Fred and George's hopes of the game lasting five days didn't come to fruition in the end.
One hour into the match, Ireland's Lynch spotted the Golden Snitch, and Krum also saw it at the same time.
The little golden ball with wings was hovering about five feet off the ground.
They dived down at an incredible speed.
"They're going to crash into the ground!" Hermione screamed.
"They won't!" Ron said confidently, "Krum is the best Seeker!"
"But Lynch will!" shouted Harry, Cedric, and Charlie almost simultaneously.
They were right, Lynch hit the ground hard for the second time.
The Veela were thrilled, shrieking with laughter at the Leprechauns.
Krum, at the last moment, steadied his broomstick, skimming over the ground before ascending lightly and raising his fist high with a glint of gold between his fingers.
"Krum has caught the Golden Snitch! The game is over!" Harry shouted.
The scoreboard flashed the score, 170:160
"Ireland has won!" Bagman yelled, though there was an evident trace of confusion in his voice, as if bewildered by the game's sudden ending.
"Krum caught the Golden Snitch, but Ireland has won... My goodness, I don't think anyone expected this outcome!"
Not only him, most of the Bulgarian supporters were just as confused.
To them, Krum had successfully blocked Lynch, so he should have refrained from catching the Golden Snitch until his teammates could reduce the score difference to within one hundred and fifty points.
That's how it had been done in past games.
Like last time, the game lasted five whole days because the score gap was just too large… The trailing Seeker kept delaying and trying to prevent the opponent from catching the Snitch in every possible way.
But Krum... Many felt that ending the game with Ireland leading by one hundred and sixty points was simply foolish.
"Perhaps he knew the score couldn't be caught up." Kai said, looking at Ron, whose face was full of regret. "The Chasers were too far behind; his judgment was right, ending the game now was the best choice."
Losing by ten points, though regrettable, sounds better when you say it, at least you can call it a near-win.
If they kept playing and ended up losing by five hundred or even a thousand points, that would be embarrassing.
And it wouldn't only be embarrassing, the players' reputations would plummet, so stopping the game now was the right choice.
Kai looked back towards the stadium.
The Leprechauns were giddily darting through the air, but they could still vaguely see Bulgarian players gathered around Krum, shaking their heads, looking dejected.
Not far away, the victorious Ireland team players danced joyfully, their mascot showering everyone with a rain of Gold Coins again.
The Veela had returned to their original beautiful forms, but they all looked despondent, with worried brows.
"I must say, we fought bravely." A heavy voice came from behind Kai, it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.
"Yes, indeed..." Fudge said instinctively, but then he suddenly paused.
"Did you just... wait a minute, so you could understand me all along, while I was here gesturing all day long!"
"Hey, it was quite fun, wasn't it?" The Bulgarian Minister shrugged, said.
Fudge was none too pleased, even when presenting the trophy to the champion team; he didn't look very happy.
Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Minister kept smiling as if they were the winners.
At this moment, Bagman once again pressed his wand to his throat, "Quietus."
"I dare say this game will be talked about for years." He said hoarsely, "Such an unexpected turn of events... Pity the match didn't last longer."
He glanced downward.
The game was over, and it was time to leave the stadium, but some people weren't leaving; instead, they were moving towards the top-floor box, which was the complete opposite direction from the exit.
They were mostly adorned with clover decorations, chatting and laughing among themselves.
Bagman noticed them too, his face suddenly turning somewhat grim.
"Sorry, Arthur." He stopped his conversation with Mr. Weasley, "I've got some business to attend to, see you next time."
Saying so, he quickly left the box, disappearing into the crowd in a blink.
Mr. Weasley led the others downstairs as well.
"Hey, Arthur." At the exit, a bearded wizard intercepted them, "Did you see Ludo? I remember you were just at the top-floor box."
"He left right after the Minister presented the trophy." Mr. Weasley said, "What's the matter, Owo."
"Nothing much." The bearded wizard said happily, "It's just that generous Ludo is going to pay what he owes me for the tickets, Ireland won, and the match lasted less than a day... He lost fifty Galleons to me!"
"Well, congratulations." Mr. Weasley replied with a smile.
"Haha!" The other laughed, waving his hand, "I'll go find Ludo, see you next time."
"See you next time."
...
By the time Mr. Weasley and Kai finally made it back to the campsite, it was very late, but this didn't affect people's celebratory mood in the slightest.
Songs were rough and loud in the night sky, Leprechauns kept flying overhead with lanterns in hand, laughing heartily.
"Can we head back now?" Kai asked, looking at the thick night.
"I'm afraid not." Mr. Weasley shook his head, "Nobody expected the game to end so quickly, and it will take some time to distribute the Portkeys."
"What about Disillusionment?" Kai continued.
"No can do." Mr. Weasley said, "Most areas here have Anti-Disillusionment Charms, and there are Ministry staff patrolling around; only the clearing we arrived at is open, look over there..."
He pointed forward.
A long line stretched towards the campsite entrance, seemingly endless.
Kai frowned.
"What's the matter?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"It's nothing." Kai said, "It's just too noisy around here; I feel like I won't be able to sleep."
"Oh yes, you're right." Mr. Weasley mumbled, "Lucky for me, I'm not on duty; I won't have to persuade them to cease celebrating victory, otherwise, it would be unimaginable."
He looked at Kai, pondered for a moment, then said: "Alright, you're right, it indeed isn't a good place to sleep here... I'll go find Arnold, and if he agrees, we'll Disillusionment back outside the campsite."
With that, he left the tent.
Kai stood at the entrance for a while.
From the other side of the campsite, songs and strange banging sounds still echoed throughout the night sky, seemingly set to celebrate the victory all night long.
...
Twenty minutes later, Mr. Weasley finally returned.
"What is..." Kai just started to ask, but was pushed back into the tent.
"Quick, get everyone awake!"
Mr. Weasley's expression was grave, "Someone attacked Arnold, and I happened to see him being taken down in the woods by a hooded figure."
"Who!" Bill, not yet asleep, immediately pulled out his wand.
"I don't know, couldn't see the face." Mr. Weasley shook his head, "I've alerted the Aurors, until they find the culprit, we should best stay inside the tent and go nowhere, that's also Scrimgeour's directive."
"It must be those Bulgarian supporters." Bill said angrily, "They lost the match, so they want to cause trouble to vent their dissatisfaction!"
Mr. Weasley didn't say anything, but inwardly, he also inclined towards this answer.
Everyone was awakened, they dressed and packed their belongings, and sat inside the tent, waiting.
This incident also spurred a sense of danger in Mr. Weasley, worried that those with nowhere to vent their post-defeat frustration would cause more trouble; he planned to leave immediately once the Aurors found the perpetrator.
"Really, what are those people trying to do, why now of all times." Ron yawned and complained.
He was too sleepy, his head bobbing at the small table, "Aren't they afraid of getting caught by Aurora..."
Before he finished, Kai suddenly noticed the sound outside had changed.
The singing stopped, and turned into screams and the chaotic sound of people running.
"Arthur!" someone pulled open the tent flap, it was one of the two Aurors who had appeared in the top-box earlier.
He spoke quickly, "There's something wrong, there's too many of them, be careful!"
With that, he hurried off with his wand.
"Let's go!" Mr. Weasley decided promptly, "Leave here quickly!"