Butterfly Effect ; H. Potter

21. the portkey.

Antheia still felt extremely groggy when she was shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley.

"Time to go, dear," she whispered, moving away to wake Hermione and Ginny.

Antheia blinked twice and looked outside to see that it was still quite dark. Hermione rubbed her eyes while Ginny yawned widely.

After Mrs. Weasley scurried out of the room, Ginny flopped back onto her pillow and snored softly. Antheia closed her eyes slowly and leaned onto a nearby wall. Hermione tried to fight the fatigue but fell under her blanket as well, seconds later.

Mrs. Weasley was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He looked up as Fred, George, Ron, and Harry entered, and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly. He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing jumper and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.

"What d'you think?" he asked anxiously. "We're supposed to go incognito - do I look like a Muggle, Harry?"

"Yeah," said Harry, smiling, "very good."

"Where's Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and staring to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

Harry knew that Apparating was very difficult; it meant disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly in another.

"So they're still in bed?" said Fred grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge towards him. "Why can't we Apparate, too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't got your test," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "And where have those girls got to?"

She bustled out of the kitchen and climbed up the stairs.

"Girls, up!" said Mrs. Weasley briskly. "You're going to miss the Cup if you don't get up now. Come on ..."

And with that, she trotted out of the room, muttering angrily to herself.

Antheia, Ginny, and Hermione stood up reluctantly and dressed in silence, too tired to speak. They walked down the stairs slowly, all looking pale and drowsy.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.

"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.

"Walk?" said Harry. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"

"No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasely, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup -"

"George!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and they all jumped.

"What?" said George, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody,

"What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!"

Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said, "Accio!"

Several small, brightly coloured objects zoomed out of Geroge's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed and they sped right into Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand.