entered the kitchen, all looking pale and with what looked like three bird nests on their heads.

Ginny sat at the table, complaining about getting up so early.

Everyone drank the porridge and quickly ate a few bites of their sandwiches, without wasting too much time.

"It's time to go. Have a great time."

Mrs. Weasley glanced at the time. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy over around noon."

The group then walked through the dark courtyard and headed towards a small hill in the distance.

On the way, Harry curiously asked about the location of the Quidditch Match.

"The organizational work is truly fraught with difficulties."

Speaking of this, Mr. Weasley suddenly sighed and said, "There are about 100,000 wizards coming to watch the Quidditch World Cup. Of course, we can't find a place that can hold that many people. Just imagine, how can we possibly cram 100,000 wizards into Diagon Alley or Platform 9?"

So we had to find a deserted swamp and take all precautions against Muggle. The ministry was busy with this for months."

"How will we get there?" Harry asked. "On foot?"

"Of course not," said Mr. Weasley. "We use Portkey, which are used to transport wizards from one place to another within a set time. The nearest Portkey is on Stoatshead Hill, and that's where we're going now."

The journey was much longer than they had imagined, especially as they climbed Stoatshead Hill, where Kyle could clearly hear Harry's increasingly heavy breathing.

When they finally stepped back onto flat ground, it was already quite bright, and everyone was exhausted.

Mr. Weasley, wiping the sweat from his brow and panting, said, "Good, we're right on time... ten more minutes."

"Hey, Arthur!" a voice suddenly came from ahead, and a man with a brown beard stood there, holding a moldy old boot in his hand.

"Come quick, we've found the Portkey!"

"Amos," Mr. Weasley said, laughing as he strode toward the man who had called him.

Cedric stood next to the man, smiling and waving at them.

"Let me introduce you all." Mr. Weasley looked at Harry and Hermione ... "This is Amos Diggory, who works in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. This is his son, Cedric, I think you all know him."

They naturally knew Cedric.

"Hi, everyone!" Cedric walked over and greeted them, then headed straight for the back of the line.

"Qiu, how did you sleep last night?"

"It's alright, it's just that I got up too early."

Because of the mountain climb, Qiu's cheeks were flushed, and Cedric could hardly take his eyes off her.

"Tsk..." Fred said to Kyle with a look of disgust, "Why doesn't he look at us? Are we invisible?"

"At least in his eyes...more or less," Kyle said.

"Heh heh," George let out a strange laugh, "I really want to stuff Balloon Candy into his mouth and let him float to the Quidditch World Cup field."

"Put two more in," Kyle said, "To make it float higher."

Kyle and his friends were discussing how to deal with Cedric when the adults were talking over there.

"It must have been a long walk, Arthur," Mr. Diggory asked, handing him his old boots.

"There's nothing we can do about it; this is the only place around where Muggle won't come," Mr. Weasley said. "And you?"

"I got up at two o'clock." Mr. Diggory rubbed his eyes. "To be honest, I really wanted Ced to pass the Apparition exam sooner, but there's nothing to complain about... it's the Quidditch World Cup, we can't miss it."

"Where did you get your tickets from?"

"The penthouse." Mr. Diggory smiled broadly. "Chris helped Ludo Bagman out of a little trouble, and thanks to him, I got the best tickets."

Unfortunately, there's only one left, so I've decided to let Ced go.

"Didn't you get a ticket?" Mr. Weasley asked, frowning.

"There were grandstand tickets, but I didn't take them," Mr. Diggory said, shaking his head. "But that's fine, you know, most people are busy with the Quidditch World Cup right now, and there's another shortage of manpower."

Bagman just said you'll be going too, so could you look after Said for me?

"Of course, that's no problem," said Mr. Weasley. "But I remember you also really like Quidditch, don't you?"

"That's right, but I don't like this team!" Mr. Diggory's voice suddenly rose a few decibels. "Even Peru didn't make it to the final, what's the point of watching this Quidditch World Cup?"

Mr. Weasley then remembered that Amos was a big fan of the Peruvian team, which had been eliminated by Ireland in the semi-finals.

Seeing Amos still raging and accusing the game of being rigged, Mr. Weasley wisely said nothing more, simply nodding and saying, "Don't worry, leave Ced to me. I'll take good care of him."

Then he checked the time and shouted:

"One minute left, hurry up, we should all be in position... Just extend one finger to make sure it can touch the Portkey?"

With their bulging backpacks on their backs, everyone managed to gather around the old boots that Mr. Weasley was holding.

They stood there, tightly forming a circle.

"Three..." Mr. Weasley muttered, his eyes fixed on his pocket watch, "Two...one..."