Grindelwald and the Alliance had left. Wade stood in the empty campsite, looking around. He waited for a while, but Dumbledore didn't appear.
Was Dumbledore not nearby?
The thought had barely crossed Wade's mind before he immediately crushed that slim hope.
Such a large commotion at the edge of the campsite probably went unnoticed by the Wizards engrossed in the game inside the stadium, as the stadium was heavily warded with Silencing Charms, Shielding Charms, Expelling Charms, and the like.
But for Dumbledore to be completely unaware… that was impossible.
Unless he wasn't at the campsite at all.
Yet, when Sirius informed Dumbledore of the Death Eaters' plans, the Headmaster wouldn't have left it entirely to others. He must have come.
Wade was pondering this when he suddenly heard a burst of noise—the match was over, and a flood of people poured out of the stadium!
The previously dim lanterns in the campsite lit up one by one, and boisterous singing filled the night sky. People seemed to sprout up like mushrooms after rain, filling the area in the blink of an eye.
Some Irish Leprechauns, wearing red waistcoats and sporting mustaches, flew overhead, carrying golden or green lanterns and laughing joyfully.
Wade struggled to move against the crowd, heading towards the tents, when suddenly a hand reached out and grabbed his arm. Following closely, Harry's smiling face appeared before him.
"Hey, Wade, there you are!" Harry exclaimed happily. "Come on, we're going to keep celebrating in the tent!"
"It's such a shame you weren't there!" Michael yelled at Wade, plugging his ears with his fingers. "I guarantee there won't be a more exciting match than this for fifty years!"
"Kids! Kids! You should be going to bed!" Mr. Weasley, pushed to the other side of the path by the crowd, strained to stand on his tiptoes and shout, trying to gather his children back to their tent.
"Alright, Dad! I'll make sure they go to bed early. You go back and rest first!"
A stocky Wizard with dark brown skin wrapped an arm around Ron, Fred, and others, shouting back at Mr. Weasley.
"You're the one I'm most worried about, Charlie!" Mr. Weasley immediately retorted.
Another tall, red-haired man with a long ponytail pulled Mr. Weasley aside and said a few words with a smile.
"That's Bill, Ron's oldest brother."
Seeing Wade look back, Harry introduced him, then pointed to the dark-skinned, red-haired Wizard and said, "This is Charlie, the Weasley Family's second son."
By the time they reached the tent, Wade looked back again and saw that Bill Weasley had not only sent his father back but had also dragged Percy, who originally didn't want to come along, with him.
The eldest son of the Weasley Family was tall, dressed in a trendy Muggle-style studded leather jacket with an earring, and his red hair seemed to dance like flames as he strode forward.
When Wade lifted the flap and entered the tent, he saw that Hermione, Theo, and others had already arrived, moving food and drinks from the kitchen. Kreacher was grilling meat, so busy with the many guests that he seemed to wish he had eight hands.
"This place is yours tonight, kids." Sirius said cheerfully as he put on his coat and headed out. "Go wild, celebrate, just tell Kreacher if you need anything."
"Can we celebrate all night? I don't want to sleep!" Harry shouted.
Sirius raised an eyebrow: "Of course!"
"Ooh—"
A cheer erupted in the tent, and even Hermione, who wasn't so passionate about Quidditch, smiled happily.
Sirius chuckled and left.
Without their parents around, the young people in the room became much more uninhibited. Although Bill and Charlie were strangers to most, their outgoing and carefree personalities quickly helped them blend in.
Even their youngest sister, Ginny, didn't want to go back to the Weasley Family tent, because her father would surely restrict her there. With the entire campsite buzzing with celebration, she had no desire to go to bed early by herself.
"Krum caught the Golden Snitch, but Ireland won! Ludo Bagman even said—nobody expected this outcome!"
Michael said excitedly, sitting down and opening a bottle of beer.
"We did! We guessed it before the match!"
Fred and George happily linked arms, dancing in circles, and even dragged Ron, who was eating, from the table, forcing him to bounce along with them.
"Stop! Stop! You're stepping on my foot!"
Long-limbed Ron cried out loudly, but his brothers paid him no mind.
"Why are they so excited?" Padma asked curiously, picking at some fruit. "Which team do these two even support?"
"Fred and George don't support anyone, they only support their wallets," Ginny explained quietly. "They placed bets with Ludo Bagman before the match and won a lot of Galleons."
"Oh…" Padma suddenly understood.
Ginny gave the pretty girl beside her a friendly smile, then picked up a cup of hot chocolate and sipped it slowly.
Everyone in the tent was older than her, and most excelled in various areas, especially since Harry Potter was sitting not far away, which made the red-haired girl quite nervous.
Whenever this happened, she would glance at Ron, and then her courage and confidence would slowly grow.
Ryan sat next to Wade and said, "I thought you'd definitely go see the match! But you didn't show up all night. You didn't run into any trouble, did you?"
Wade knew that although Ryan didn't like to show it, he was sharp and observant. And since the forest outside the campsite had transformed, everyone would surely discover it at dawn, so there was no need to hide anything.
So Wade lowered his voice and said, "Actually, something happened on the outskirts of the campsite during the match."
Ryan didn't speak, looking at Wade with an inquiring gaze.
Wade asked, "Do you know about the Killing Forest attacking the Quidditch World Cup final in the 19th century?"
"Of course," Ryan nodded.
He had grown up hearing all sorts of strange tales from the Wizarding World and had countless bits of gossip stored in his mind.
"Some Dark Wizards tried to do the same thing tonight." Wade paused, then chuckled, seeing Ryan's eyes widen. "But Grindelwald and the Alliance also came… they destroyed the bewitched part of the forest."
Ryan immediately showed an "I get it" expression and said, "You didn't come to the match because you were with Professor Dumbledore, guarding the outside of the stadium to prevent the Killing Forest from rushing into the arena?"
Wade: "..."
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