In the Box

Deep in the woods came the sound of deep, resonant gongs and drums. Suddenly, countless lanterns were lit on the treetops, their colorful lights merging together to outline a path leading to the competition venue.

"Time's up! Hurry up, let's go!"

Arthur shouted excitedly, holding Molly's hand with his right hand and carrying an Ireland green flag in his left, walking at the front like a child.

Behind them followed a string of young wizards: Bill, Charlie, and Ginny wore discounted Ireland support badges, Harry and Ron had exquisite Telescope around their necks, and Ron wore a tricorn hat with shamrocks swaying and dancing on it.

Ron shook his head and said happily, "If it weren't for Loren, I wouldn't have known these things could be so cheap... Bargaining is such a useful skill."

Harry:...

He touched the holographic Telescope around his neck, which had all sorts of strange knobs and dials, smooth texture, and exquisite design... Who would have thought that simply rounding down to zero and then halving the price would be the actual selling price?

The vendor initially asked for ten Galleon, but Loren immediately bargained it down to nine Sickle, and the vendor readily agreed.

Praise be to Loren!

The most eye-catching were George and Fred, who were wearing support items for both the Ireland and Bulgaria teams, drawing angry stares from die-hard fans of both sides. However, the two didn't care at all and proudly showed off the cheap items they bought for only ten Knut.

Hermione, following behind Ginny, was engrossed in reading a competition manual, so engrossed that she didn't even notice the person in front of her had stopped. She stumbled and bumped into Ginny's back.

I didn't fall, but my face slammed into the competition manual due to inertia, and it hurt a little.

Click—

The flash went off, Hermione turned around to see Loren holding an old-fashioned camera. She was completely taken aback.

The little Witch looked at him incredulously. "You fumbled around for half an hour, and the first photo you took was of me making a fool of myself?"

Loren adjusted the ink cartridge containing the Developing Potion, grinned, and said, "Don't be touched, I'll treasure it."

The mechanical rollers inside the camera made a soft turning sound, and a slightly warm photograph emerged. In the photo, a girl's head was buried in a handbook, and her face was squeezed by the handbook as she stumbled clumsily, making her distorted nose and lips look particularly comical.

Who would be moved by this?

Hermione, annoyed and embarrassed, reached out to snatch the photo, Loren took off running, and the two chased after Arthur and Molly ahead.

I hurried into the woods following the path illuminated by the lanterns. Thousands of people moved around me, creating a cacophony of shouts, laughter, and intermittent singing.

This fervent excitement seemed contagious; Hermione couldn't help but smile as she chased after him.

They walked through the woods for twenty minutes, talking and laughing loudly, and finally emerged from the other side of the woods, standing in front of a huge stadium.

The magnificent golden walls reflected a brilliant light, making them even taller and more expansive than a dozen Hogwarts Castle.

"Five hundred staff members from the Ministry of Magic worked on this for a whole year. It can hold one hundred thousand spectators." Arthur stood in front of the stadium, looking at the astonished expression on Harry's face, and proudly introduced, "Every inch of this place is enchanted with Muggle-Repelling Charm. Whenever Muggle approaches, they will suddenly remember their urgent matter..."

The Witch at the ticket gate clearly recognized him, and after a quick glance, she let them through. "First class! Top deck box! Keep going upstairs, Arthur, to the very top."

Thank you, Daisy! Have a nice evening!

"Roll!"

"Ha ha..."

Upon entering the stadium, one hundred thousand wizards were gradually taking their seats, arranged in a tiered pattern around the oval-shaped stadium. The field appeared as smooth as velvet, and in the center was a huge blackboard, upon which golden characters constantly flashed, as if an unseen giant hand was writing and erasing them with flamboyant strokes.

Bluebottle – A flying broom suitable for the whole family, safe, reliable, and with a built-in anti-theft buzzer...

Mrs. Cole's All-Purpose Stain Remover - Effortlessly removes stains!

Gladrags Wizardwear – London, Paris, Hogsmeade ...

Everything was shrouded in a soft, mysterious golden light. They went up the stairs covered with Purple-red Carpet and arrived at a small private room on the top floor.

The box is located at the highest point of the stadium, directly facing the golden goalposts of the Quidditch pitch. The interior of the box is much larger than it appears from the outside, with nearly forty purple and gold-plated chairs arranged in two rows, clearly also using the Untraceable Extension Charm.

They took their seats according to the seat numbers on their tickets. They were the first people to enter the box, and there were no outsiders, so the House-elf and Bertha Jokins in the second-to-last seat in the back row stood out.

It has long, bat-like ears, wears a tea towel for wiping teawares, looks like it's wearing a loose robe, buries its face in its hands, and stretches its short legs out on the chair in front of it.

Bertha Jokins sat beside her, humming a cheerful tune.

"Bertha," Arthur turned to greet her, "I didn't expect you to arrive before me."

Jokins tilted his head and looked at him, seemingly confused for a moment, and subconsciously said, "Twenty seats have been added to the private room. Mr. Crouch told us to wait for him here."

"Oh, I know, those people from Bulgaria, right?" Arthur laughed.

Jokins nodded and continued humming to himself.

Harry stared at the House-elf for a long time, and although he thought it was impossible, he still tentatively called out, "Dobby?"

The House-elf looked up, loosened its fingers, and peered at him through the gaps, speaking in a voice Dobby and more piercing than Dobby's, "Sir, are you calling me?"

"Sorry," Harry scratched his head, "I mistook you for someone I used to know."

"But I know Dobby too, sir, my name is Winky!" The House-elf noticed the scar on his forehead, lowered his hands slightly, and looked at him with great respect. "Dobby time, sir!"

"How did you two meet? How was your summer vacation, Dobby?"

"In the shop where you buy groceries House-elf..."

Harry and Winky started chatting, and Hermione took the opportunity to ask a few questions about House-elf. She quickly discovered that Winky was an even more ignorant and rigid House-elf than Dobby and Winky, which made Hermione so angry that she wanted to stuff a copy of the Declaration of Independence into its head.

Loren glanced at the House-elf and Bertha Jokins, a faint, crystalline blue light flashing in his eyes.

Compared to these two, he was more interested in the mysterious wizard hidden under the Invisibility Cloak.