Chapter 495 Before the Opening
Ron took out his telescope and began to test it. He used it to look at the people on the other side of the stadium.
"This is so exciting!" Ron said, spinning the spherical knob next to him. "I can make that old guy keep scratching his nose, over and over again."
At the same time, Hermione couldn't help but browse her velvet-covered program and expressed her Hermione-style opinions to Vanlin.
"The team's mascot will be displayed before the game." Hermione read it out loud.
"Oh, that's always worth seeing," said Mr. Weasley. "You know? The national team brought creatures from their own country and displayed them on this ground."
"The creatures brought from their own country, I thought some stupid idiot was riding on it to show off." Vanlin complained in a low voice, he recalled Krum's stupid look on his broom.
"Show off?" Hermione frowned, "How could it be, this is the Quidditch World Cup."
"..." Vanlin curled her lips, and Hermione didn't ask. The girl didn't take this sentence to heart. Although Vanlin was a little strange, the girl also knew Vanlin well enough.
Then, half an hour later, the box gradually filled up and people sat around them.
Weasley kept shaking hands with wizards who were obviously important.
Percy often jumped up as if he was sitting on a sling. When Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell to the ground and broke.
He fixed it with his wand, very embarrassed. From then on, he sat obediently in his seat. When he saw Cornelius greet Harry and Valin as if they were old friends, he looked at Valin and Valin with great envy.
The three of them had met before, and Fudge shook Harry's hand kindly, asking him how he was doing, while introducing him to the wizards on both sides of him.
"You know, Harry Potter," he told the Bulgarian minister loudly.
As for Vanlin, Vanlin's identity was somewhat sensitive. He was the only grandson of the Chinese Minister of Magic. With Dumbledore, Fudge didn't know how to deal with him. After greeting him, Vanlin was selectively ignored. Of course, he only missed some insignificant introductions, which was in line with Vanlin's intention.
The Bulgarian minister wore a gorgeous black velvet robe with gold trim at the hem, and seemed to not understand English.
"Harry Potter, come here. You know who he is. He is the only boy who escaped from 'that man'. You must know who he is." Fudge said.
The Bulgarian wizard suddenly noticed Harry's scar, and then began to point at it excitedly and talk non-stop.
"We should keep him brief," Fudge said to Harry tiredly, "I'm not good at multiple languages. In this regard, I need Barty Crouch's help. Ah, I saw his servant elf saved a seat for him. Well done! These annoying Bulgarians always clamor for the best seats... Ah, this is Lucius!"
Harry, Ron, Vanlin and Hermione turned around immediately. Walking towards the last four empty seats in the second row, right behind Weasley was none other than Dobby's former master, Lucius. Malfoy, his son Draco and a woman, Harry guessed must be Draco's mother. The two had been enemies since they went to Hogwarts together.
Draco looked like his father, a pale, pointy-haired boy with platinum hair. His mother was also blonde, tall and slender. She was very good-looking if she didn't have an expression that said there was a bad smell here.
"Ah, Fudge," Mr. Lucius extended his hand to shake the Minister of Magic, "how have you been? You haven't met my wife Narcissa and my son Draco yet, have you?"
"Hello, hello," Fudge said with a smile, and bowed slightly to Mrs. Malfoy. "Let me introduce you. This is... Mr. Obronsko, the Minister of Magic of Bulgaria, but he doesn't understand what I'm saying, that's okay. This is... I'm sure you know him, Arthur Weasley."
It was a tense moment, and Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy looked at each other.
The little guys almost immediately remembered the last time they were face to face.
That was in Flourish and Blotts, where they had a fight. Mr. Malfoy's cold grey eyes swept over Mr. Weasley, and then he walked over.
"Dear Arthur," he whispered, "What did you sell to get this first-class ticket? Your house is definitely not worth that much."
Fudge didn't hear it, and said, "Lucius just donated a large sum of money to St. Mango's Hospital for Magical Diseases and Invalids, and he is my guest."
"That's great!" Mr. Weasley smiled reluctantly.
Mr. Malfoy's eyes turned to Hermione again. Hermione's face was red, and she stared at him with determination.
Harry knew exactly what made Mr. Malfoy pout. The Malfoys were extremely proud of their pure blood. In other words, they thought any Muggle was inferior, like Hermione, who was second class. However, under the gaze of the Minister of Magic, he said nothing. He nodded contemptuously at Mr. Weasley and continued to walk to his seat. Draco looked at Harry, Ron, Vanlin and Hermione with contempt, and then sat between his father and mother.
"Dirty bastard!" Ron muttered.
"Don't pay attention to them, they are just clowns." Fan Lin said, if Lucius dared to insult Hermione just now, he would definitely hit back in a way that satisfied Lucius.
Fan Lin has done this kind of slap in the face a lot. Facts have proved that Fan Lin is quite talented in this aspect.
When several people turned to the square again, for a while, Ruth. Bagmon also entered the box.
"Is everyone ready?" he asked, his round cheese-like face looking excited.
"Minister, can we start?"
"Ruth, you're ready when you're ready," Fudge said softly.
Ruth took out her wand, pointed it at her throat, said, "Sonorus!" and spoke to the packed stadium.
His voice echoed throughout the stadium and could be heard in every corner: "Ladies! Gentlemen! Welcome everyone! Welcome everyone to the Quidditch World Cup Finals!"
The audience screamed, clapped enthusiastically, and waved thousands of flags, mixed in with their respective national anthems. The big blackboard across from them had erased the previous message - "Beddy Porter's Delicious Beans - You Have to Try" and now read: Bulgaria: Zero, Ireland: Zero. (To be continued)