บท 160: I'd Rather Stay in Bed, Thank You Very Much

"What does it look like to you?" Oleandra said, rolling her eyes. "We've got mail."

"I noticed," said Astoria brightly. "Can I see?"

"Sorry," replied Daphne, "it's private. You don't see us rummaging through your mail, do you?"

"Nobody ever sends me any mail," said Astoria miserably. "You couldn't even if you tried."

"Astoria!" called Iris from downstairs. "Letter for you from Ginny Weasley!"

Astoria's face filled with glee; she was so happy that she almost slipped running down the stairs. Now that nobody was in their way, the twins slipped into Oleandra's room.

"Let's see," said Oleandra, opening the first letter. "Harry's aunt and uncle forced him to go on a diet in solidarity with his cousin, who's gained too much weight… he's asking for some sweets to help tide him over— I think his birthday is soon, we could have a cake delivered to his house. We could use a Muggle bakery, since his guardians don't like magic. How many pounds to a Galleon, again?"

"About five, I think," replied Daphne.

"The next letter is from Lupin and Sirius," Oleandra continued, "it says here they're planning to let themselves be spotted far in the south, so that Hogwarts's state of emergency can be lifted. Lupin says he'll also try to find a Lethifold while he's down there, to see if he can't replicate what I've done with mine."

"As if you had done anything," said Daphne with a snort. "Didn't you say Dusk-Elf magic had done all the work taming the thing?"

"And now, the last letter," said Oleandra, pretending she hadn't heard anything, "Ginny's inviting us to join the Weasleys in their home before the Quidditch World Cup finals; her father's got a connection that might get them some VIP tickets— she also says she wrote to Astoria separately. I suppose she'd rather have some friends around, if she's got to spend the entire summer around her family…"

"It's too bad we're grounded," said Daphne sarcastically, "who wouldn't want to spend a few weeks in a house that's just the Shrieking Shack stacked ten times upon itself?"

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Two weeks later, at about mid-August, the twins' punishment for Realm-Travelling without permission was lifted, for one simple reason: the Quidditch World Cup finals were about to start. It had been thirty years since Britain had last hosted the cup, and preventing anyone from seeing this once-a-lifetime event could be considered as a cruel and unusual punishment.

Iris and Maxwell, as well as all of their children, were personally invited and given VIP tickets by the Minister for Magic, Fudge, for their generous donations to St Mungo's, the British Wizarding World's hospital. They also were all invited to the pregame gala, where all the rich families and still extant members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight magical families would be reuniting.

Astoria had insisted that she wanted to go to the Weasleys to be with one of her only friends, Ginny, so she had already left for the Burrow, which was the name the Weasleys had given to the decrepit, towering pile of houses they called home. As for Oleandra and Daphne, they needed to go to the Gala, since their presence was required to help explain Realm Travelling to the Malfoys. If they were going to mount a joint venture, then both the Malfoy and Greengrass families would need all the details they could get.

At the crack of dawn on the day of the finals, Maxwell and Iris woke up Oleandra and Daphne. Since the Greengrass family had VIP tickets, if they wanted to use a Portkey (an item enchanted to teleport anyone who touched it to a preset destination), they only needed to show up the day of the match.

Of course, those who could Apparate could also do so at any time in order to get to the place where the finals were being held, but a good number of Wizards didn't trust themselves to appear in one piece without leaving bits of themselves behind. Even Wizards who held their Apparition licence would prefer to use other means of travel if they needed to bring passengers; Side-Along Apparition was even more complex, since there were more people to keep in mind.

Otherwise, the only way to gather so many Wizards in one place without alerting the Muggles was to disperse Portkeys at key points around the country, and stagger the arrivals in batches; those who had bought cheaper tickets needing to arrive even weeks in advance.

"Why do we need to wake up so early?" yawned Oleandra. "Couldn't we simply Apparate there when the gala starts?"

Maxwell and Iris both had their licences, but since they needed to bring their two daughters along, they opted to head for the nearest Portkey instead.

"Then, how about this?" said Oleandra, stifling another yawn. "Father can bring this acorn I've marked with a rune by Apparating to the camping site. I'll be able to lock on to it, and then the three of us can Tree-Port to it later. Since Mother will be with us, the Trace won't activate."

"Don't worry, Mother," said Daphne upon seeing her mother's doubtful expression, "it's perfectly safe, and it's not nearly as uncomfortable as using a Portkey. Besides, we need our beauty sleep."

Daphne's words seemed to convince her mother, as she nodded and said, "You go on ahead and do as they propose, dear. If our girls managed to Apparate to another world, then I'm sure they can manage staying on Earth."

"Great," said Oleandra, covering her mouth to yawn, "then it's back to bed for me. Good night, everyone."

"What am I, your House-Elf?" said Maxwell Greengrass helplessly. "It's a good thing you have me, or who knows what you'd do without me."

"Yes, thank you, dear," said Iris, planting a kiss on his cheek, "we're very lucky to have you. Now, if you're done complaining, you'd best get going; I can hear my bed calling to me. See you later, dear."

With a sigh, Oleandra's father turned on the spot and Disapparated with a loud pop.