𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦

𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘋𝘈𝘙𝘒 𝘔𝘈𝘙𝘒

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The game had been quite an experience. Ireland won, but Bulgaria made quite a show as well. Alina was at the edge of her seat until the very end and she was a little disappointed that her father couldn't join her today.

He loved Quidditch just as much as she did. And so did her mother. The World Cup was actually the event where her parents met for the first time. Her father, Klaus, was a champion at Quidditch during his teenage years, and he was even selected for Germany's National Team in his youth.

Although he was born in Germany, he attended the Durmstrang Institute. His pure blood allowed him to get enrolled there. But after he met Amelia Hathaway, he knew he didn't want to be away from her anymore, so he requested to be transferred to Hogwarts, giving up his spot in the National Team.

He graduated Hogwarts at the same time as Amelia did, but he needed to return to Germany during the winter and the summer breaks to see his family. When their relationship got serious, Klaus was allowed to bring Amelia with him, or stay with her during the holidays.

It didn't take long until the couple eventually got married and they chose to stay in England. They wanted to have a family together, and given that Amelia was Muggle born, their children wouldn't have been accepted at Durmstrang. And, according to her father, it wasn't the best place to send any children to, so they preferred to stay in England and enroll their two children to Hogwarts.

Alina knew her parents would have loved to be here, but her father was busy with mending international affairs between the Ministries of Magic, and her mother was supervising the World Cup from afar, since she wasn't directly responsible with the organization and she wasn't required to be here, but at the Ministry.

The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Alina returned to their tent. Everybody was discussing the match, it was all laughter and jokes. Viktor Krum was the hot subject of the moment, much to Hermione's disappointment, who chose to stay away from this conversation.

Ron seemed to be a fan of Krum.

Loud noises could be heard from the outside, but the children shrugged it off easily, believing that the Irish have started celebrating their victory. They were supposed to be asleep by now, and everybody already changed into their pajamas, except for the girls, who had to go to the next tent to do so.

Each of the girls was sitting on a different bed. Hermione was next to Ron, Ginny was next to the twins, and Alina was sitting next to Harry. They clearly had no intention to go to sleep anytime soon.

Quite suddenly, Mr. Weasley showed up, shouting.

"Get up! Girls—Ron—Harry—come on now, get up, this is urgent! Fred—George—why aren't you out of your beds yet?"

Harry sat up quickly, confusion written all over his face.

"What's the matter, Mr. Weasley?"

It was obvious that something was wrong. The noises from outside have changed. The music stopped and the cheers were replaced with the sounds of people screaming and running away.

Harry reached for his clothes, but he was stopped by Mr. Weasley, "No time, Harry—just grab a jacket and get outside—quickly! The rest of you—out, now!"

Everybody did as they were told and in a couple of moments, they were already outside. There were people running to the woods and the setting was nothing like it used to be when they got back to their tents. There were fires everywhere. Some were still burning and others have been put out. Across the field, there was something that was emitting odd flashes of light and it sounded like gunfire.

A crowd of wizards was slowly marching over the field. Their faces were hidden by masks and their heads were hooded.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over the noise. "You lot—get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come fetch you out once all of this is sorted!"

Everybody nodded and they started to run to the woods, just as they have been instructed. From behind, Cedric showed up, running even faster to catch up with them.

"Alina, give me your hand!" he shouted, reaching his hand out for her to take.

The girl grabbed his hand and locked it with hers. They were the last ones of the group and they had to make sure nobody got separated.

But the crowds were chaotic and desperate. Harry got pushed to the side by a some children that were trying to find their family and even though Alina reached out to grab him and pull him back, she wasn't quick enough.

"Cedric, you go with the others!" Alina instructed, trying to get him to let go of her hand. "I'll go get Harry back and we'll be with you as soon as possible!"

"Are you mental? I'm not letting you go!" he said.

They collided with another group that pushed them away from each other and eventually, Cedric's grip slipped and he let go of her hand by accident.

"Alina!" he screamed, looking back at her as he was being pushed forward by the crowd.

"Go find the others!" Alina shouted over the noise.

She stopped for a while and squinted, looking for Harry. From behind, another screaming crowd came and they started to push her from the left to the right, so that they could get her out of their way and reach the woods faster. The girl eventually lost her balance when she was roughly pushed by a drunk man.

But right before she could fall to her knees, somebody grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of the crowd. It all happened too fast, Alina didn't get to look at whoever dragged her out of there. To keep her steady, two arms wrapped tightly around her waist and pinned her to a nearby street light.

When she looked up, she expected to see Harry, but her eyes widened in surprise when she came to realize that the one who helped her was actually Draco Malfoy.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed, idiot?!" he screamed.

Alina could swear that for just a moment, there was a hint of worry, concern even, in Draco's eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"What? No, I was trying to find—"

"Stupid girl," Draco muttered under his breath and let go of her. "Run to the woods as fast as you can and stay out of their way. You can't let them get to you, did you hear me? Go now!"

He pushed her in the direction of the woods. Alina started to run, but when she looked back, she didn't see Draco anymore, and Harry wasn't anywhere to be seen either.

As soon as she reached the woods, she spotted her friends and she was pulled to the side by Cedric, who wrapped his arms around her and panted.

"I thought I lost you!" he said desperately, gently running one of his hands against her hair. "I shouldn't have let go of you, I'm sorry."

"We still have to find Harry! Fred, George and Ginny got lost too!" Ron shouted, looking around him.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about protecting her, Weasley?" a voice asked.

Everyone turned their heads in the direction the noise came from. Much to their surprise, Draco Malfoy was leaning against a tree, with his hands in his pockets, looking as relaxed as usual.

From the campsite, a blast like a bomb sounded, and the trees next to them were lit by a flash of green light.

"When did you—" Alina started, but she was interrupted.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked defiantly.

"Granger, they're after Muggles," said Malfoy, completely ignoring Alina's question. Then, his eyes met hers and if Alina could swear that he seemed genuinely concerned about her when he rescued her earlier, now he was back to his prick behavior. "And half-bloods. So unless you two want to offer us a good show and a great laugh, you should better get going."

His words, they sounded like a real threat.

"Alina and Hermione are both witches," Harry snarled, finally catching up with them. Everybody looked relieved to see him, everybody but Draco Malfoy.

"Have it your way, Potter," Draco said, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot Mudbloods, stay where you are."

When Cedric heard the insult, he only tightened his grip around Alina. Everybody knew that was a very offensive terms for witches and wizards of Muggle parentage, no matter if they had two Muggle parents, like Hermione, or just one, like Alina.

"You watch your mouth!" Ron shouted.

She didn't understand. How could Draco's attitude change so suddenly? A few minutes ago, he was telling her to run and hide and now he suggested she and Hermione should let themselves caught, so that they could be a good laugh for him, and he was calling them Mudbloods. It was almost like she only imagined him saving her at the campsite.

A bang came from the other side of the trees and it was louder than anything they heard. People started to scream, her friends panicked too, but Alina didn't even flinch. And Draco Malfoy—he chuckled softly.

"Scare easily, don't they?" he said lazily. His gaze was on Ron, but it seemed like he did his best to not look in Alina and Cedric's direction again. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to—trying to rescue the Muggles?"

"Where are your parents?" Harry snapped. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"

"Well... if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"

"That's enough, you two," Alina interrupted them.

"Let's go and find the others," Hermione suggested, with a disgusted look at Malfoy.

"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," Draco commented.

"Malfoy!" Alina snapped at him, finally forcing him to look in her direction. "I said that's enough."

For a moment, Draco's eyes darkened, but he didn't add anything else. Hermione pulled Harry and Ron with her, and Cedric and Alina were quick to follow, leaving the Slytherin boy behind.

They started walking and even though none of them mentioned it, they were all thinking about the same thing—what if what Draco Malfoy said was true? What if those masked wizards were actually after the wizards and witches with Muggle blood running through their veins? If so, then Alina and Hermione were in great danger. But they couldn't afford to find out if the Malfoy boy was indeed right or not, so they chose to keep walking until they find a safe place in which they could wait for Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory.

All over the place, people were running and screaming. The fires were extending to the forest and from time to time, explosions could be heard loud and clear. It was pure chaos.

"I—I think I lost my wand," Harry confessed, emptying out his pockets and hoping that it would eventually showed up.

"What?" Alina asked, then groaned in frustration. "Maybe you left it in the tent? Or dropped it when we were running to the forest?"

"Yeah... maybe," Harry said, then sighed.

Ron, Hermione, Cedric and Alina all lifted their wands up in the air, casting Lumos to light up the area around them, so that they could all be looking for Harry's wand, but it was nowhere to be seen.

"We have to keep moving," Hermione said. She was worried, that much was pretty clear, and it was understandable. People could get seriously hurt and if Malfoy was indeed right, then it was even worse than they thought. "We can look for it after everything calms down."

They all agreed that they couldn't stand in one place for too long, so they kept walking for a while until they reached a clearing and stopped there when they heard a strange noise. It was like something was staggering toward them. None of them moved, they all waited and listened to the steps that were heard behind the trees. Suddenly, the noise came to a stop.

"Hello?" Harry called, hoping that whoever was behind those trees would show their face. He tried to take a peak, but it was too dark and he couldn't see very far. He could, however, sense that there was somebody standing there, not too close, but not too far either. "Who's there?"

Silence. Whoever was hiding behind those trees remained silent. Then, without a warning, a terrifying voice roared in the woods, shouting something that sounded just like a spell.

"Morsmordre!"

Right after that, something green and foggy erupted from behind the tree they were all looking at, and it flew over the trees and into the sky. It had a strange form that kept on changing, until it showed a colossal skull, with a snake head coming out of his tongue. The shape only rose higher in the dark sky, shining bright enough to lighten up the woods. Everybody but Harry froze and screams were once again heard coming from the forest. This time, the reason behind them was clear: people were screaming because of the mark that covered the sky.

"We've got to go, now!" Hermione urged, her face turning white. She ran to Harry and pulled him as hard as she could, getting him to move. "It's the Dark Mark, Harry! You-Know-Who's sign!"

"Voldemort's—?"

"Move!" Alina shouted.

They started to run across the clearing, but they didn't get to go too far before they were surrounded by about twenty wizards who appeared out of thin air. The wizards all had their wands out, and they were pointed at Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cedric and Alina.

Realizing that they were going to be attacked, Harry yelled, "Duck!"

He grabbed Ron and Hermione and pulled them down onto the ground, and Cedric did the same with Alina, using his body to shield her.

"Stupefy!" the wizards all said at the same time—twenty bright red flashes swept through the clearing, right above their heads, and crossed one another, then bounced off tree trunks.

"Stop!" a voice yelled from behind. "Stop! That's my son!"

The five friends rose their heads a little higher, slightly relieved to see the wizards in front of them started to lower their wands. From the other side of the clearing, Mr. Weasley strolled towards them, looking terrified.

"Kids!" His voice sounded shaky. "Are you alright?"

"Out of the way, Arthur," Mr. Crouch said, in a cold voice.

Before being attacked, they didn't get to look at the wizards' faces. But now, they saw it was Mr. Crouch and some other Ministry wizards that were threatening them. Slowly, the kids rose to their feet. Mr. Crouch's face was red, he was raging.

"Which one of you did it?" he snapped, his gaze darting between them all. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"We didn't do that!" Harry said, gesturing at the mark in the sky.

"We didn't conjure anything!" Alina said, only to make Mr. Crouch point his wand at her and approach her with quick, threatening steps.

"Do not lie!" Mr. Crouch couldn't be thinking clearly, his eyes were almost jumping out of their orbits, he was filled with rage. "You have been found at the scene of the crime!"

"Where did the Mark come from?" Mr. Weasley asked, almost pleading them to give an honest answer.

"Over there," Hermione said shakily, pointing in the direction where the voice had been heard from. "There was somebody behind those trees... they shouted some words—an incantation—"

"You seem very well informed about how the Dark Mark is summoned, miss, " Mr. Crouch accused her, watching Hermione with wild eyes.

But other than Mr. Crouch, none of the other wizards seemed to think that Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cedric or Alina had anything to do with the Dark Mark anymore. After Hermione's confession, they actually directed their wards towards the spot the young witch indicated.

"They must have Disapparated by now," one of the witches said.

"I don't think so," said another voice that came from behind, which made everybody look in his direction. It was Amos Diggory. "Our Stunners went in that direction, it's possible that they have caught them."

Mr. Diggory took a deep breath and started to walk forward with his wand raised, and everybody watched his as he vanished into the darkness.

They all went silent. Alina turned to Cedric, who had his eyes glued to the spot his father disappeared from. She reached for his hand and gave it a light squeeze, trying to calm him down a little, if possible. But she wasn't calm herself, she felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She could only relax when she heard Mr. Diggory shouting.

"We got them!" Amos Diggory announced. "There's someone here, unconscious! Wait, but it's..."

Twigs snapped and leaves rustled when Mr. Diggory stepped on them, coming back from behind those trees, carrying a tiny figure in his arms. Harry squinted and recognized the tea towel. It was Winky, the Crouch family house elf.

Nobody dared to say a word as Mr. Diggory placed the elf on the ground at his feet. All eyes were directed at Mr. Crouch, whose face turned pale. Then, he snapped back to reality.

"No, this cannot be—" Mr. Crouch said, then ran to the place where Mr. Diggory found Winky.

"There's no point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called out. "There is no one else there."

But his words didn't stop Mr. Crouch from searching the place himself, he even pushed the bushes aside, so that he could make sure nobody was hiding there.

"You don't seriously think it was the elf, do you?" Mr. Weasley asked quietly. "The Dark Mark requires a wand, Amos."

"It does," Mr. Diggory agreed, "and she had a wand."

"What?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Look," Mr. Diggory said, showing the wand he found in Winky's hand.

"That's—that's mine!" Harry said, recognizing the wand Mr. Diggory held.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Diggory asked, turning to Harry.

"That's my wand!" Harry repeated. "I dropped it!"

"You dropped it? Is this a confession?" Mr. Diggory thought he was onto something. "You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"

"Amos, this is Harry Potter," Mr. Weasley reminded him, quickly coming to Harry's defense. "Do you really think he would conjure the Dark Mark?"

"That's right..." Mr. Diggory admitted, then let out a sigh. "My apologies, Harry Potter."

"I didn't lose it here anyway," Harry said, "I didn't have it with me when I reached the woods."

"Alina!" A voice shouted from the other side of the clearing.

When she looked in that direction, she saw her mother running to them as fast as she could. Alina let go of Cedric's hand and embraced her mother when she reached her.

"Mom! You're here!"

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Amelia van Blumenthal asked, desperately checking on her daughter. She wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if anything happened to her daughter. Losing one child had been painful enough, she couldn't go through all that again. "What happened? Tell me, please."

"I'm fine, I promise," Alina said, attempting to calm down her mother.

They both made a few steps forward, separating themselves from the group so that they could have some privacy.

"We were all together in the tent when it happened. Mr. Weasley came to tell us we should run, so we did, but Harry got separated from the group and I couldn't leave him behind. I got lost in the crowd and I was lucky Draco was there to help me—"

"Draco?" Mrs. van Blumenthal repeated, "Draco Malfoy?"

"It's strange, I know," Alina agreed. "But he pulled me out of the crowd right before I would fall to my knees. If it weren't for him, I would have been stepped on, the people weren't thinking clearly and you bet they weren't watching their steps either. Anyway, he warned me to get to the woods fast and to not let them—whoever they might be—catch me. And the oddest part is, I met him in the woods again. And he seemed completely different, Mom. When he helped me at the campsite, he almost looked worried, but when we met in the woods, he was relaxed, as if nothing was going on. He told us we should run and hide, because they're after Muggles. He said something about the half-bloods too."

Mrs. van Blumenthal carefully listened to her daughter as she explained everything that happened, clear concern written all over her face. She didn't like to hear that Malfoy was involved in this and even if Draco was just a child, his presence in the middle of the problem was more than enough for her to know that there was something bad going on. There was always something bad when it came to the Malfoys.

"Mrs. van Blumenthal!" Mr. Weasley called out. "We'll be going back to our tent."

"We'll follow you in just a minute," Amelia said.

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thank you for reading! and thank you for the great support you have shown to this story so far! i love reading your comments & they really keep me going! that being said, i'd like to let you know that if there are any marauders fans here, they should keep a close eye on my account for the next two weeks, because i have something coming for you too! can you guess what it is?

also, please don't forget to read this story using the hoefler font for better aesthetics!