Up in the sky, accompanied by the rumble of the engine, Kayson explained his travel plans to everyone.
"We'll head to the Netherlands first. It's only separated from England by a stretch of sea, so we can find out whether Dutch peas or Chinese peas taste better. Then we'll go to France for some finer fare, and while we're at it, we can drop by Spain to see if we can score some ham."
"Then we'll fly straight to Italy. I want to see whether eating Pineapple Pasta Pizza with an iced Americano on an Italian street will get us beaten up. After Italy, we'll tour Greece, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany—the whole of Europe. Finally, we'll head to Romania, dump Lupin there, sign a contract with them, and then go home to rest."
Harry, sitting in the back, slowly raised his hand. "Professor, why aren't we going straight to Romania? Why are we taking such a huge detour?"
"Because the Ministry of Magic gives us funding by the day. The more fun we have, the more gold Galleons we get," Kayson explained.
"Wow, how much funding does the Ministry of Magic give us per day?" Harry asked.
"Three hundred gold Galleons."
"...How about we take a trip around Asia while we're at it? It's not that far, anyway."
"No, that would take too long. We wouldn't make it in time." Sirius counted on his fingers and shook his head.
"Shouldn't we have plenty of time?" Harry asked doubtfully.
"No, no, no. This year happens to be the Quidditch World Cup. I bought tickets... They were very expensive."
Kayson glanced back at Sirius. If even Sirius called the price expensive, it was probably genuinely expensive, though that was a rather pointless observation.
"Then should we shorten the trip?" Harry was worried that