章節 161: Having your Cake and Inhaling it too
A few hours later, with a flash of white light, Oleandra, Daphne and Iris appeared in what looked like a small clearing in the woods. Loud popping noises could be heard every so often, as Wizards appeared in the small forest that had been designated as the arrival point for those arriving via Apparition.
The match would be played in some moor in Dartmoor, next to a Muggle camping site. Since they were on Muggle territory, attendees were expected to at least try to pass as ordinary Muggles. Luckily, the Greengrass family had no trouble in this respect, since they had numerous business ties with the Muggle world.
However, they did look slightly out of place, wearing pretty dress robes in the middle of the woods. At the last second before leaving for the gala, which was supposed to begin two hours before the match itself began, Iris noticed that Oleandra's hair had grown quite long, and insisted that she at least comb her hair properly. Since Oleandra didn't trust the enchanted comb to do its job without pulling out her hair by the roots, it had taken a moment and a half.
But now, they were finally there! The three women hurried to a large tent, where the gala was being held. Before entering, Oleandra gave her surroundings a quick look; there were colourful tents as far as the eye could see, and in the distance, over the trees, an enormous oval-shaped dome: the stadium!
A closer look revealed that nearly every person on the site seemed utterly unconcerned with the Statute of Secrecy. Using magic in public, putting up tents that seemed more like actual houses than anything else, chatting loudly about magical subjects…
And worst of all, some eager supporters of their favourite team had put up posters with moving images. Could you get any more obvious? The Obliviators were sure to have their hands full with all of these breaches to the Statute.
"Should we get Astoria before heading to the gala?" Oleandra asked her mother, upon spotting a few familiar redheads. Upon receiving a favourable answer, she headed towards the Weasleys she had just seen entering a tent on the side of road. Well, if you could call flattened grass a road.
Weezly, a sign read in front of a shabby-looking tent. Well, mission accomplished, destination reached.
"Knock, knock," Oleandra said out loud obnoxiously. "Is Astoria here?"
One of the Weasley twins lifted the tent's flap and stepped outside to face Oleandra.
"Well, well, who do we have here?" said Fred. Or perhaps George. Yes, definitely George.
"Hello," Oleandra said. "Have you seen my little sister?"
"She's right inside," said George. Or was it Fred, after all? "Say, you've always enjoyed our Fireworks, haven't you?"
"I have," said Oleandra. "Though, can you really call them yours? You were just reselling Dr. Filibuster's at a premium, weren't you?"
The other Weasley marched out of the tent.
"Those days are over," said the second Weasley twin, George, dismissively. "We needed funds to start our business: Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!"
"How about being our first-ever customer?" Fred said genially. "Now, these fireworks are still in the experimental stage, but I guarantee amazing results; or your money back! Well, not actually, no refunds, but we're sure you'll be satisfied."
"Is that so?" said Oleandra, unconvinced. "And how are these any different from Dr. Filibuster's?"
The two Weasley twins looked at each other and grinned.
"We were waiting for that question," they said in chorus, "you see, the Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs come in all forms: catherine wheels, fire-breathing dragons, and many more! They resist the Vanishing Spell, which only multiplies their effects by a factor of not two, not three, but five times!"
"So, whaddya say?" said Fred.
"Only five Sickles and twenty-one Knuts," said George, "that's our gift to you for being a longtime buyer."
"You'll also need to fill out this questionnaire after you use it," added Fred, "to give us an idea of how to improve our products before school starts. C'mon, we're practically giving these away!"
"Fine," said Oleandra, "that seems fair to me."
"Good doing business with you!" the Weasley twins said in unison, before lifting up the tent flaps to allow Oleandra to enter. At the same time, Fred discreetly slipped a small bundle of fireworks into her pouch while George took the coins from her palm.
It was growing dark outside; the gala had already started, and the finals would begin soon after. Brushing past the twins, Oleandra found herself in what looked like a cosy home. Most Wizards' tents were enchanted to be bigger on the inside than they looked from the outside. The Weasleys had a second tent for the girls, but that was for sleeping. For now, the Weasleys and their guests Harry, Hermione and Astoria were all passing the time in the larger tent, which smelled slightly of cat urine.
"There you are, Astoria," said Oleandra. "We're waiting for you for the gala. Come on and get changed!"
"Do I have to?" Astoria groaned. "We were having fun playing cards!"
For some reason, instead of playing your traditional magical card games, the Weasleys seemed to be playing with regular Muggle cards. Actually, it looked as if they were trying to build a card castle, but they seemed to be stuck in the fifty-two-pickup phase of the game.
Ginny instantly jumped to her feet, eager to get away from this mess.
"May I come with you?" she said, stretching her arms above her head. "It'll be a welcome change of pace."
"Why not," said Oleandra. "We're each allowed one plus-one. Anyone else want to come?"
The rest shook their heads; they weren't interested in going to a stuffy gala; they were more interested in each other's company.
"Oh hello, Oleandra," said Harry. "Thanks again for the cake."
"Did you like it?" asked Oleandra. "I wasn't sure what kind you'd like, so I ordered a St Honoré cake; everybody likes that one."
"Oh, er—" said Harry awkwardly, "I didn't actually get any— Since you had it delivered by Muggles, Dudley got to it first and ate it all in one go."
"Oh," said Oleandra. "I didn't realize—"
"It's not all bad," said Harry, "Dudley ate so much he got sick; I got a good laugh out of that."
Unsure as to how to respond, Oleandra bid the Weasleys goodbye and left the Weezly tent, flanked by Astoria and Ginny, and they hurried to the big tent that served as the gala's venue.
"There you are!" said Iris impatiently. "Come on, it's already getting dark!"
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票