"I'm sorry, Bagman, but I have to leave today for something." Sirius pretended to be helpless and said, "Please help me settle the remaining Galleons first."
"You're really not staying to watch the Quidditch World Cup final?" Bagman said exaggeratedly, as if he had heard some unbelievable news. "This is the World Cup final, and you're leaving just like that? Harry will be so disappointed. Britain hasn't had a chance to win the trophy for thirty years. This is a rare opportunity."
"No, I have to go." Sirius glanced at Lupin who was packing up, shook his head and said, "However, Harry will stay and continue to watch the final. The Weasleys will come to watch the Quidditch World Cup final today. I have asked Arthur to help look after those children."
Bagman was still somewhat unwilling to let Sirius leave like this, as this guy had won a large sum of Galleons from him and had never lost once.
hateful!
"Look, Arthur is here." Sirius raised his hand and pointed somewhere.
Bagman looked in the direction of Sirius's finger and saw the Weasley-like red hair.
"Well, then why don't you continue betting? Ireland has a high chance of winning this year." Seeing that his way of changing the subject didn't work, Bagman changed his approach: "Little Agatha Timms thinks the final will last a week, and she has bet half of her shares in Eel Farm."
"I agree with you and believe Ireland will win, but I don't think the game will last that long. Krum from Bulgaria is a great seeker. It's hard to imagine that he can't catch the Golden Snitch in a week." Sirius talked to Bagman. Those who didn't know might think that Sirius was once an excellent Quidditch player.
"Honestly, I think Krum is better than Linzi and is more likely to catch the Golden Snitch and end the game, but Bulgaria can easily be left behind by Ireland in terms of points. The gap between the players on both sides is obvious. So far, Bulgaria has been relying on Krum to catch the Golden Snitch to win. Once the score exceeds 150 points, there will be no chance of winning."
"What you said makes sense, so do you want to continue betting?" Bagman said with a smile on his face, "If you bet that Ireland wins but Viktor Krum catches the Golden Snitch, I can give you very good odds. Don't look at me like that, I just want to beat you once. It's really frustrating to keep losing."
"Okay, then I'll add a little more to my bet. I think the Irish team will score first, and the score difference between the two teams will not exceed thirty points after the game." Sirius seemed to be interested and asked Bagman very confidently, "How much odds do you plan to give me for the four points added together?"
"How about this number?" Bagman gestured with the number eight.
"Okay, I'll bet 500 Galleons." Sirius nodded in agreement, "But you have to pay me the remaining gold coins first."
"I thought you were very confident. This is the highest odds I offer. It's a rare opportunity." Bagman's eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.
"It's because the probability of losing is so high that I don't dare to bet everything." Sirius glared at Bagman, telling him to stop. "Well, you should settle the money for yesterday first."
Bagman reluctantly paid the remaining balance, then gave Sirius a piece of parchment and turned around to greet Arthur who was coming over, completely unaware of the slightly raised corners of Sirius' mouth.
Of course, they expected that Bagman might be reluctant to pay back the money, so they made the exaggerated bet just now and used Galleons to collect the remaining part to prevent Bagman from defaulting on the debt in the end.
In order to make sure that Bagman did not use the leprechaun's gold coins to get rid of him, Sirius opened the purse and checked the coins. Although he thought Bagman would not dare to do that, there were some things that had to be prevented.
However, Sirius naturally had an easier way to deal with it. Following Albert's advice, he deliberately let Ludo Bagman see that he hired a goblin to handle the gold coins won from the gambling, and expressed his intention to buy or rent a shop in Diagon Alley.
"Arthur, I'll leave Harry and Hermione in your care." After Sirius greeted Bagman and Arthur, he stepped forward and shook hands with Mr. Weasley.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of the kids," Arthur assured.
"Anyone want to place a bet on the game?" Bagman asked with a big smile on his face.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Sirius won a lot of Galleons from me. He even bet with me that Ireland would win the game and score first, but Viktor Krum would catch the Golden Snitch, and at the end of the game, the score of both sides would not exceed 30 points." Bagman had to use Sirius's deeds to attract everyone. "I gave a very high odds. Does anyone want to follow? Sirius has never lost. He earned thousands of Galleons from me."
"Really?" Fred and George looked at Sirius.
"Well, I've been betting on who will win. The odds aren't high, but I did win some money." Sirius said honestly, "Ireland has a good chance of winning this year. Bagman thinks so too."
"What are the odds?" George asked curiously.
"This number." Sirius made the number eight.
"We'll offer 50 Galleons, the same as Sirius." Fred and George looked at each other and immediately took out a bag of Galleons from their pockets, which contained a share for Ron and Ginny.
"Children, gambling is not a good habit." Arthur Weasley said in a low voice, "and this is almost all your savings."
"Arthur is right. Gambling is not a good habit. If you want to make money, you can invest in the Defense Against the Dark Arts magazine I founded." Sirius remembered Albert's words and couldn't bear to see Fred and George fall into the trap, so he said, "Don't worry about the newspaper losing money. Albert is very optimistic about the publication and even invested a large sum of Galleons, accounting for nearly one-third of the share."
"Don't spoil the fun, Sirius," Bagman eagerly gave the Weasleys a list of names, then turned and asked, "Arthur, do you want to place a bet?"
"Okay, then I'll bet a Galleon... on Ireland to win." Mr. Weasley hesitated for a moment, and finally took out a Galleon from his pocket.
In fact, the wizard was just anxious and didn't want to use his children to gamble. However, their tickets were obtained by Bagman, so he had to give him some face.
"Anyone else want to bet?" Bagman looked at Harry, who seemed about to take out the Galleons.
"Well... if Sirius wants to start a magazine, I'm willing to help out with some money." Harry knew the reason why Sirius started the magazine, so he invested all the Galleons that he had originally intended to use for betting in Sirius's magazine, and Harry planned to invest 100 Galleons.
Since Albert is optimistic about Sirius's magazine, it should not lose money and go bankrupt.
"Don't listen to Black's nonsense. That guy is not short of money at all. The Galleons he won from me are enough for him to publish several magazines." Bagman curled his lips, but was still satisfied with the current result. After issuing the invoices to Fred and George, he turned and left.
"Albert seems to be here with his girlfriend to watch the game." Fred asked Sirius, "Did you meet him?"
"Albert is in the next camp. If you are free, you can help me take the parchment to him so that Albert can take the time to see if there is anything that needs to be modified." As he said that, Sirius handed Fred a few pieces of parchment, on which were their preliminary designs for the magazine.
"If we work fast enough, we might be able to produce the first edition of the Defense Guide magazine before school starts."
"By the way, Bagman," Sirius stopped Ludo Bagman who was about to leave and asked, "If I want to advertise during the Quidditch final, is it too late?"
"This... should be possible, but the advertising fee for the World Cup finals may not be cheap." Bagman frowned and asked, "Your magazine publication has not been released yet, and you are advertising now?"
"The content of the magazine has been roughly finalized. It won't take too long. Besides, it's only the 22nd, and there are still several days until September. Even if we can't get the machine in the end, we can go to Lovegood and borrow his machine." Sirius smiled and said, "As long as I can help make this happen, I'm willing to pay a consulting fee."
As he spoke, Sirius took out ten Galleons from the bag and placed them in Bagman's hand.
"Okay, I'll ask for you, but I can't guarantee that I can be included." Bagman immediately agreed to help. This wouldn't waste much of his time.
This seemed odd to Bagman, but what he didn't know was that it was actually Albert's idea to advertise during the World Cup final.
In Albert's opinion, World Cup advertising is very suitable for quickly gaining fame, and after the game, the Dark Mark is undoubtedly the best publicity. A magazine or newspaper that teaches people how to protect themselves that comes out during a period of panic in the wizarding world will definitely attract everyone's attention. As long as the residents who lack a sense of security are sure that the content of the magazine is effective, they will definitely be happy to subscribe to it, and then they will not be short of money.
Although it would cost a lot of Galleons initially, Sirius was not worried because the gold coins he got from Bagman were enough for them to spend for a long time.
Moreover, Sirius didn't have a good idea on how to quickly become famous, so he chose to trust Albert's judgment and plan. After all, he didn't feel bad about spending the Galleons that he got for free.
What's more, Sirius knew that he had to give Albert enough trust so that the other party would help him plan the publication of the magazine.
"What's going on with the newspapers?" Ginny wondered Ron as she watched Sirius leave with Bagman.
"Sirius is planning to start a magazine or newspaper related to Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ron explained.
"It is said that it was Albert who made the suggestion," Harry added.
"Albert always complains about the poor Defense Against the Dark Arts in the British wizarding world. Even foreign students know this." Fred and George were not surprised. They all knew that Albert had special interests, such as the field of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Alright kids, let's go to the campsite and set up the tents." Mr. Weasley asked everyone to leave with him, "Remus, I'll take them over first."
"Well, goodbye Arthur, goodbye Harry, Hermione and Ron." Lupin waved his wand, quickly and thoroughly put the tent into his backpack, and then stood there waiting for Sirius to come and meet up after he had finished his work and go home together.
"Goodbye, Professor Lupin." Harry and Mr. Weasley left.
"You just placed a bet like that?"
Ron, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked Fred and George
Ron had to care about this.
There was no way out. He had a share of the Galleons that Fred and George bet. If he lost it, he would really become a pauper.
"The possibility is very high. Albert also thinks Ireland will win the championship." Fred and George both felt that Sirius's ability to win a large sum of Galleons from Bagman was related to Albert, especially when Sirius asked Albert to invest in magazines and newspapers. They were certain of this matter. After all, the two had helped Albert before and were not unfamiliar with this kind of operation.
"Stop chatting over there and come over to help set up the tent." Mr. Weasley called the three of them over to help set up the tent. It took them nearly half an hour to finally set up the tent despite Mr. Weasley's help.
"We need some water, and we need to pick up some firewood for fuel." Mr. Weasley said to everyone, "Let's divide the work."
"Dad, we have to go find Albert. And we have a stove, so there's no need to use firewood to make a fire." After throwing down their backpacks, the Weasley brothers took the parchment given by Sirius and slipped away.
"They'll be surprised when they see Albert's tent," Ron muttered. "That guy is weird in every way, and he has some weird house-elves helping to prepare food."
"House-elf?" Ginny asked in confusion. As far as she knew, Albert was a Muggle wizard.
"He must have been hired by Albert!" Hermione said without hesitation.
"Hermione, no one will pay to hire a house-elf." Ron felt that Hermione didn't understand the situation at all.
"Perhaps Albert is an exception." Hermione said stubbornly: "He is very good to people in every way."
"Maybe, that guy is kind of a weirdo." Ron was too lazy to discuss this with Hermione.
"If Mr. Anderson really hired a house-elf, then you'd better remind him to be careful, so as to avoid trouble with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures of the Ministry of Magic."
"Mr. Weasley, can't wizards hire house-elves?" Hermione asked with a frown.
"This..." Mr. Weasley looked a little embarrassed, and lowered his voice as if he was afraid that others would hear him. "There is almost no precedent for this in the wizarding world, because no wizard is willing to waste Galleons to hire them. Of course, as long as no one knows about it and doesn't cause any big trouble, it's actually not a big problem."