Old Blood at Hogwarts

"Sit down and rest for a while, Barty." Ludo said happily, patting the grass next to him.

"No, thank you, Ludo." There was a hint of impatience in Crouch's voice, "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians insist that we add twelve more seats to the top box."

"Oh, so they want this!" Bagman said. "I thought the guy was going to ask me to borrow a pair of tweezers. The accent was too strong."

"Mr. Crouch!" Percy was so excited that he couldn't even breathe.He leaned forward in a bow that made him look like a hunchback. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh." Mr. Crouch looked at Percy with slight surprise, "Okay. Thank you, Weatherby."

Fred and George laughed so much that they almost squirted their tea in their cups.Percy's ears turned pink and he pretended to be immersed in tending the teapot.

"By the way, there's something I've always wanted to tell you, Arthur." Mr. Crouch's sharp eyes fell on Mr. Weasley again, "Ali Bashir raised a provocation. He wants to talk to you about something. Your ban on flying carpets.”

Mr. Weasley sighed heavily: "I sent an owl to him last week specifically to talk about this. I've told him a hundred times: carpets are defined on the Prohibited Magical Items Register as Muggle artifacts. But will he listen?"

"I doubt he will," said Mr. Crouch, taking a cup of tea from Percy. "He can't wait to get the flying carpet out here."

"But the flying carpet will never replace the broomstick in Britain, will it?" Bagman asked.

“Ali thought there was a niche in the family transportation market,” Mr. Crouch said. “I remember my grandfather had an Axminster pile carpet that could seat twelve people on it. But, Of course, that was before flying carpets were banned."

He seemed to want everyone to believe that all of his ancestors strictly followed the law.

"How are you, are you busy enough, Barty?" Bagman asked cheerfully.

"Busy," Mr. Crouch said dryly. "Organizing and arranging portkeys across five continents is no easy task, Ludo."

"I take it you're all just keen for this to be over soon?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Ludo Bagman was shocked: "I wish? I have never been so happy... But there is no hope ahead, right, Barty? Well... there are many activities to be organized, right?"

Mr. Crouch raised his eyebrows at Bagman: "We promise not to announce it until all the details..."

"Oh, the details!" Bagman waved his hand disapprovingly, as if to ward off a swarm of mosquitoes. "They signed, didn't they? They agreed, didn't they? I'll bet you these kids will find out soon. .I mean, it happened at Hogwarts..."

"Ludo, you should know that we need to go see those Bulgarians." Mr. Crouch said sternly, interrupting Bagman. "Thank you for the tea, Wetherby." He drank a sip. The teacup he drank was put back into Percy's hand, waiting for Ludo to get up.

Ludo struggled to his feet and drank the tea in one gulp, the galleons clinking merrily in his pocket.

"See you later!" he said. "You're in the top box with me - I'm the commentator for the game!"

Ludo Bagman waved goodbye, Barty Crouch nodded faintly, and then both of them disapparated and disappeared.

"What's going on at Hogwarts now, Dad?" Fred asked immediately, "What did they just say?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Mr. Weasley said with a smile.

"This is a secret. We won't know until the ministry decides to make it public." Percy said seriously, "Mr. Crouch is right not to leak secrets easily."

"Oh, shut up, Weatherby," said Fred.

As the afternoon wore on, a sense of excitement spread over the campground like a palpable cloud.Even the still summer air seemed to tremble with anticipation at dusk.As night fell like a curtain over hundreds of eagerly waiting wizards, the last traces of disguise disappeared.The Ministry of Magic seemed to be succumbing to the inevitable and was no longer fighting people, allowing obvious signs of magic to pop up everywhere.

Every few steps, apparated vendors descended from the sky, carrying trays and pushing carts filled with strange and weird gadgets.There is a luminous rose-shaped badge, the green one represents Ireland, the red one represents Bulgaria, and the names of the team members can be screamed out; there is a green high hat, decorated with clovers dancing in the wind; there is the Bulgarian ribbon, printed on The lions above can really roar; there are the national flags of the two countries, which will play their respective national anthems when waved; there are also small models of Firebolts that can really fly; there are statues of famous team members for collection, and those small statues can be placed on your He walked around with his palms looking triumphant.

"I saved my pocket money all summer just for this." When Aaron, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked leisurely through the vendors, Ron said to his companions while buying souvenirs.

Ron bought a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rose badge, but he also bought a small statue of the Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum.The diminutive Krum paced back and forth on Ron's hand, frowning and glaring at the green badge above him.

"Wow, look at these!" Harry said and rushed to a small cart. There were many things that looked like binoculars piled high in the cart, but they were covered with all kinds of weird knobs and dials. .

"Panoramic telescope." The wizard vendor enthusiastically promoted. "You can replay the picture...in slow motion...if necessary, it can also quickly flash an analysis of the game situation. Make a deal! Ten galleons each."

"I wish I didn't buy this." Ron glanced at his dancing clover hat, and stared at the panoramic telescope.

"Buy four," Harry said to the wizard without hesitation.

"Don't... don't bother." Ron said, his face turning red.

Because his family is relatively poor, Ron has always been sensitive to money matters.

"Don't expect to receive gifts for Christmas." Harry said to Ron as he put the panoramic telescope into the hands of Aaron, Hermione and Ron. "Remember, I won't give you gifts for ten years! "

"Reasonable enough," said Ron, grinning.

"Let me buy everyone a copy of the game instructions," Hermione said. "Look, it's over there."

"Thank you, Harry," Aaron said, "Thank you too, Hermione. But don't you expect me to buy you anything?"

Now that their purses were much empty, they returned to their tents.Bill, Charlie and Ginny also all bought green sports badges, and Mr. Weasley held an Irish flag.Fred and George had no souvenirs and gave all their gold coins to Bagman.

At this time, a deep and deep gong sound came from somewhere far away in the woods. Immediately, thousands of red and green lanterns bloomed on the trees, lighting up the road leading to the arena.

"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as everyone else. "Come on, let's go."

Mr. Weasley led the way. Everyone clutched their purchases and walked quickly into the woods along the path illuminated by lanterns.They could hear hundreds of people moving around, shouting, laughing, and intermittent singing.This frenzied excitement is contagious.They walked through the woods for twenty minutes, chatting and laughing loudly, and finally emerged from the other side of the woods, where they found themselves in the shadow of a huge stadium.Aaron could only see part of the magnificent golden wall surrounding the arena, but he could tell that it would have no problem holding ten cathedrals inside.

"It can accommodate [-] spectators." Mr. Weasley said, seeing the surprised expressions on everyone's faces. "Five hundred staff from the Ministry of Magic have been busy with this for a whole year. Every inch of this place has been cast with Muggle expulsion spells." . During this year, whenever Muggles approach this place, they will suddenly remember urgent matters and walk away in a hurry...May God bless them."

Mr. Weasley led everyone towards the nearest entrance, which was already crowded with many shouting wizards.

"First class tickets." The wizard from the Ministry of Magic at the entrance looked at their tickets and said, "Top box! Go all the way upstairs, Arthur, to the top."

The stairs leading to the stands are covered with purple-red carpet.They climbed up the stairs together with the crowd, and slowly the crowd entered the stands on the left and right sides.The group led by Mr. Weasley continued upward until they reached the top of the stairs.They found themselves in a small box at the highest point of the stadium, equidistant from the golden goalposts on either side.There are about twenty purple and gilded chairs, divided into two rows.Aaron lined up with the Weasley family and sat in the front row. Looking down, the scene was beyond his imagination.

One hundred thousand wizards are taking their seats one after another, and those seats are arranged in a staircase shape around the oval stadium.Everything here is shrouded in a mysterious golden light, which seems to come from the stadium itself.From their vantage point, the field looked as smooth as velvet.There are three golden rings at each end of the arena, fifty feet high.Facing them, almost at the same level as Aaron's eyes, was a huge blackboard, with golden words flashing on it, as if an invisible giant hand was writing on the blackboard, and then put them on the blackboard. Wipe it off.Aaron took a closer look and realized that the flashing words were advertisements for the audience.

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