Old Blood at Hogwarts

With Hermione's help, Mr. Weasley finally lit the fire, but it would take at least another hour before the fire would be strong enough for cooking.But they were not bored while waiting. Their tent seemed to be right next to a road leading to the arena. Officials from the Ministry of Magic were running back and forth on the road, greeting Mr. Weasley enthusiastically every time they passed by. greet.Mr. Weasley kept making introductions, mainly for the benefit of Aaron, Harry, and Hermione, as his own children were already familiar with the people in the Ministry.

"That's Cuthbert Mockridge, the director of the Goblin Liaison Office... This is Gilbert Whymper. He works on the Experimental Spells Committee. The horns on his head have grown. It's been a while... Hello, Arnie... Arnold Peacegood, is an amnesiac - a member of the Reversal of Contingency Team... that's Bode and Crocker... no comment on their work... …”

"What do they do?"

"It's from the Department of Mysteries. It's top secret. I don't know what they are doing..."

Finally, the fire was burning.They had just started frying eggs and cooking sausages when Bill, Charlie and Percy strode towards them from the woods.

"Just Apparated here, Dad." Percy said loudly, "Ah, great, there's something delicious!"

They were eating eggs and sausages happily, and just halfway through the meal, Mr. Weasley suddenly jumped up, smiled and waved to a man who was striding over and said, "The most important person at the moment! Ludo!"

Ludo Bagman was clearly the most striking person Aaron had ever seen, not even old Archie in his floral pajamas.Ludo wore a long Quidditch robe, which stretched tightly around his big belly. There were wide yellow and black horizontal stripes on it, and a huge wasp was printed on the chest like a splash of ink.It seems that he used to be physically strong, but now he is starting to decline.When he played Quidditch for Great Britain, his belly must not have gained weight.His nose was flat (combined with his previous experience of playing Quidditch, Aaron guessed that he was probably broken by a Bludger), but his round blue eyes and short golden hair His yellow hair and red face made him look like an overly large boy.

"Ah ho!" Bagman shouted happily.He walked with a bounce, as if there were springs under his feet.He was obviously in a state of extreme excitement.

"Arthur, old man." He came to the campfire and panted. "What a beautiful weather, isn't it? The weather is great! Where can you find such weather! There must be no clouds at night... The whole preparation work So organized…I have nothing to do!”

Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry of Magic officials hurried past. There were signs in the distance that someone was playing with magic fire, and purple sparks shot up more than 20 feet high.

Percy stepped forward hastily and held out his hand.Apparently, he was dissatisfied with the way Ludo Bagman was running his department, but that didn't stop him from wanting to make a good impression.

"Ah - yes." Mr. Weasley said with a smile, "This is my son Percy. He just came to work at the Ministry of Magic - this is Fred - no, it's George, I'm sorry - that's Fred. Red - Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter Ginny - these are my children's friends, Aaron Elf, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

Bagman looked slightly surprised when he heard Harry's name, and his eyes immediately glanced at the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Let me introduce you to you," Mr. Weasley continued. "This is Ludo Bagman. You know who he is. We owe it to him to get such a good ticket."

Bagman smiled broadly and waved his hand, as if to say it was nothing.

"Want to place a bet on the game, Arthur?" he asked eagerly, jingling the pockets of his yellow and black robe, which seemed to contain a lot of gold coins. "I have persuaded Roddy Ponteney and me Betting, he says Bulgaria will score the first goal, and considering Ireland's three chasers are the best I've seen in years, I'm giving him big odds. Agatha Timms Jr. puts it Half her Eel Farm shares were on the line, betting that the race would last a week."

"Oh... okay then." Mr. Weasley said, "Let me think about it... I'll bet Ireland a galleon to win, okay?"

"One Galleung?" Ludo Bagman looked a little disappointed, but quickly regained his interest, "Very good, very good... Does anyone else want to bet?"

"They're too young to gamble," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't want to..."

"We bet that Ireland will win, but Krum can catch the Golden Snitch." George said to Ludo Bagman at this time, holding a handful of gold Galleons, Silver Sickles and Copper Knuts.

"Then, add this to the bet." Fred on the side said, taking out a wand.

"Oh, a magic wand. Are you really going to bet on this?" Ludo Bagman said in surprise.

For a wizard, the wand can be said to be the most precious thing besides his own life.Even the poorest wizard would not exchange his wand for money.Now George wants to gamble with a magic wand as a bet, no wonder Ludo Bagman is surprised.

"Of course," Fred said, handing the wand to Ludo Bagman.

Since George is determined to use the magic wand as a bet, Ludo Bagman obviously has no reason to refuse.Ludo Bagman reached for the wand, but just as his fingers were about to touch it, the wand suddenly transformed into a rubber toy.

"Oh!" Ludo Bagman was immediately frightened.

"Haha, that's interesting." Fred said with a smile, "I think it's worth ten galleons."

It was a fake wand.I don’t know how George and Fred hid it.Mrs. Weasley obviously did such an inspection on them before going out, but she still asked them to bring out a fake wand.

"It's just a toy." Ludo Bagman reacted at this time and said, "I think it's only worth a galleon."

"Have you seen anything like this before?" Fred said. "Seven galleons, no less."

After some price adjustments, Ludo Bagman and the twin brothers finally agreed that the fake wand was worth five galleons.

"Children," Mr. Weasley said in a low voice at this time, "I don't want you to gamble...this is all your savings...your mother..."

"Don't be a spoiler, Arthur!" Ludo Bagman said gruffly, jingling the money in his pockets with excitement. "They have grown up and know what they want! You think Ireland Will win, but can Krum catch the Snitch? No way, kids, no way... I'm giving you great odds... plus the five galleons for that ridiculous wand, So, shall we..."

Ludo Bagman quickly pulled out his notebook and quill and scrawled the twin brothers' names while Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly.

"It's done." George took the small strip of parchment handed to him by Bagman and stuffed it into the front of his robe.

Bagman turned to Mr. Weasley with joy and said: "Can you do me a favor? I have been looking for Barty Crouch. The official in Bulgaria who has the same position as me is making things difficult for us, but what he said I don't understand a word of it. Buddy will figure it out. He speaks about 150 languages."

"Mr. Crouch?" Percy suddenly became restless with excitement. "He can speak two hundred languages! Mermaid's, turkey, and troll..."

"Anyone can speak the language of trolls," Fred said disapprovingly. "All you have to do is point at it and make a purring sound."

Percy gave Fred a vicious look and stirred the bonfire vigorously to make the water in the kettle boil again.

After Bagman sat down on the grass beside them, Mr. Weasley asked, "No word yet from Portha Jorkins, Ludo?"

"There's not even a shadow." Bagman said carelessly, "But don't worry, she will appear. Poor old Bertha, her memory is like a leaky crucible, her sense of direction is extremely poor, she must be lost. The letter Believe it or not, one day in October, she will wander back to the office, thinking it’s still July.”

"Don't you want to send someone to find her?" Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively, as Percy handed Bagman a cup of tea.

"Barty Crouch has always said that." Bagman's round eyes opened wide, showing an innocent look, "But there is really no manpower available right now. Ha - just as he was talking, he Here it comes! Barty!"

A wizard suddenly appears at their campfire, creating a stark contrast with Ludo Bagman, who is lounging on the grass in his old Wasps robes.

Barty Crouch is a man in his fifties, with a straight back and stiff movements. He wears a spotless crisp suit and tie, and his shoes are polished.The slit in the middle of his short gray hair was unnaturally straight, and the short beard on his lips looked like it had been trimmed with a slide rule.Aaron understood immediately why Percy admired him.Percy had always advocated strict discipline, and Mr. Crouch followed the Muggle dress code meticulously. He did it so authentically that he could pass off as a bank manager.Aaron believed that if he were placed with a bunch of Muggles, absolutely no one would suspect one of his wizards.