Lily, on the other hand, was in high spirits; she had even dressed up specially today. Gary could tell she had drawn her eyebrows and used some cosmetics on her face, making her already beautiful features even more radiant.
Gary was still a bit sleepy. Seeing Lily still leaning on the bed reading "Wizard Weekly" without fear of losing her luggage, he closed his eyes again in the swaying car.
It was only after an unknown amount of time that Lily woke him up.
It was already bright, and Alfrina and Howard were also in the car. The three of them were sitting on Lily's bed playing poker.
"Don't sleep anymore, we're almost at our destination," Lily said with a grin. A long strip of paper was stuck to her smooth forehead, looking like a penalty for losing a game.
Howard woke Kona up. Gary noticed that Alfrina's face was completely covered with strips of paper, densely packed.
If Gary hadn't been so familiar with her golden curly hair, he wouldn't have recognized her.
"Save me, Gary," she said hoarsely. "Why do I always lose?" She pounced over, shoved the poker cards into Gary's hand, and then tore off each strip of paper from her face, pressing them onto Gary's face.
"???" Gary had just woken up, his brain hadn't started working yet, and he was shocked by her action.
"You cheated!" Lily burst out laughing, pointing her slender fingers at Alfrina. "If you do that again, we won't play with you!"
"Oh, I'm going to get you, you little Goblin!" Alfrina pounced back. "Don't think I didn't see what you and Howard were up to!"
"What are you talking about, Alfrina? Don't you dare slander us!" Howard helped the dazed Kona up, glaring fiercely at her.
"You two definitely looked at each other's cards!" Alfrina clawed the air. "Don't even try to deny it!"
Alfrina was clearly going to cheat. Gary knew her rough skill in chess, so he estimated her card-playing level wouldn't be much better.
Alfrina hugged Lily's body, her head still rubbing against Lily's shoulder. Lily's red hair and Alfrina's golden hair intertwined, indistinguishable.
The two girls had become so close, their relationship very intimate, at some unknown point.
Kona finally sobered up after drinking some ice water, and she leaned by the window, looking at the scenery outside the car.
As Gary pulled off all the paper strips stuck to his face, he heard Pool's voice.
"Ministry of Magic guest entrance has arrived. Passengers getting off, please exit."
The five people stumbled out of the car, carrying their suitcases.
The car door closed quickly, and then with a crisp sound, the car disappeared.
"We are thirteen minutes early," Howard said, raising his hand to look at the watch on his wrist.
"Is this the place written on the Portkey Pass?" Alfrina looked around.
It was a dead-end alley with two old streetlights, a red-painted public phone booth, and a huge dumpster overflowing with garbage, emitting the smell of rotting food mixed with various other refuse.
"The pass was issued by the British Ministry of Magic, and it says the destination is the Ministry of Magic guest entrance," Gary shrugged. "I feel like they don't even know the exact location themselves."
Just then, a typical middle-aged British man with a bald head walked out of the phone booth. He was wearing a black trench coat in the middle of summer, and his domineering, cool, and awesome appearance truly stunned the five of them.
"I am a staff member from the Portkey Office of the Department of Magical Transportation at the British Ministry of Magic. Your five names are Howard White, Kona Evans, Gary Shafiq, Lily Evans, and Alfrina Greengrass, correct?"
He pulled out a long scroll of paper from his trench coat. Gary didn't know where he had put this scroll, but it should have their five portraits on it. The bald man used the scroll to compare it to each of their faces.
After the comparison was complete, he rolled up the paper, tucked it back into his trench coat, and then pulled out a tattered Muggle hat—a blue wool knitted hat with two large holes in it, so ugly and broken that no one would pick it up if it were thrown on the street.
"Two more minutes, everyone put your hands on it," he instructed the five to form a circle, each reaching out to grasp the hat tightly.
"Time's almost up," he mumbled, the morning sun shining particularly brightly on his large forehead. "Destination: Quidditch World Cup Final venue in Lyon, France..."
The blue hat began to glow with a faint blue light.
Seeing this, everyone gripped the hat tightly. The next moment, their navels were sharply pulled, and their bodies flew into the air.
By the time they reacted, they had already fallen to the ground.
"Guests from London, Britain, welcome to Fuveau Mountain, Lyon, France." This time, they were greeted by a girl whose English was not very fluent, so it would take them some time to understand what she was saying.
However, she was beautiful and lovely, with flawless skin, clear sapphire-blue eyes, and long golden hair that reached her waist. Her big eyes blinked, radiating charm.
Howard was clearly captivated, a look of longing on his face.
"I am Apolline Delacour, an employee of the French Ministry of Magic. You can call me Apolline. I am entrusted by the International Wizarding Federation Quidditch Committee to arrange your itinerary for the next few days," she tilted her head, looking at the documents in her hand. "Your organization's name is 'A Maverick Pig,' correct?"
Her English pronunciation was truly hilarious, but she herself was unaware, and her serious demeanor made her even cuter.
Gary felt he couldn't look at her anymore, or he would eventually be enchanted by her.
He turned his head to look at Alfrina. Compared to Apolline's beautiful and delicate features, Alfrina's face made him feel more comfortable.
This also included the acne on Alfrina's forehead.
Alfrina noticed his gaze, turned her head, and glared fiercely at Gary, even grinding her teeth threateningly.
"Yes, we are the guests you are receiving... Apolline, may I ask if you have a partner?" Howard was truly completely captivated by her, his eyes fixed on Apolline's face as he asked the question.
"...I apologize, I am already married. What is your name?" Apolline handled the question with incredible ease, apparently having been asked such questions often.
"Ah... what a pity. I'm Howard White, just call me Howard." Howard tried to ask more, but he was elbowed in the waist by Lily and Kona, who were beside him.
After introducing themselves, the group followed Apolline with their luggage, letting her lead them back to the city.
"Tomorrow night, we will hold the Quidditch World Cup Final here, with the United States and Brazil as the opposing teams. We expect 100,000 spectators to attend."
Apolline pointed from east to west, indicating a huge open space in front of them, where hundreds of people were building spectator stands.