Chapter 7
"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said someone above them.
Harrison accepted Cedric's hand, and the older boy pulled him to his feet. In front of them were two wizards, one wearing a tweed suit and galoshes, and the other wearing a kilt and a poncho.
"Um, Muggle expert here," Harrison said as he stared at them. "I've honestly never seen anyone wear that before. Those are for walking through huge puddles of mud, that's for heavy rain or snow, and I'm pretty sure only Scots wear that." He gestured to the galoshes, poncho, and kilt.
"Well, you're wearing half a shirt," said the wizard wearing galoshes sourly.
"Yes, because teenagers wear these, sir wizard," Harrison said patiently.
"What would be best outfit, then?" the other wizard asked in a calmer tone.
"Since you're hosting a sports game," Harrison said, "why don't you wear a t-shirt with the name of the Quidditch team you're supporting, jeans, and tennis shoes?"
The kilted wizard pulled out his wand and Transfigured his outfit; he was supporting Bulgaria. Scowling, the other wizard did the same, and he was supporting Ireland.
Mr. Weasley tossed the boot to the wizard supporting Ireland, who threw it into a bin. "Morning, Basil."
"Morning," Basil grumbled. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some... we've been here all night.... You'd better get out of the way; we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five-fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite...." He unrolled the scroll in his hand. "Weasley... Weasley... About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory... second field... ask for Mr. Payne."
The group set off, and Harrison fell in with Cedric and the twins, who were discretely slipping the Hufflepuff a brightly colored toffee. "Are those...?" Harrison asked quietly. Fred and George grinned.
"I don't want to know," Cedric decided, making Harrison snigger.
They split off at the first field, and Cedric promised to say hello on the train. The rest of them headed off down the path.
There was a small house beside them, with a man standing in front of it with a bored look. He was obviously the only Muggle around for miles.
"Mr. Weasley, give me the money and I'll pay," Harrison hissed, and the redhead handed him a stack of Muggle money with relief.
"Morning," the Muggle said boredly.
"Are you Mr. Roberts?" Harrison asked.
"Aye, I would. And who're you?"
"Weasley," Mr. Weasley responded, "two tents, booked a couple of days ago?"
"Aye," Mr. Roberts hummed, consulting a list tacked to the door. "You've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?"
"That's it," Mr. Weasley agreed.
"How much do we owe you?" Harrison questioned.
"Twenty five pounds," Mr. Roberts responded. Harrison handed him the money. "Yer the first to actually pay the right amount," Mr. Roberts hummed, counting out the change. "A couple of idiots tried to pay with gold coins the size of hubcaps."
"We're here for a football game," Harrison told him excitedly. "You know how weird fans can get."
Mr. Roberts snorted in agreement, luckily not noticing the Weasleys' confused looks. "Yeah, that they can. Have fun," he told them, handing Harrison a five pound note and a map.
They headed off. When they were out of earshot, Mr. Weasley said quietly, "Thanks, Harrison. And that explanation will save him from having to get Obliviated a lot."
"Why'd you say we were going to a football game?" Ron asked in confusion.
"Muggles don't know about Quidditch," Harrison reminded him dryly, "but every sport has got really weird fans."
Hermione and Ginny giggled.
They trudged over the top of a hill, revealing several long rows of tents. Many of them were obviously magical; one of them was as big as a palace and had live peacocks teathered on the front lawn.
"Aren't we supposed to be hiding magic from Muggles?" Harrison exclaimed, staring at the peacocks.
"Wizards can't help but show off when we get together," Mr. Weasley chuckled. "Ah, here we are, look, this is us."
At the very edge of the forest at the top of the field was an empty space and a small sign hammered to the ground that said WEEZLY. Harrison's eyes were drawn to a tent beside them -- a huge black tent with constellations on them. There was a sign that said LUPIN out front.
"Professor Lupin is here?" Hermione said in surprise. "I didn't think he could afford..."
Remus emerged from the tent a moment later, wearing a blue sweater and jeans and holding a mug of coffee. He blinked when he saw them. "Cub," he said warmly.
Harrison came over, and Remus gave him a one-armed hug. "Good to see you, cub," he whispered.
"I thought you weren't in Britain!" Harrison exclaimed with a grin.
"I Apparated," Remus said dryly. "It's like teleportation but with the added bonus of nausea," he explained.
Before Harrison could respond, a huge black blur erupted from the tent, bowling Harrison over. He yelped.
"Padfoot, get off of him," Remus complained. Harrison grinned and scratched behind Sirius' ears.
"I didn't know you had a dog, Professor," Hermione said in surprise, her eyes full of amusement. She came over and helped pull Padfoot off of Harrison.
"I only recently got him," Remus shrugged. "Hello, Arthur. Hey, kids."
Fred and George were staring at him with wide eyes. "Your dog's name is Padfoot?"
"Yes," Remus said with a sigh. "And my friends used to call me Moony."
"My dad was Prongs," Harrison told them, "Pettigrew was Wormtail, and he was Padfoot."
Arthur, the twins, and Ginny looked shocked, and they stared down at the huge dog. Sirius grinned, barked, and wagged his tail harder.
"Harrison," Remus said slowly, "what-"
"I told them about Mum's and Dad's wills," Harrison told him. "Both of them said that Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper, and Mum basically outright accused Pettigrew of being a Death Eater. Apparently they were never read, or Padfoot wouldn't have been arrested."
"That explains why I wasn't summoned," Remus said with a sigh. "And the money I got."
"It's good to see you again, Professor," Hermione said.
"I'm not your Professor anymore, you can call me Remus," the werewolf said tiredly.
"Hey, Fred and George made this toffee that makes your tongue grow," Harrison said, and Padfoot perked up. "I bet they have more ideas the ex-Marauders would be able to help them with."
"Fred," Fred whispered to George, "are we dreaming?"
"If we are, George, I don't want to wake up," George responded dazedly.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Come along, Fred-" he raised a brow at Fred "-George-" he gave the other twin a stern look "-we'll take a look at your prank ideas inside the tent."
"We have to set up the-" Mr. Weasley began.
"Do you really want these two helping?" Harrison asked him pointedly, and the twins smirked wickedly.
Mr. Weasley sighed. "Fine."
Fred and George hugged the man and followed Remus and Sirius into their tent.
It took a while to set up the tents Mr. Weasley had brought, given that the only one who had ever camped before was Hermione, but eventually they were standing in front of two two-person tents. Harrison supposed that if there wasn't enough room, he could stay with Remus and Sirius.
It turned out that the tents were a lot bigger on the inside; they both contained kitchens, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. Harrison shook his head; he really should not have underestimated magic.
When the subject of breakfast came up, Harrison suggested he help Mr. Weasley cook, given that he was the best cook there, and at least knew how to cook with a fire (the Dursleys enjoyed Harrison's cooking on the firepit in their backyard). Hermione, Ron, and Ginny went to get water from a tap that was apparently nearby.
Fred, George, Remus, and Sirius reappeared around the time that the three oldest boys showed up. Harrison grinned and handed Bill a plate of eggs, toast, and sausage.
"Thanks," Bill said, returning the grin.
"That smells good," Remus told Harrison, taking a seat between him and Mr. Weasley.
"Thanks," Harrison responded, dishing a plate for Charlie next.
"You don't have to do that, Harrison," Mr. Weasley told him, scooping some eggs onto another plate.
Harrison paused and grimaced. "Sorry, I'm used to cooking everything and dishing it up, then not having any."
"What!" Charlie yelped, while Bill and Percy gave him concerned looks.
"The Dursleys sucked; let's leave it at that," Harrison said calmly, putting a piece of toast on the plate and giving it to the buff redhead.
Hermione, Ron, and Ginny returned at that moment. "Good, I'm starved," Ron groaned, collapsing beside Harrison and grabbing a plate.
"As always," Harrison muttered, earning snickers from the twins and Hermione. Ron ignored him.
They were halfway through their meal when Mr. Weasley suddenly jumped up, beaming. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"
Ludo Bagman was a tall man who would have looked like a youthful school boy had it not been for the potbelly he currently sported and a crooked nose. He was wearing long Quidditch robes with long black and yellow stripes.
"Mr. Bagman, you'd be more believable to Muggles if you put some face paint on, with the colors of the team you're supporting," Harrison told him with a sigh.
"Face paint? I might try that," Mr. Bagman said with interest. "Thank you for the suggestion, ah..."
"Heir Black," Harrison responded. At his startled look, he explained, "Lord Black is my godfather, and he doesn't have any kids."
Mr. Bagman blinked in surprise and glanced up at Harrison's hairline. "Merlin's beard! You're-"
Harrison sighed exasperatedly, earning snickers from the twins, Charlie, and the dog.
Bagman gave him a confused look and turned to Mr. Weasley. "Arthur, old man," he smiled. "What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming... and hardly a hiccough in the arrangements.... Not much for me to do!"
Harrison stared at him, then at the obvious signs of a magical fire in the distance, which was shooting violent purple sparks high into the air. Hermione muffled a giggle into her hand at the look.
"Well met, Mr. Bagman," Percy said pompously, hurrying up to him and holding out a hand for him to shake.
"Well met, Mr. Weasley," Bagman responded, shaking his hand. Harrison, Bill and Charlie echoed Percy, but didn't bother getting up to shake hands.
"Ah, yes!" Percy's dad exclaimed. "These are my kids, Percy, Bill, Charlie, Fred -- no, that's Fred -- George, Ron, and Ginny, Ron's friends, Hermione Granger and Harrison Potter-" Bagman looked confused again at Harrison's full name "-a family friend, Remus Lupin, and his dog, Padfoot."
Padfoot barked and launched into Bagman's lap, earning a yelp and a laugh.
"This is Ludo Bagman, he's the one who helped us get such good tickets," Mr. Weasley said.
Bagman grinned and scratched Sirius underneath the ears. "Fancy a flutter on the match?" he asked, jingling a large amount of coins in his pocket.
Fred and George immediately jumped forward, pouring a handful of coins into his lap. "We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts that Ireland wins, but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch."
"Oh," George added, tossing a wand onto the pile, "and we'll through in a fake wand."
Percy hissed his disapproval, but Bagman picked up the wand and roared with laughter when it squawked and turned into a rubber chicken.
"Excellent! That's the most convincing fake wand I've seen in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"
Fred and George beamed.