her dreams consisted of dragons and flashes of red and green light. thankfully, her dreams weren't as terrifying as they had been when she dreamed of the dark mark snaking through a sky lit by fire just last week. she hadn't found a need to record this particular dream as she came to the conclusion she was just reminiscing the time she casted a corporeal patronus.

in chipper spirits, elara snuck downstairs to brew coffee.

she was already dressed and ready for the exciting day ahead. uncle ted's old dark grey jacket was snug around her shoulders. of course, elara had to hike up the sleeves or else they'd flop over her hands, but she didn't mind. she liked the feeling of oversized jackets and jumpers; safe and warm.

sat at the worn table with her hands placed on the warm mug, elara watched as the moon and stars slowly began to sink towards the horizon line, waiting for everybody else to wake. sometimes being an early bird and a night owl had its perks.

mrs. weasley came bustling down, looking as stressed as ever. she jumped slightly when she spotted elara sitting at the table. she certainly had not expected the young girl to be up and at it this early. mrs. weasley had also noticed a cup of coffee exactly how she liked it -- two sugars, one cream -- sat across from elara. steam was still rising from the liquid.

"oh, elara dear, thank you so much," said mrs. weasley after taking a sip.

elara smiled at her and turned her attention back to the night sky. she finished the last of her coffee and placed in the sink before briefly washing it out.

mr. weasley came down the stairs and spread his arms out. he was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt. he looked very much like the muggle man that worked at the coffee shop near elara's house.

"what d'you think?" he asked anxiously. "we're supposed to go incognito — do i look like a muggle, elara?"

she nodded, and mr. weasley took a spot at the table and began rifling through the quidditch cup tickets.

mrs. weasley was busy stirring the contents in a large pot on the stove. deciding to make herself useful, elara began brewing coffee for the people that drank it. it was a long and frankly boring process, but the quiet stillness of the house paired with the rising sun and smell of coffee had elara feeling a sense of serenity.

fifteen minutes passed and mrs. weasley had gone upstairs to wake the rest. the coffees were done by then. they were sitting on the counter, waiting to be drank. mrs. weasley returned with harry, ron, fred, and george. they looked on the verge of passing out. harry's usually unruly hair was sticking out every which way, ron had a murderous glint in his tired eyes, fred swayed on the spot, and george kept yawning and yawning.

"you're already up?" asked harry.

elara looked up from her second cup of coffee. she nodded and gestured over to the assortment of mugs sat on the cluttered counter. "i've been up for hours. coffee's over there, by the way."

fred and george, who elara knew to be avid coffee drinkers like her, stumbled their way over to the counter and began to prepare the coffee with creams and sugars. ron didn't like coffee, he always said it was to bitter for him although elara was sure he'd never actually tried it. the dursley's never allowed harry to drink coffee, so he just never picked up a mug. harry had a big sweet tooth like elara. she assumed if he did drink coffee, he'd add four sugars and three creams, or better yet, use muggle flavored creamer.

"where're 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 starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "so they can have a bit of a lie-in."

"so they're still in bed?" said fred grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. "why can't we apparate too?"

"because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped mrs. weasley. "and where have those girls got to?"

she bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her climbing the stairs.

"you have to pass a test to apparate?" harry asked.

"oh yes," said mr. weasley, tucking the tickets safely into the back pocket of his jeans. "the department of magical transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for apparating without a license. it's not easy, apparition, and when it's not done properly it can lead to nasty complications. this pair i'm talking about went and splinched themselves."

everyone around the table except Harry winced.

"er — splinched?" said harry.

"they left half of themselves behind," said mr. weasley, now spooning large amounts of treacle onto his porridge. "so, of course,they were stuck. couldn't move either way. had to wait for the accidental magic reversal squad to sort them out. meant a fair old bit of paperwork, i can tell you, what with the muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind. . . ."

"were they okay?" harry asked, startled.

"oh yes," said mr. weasley matter-of-factly. "but they got a heavy fine, and i don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. you don't mess around with apparition. there are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. prefer brooms — slower, but safer."

"but bill and charlie and percy can all do it?"

"charlie had to take the test twice," said fred, grinning. "he failed the first time, apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?"

"yes, well, he passed the second time," said mrs. weasley, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers.

"percy only passed two weeks ago," said george. "he's been apparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can."

there were footsteps down the passageway and hermione, ginny, andaurora came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy. aurora and hermione immediately moved towards the last two coffee cups. hermione picked hers up without any additions. she had always preferred her coffee black, which elara thought was mental. aurora added in loads of sugar and almost no creamer.

"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. weasley, 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 colored objects zoomed out of george's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped right into mrs. weasley's outstretched hand.

"we told you to destroy them!" said mrs. weasley furiously,holding up what were unmistakably more ton-tongue toffees. "we told you to get rid of the lot! empty your pockets, go on, both of you!"

although mrs. weasley did not direct any of her anger at aurora, aurora still shamefully placed a handful of ton-tongue toffees on the table. she'd been friends with fred and george since first-year, but now that aurora was george's girlfriend, she felt the need to straighten up a bit.

it was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it was only by using her summoning charm that mrs. weasley managed to find them all.

"accio! accio! accio!" she shouted, and toffees zoomed from allsorts of unlikely places, including the lining of george's jacket and the turn-ups of fred's jeans.

"oh a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieked. "no wonder you didn't get more o.w.l.s!"

elara winced. the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. mrs. weasley was still glowering as she kissed mr. weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.

"well, have a lovely time," said mrs. weasley, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer. "i'll send bill, charlie, and percy along around midday," mrs. weasley said to mr. weasley, as he, harry, ron, elara, hermione, ginny, and aurora set off across the dark yard after fred and george.

aurora ran to catch up with the twins.

it was chilly and the moon was still out. only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. harry sped up to walk with mr. weasley, ron still looked murderous, hermione and elara got into a friendly debate about whether or not coffee was better with cream and sugar, and ginny dissolved the argument by asking if she should start drinking the beverage.

they trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. the sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue. elara's hands were freezing. mr. weasley kept checking his watch.

they didn't have breath to spare for talking as they began to climb stoatshead hill, stumbling occasionally in hidden rabbit holes, slipping on thick black tuffets of grass. each breath elara took was sharp in her chest and her legs were starting to seize up when, at last, her feet found level ground.

"whew," panted mr. weasley, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. "well, we've made good time — we've got ten minutes. . . ."

hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitchin her side.

"now we just need the portkey," said mr. weasley, replacing his glasses and squinting around at the ground. "it won't be big. . . . come on . . ."

they spread out, searching. they had only been at it for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent the still air.

"over here, arthur! over here, son, we've got it!"

two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.

"amos!" said mr. weasley, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. the rest of them followed.

mr. weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a moldy-looking old bootin his other hand.

"this is amos diggory, everyone," said mr. weasley. "he works for the department for the regulation and control of magical creatures. and i think you know his son, cedric?"

elara and ginny exchanged looks. cedric diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. he was seeker of the hufflepuff house quidditch team at hogwarts. corrine always thought very highly of him even though oliver didn't seem to like him much.

"hi," said cedric, looking around at them all.

everybody said hi back except fred and george, who merely nodded. they had never quite forgiven cedric for beating their team, gryffindor, in the first quidditch match of the previous year. aurora elbowed the twins' sides roughly and they said hello grudgingly.

"long walk, arthur?" cedric's father asked.

"not too bad," said mr. weasley. "we live just on the other side of the village there. you?"

"had to get up at two, didn't we, ced? i tell you, i'll be glad when he's got his apparition test. still . . . not complaining . . . quidditch world cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of galleons — and the tickets cost about that. mind you, looks like i got off easy. . . ." amos diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three weasley boys, harry, elara, hermione, ginny, and aurora. "all these yours, arthur?"

"oh no, only the redheads," said mr. weasley, pointing out his children. "this is aurora, george's girlfriend, and this is hermione and elara, friends of ron's — and harry, another friend —"

"merlin's beard," said amos diggory, his eyes widening. "harry? harry potter?"

"er — yeah," said harry.

elara expected harry was used to people reacting like this now, but she could tell it made him uncomfortable. his back straightened and a hand ran through his messy raven hair.

"ced's talked about you, of course," said amos diggory. "told us all about playing against you last year. . . . i said to him, i said — ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will. . . . you beat harry potter!"

harry remained silent. fred and george were both scowling again, but their sneers dropped when aurora nudged them in the sides. cedric looked slightly embarrassed.

"harry fell off his broom, dad," he muttered. "i told you . . . it was an accident. . . ."

"yes, but you didn't fall off, did you?" roared amos genially, slapping his son on his back. "always modest, our ced, always the gentleman . . . but the best man won, i'm sure harry'd say the same,wouldn't you, eh? one falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

elara desperately wanted to remind mr. diggory that she had fallen from the stands because of the dementors, but harry seemed to know what she was thinking because he nudged her gently and shook his head slightly.

"must be nearly time," said mr. weasley quickly, pulling out his watch again. "do you know whether we're waiting for any more, amos?"

"no, the lovegoods have been there for a week already and the fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said mr. diggory. "there aren't anymore of us in this area, are there?"

"not that i know of," said mr. weasley. "yes, it's a minute off. . . . we'd better get ready. . . ."

he looked around at harry, elara, hermione, and aurora.

"you just need to touch the portkey, that's all, a finger will do —"

with difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the eleven of them crowded around the old boot held out by amos diggory.

they all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop. nobody spoke. it suddenly occurred to elara how odd this would look if a muggle were to walk up here now . . . eleven people, two of them grown men, clutching this manky old boot in the semidarkness, waiting. . . .

"three . . ." muttered mr. weasley, one eye still on his watch, "two . . . one . . ."

it happened immediately: elara felt as though a hook just behind her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. her feet left the ground; she could feel hermione and harry on either side of her, their shoulders banging into hers; they were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling color; her forefinger was stuck to the boot as though it was pulling him magnetically onward andthen —

her feet slammed into the ground; hermione staggered into her and she fell over; the portkey hit the ground near her head with a heavy thud.

elara looked up. mr. weasley, mr. diggory, and cedric were still standing, though looking very windswept; everybody else was on the ground.

cedric offered a hand to elara, which she gratefully took. she then turned around to pull up hermione when a voice said, "seven past five from stoatshead hill."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

-- i cannot stand donald trump

and his childlike tendencies

JANUARY 8, 2019