>> The Owl Post
CUP CONTENDERS! Sirius Black spotted in Spain? Is the mad murderer making merry in Madrid?
The countdown to the Quidditch World Cup final has begun, and with it speculation over the line up in this clash of the titans: Ireland versus Bulgaria. Injury withstanding, Ireland have a strong trio of Chasers in the form of Troy, Mullet and Moran, which should see them into some serious point-scoring (if their performance against Peru is anything to go by), although much could depend on the unrelenting arm of Bulgarian Beater Volkov. Connelly, Ryan, Quigley and Lynch make up the rest of the Irish team – one of the strongest in decades.
Dimitrov, Ivanova, Zograf, Levski… the Bulgarian team might not boast the all-round ability of their opposition, but with a defensive strategy that can only be described as fierce (notorious Beater Vulchanov joins Volkov) they are certainly in with a chance, not least because of rising star Viktor Krum. Throughout the tournament, the eighteen-year-old super Seeker has proved he is more than a match for the elusive Golden Snitch; whether he is more than a match for Irish Seeker Lynch, remains to be seen.
The Lynch-Krum battle is unlikely to be the only one on the pitch: expect fireworks from the team mascots as they rally in support of their Quidditch champions. Natural crowd-pleasers the leprechauns will, no doubt, shower the crowd with shamrocks and their own very special brand of gold, but the Bulgarian Veela are not to be outdone! Beautiful, iridescent-skinned young women they may be, with the power to transfix every man in the stadium, but they are hot-headed and easily provoked. If the leprechauns get too big for their tiny buckled boots, match officials will have a hard job refereeing the mascots, never mind the match!
Despite the thirty-year lapse since Britain last hosted the World Cup, a source at the Department for Magical Games and Sports has assured us that the enormous operation to stage the event is well underway. “The Ministry’s primary concern has been the potential for Muggle interference,” he said. “…we have implemented a number of charms for anti-Muggle security and we will have Ministry officials onsite to modify Muggle memories as necessary.” Even with such measures in place, the Ministry is keen to stress that ticket holders must observe Muggle tradition in both clothing and behaviour throughout the duration of the Cup final. Officials are likely to be overwhelmed organising portkeys (and other transport), avoiding Muggles, and managing mascots, but with tickets already sold out, this promises to be a World Cup to remember.
And apparently, the Quidditch Cup is not the only cup to be played for this year… unconfirmed reports suggest that the impending arrival of students from illustrious foreign schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang at our very own Hogwarts is indicative of more than just friendly inter-school relations; rumours are rife that harebrained headmaster, Dumbledore, has convinced his foreign counterparts, Karkaroff and largess lady Madame Maxime, to put forward selected students from their own schools to compete against a Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament.
This event has not been staged for over a century, and with good reason: unqualified wizards pitting their wits and performing advanced magic resulted in a great number of deaths, and injuries gruesome enough to warrant a spell in St Mungo’s (Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries), during the Tournament’s six hundred year history. Why enter, you might ask? The attraction of a good deal of prize money and instant notoriety was enough to keep a constant stream of contestants from each of the three schools. Perhaps Harry Potter will put himself forward; who better to face the perils of the Triwizard Tournament than ‘the boy who lived’?
The Ministry have refused to confirm whether or not rumours about such a Tournament are true (indeed, when asked, one junior employee was rather more interested in telling us about his forthcoming report on cauldron bottom thickness!). Only one thing is certain, if there is a story to be told, The Daily Profit’s own Rita Skeeter will be on the case. The acid-quilled reporter never misses an opportunity to inform ordinary witches and wizards about extraordinary stories - she must be a regular at Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour because one scoop is just never enough!
By Charity Wilson