The Revival of the Phoenix

The Revival of the Phoenix

Chapter 1

Mayhem at Montrose

The sun shone brightly in the sky, increasing the discomfort of the fifty thousand people crammed into the quidditch stadium at Montrose. Birds chirped feebly, weakened by the intense heat, and even the most enthusiastic of butterflies stood quite still, protected by the shade of the trees surrounding the stadium to hide it from the view of Muggles.

It was nearly time for the opening of the quidditch season. In ten minutes, Puddlemere United would be taking on the Montrose Magpies, and as these were two of the best teams in the League, spectators eagerly looked forward to a dazzling display of their favourite sport.

As the people waited impatiently for the whistle to blow, vendors flew around the stadium on broomsticks, selling their wares to the fans. Large hats with magpies on them were screeching loudly, and enchanted Grindylows were dancing on the hats of Puddlemere United supporters, occasionally stopping to try and decapacitate the magpie closest to them.

Just as the surly ticket collector made to close the large, golden, wrought iron entrances gates, a tall redheaded man burst through the woods, panting.

"Got...lost...here...ticket...let in..." he wheezed, clutching his chest with one hand, and holding out the other to give the ticket collector his ticket. The latter peered at it closely before saying "They was expecting you half an hour ago, Mr.Weasley. There won't be no time for your speech now, sir."

"Really? That's gr... I mean, extremely disappointing, yes, yes, extremely so," he replied, fighting hard to conceal a grin.

The ticket collector glared at him for a while. "Top box, sir, just go right on past Stands 1 through 5 and take the stairs on the opposite side of the third stand from the left when you turn towards the east, when you reach the third floor, take the seventeenth spiral staircase which will take you one floor higher, which is where you take the fifth passageway on the right, and there you are in the Top Box, sir, that's the shortest way."

Ron Weasley stared open-mouthed at him for a while. Recovering his senses, he said "Or, you know, I could just apparate."

There was a loud crack and he was gone, leaving the ticket collector looking extremely miffed.

*

Ron hurried forward into the magically cooled Top Box. Twelve heads turned to look at him in unison. He looked amongst them for someone, and spotting her disgruntled face, rushed forward to the front row of purple velvet seats.

"What kept you so long Ron? I thought you were going to miss the start of the match. Sit down, Lee Jordan will be upstairs any minute," said Hermione Granger.

Ron didn't reply. He was goggling at the slouched, somewhat grouchy looking man sitting to the right of Hermione.

"You!" he said hoarsely. "You're Viktor Krum!"

Krum looked up, as though he had only just noticed that Ron was standing there.

"Ah! Yes, I remember, you are Veezly, no? Yes, you are a friend of Hermowninny, eh? I met you at the Trivizard Cup nine years ago. I vas here for some business two days ago, and I thought I vould see some quidditch. Why are you meeting Hermowninny?"

Ron opened his mouth to reply, but no sound escaped his lips. As Lee Jordan, the commentator, Apparated into the Top Box, Ron seated himself on Hermione's left, though she was sure he would have sat between the two of them, had the opportunity presented itself.

Lee turned around to face them and winked.

"Ready then? I can't wait. Imagine me working for the National Quidditch League! To think that just eight years ago I was commentating at Hogwarts quidditch games. Professor McGonagall seemed reluctant to give me a recommendation letter, though, for some reason. I always thought I'd be a dragon-killer, I never--"

Hermione cleared her throat loudly. "Er... the match, Lee?"

He looked puzzled for an instant, before he made a sudden lunging movement and ran into the commentary box.

"Great Scott! Sonorus, " he said, tapping his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Game 1 of the National Quidditch League!" There was a roar of approval from the crowd, who jumped to their feet and began applauding loudly as the giant scoreboard began to flash the pictures of the players on both teams.

"Before we begin, let me introduce to you our dignified guests in the Top Box. Ronald Weasley, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and his charming escort, Auror Hermione Granger! Bulgarian international quidditch player, Viktor Krum! Head of the Broken Bones Bludger Company, Ludo Bagman! Head Obliviator for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Gilderoy Lockhart! Chief Unspeakable for the Department of Mysteries, Penelope Clearwater! And of course, Minister for Magic, Percy Weasley and his Chief Assistant Terry Boot! Auror Ginny Weasley and her escort Chairman of Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee Dean Thomas! Herbologist Neville Longbottom! Editor of the Quibbler and associate magazines, Luna Lovegood! And finally, Irish Minister for Magic, Malaudius Bowinkle!"

" So, now all formalities concluded, I present to you, the mascots for the Montrose Magpies!!!"

An enchanted darkness fell over the stadium, except for a dome of light at the center of the quidditch pitch. Two huge magpies (wizards with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Concealment Suits on) suddenly flew into the stadium on broomsticks, much to the delight of the crowd, and began performing a series of astonishing acrobatics in the illuminated dome at the center. They flew off to raucous applause.

Next, the Puddlemere United mascots, seven tall Grindylows (once again men in Concealment Suits) marched onto the pitch and went on to entertain the fifty thousand fans with a tap dancing routine.

Ron kept shooting surreptitious glances at Krum, and kept his arm firmly around Hermione's shoulders, sending a crystal clear message to Krum. Hermione seemed to be torn between amusement and annoyance.

"And now, for the home team, I give you the Montrose Magpies! Davies! Rochenstein! Harley! Barry! Layfairer! Zabini and Listerdale! "

Seven figures in robes of black and white zoomed into the stadium on their broomsticks. The seeker Listerdale immediately detached himself from the group and soared high above the ground, evidently wanting to stay out of the way as much as possible.

"And now, I give you the defending champions, Puddlemere United! Wood! Nolan! Bakshi! Vector! Creevey! Creevey and Irving!!!"

Seven navy blue blurs streaked out into the stadium. Irving too, followed Listerdale's lead and separated himself from his teammates and flew very quickly along the edge of the stadium.

"And here comes the referee, Claude Wiseman!" A mournful looking wizard walked onto the pitch with a broomstick in one hand and a gleaming metal box in the other. He set the box on the ground, and beckoned the teams to the ground. The players now stood opposite each other, with the box containing the balls on the ground between them. The referee bent down and lifted the lid before undoing the straps that restrained the four balls. The Bludgers and Golden Snitch sped out immediately. The referee tucked the Quaffle under his arm, and mounted his broomstick. He blew the whistle, and there was a huge cheer as the teams rose into the air.

"They're off!" roared Lee excitedly. "Harley takes the Quaffle, passes it to Barry, back to Harley, Rochenstein shoots, WHAT A SAVE BY WOOD! That man has come a long way! Wood passes to Nolan, Nolan to Vector, nicely placed Bludger that from Layfairer, Vector drops the Quaffle, caught by Rochenstein, brilliant pass to Barry, BARRY SCORES!!!"

There was a huge roar from the crowd. The scoreboard read MONTROSE 10 PUDDLEMERE 0.

"Great Bludger work there by the Creevey brothers, they've forced Listerdale to keep changing course. Bakshi has the Quaffle, Bakshi to Nolan, Nolan to Bakshi- GOOD LORD! LOOK AT THE SEEKERS!!!"

A hush fell over the stadium as everyone turned to watch the two seekers, Listerdale and Irving, who had gone into a dive. They were neck and neck. Irving took his right hand off his broomstick and reached out. His fingers closed around the tiny ball...almost. Listerdale had poked his finger in Irving's eye, thus preventing an early end to the game. A mixture of applause and angry yells filled the air.

"Penalty to Puddlemere United!!!!! I must confess I'm not disappointed though, hoping for a long game, here! Vector takes the penalty. He SCORES!!!"

Inspired by their seeker's dirty work, the Magpies began playing with a new ferocity. Puddlemere United were, however, equal to the task. Oliver Wood pulled of a series of astonishing saves, to keep the score as close as possible.

Three hours later, however, most people were losing interest, and struggling to stifle yawns. Gilderoy Lockhart had left the Top Box and was signing autographs in the crowd. Viktor Krum had left, much to Ron's relief, and so had Percy Weasley and Terry Boot, accompanied by Penelope Clearwater. Neville was dozing in his chair.

Ron glanced at Hermione wearily, and said "Lets leave shall we?" Hermione nodded assent, looking extremely thankful. With a final look at the giant scoreboard, which now read MONTROSE 820 PUDDLEMERE 830, they left the Top Box, and Disapparated to the entrance gates.

"Lets walk, shall we?" said Hermione. Night was falling, and a pleasant breeze began to lap their faces.

"Yeah, all right," agreed Ron.

They began to walk on the narrow, winding dirt path that would lead them out of the woods. After about fifteen minutes of walking, Hermione suggested that they rest for a while. They sat down against the bark of a large tree.

"Well?" Ron demanded, and it was obvious he had been bursting to say this for a long time, "What did Krum want?"

Hermione threw him an exasperated look. "You're not still on about that are you? Don't worry, he doesn't want to marry me or anything. He's already married, you know."

Ron could have screamed out loud with delight. "Already married? BRILLIANT! When?"

"He married his third cousin in October. He invited me, but I had to hunt down those serial killers in Borneo, so I couldn't go."

"Too bad." Ron grinned.

She sighed. She looked up at the full moon, and pondered to herself. "Where do you think Harry is now?"

"Well, he said he had to investigate something for Dumbledore. Apparently, funny stuff's been going on. Draco Malfoy," he made a sour face, "and some other ex-Slytherins have gone missing. Some dangerous creatures have been stolen from various countries. Dumbledore thinks a new Dark Wizard may be on the rise. I don't reckon anyone could be as bad as You-Know-Who, but Dumbledore's not taking any risks."

"Why didn't he tell me all this? I'm an Auror too, you know. Or you could have, at any rate." She looked quite peeved.

"Aw, Hermione, let me make it up to you." He leant forward, but Hermione jumped up with a scream. She was staring over the trees in the direction of the Quidditch stadium, with a horrified expression on her face.

"What?" said a mystified Ron. He turned back to look, and what he saw made his blood freeze in his veins. High in the sky above them, twenty figures were flying towards the Quidditch stadium. They were enormous dragons of various species, and even worse, masked figures dressed in gray were perched precariously on their backs. The stadium was being attacked.