Chapter 425 Appearance

“I can’t believe there are so many people supporting the Irish team!”

Ron counted the classmates he met on the road with an angry look, "Ernie, Dean, Seamus, Seamus' mother, and the Cho Chang who was with Cedric... They didn't know Krum's identity at all. strength!"

Ron muttered angrily: "They only care that Krum looks a little gloomy. They don't know that he is a genius, and he is only 18 years old. He will become the most dazzling star player in the next few decades... Tonight they will knew……"

Harry and Ginny remained silent.

They were walking through an encampment of Bulgarian fans, and posters of Klums were hanging everywhere, making it look like there were countless Klums winking and frowning at them.

Harry felt that he would have nightmares if he stayed here for a long time.

Harry paused and decided to change the subject: "It's really unexpected that Captain Wood actually signed up as a substitute for Puddlemere United. I thought he was recruited by Professor McGonagall."

Because of Percy, Ginny knew more or less about the school business. She thought for a while: "Maybe Professor McGonagall's business has not expanded to the Quidditch industry. When she retires, maybe she will form a club." .”

Ron's mind wandered and he muttered: "Pudmere United is indeed good, but I think he should go to Chadley Artillery..."

"It feels good to become a professional player. Maybe in the future we..."

The three of them started chatting without saying a word.

Loren and Hermione were not that interested in the Quidditch League. Instead, they found the weird behaviors of the many wizards in the camp more interesting.

There are all kinds of people stationed in the camp, and some wizards in different clothes are particularly conspicuous. For example, the three African male wizards on the right are sitting there talking seriously about something. They are all wearing long white robes, among a pile of purple robes. What looked like a hare was roasting on the fire. Another group of middle-aged American witches and wizards sat there chatting and laughing, with a shiny banner hanging high between their tents: Salem Witch Academy.

In addition, Loren also saw "Beauxbatons", "Ilvermorny", "Castrobushe"...

Some people flew on broomsticks on the grass, causing Ministry of Magic staff to chase after them. Some people doubted life with matches, and some people used wands to raise flames that did not require fuel.

Not far ahead, a Ministry of Magic employee held up a pair of pinstriped trousers and shouted angrily to an old wizard: "Just do it, put it on, Archie. You can't wear clothes like this." Walking around, the Muggle at the gate has begun to suspect——"

"I bought these pants in a Muggle store!" The old wizard opposite seemed to be greatly insulted. He pointed at the printed nightgown and said, "Muggles wear these too! "

The staff of the Ministry of Magic cried sadly: "Only Muggle women wear it, Archie. Men don't wear it. Men wear this."

"I'm not wearing one. I'm willing to let the healthy breeze blow my butt. Thank you." The old wizard turned his head and ran away with his nightgown, his skinny legs covered with leg hair looming.

Loren and Hermione quietly looked away and fell into a long silence.

My eyes are dirty, so I need to see some normal scenery to wash them.

Loren suddenly turned his eyes and looked behind him very abruptly, looking thoughtfully at the strange tents.

Hermione followed his gaze and saw nothing, so she asked doubtfully: "What are you looking at?"

Loren said uncertainly: "I seemed to feel a very familiar magic wave just now."

"Classmates from Hogwarts?"

"It can't be found behind."

"It's not surprising. We met a lot of familiar people along the way."

Loren nodded thoughtfully, and his attention was quickly drawn to a child.

In front of a light yellow tent, a little boy of two or three years old squatted on the ground, holding a wand almost as long as himself like a spear. He stared straight at a slowly wriggling snot on the grass. Slug, after thinking for a few seconds, he stretched out his wand and poked the slug on the grass——

The slug's body began to expand rapidly, and soon became the size of a sausage, squirming happily on the grass.

Then the boy's mother ran out of the tent screaming: "How many times have I told you, Kevin? You're not allowed to touch your daddy's wand!"

She stepped on the fat slug, and with a bang, the insect's entrails mixed with green-white sticky juice flew everywhere, all over the child.

Hermione was shocked when she saw it, and hurriedly pulled Loren to speed up the pace.

In the center of the camp, on the fourth floor of the luxurious palace tent, a tall woman with a thick jaw and very thin lips suddenly walked out of the window. Her dark eyes stared at the boy with the lightning scar on his forehead from a distance, her eyes glued to him. Walking around in the tent community.

"..."

A cruel smile appeared on Bellatrix's lips: "Master, I can dedicate Harry Potter to you right now, as long as you give me a command."

A cold, hoarse voice came from inside the tent: "Idiot, the next second you take action, you will be drowned in countless spells."

The ferocious smile on Bellatrix's lips disappeared: "We can take advantage of the chaos at night to do it."

"Don't do unnecessary things. You just need to create chaos and buy time for the group of werewolves guarding Azkaban..."

The cold and sharp voice was full of joy: "Many of our former close partners are here, I can feel them... It's really missed..."

Listening to Lucius scolding the house elves downstairs, Bellatrix couldn't wait to cause chaos, and she grinned with a smile ready to move.

"If Lucius knew that you were hiding in his tent, master, I wonder if the expression of honor would appear on his face again?"

"Be patient...it will be soon..."

…

When they fetched water and returned to the camp, Molly and the twins were busy working inside and outside the tent. Arthur had already set up a fire and was sitting around it, dragging Percy along with a strange man in his forties or fifties. Witch chat.

"The weather is so nice, isn't it? The weather is great! Where can you find such weather! There must be no clouds at night... The whole preparations are in order... I have nothing to do!" The strange wizard said proudly loudly .

Loren glanced around and didn't see Charlie and Bill. They were probably shopping elsewhere.

Arthur waved to them happily: "Hey, you're back, come here, I'll introduce you to some of the most important people at the moment! Ludo Bagman!"

Loren and the others looked at the middle-aged wizard named Bagman. He was wearing a long Quidditch robe with wide yellow and black horizontal stripes. There was a huge ink printed on his chest. of wasps. The traces of blood vessels on the exposed arms are obvious, and the main veins are bulging, but the muscle lines are no longer obvious, and the skin is also somewhat loose.

Loren guessed that he must have had a strong physique when he was young, with short, capable blond hair, some protruding blue eyes, a flat nose, as if it had been interrupted, and many marks on his body that showed that he was once a big man. .

They put down the kettles and saucepans full of water and came around the fire.

"Look, Ludo, you should know all my children, Ginny, my daughter, Ron, will be in fourth grade next year..." Arthur proudly introduced, "This is Loren, this is Hermione, And this is Harry, Harry Potter!"

"Hello, Mr. Bagman."

Bagman subconsciously looked at the scar on Harry's head. But surprisingly, he didn't pester Harry to ask anything. Instead, he was more interested in Loren and Hermione, who were well-dressed. He looked at the materials of their clothes, which were not cheap at first sight. His eyes were slightly bright, and he controlled his emotions and talked to them. Say hello: "Hello!"

Arthur continued: "This is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, the Director of the Sports Department of the Ministry of Magic. It is thanks to him that we got such good tickets!"

With a smile on his face, Bagman waved his hand to show that it was nothing, and looked around with interest: "How about we continue the topic just now, do you want to place a bet on the game?"

Bagman jingled the pockets of his yellow and black robe. It seemed that there were a lot of gold coins in it: "I have convinced Roddy Pontene to make a bet with me. He said Bulgaria will score the first goal. I will give it to him." The odds were set very high because I took into account that Ireland's number three forward is the best I've seen over the years."

It happened that Molly had finished her work and came over with a kettle to put on the fire. From the time she approached to the time she left, she didn't give Bagman a good look for a second.

George sat down next to Harry, turned his head and whispered: "Originally we were going to make a fortune, but I was worried that Mum would break our hands."

Fred nodded, looking regretful.

"...Little Agatha Timms put up half her Eel Farm shares, betting that the race would last a week." Bagman rambled on.

Arthur opened his mouth and said slowly: "Oh, well, let me think about it... I'll bet Ireland to win with a Galleons, okay?"

"One galleon? Okay...I can give you a higher odds..." Ludo Bagman's expression was a little stiff, and he quickly wrote it down in his notebook, then tore off a small piece of parchment and handed it to Arthur. , then turned to look at the other people around the fire expectantly, "Does anyone else want to give it a try? You only get the chance once every four years?"

"They are too young to gamble..." When Arthur thought about Molly being in the tent, he felt that the credentials in his hand were particularly hot, and he said bravely, "And neither my mother nor I want-"

"Don't spoil the fun, Arthur!" Ludo Bagman said gruffly, jingling the money in his pockets excitedly, and looking at Loren and Hermione expectantly, "They They have grown up and know what they want, so we can’t always treat them like children.”

"Mr. Bagman..." Loren looked at him with interest, "I just heard that you freely decided on the gambling content and adjusted the odds. Is this your privately operated sportsbook?"

It was probably the first time that Bagman was asked by the little wizard, and he was a little stunned: "Oh, um, I guess so."

"Can you make money by doing this? I mean, if you don't control the odds and don't plan the content of the bet, what if there is a large loss?" Loren asked.

George and Fred, who had always been interested, finally came to their senses and looked at Mr. Bagman thoughtfully with intriguing eyes.

"This..." Bagman's expression froze for a moment, and the next moment he put on a hearty smile, "I have no intention of making money with this, it's just a hobby after work, to relax!"

Loren smiled and said: "So that's it, then we won't participate."

Hermione nodded, she had a bad impression of Mr. Bagman.

"Oh, okay... okay..." Ludo Bagman looked a little disappointed. He noticed the change in the expressions of the people next to him, and quickly changed the subject with a smile on his face, "Can you help me?" Are you busy? When you see Barty Crouch, tell him to come to me as soon as possible. I just came from the entrance of the camp and someone saw him with Bertha Jorkins. Oh, just talking about him, he came Come on, Barty!"

Two wizards suddenly appeared by their campfire, a man and a woman. The wizard was a man in his fifties. His short black hair was neatly styled. The slit in the middle was unnaturally straight and slender. Every trace of the mustache is docile. He has a straight back and stiff movements. He is wearing a spotless crisp suit, tie and shiny leather shoes.

No one would suspect him if he was a Muggle bank manager.

The witch is much younger, and her dress is very careless. She has long golden hair draped over her shoulders. The fairy on the hairpin flaps her wings from time to time. She wears a crooked Muggle windbreaker, which is very unnatural.

"Mr. Crouch, Ms. Jorkins." Percy greeted politely.

"Sit down and rest for a while, Barty, Bertha." Bagman smiled and patted the grass beside him.

Before Crouch could speak, Bertha Jorkins had already skipped over, sat down casually, put her wand on the grass, and started chattering: "Oh, thank you, Ludo. ...I just feel pain in my feet. You don’t know how long I have been walking this morning. I have never..."

Bertha Jorkins looked like she was thinking about something, but she couldn't remember where she came from and where she went, and she was stunned for a moment.

Crouch frowned and slowly walked to Bagman's side, but did not sit down: "I have been looking for you everywhere, Ludo. The Bulgarians insist that we add twelve more seats to the top box."

"Oh, so they want this, I thought..."

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you, Arthur. Ali Bashir wants to talk to you about the ban on flying carpets."

"Oh, I've told him a hundred times that carpets are classified as Muggle artefacts in the Magical Items Register..."

Seeing them gradually chatting, Loren wanted to leave, but seeing that Hermione was listening with interest and even seemed to want to take out her notes to record in detail, he had no choice but to stay.