It was a long trek up the stairs to their seats for the Quidditch World Cup, and Harry's arms were sore by the time they finished their journey. Overloaded with merchandise and snacks, they clamored into their seats. Sirius had gone a bit overboard in his spoiling, and their group (the Weasleys, Hermione, and Luna) were all bogged down in souvenirs, their view of the field proved that their seats were the best in the arena.
Once the game started, Harry forgot all about his snacks though - the roar of the crowd, the blasts of wind that swept across his face as the players flew at top speed around the field - it was the kind of fast-paced action that Harry adored. He was so focused on the movement of the players that he didn't notice anything unusual until his seat jolted from Sirius jumping out of his chair.
Harry turned to see what was happening. Sirius grumbled, shaking slightly as he peered over the edge of the seats and scanned the crowds.
"Sirius?" Mr. Weasley asked in concern.
"Sorry, someone must have let off some fireworks," he complained, returning to his seat with a final furtive scan over the area. "Loud noises don't agree with me anymore."
"I didn't hear anything," Harry said.
"Don't mind me, these old bones get paranoid nowadays," he said and shoved some popcorn into Harry's face. A food fight ensued - a brief violent tossing of popcorn before excited screams returned their attention back to the game just in time to witness the Ireland keeper miss the Quaffle by the tips of his fingers resulting in another goal.
A quick glance to his side showed that Sirius looked calm again, so Harry let his attention return to the game as the Irish team moved to retaliate. When they scored, Ron grabbed Harry and they shuffled around in an excited sort of dance, screaming along without words to a chant that began to pick up across the stadium.
He heard then, a deep, rumbling boom from somewhere near the ground level which caused Sirius to jolt. Harry grabbed his hand to settle him to which Sirius shot him a grateful look. Harry didn't see any fireworks though. The mascots were arguing very loudly, but they were floating above the air and it had been a heavy boom as though from the earth itself.
Sirius began to mutter. "Fucking old man. God damn, can't even have fun anymore. You're not in a raid. Relax!"
Unsure where the noise was coming from, but not seeing anyone else looking panicked, Harry kept one eye on the game and one eye on Sirius. But the happy adrenaline from the match had soured with an uncomfortable tension. His quickly beating heart was now all he could focus on. He tried to force himself to calm down, just like Sirius, he knew that everything was fine. He was so excited to be here, and now he wasn't even able to enjoy it. There was a faint buzz in the back of his mind, an instinctual warning that buzzed louder and louder with each passing second.
Ron grabbed at him again, screaming. "Holy shit! Krum! Krum!"
The Snitch was caught and the world crescendoed into noise. Harry let himself be swept away into the excitement. The players began to do a victory lap around the stadium, waving and cheering when another thunderous boom echoed and shook the stands so loudly that it bellowed over the noise of the crowd. The cheering quieted down significantly as everyone looked around in confusion. There were still no fireworks. Sirius was out of his seat, wand in hand before the shaking had time to stop. He had a grim, calculating look on his face that frightened Harry. It was not a look he'd seen on the man before, and he couldn't help but assume that because Sirius was acting like that then something had to be wrong. Another boom sounded and Minister Fudge, from a few seats over, cursed as the tallest parts of the stadium buckled slightly, jostling the lot of them out of their seats.
The structure held although the floor beneath them was stuck at a slight angle. Across the field, Harry watched as the rows of seats tilted and buckled like an accordion, a great wail sounded as the pressure snapped steel.
Sirius and Mr. Weasley, both looking concerned, corralled their group down the stairs as the crowd began to increase in volume, the cheering giving way to panic and confusion. Others began to leave and they crowded the steps, pushing and crashing into each other. Harry was shoved hard to the side. He would have face-planted had a firm grasp not yanked on him firmly. Risking a quick glance behind revealed Sirius, who kept his grip on his shoulder.
"Right behind you," he assured him. "Everyone, keep a hold of each other! Where's Hermione?"
Hermione shouted from somewhere behind them. Harry saw Luna a few people ahead becoming separated from them by a horde of screaming children and he pushed some Ministry workers to the side in his haste to reach the girl. Another rumbling boom sounded and panic kicked into full force. The stairs rattled beneath their feet, the joints groaned, the wood creaked and the whole building wiggled like it was made of gelatin. From their cramped stairwell, they could not see what was happening, but screams were coming from the grandstands - piercing, frantic screams and everyone began to evacuate en masse. Harry reached out with a shadow and pulled Luna back to him. She tripped and he caught her by the back of her shirt.
The closer they came to the ground level, the louder the screams became. The building wobbled in increased frequency, the more unsteady the steps beneath them became, some of them giving way entirely. It felt like a miracle that they finally reached the ground level.
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