2098

Hoping to ease back into work and to relieve some post-holiday stress, the Ministry hosted an event in St. James Park. The employees and their families spent the day enjoying a picnic and nature. Three new Department Heads were introduced: James Draper for the Magical Creatures Department, Eliora Dodderidge for Accident and Catastrophes, and Alexa Cambridge was promoted to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The day was concluded with an announcement from Minister of Magic Charles Hollingberry that the United Kingdom would host the Quidditch World Cup and was capped off with some spectacular fireworks that appeared to seek out Senior Undersecretary January Bones who had previously been receiving death threats. Despite thorough investigations, MLE has not yet been able to identify the culprit.

A few months later, the World Cup began with some excitement. In surprise upsets, Ireland and China were eliminated early. India and England quickly pulled ahead in their brackets, beating Bulgaria and Brazil respectfully to advance to the final match.

And what a final match it was!

The British Minister of Magic caused some confusion with his pocket watch and was almost taken out by the teams' Seekers. Despite the excellent broom handling by each teams' Chasers, it was soon apparent (at least to the players) that there was something wrong with one of the bludgers. A few nasty hits and one snitch catch later, the Referee finally realized something was amiss and stopped the game. After replacing the misbehaving bludger, the game resumed. The rest of the game was uneventful and Britain proved that the best offense was a good defense winning the game 160 to 0.

But the excitement wasn’t all on the pitch!

Inside the Ministry itself, the Department of Mysteries continued to have issues, this time with the rock pillows in the Decompression Chamber coming to life and forming a 'rock golem'. Thankfully no employees were hurt. Meanwhile, DERP handed out free plants to each department/level in an attempt greenify the Ministry.

Prior to the World Cup Final starting, a muggle found his way to the campgrounds. However, a kind citizen, some overly ambitious YATI officers, and DMAC quickly corralled the wayward muggle. DMT later determined that the muggle arrived via a wayward port key.

And perhaps the muggle incident kept Law Enforcement busy. Post-match, vendors and fans alike reported items missing. MLE is currently looking into the thefts and, at this time, are uncertain if the incidents are connected.

Who knows what will happen at the next cup? We’ll have to wait another four years to find out.