Of course, Professor McGonagall and the others couldn't just take the students' things for free, even though Kael and his friends insisted it was alright.
Perhaps wanting to support their own students, in the end, each of the three professors bought items worth nearly twenty Galleons. If they hadn't been unable to carry more, they might have bought even more; it was a wild shopping spree.
Whether they needed the items or not, they bought them first and worried later.
After bidding farewell to the three professors, the group continued onward, and they saw a tent with a garden and turret, resembling a small palace.
"So extravagant..." Fred couldn't help but say.
"This must be the largest tent in the camp."
But the tent bore no insignia, and they couldn't recognize whose it was.
As the afternoon passed, excitement spread across the camp like a tangible cloud.
By dusk, more vendors appeared, Disillusioning themselves to locations with the most people, hawking their wares.
Fortunately, by this time, Kael and his friends had packed up their cart and headed towards the Weasley family's camp.
Most of their items were sold, leaving only a few fireworks and flags that they decided to keep for themselves.
The trio waded through the bustling crowd back to their tent.
Mr. Weasley had already donned the things purchased earlier, holding a flag, while others wore various accessories indicating which team they supported.
"Thank goodness, I was just about to look for you." Mr. Weasley said to Fred and George, "The match is starting soon, don't run off."
As they spoke, a low, deep drum sounded from somewhere in the woods.
Thousands of lanterns lit up brightly among the trees, illuminating the path to the stadium.
"It's time to go in." Mr. Weasley said excitedly, "Come on, let's go."
Leading the way, he guided everyone along the lantern-lit path into the woods, where they could hear thousands of people moving around, shouting, laughing, and singing intermittently...everyone was excited.
About twenty minutes later, they emerged from the woods in front of a gigantic stadium.
It was vast beyond sight, and Kael could only see part of the grand, golden walls encircling the field, feeling it could fit ten Hogwarts Castles.
"It can hold a hundred thousand spectators." Mr. Weasley said with a smile, leading everyone to the nearest entrance. "The Ministry of Magic had five hundred staff working on it for a year."
The entrance was crowded with loud wizards, and it took ten minutes in line before their turn came.
"First-class tickets." The Ministry of Magic witch at the entrance said after checking their tickets, "Top-tier box, just keep going upstairs, Arthur, all the way to the top."
"Thank you, Ovi." Mr. Weasley replied, leading everyone up the carpeted stairs, "Stick together, don't fall behind, Bill you're at the back."
"Okay, Dad." Bill responded.
They climbed up, as if scaling Weasel Mountain again, finally reaching the top position.
There were three boxes here, and Mr. Weasley identified the middle one.
Inside were about twenty purple gilded chairs, arranged in two rows, facing the golden goalposts.
They approached the front railing, from where they could view the entire stadium.
The most prominent sight was the gigantic board in the stands, displaying golden text intermittently.
Chrysanthemum: Suitable for the whole family's broomstick...Gladrags Wizardwear, London, Paris, Hogsmeade...
"Oh, someday our Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes advert will appear here..." Fred couldn't help but say.
"An advert here would cost thousands of Galleons." Kael remarked, "Or maybe tens of thousands..."
"That expensive?" George said, wide-eyed.
Mr. Weasley said with a smile, "Don't forget this is the most bustling event in the Magic Realm, nowhere else would you see so many wizards at once."
George pursed his lips and said to Fred, "I think everyone's here to watch Quidditch, no one will notice the adverts."
"Exactly." Fred nodded earnestly, "I think advertising in Hogsmeade would suffice..."
Then everyone refocused their gaze.
Fred noticed Kael hadn't been looking outside, but rather staring at a particular spot.
"What are you looking at?"
Following Kael's gaze, he noticed a House-elf seated in the second to last seat of the second row.
Fred initially thought Kreacher had Disillusioned in, brought by Conna, but quickly realized Kreacher was much older than this House-elf.
"Dobby?" Harry also spotted the elf and instinctively called out.
"Did sir just call me Dobby?" the elf looked up curiously, its voice sharp and subtly trembling, piercing to the ears.
"Sorry." Harry realized he mistook the elf, "I thought you were an elf I used to know."
"But I know Dobby too, sir." the elf said sharply.
Then the box door opened again, and two Aurors entered.
"Oh, Kingsley, Bov..." Mr. Weasley hurried over, "Are you here for the match too?"
"No, Arthur, we're not really watching the match." one Auror shook his head, "We're just here to say hi, we're lucky not to be on duty and to get such good tickets."
"Thanks to Ludo." Mr. Weasley said with a smile.
Kael watched the two Aurors, pondering for a moment, then subtly moved to the elf's side.
The elf was still talking to Harry about Dobby, noticing Kael only when he was beside, seemingly wanting to sit in that spot.
"No, this seat's reserved for master by Winky..."
Amongst a sharp scream, Kael sat down.
The scream grew louder, almost piercing the eardrums.
This commotion instantly drew everyone's attention.
Mr. Weasley turned around and said, "Kael, you're sitting in the wrong spot, our seats are in the first row."
"Oh, sorry."
Kael stood up, naturally moving past the fierce-eyed elf named Winky, through the narrow aisle. In doing so, he accidentally kicked the leg of another chair.
The chair was sent wobbling far, almost toppling.
"Sorry, it wasn't intentional." Kael reached out, righted the chair, and gave it a quick pat.
Winky glared at him, wide-eyed like two dishes filled with chili peppers.
Other than her, nobody paid much mind to the small mishap, and the two Aurors exchanged a few words with Mr. Weasley before leaving.
Conna asked Kael if his foot was okay.
"No worries." Kael shook his head.
He then glanced again at Winky the elf, before sitting in the first-row seat.
...