"Dad, don't keep us in suspense. What is this matter that is closely related to us?" George asked anxiously.
"George, you are so naive!" Compared to his twin brother, Fred was a little listless. "What else could be closely related to students like us? It must be exams, homework, assignments, etc...."
"If you ask me, maybe the Ministry of Magic will come up with some new examination regulations, and it will be more difficult to pass the ordinary wizard level examinations in the future. Not to mention the advanced wizard level examinations."
"How dare you mention an exam?" Mrs. Weasley glared at Fred and George when she heard Fred's complaint. "I haven't even talked about you two yet. Why don't you tell me how many OWLs you have passed? The two of you combined don't have as many certificates as Percy alone!"
"Yes, Percy, an excellent intern at the Ministry of Magic—" George said in a long tone, "We have seen that he will bend his back like a shrimp when he meets any small official of the Ministry of Magic!"
"Yes, Percy is the best at this kind of thing. If he meets a senior official at the Ministry of Magic, Percy might be able to wipe the floor with his nose!" Fred said with a laugh.
"Shut up, Fred, George!" Percy's face turned red with anger.
"You have no right to laugh at Percy!" Obviously, Mrs. Weasley was on Percy's side, as he had obtained twelve certificates. "Percy at least has long-term ambitions. What about you?"
"It's fine that you used to think about playing pranks on you guys all the time, but you actually told me that you want to open a joke shop in the future? I think you just want to piss me off to death!"
"Mom, you are discriminating based on your profession! Every profession has its reason for existence." Fred shouted, "Quidditch was originally used as a pastime by wizards, but now it has become a respectable profession!"
"Yes, Mom, you and Dad wanted Charlie to become a professional Quidditch player!" George also protested, "So how can a joke product that is also a form of entertainment not be considered a serious business?"
Mrs. Weisley was stunned.
She glanced at the tents scattered all over the place. These were all spectators who came to watch the Quidditch World Cup finals. For a moment, she couldn't find the words to refute.
At this moment, Mr. Weisley suddenly jumped up, smiled and waved to the man who was striding towards him.
"Come, let me introduce you to one of the most important figures in this Quidditch World Cup final." He introduced Harry and the other children, "Ludo Bagman! He is the head of the Department of Sports and Physical Education."
Ludo also smiled and waved, then walked towards Mr. Weisley.
He was wearing a long Quidditch robe with wide yellow and black stripes, and a huge wasp was printed on his chest like ink.
This is the uniform of the Wimbourne Wasps, for whom Bagman was a very popular batsman in the 1980s.
He looked like a man who had been strong before, but was now declining in stature. His robes were stretched tight over his large belly, and his nose was flat, probably because a Bludger had broken it.
However, although he had gained some weight, his round blue eyes, short golden hair, and rosy face made him still look like an oversized athletic boy.
"Aha!" Bagman cried out happily, bouncing from side to side as if he had bullets under his feet, and it was obvious that he was in a state of extreme excitement.
"Arthur, old fellow," he said breathlessly, as he came to the Weasleys' tent, "what a fine day it is, isn't it? Great weather! Such weather is hard to find! There must be no clouds tonight... The whole preparation is in perfect order... I have nothing to do!"
Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry of Magic members hurried past. In the distance, there were signs that someone was playing with magic fire, and purple sparks jumped more than twenty feet high. They had to stop them and prevent the magic from being exposed to the Muggles.
"Chief Bagman, good morning!" Percy hurriedly stepped forward and bowed deeply.
He bowed too hastily, and his glasses fell to the ground due to inertia.
Fred and George's laughter could be heard nearby.
"What did I say, what did I say!" Fred cried excitedly, "Percy can really wipe the floor with his nose!"
Percy awkwardly picked up his glasses that had fallen to the ground, his face as red as the red charcoal in the campfire in front of the tent.
"Ah, yes," Mr. Weasley smiled and introduced Bagman.
"This is my son Percy. He just started working at the Ministry. This is Fred... No, George, sorry, that's Fred. This is my son Ron, and my daughter Ginny. And this is Ron's friend, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."
"Oh, yes, and Sirius Black, he's Harry's godfather."
Bagman looked slightly surprised at the mention of Harry's name, and his eyes immediately flickered to the scar on Harry's forehead.
Harry was so used to this kind of behavior from others that his expression didn't even change.
When Mr. Weasley read out Sirius' name, Bagman was obviously startled and subconsciously wanted to step back.
It wasn't until he saw that Sirius was not as cruel and crazy as the wanted poster said that he breathed a sigh of relief.
"You must thank Ludo very much," Mr. Wesley continued, "for we got such good tickets thanks to him—"
"Ah, hello!" Bagman smiled and waved. "It's nothing. Arthur and I are old buddies."
"Want to place a bet on the match, Arthur?" he asked eagerly.
Bagman made the pockets of his yellow and black robe jingle, which seemed to be filled with gold coins. "I've persuaded Rody Pontner to bet me that Bulgaria will score the first goal - I gave him high odds because I thought that Ireland's third striker was the best I had seen in years... Little Agatha Timms put half the stock in her Eel Farm on the bet that the match would last a week."
"Oh... well," Mr. Wesley hesitated, then said, "Let me see... I'll bet one Galleon on Ireland to win, okay?"
"One Galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked a little disappointed, but soon recovered his interest. "Very good, very good... Anyone else want to bet?"
"They are too young to gamble." Mr. Weasley stopped Fred and George who were very interested. "Molly won't be willing..."
However, how could Fred and George, two guys who called themselves the gambling kings of Hogwarts, be willing to give up this great opportunity? They took out a handful of gold Galleons.
Ron was stunned watching from the side. He never knew his two brothers were so rich.
"Wait, where did you get so much money?" Mr. Weislai was also stunned.
"We have to thank those generous Slytherin bosses!" Fred said with a smile.
"And Professor Dracula also donated part of the money as a friendly donation," George added.
"Well, no matter how you saved it, listen to me..." Mr. Weisley said in a low voice, "I don't want you to gamble. This is all your savings, you..."
Before he could finish, Mrs. Weisley started scolding him loudly.
"You two are still gambling in Hogwarts?!" She vented all her anger that had just been silenced by the twins here, "I finally know why you didn't do well in the exam. It turns out that you were doing this kind of thing all day long!"
"Well, it's a happy day, don't spoil it, Arthur, Molly!" Bagman said gruffly, jangling the money in his pocket excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want!"
"Well, since Ludo has interceded for them..." Mrs. Weiss hesitated for a moment, then glared at the twins fiercely, "This is just the first time, and it won't happen again!"
Mainly because the Director of the Sports and Physical Education Department was in high spirits, and for the sake of Percy's popularity in the Ministry of Magic, Mrs. Westley compromised once.
"I know, Mom!"
Fred and George jumped up gleefully and told Bagman their choice.
"You think Ireland will win, but Krum will catch the Snitch? No way, kids, that's impossible... I'll give you very high odds... plus five Galleons for that funny wand, okay, then shall we..."
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked on with some concern as Ludo Bagman whipped out his notebook and quill and scribbled the twins' names.
"It's done." George took the small strip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucked it into the front of his robes.
Bagman was in high spirits having landed another big order, and turned to Mr. Wesley with a beaming expression.
"Arthur, can you do me a favour?" he asked. "I've been looking for Barty Crouch. The Bulgarian official I'm dealing with is giving us a hard time, but I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty will sort it out, he speaks about 150 languages."
"Mr. Crouch?" Percy suddenly said. He had just frozen there because of the twins' laughter, and now he suddenly found a topic to insert, "He can speak two hundred languages! Mermaids, turkeys, and trolls..."
"Anyone can speak the troll language," said Fred disapprovingly. "All you have to do is point at it and make a purring sound."
Percy gave Fred a nasty look and went on to discuss with Bagman where Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, might be.
At this moment, a silver-haired figure appeared beside the Weisley family and looked thoughtfully at Bagman who was talking with Percy.
"Hey, Professor Dracula, when did you get here?" Harry was the first to notice the presence of a figure. After seeing who it was, he asked in surprise, "I thought you didn't like Quidditch!"
"I really have no interest in this game itself." Dracula nodded, "But soon, there may be a big fun event near this World Cup venue."
Dracula raised the corner of his mouth in amusement and turned to look at Fred and George.
"Do you really want to bet with him?" he asked the twins. "If you bet your entire fortune, aren't you afraid of losing?"
"Don't be afraid, we have a hunch!" Fred said confidently.
"It's not all a hunch, we still have facts to back it up." George was obviously full of confidence. "In this match, judging from the overall strength of the team, Ireland is obviously more than one level stronger than Bulgaria."
"But Bulgaria has Krum, the best Seeker we've ever seen!"
"Don't worry, Professor Dracula. We've made so many bets, and we've only lost a few times!"
Fred and George looked at each other with laughter, both of them looked confident.
"Is that so?" Dracula thought for a moment, took out a large sack of gold Galleons from his pocket and threw it in front of Bagman.
"Mr. Bagman, place a bet for me," he chuckled. "Just the same as Fred and George."
Bagman, who was originally bragging to Percy, turned his head. When he saw the big sack of gold Galleons, his mouth opened unconsciously, big enough to fit a Quaffle.
Then, Bagman's face showed an uncontrollable ecstasy.
"Ah, no problem, of course no problem! Professor Dracula, right? Don't worry, I will definitely give you a very high odds, just wait and make a lot of money!"
Of course, while Bagman was talking about how Dracula and the twins would make a lot of money, he was actually thinking about how he would make a lot of money this time.
Now that he had obtained enough gold Galleons, Bagman was too lazy to chat and brag with Percy anymore, and even his interest in the Quidditch game had diminished a lot.
Now he just wanted to take these gold galleons back and hide them.
After Bagman left, Fred and George jumped up to Dracula.
"Professor Dracula, do you also think our guess is accurate?" George asked expectantly.
"That's not the case. I just want to see what the director of the Sports Department will do." Dracula chuckled and shook his head. "To be honest, even if you guessed it right, you two may not be able to keep the money you won."
"Ah? Why is this happening?" Fred opened his eyes wide in astonishment. "The Director of the Sports Department wouldn't act like a rogue, would he?"
"That's not necessarily true." Dracula sneered, "I just noticed that his behavior was unusual, so I used Legilimency to take a look..."
"You may not believe this, but Chief Bagman has a lot of gambling debts, and he is just waiting for the Quidditch World Cup final to pay it off!"
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