"My bounty has actually surpassed Harry Potter's again."
While flipping through the latest issue of the Daily Prophet, Albert stared at the bounty list on the front page for a long while before joking, "One hundred and fifty thousand Galleons. I had no idea I'd become so valuable. It's making me want to claim my own bounty."
Turning his head, he asked the people beside him, "What do you think would happen if I turned myself in? Would they give me the reward?"
Albert had said similar things more than once.
He had no choice but to bring it up again today. The Association had been desperately short of money lately.
"If we could collect bounties on ourselves, we'd have gone long ago," said Fred and George, who also had bounties over their heads, though nothing as outrageous as Albert's.
"If the bounty is small, you might actually be able to collect it. But someone like Albert is only put up there for show. Even if you really brought Albert in to claim the reward, the Ministry of Magic would find all sorts of excuses to fob you off. It wouldn't be surprising if they dragged the process out for years."
Having worked at the Ministry of Magic, Cedric knew only too well how ugly its appetite could be, let alone now that it was controlled by Death Eaters.
Rather than give you the bounty, they would prefer to split it among themselves.
"I believe we have someone more qualified we can consult," Lee Jordan suddenly reminded them.
Everyone knew he meant Percy.
"That bastard might not be reliable either."
Fred and George still did not think much of Percy. They both knew exactly what kind of person he was.
"I reckon it'll be difficult, but we can give it