You Were Planning to Share a Bed with Potter, Weren't You?

"Bertha Jorkins?"

Mr. Bagman let out a sneer, as if the name was something that made him lose his composure.

"Her? She's nowhere to be seen," Bagman said casually. "But don't worry, she'll show up—poor old Bertha ...her memory is like a bottomless cauldron, her sense of direction is terrible, I think she's definitely lost, believe it or not—anyway, I think one day in October she'll wander back to her office thinking it's still July."

"After all, she's currently missing. Aren't you going to send someone to look for her?" Mr. Weasley tentatively suggested, feeling that as colleagues, it was only right and proper to send someone to search for Bertha.

"Barty Crouch has been saying that," Bagman said, his round eyes widening with an innocent look, "But there's just not enough manpower right now. Ah—and here he is! Barty!"

A wizard strode over from a distance, a stark contrast to Ludo Bagman, who sat lazily on the grass in his old Wasp team robes.

Barty Crouch was a man in his fifties, with a straight back and stiff movements. He wore a spotless suit and tie, and his short, neat beard looked as if it had been trimmed to the touch of a ruler.

His shoes were polished to a shine, and his entire outfit was impeccably tailored.

It's not hard to understand why Percy admired him so much. After all, Percy always advocated strict discipline, and Mr. Crouch meticulously followed the Muggle dress code. He did it so well that he could practically pass for a bank manager.

Upon seeing Barty Crouch Old Barty. arrive, Percy's face immediately flushed with a fawning blush.

"I suspect Percy polished Old Barty's shoes with his tongue," Fred whispered to George. "If I didn't know his last name Weasley, I would have thought it was Crouch..."

The two of them really couldn't stand Percy's behavior, and even Charlie and Bill couldn't help but frown when they saw Percy's appearance.

That's a bit too much flattery.

"Sit down and rest for a bit, Barty," Ludo said happily, patting the grass beside him.

"No, thank you, Ludo," Crouch said, a hint of impatience in his voice. "I've been looking everywhere for you. The Bulgarians insisted we add twelve more seats to the top-floor box."

"Oh, so that's what they wanted!" Bagman said. "I thought the guy wanted to borrow a pair of tweezers from me; their accents were so heavy."

"Mr. Crouch!" Percy exclaimed, breathless with excitement.

He leaned forward, making a bowing gesture that made him look hunchbacked. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Crouch!"

"Oh," said Mr. Crouch, looking at Percy with a hint of surprise, "Well—it's nice to see you too, Weatherby."

Fred and George laughed so hard they almost spat their tea into their cups. Percy's ears turned pink as he pretended to look down at his shoes.

Mr. Weasley's face darkened. Unlike the Twins, he was Percy's father, and he couldn't very well join in the gloating.

"How embarrassing," Ron muttered, head down, clearly feeling ashamed.

Percy's flattery was both an insult and an embarrassment that his flattery had not been taken seriously enough.

"Let's go get something to eat over there," Veratia said, tugging at Harry's sleeve and wrapping her arms around his. "I'm a little hungry, Harry."

"Okay," Harry nodded. "Let's go, Cass, let's go take a look over there."

The three walked to a stall selling grilled sausages and Meiji and sat on a small stool next to it.

"I'll have three grilled sausages and three Meiji," Harry said, picking up the menu and handing it to Cassandra. "I'll have the tuna one. What about you guys?"

"We're the same," the two said.

Veratia suddenly whispered, "What do you think of the Department of International Magical Cooperation?"

"Uh—" Harry didn't understand what Veratia meant, and asked in a low voice, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Veratia said with a light laugh, "What do you think of this department? As for the Godfather —I think he'd be a good fit for this department, starting as Head of Department."

"Huh?" Harry was a little confused.

"Have you lost your mind?" Cassandra's eyes crinkled, her lips pursed. "Grindelwald, you just met the Head of Department of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, didn't you? Old Barty Crouch, do I need to remind you?"

"I have my reasons for saying that," Veratia said casually, tracing the lines on the table. "Just wait and see, the position of the Head of Department of this department will be vacant within three months..."

"Is Mr. Crouch getting a promotion?" Harry asked.

"Oh." Veratia raised an eyebrow. "You could say that, anyway, if you want, the Godfather can become the Head of Department."

"That's wonderful!" Harry exclaimed, beaming. "What a perfect outcome! Mr. Crouch's promotion, Godfather naturally becoming the Head of Department of the Department of International Magical Cooperation... Could there be anything better in the world?"

However, Cassandra instinctively felt that something was amiss.

Harry didn't realize something was wrong because he trusted Veratia.

Cassandra felt something was wrong because she didn't believe a single word the woman said.

Promotion?

Perhaps he has been promoted and entered heaven?

But since Mr. Crouch had no connection with Cassandra, she didn't bother to expose him.

Whether she lives or dies, what does it have to do with her?

Oh... that's related too.

At least keep your distance, so you don't get splattered with blood.

Don't worry.

Veratia picked up a disposable paper cup, poured some tea into it, and handed it to Harry.

"It should be said that such paper cups should not exist under the ' Muggle Artefacts Restriction Act '. At least for this World Cup, I think it is a wise choice to be able to use such Muggle creations."

Indeed, there are many people like her who are obsessed with cleanliness.

"So where are you planning to stay tonight?" Harry started teasing again. "In the Austrian Ministry of Magic's tent? Or back here?"

Veratia, of course, understood Harry's implied meaning. She smiled and said to Harry, "If Cass agrees, I'll go back to you."

Cassandra squinted; she had no idea what Grindelwald was up to.

So she crossed her arms and asked, "Why do I need to agree? Weren't you planning to sleep in the same bed as Potter?"

"Yes~" Veratia gently stirred the paper cup with a small spoon, "But now, aren't you the one warming Harry's bed, little~maid~?"

Cassandra was stunned.

Cassandra fell silent.

"Stay away from my memories!" she said bitterly.

"Oh~" Veratia chuckled and said, "I didn't peek into your memories, Cass —you should have confidence in your Occlumency. I only made a small Prophecy once back at Black family home."

Cassandra couldn't control her grip and crushed the paper cup in her hand.

That's infuriating!

"You should come back tonight," Harry said quickly, genuinely worried that Cassandra might develop breast nodules from anger. "I also have something I want to talk to you about—"

"That's right," Veratia said with a smile. "I almost forgot, how can you ask the maid for permission to do something like this? It's much more useful to ask the master, don't you think? Little~maid~Cass~?"

Cassandra glared at Harry viciously, as if she wanted to tear a piece of flesh from him.

Harry scratched his head, wondering why Cassandra was coming at him.

After teasing Cassandra, Veratia felt refreshed.

After making that small Prophecy, she didn't think about doing anything to stop it from happening. After all, it was just warming the bed, not getting into a car.

Therefore, Veratia was confident of victory and didn't care at all what happened between the two of them.

"Speaking of which," Harry started making conversation, "Where did you take the four professors? I even went to the Map Chamber once... it's just a shame they're all gone now."

"Oh," Veratia said without batting an eye, "At the time, I was planning to leave Britain for Austria, so I figured I wouldn't have many chances to return to Hogwarts to visit the professors after I left, so I took them all with me—I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this."

"That's alright." Harry scratched his head. "It's just that I was a little behind in my Occlumency training with them."

"Yes."

Veratia looked at Harry with a half-smile, but didn't use Legilimency.

"So how's your practice going?" she asked.

"How about..." Harry asked tentatively, "You give it a try?"

Veratia wasn't fooled at all. She smiled, her eyes narrowed, and said, "No."

Harry, having been rebuffed, was still pondering what opportunity he could find to trick Veratia into also experiencing maid service.

To be fair, the Meiji at the campsite stalls tasted pretty good; otherwise, they wouldn't have been so confident in setting up a food stall here.

However, the price was rather expensive. A pot of tea, three sausages, and three Meiji cost a total of one Galleon and eleven Sickle and three Knut.

Veratia was heartbroken. She argued with the stall owner for a long time and finally managed to negotiate the price down to one Galleon and two Sickle.

"I really can't believe that a lady as elegant as you would haggle over prices," the stall owner said, somewhat indignantly.

"But your price is simply outrageous," Veratia added, not forgetting to defend herself. "Even in an area like this, the price is extremely unreasonable—I think you're making at least double the profit on one Galleon and two Sickle!"

The stall owner sighed and could only accept his bad luck.

I was planning to make a fortune at this event, but well, my first deal only yielded this little profit.

"Have a look."

As she left, Veratia bragged to Harry, "Isn't my sister amazing? I saved you nine Sickle and three Knut! Here you go!"

She slipped the coins in her hand into Harry's pocket.

"You're awesome." Harry gave a thumbs up. With Veratia in the family, it's hard not to be rich.

When they returned to the tent, they found Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch inside chatting with Mr. Weasley.

I thought their conversation had ended a long time ago, but I never expected it to go on like this.

Percy was still carefully attending to Mr. Crouch, like a loyal servant.

Harry and his friends had barely stepped into the tent when the Twins followed them back.

"Ah!" Seeing Percy's humble appearance, Fred sneezed to express his displeasure.

Good heavens, having a brother like that is really...

A disgrace to the Weasley family!

Mr. Weasley, seemingly oblivious to Percy's eagerness, ignored the situation and asked Mr. Bagman, "Honestly, I suppose you're all just hoping this gets over quickly, aren't you?"

Ludo Bagman was taken aback by Mr. Weasley's question.

"I couldn't be happier?! Merlin's beard, I've never been so joyful... But it's not like there's no hope ahead, is it, Barty? Hmm? We still have a lot of events to organize, don't we?"

Mr. Crouch raised his eyebrows at Bagman, stopping him from continuing.

"We promise not to announce anything until all the details are complete—"

"Oh, the details!" said Mr. Bagman, waving his hand dismissively as if shooing away a swarm of mosquitoes. "They signed it, didn't they? They agreed, didn't they? I bet the kids will find out soon enough... I mean, the big thing happened at Hogwarts— "

"Ludo, you should know we need to go see those Bulgarians," Mr. Crouch interrupted Bagman sternly. "Thank you for the tea, Weatherby."

He shoved the untouched teacup back into Percy's hand and waited for Mr. Bagman to get up.

Sirius, who had been holding his teacup the whole time, finally couldn't hold back any longer. He coldly corrected, "His last name is Weasley, Lao Badi!"

"Oh, okay." Old Barty turned around dismissively and gave Percy a perfunctory apology. "Sorry, Weasley, I've been busy lately and have been forgetting things— Ludo, we should go!"

Percy wasn't offended at all; on the contrary, he kept saying it was okay.

Seeing Percy like this, Mr. Weasley sighed.

Mr. Bagman, who was sitting next to him, struggled to his feet, downed his tea in one gulp, and the Galleon jingled merrily in his pocket.

"Well then, see you later." Mr. Bagman waved to them. "I'll come back and continue our chat after I've dealt with the Bulgarians's troubles, Arthur —it's always a pleasure to talk to you."

After they finished speaking, they left the tent.

As he reached the door, Mr. Crouch gave Veratia a somber look.

Veratia returned his gaze with the same look she gave him when he looked at a dead man.

(End of this chapter)