Veratia: I'll Reward You Tonight

Inside the box, Ron was holding up Panoramic Telescope, gazing at the competition field.

This Panoramic Telescope was purchased with Mrs. Weasley's approval, though... Mrs. Weasley only bought one.

Fortunately, Bill and Charlie both believed that the older brother should act like an older brother, so they didn't try to take it from Ron.

As for Percy ... Percy wasn't interested in the competition. He felt he shouldn't be there; he should be in the Ministry of Ministry of Magic's office dealing with the Crucible Standardization.

The Weasley twins each got a Panoramic Telescope, and they even brought one for Ginny.

These are all things they just bought. After all, they've made so much money, and according to the Weasley family's consistent rule, once they make money, they have to spend it.

Ron spent a long time adjusting the binoculars before turning them towards the crowd on the other side of the stadium.

"Great!" he said, fiddling with the playback knob on the side of his binoculars. "I can make that old guy over there pick his nose again... pick it again... pick it again..."

"You're so mean, Ron." Ginny was in the same position as him, also looking at the old man. "Aren't you afraid he'll pick your nose and hurt it? Honestly."

At that moment, Hermione was eagerly flipping through her velvet-covered, tasseled competition manual.

"There will be a performance by the team mascot before the game," she announced loudly.

"Yes, it's always worth seeing," Mr. Weasley said. "You know, national teams bring all sorts of strange and Magical Creatures from their countries to put on a show here."

"What could that be?" Hermione looked up, intrigued. "I know Ireland is known for its Banshee, something Professor Lockhart... oh no, it was something Ms. Rosier told us in class—do they really bring Banshee with them? Really? Really?"

Hermione's face clearly showed she was looking forward to a good show; she really wanted to see the Banshee.

"No, Hermione," Bill said, "That's not legal."

Hermione was a little disappointed. She turned to look at her parents and found that they were also looking through Panoramic Telescope.

Mr. Granger, in particular, was extremely curious. As he gazed into the distance, he couldn't help but marvel at how truly amazing the creations of the magical world were. He thought that if he had such a telescope at the World Cup— the Football World Cup —he could probably see Baggio's face clearly.

Yes, Mr. Granger is Britain, but he is an Italy fan in matches that Britain doesn't participate in.

Of course, they wouldn't shout "Long live Italy, the great Italy left-back..."

Their private room wasn't for their own use; after a while, people started coming in one after another.

For example, the Malfoy family, and Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge.

The people who came in were all important figures, so Mr. Weasley had to stand up and shake hands with them.

When Cornelius Fudge himself entered, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell to the ground and shattered.

He was extremely embarrassed. He fixed the lens with his wand and then sat there blankly.

After greeting Sirius and Mr. Weasley, Cornelius Fudge warmly shook Harry's hand, asked him what was wrong, and introduced him to the wizard sitting next to him.

"Harry Potter, you know him," he called out to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic —a man dressed in a magnificent black velvet robe trimmed with gold, who appeared to understand no English—"Harry Potter ... oh, think about it, you should know who he is... the boy who escaped death at the hands of the Dark Lord ... you must know who he is—"

The Bulgaria wizard suddenly noticed the scar on Harry's forehead, and immediately pointed at it excitedly, muttering a string of words.

"Sigh..." Fudge looked tense. "I'm really not good at other languages. That should have been Old Barty Crouch's job, but what was he doing?"

Before he finished speaking, several more people entered the private room.

The one in the lead is Vera Ms. Rosier, the current Austrian Minister of Magic.

Following behind her was Veratia, dressed in a Lady's formal suit.

She even wore gold-rimmed glasses today, looking more like a witch than a career woman.

Upon seeing Ms. Rosier, the Bulgarian Minister of Magic and Fudge stood up together to greet her.

"Welcome back to Britain, Lady," Fudge said very politely. "It is an honor for us to have you here."

After greeting everyone, Ms. Rosier said a few more words to the students and even made a couple of jokes about the Weasley twins.

When Fudge saw this, his eyelids twitched slightly, and he silently raised the Weasley family's status by two levels in his mind.

"I thought you weren't coming."

After Veratia sat down, Cassandra couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"I still miss you very much, my dear little Apple."

After saying that, Veratia leaned down and gently kissed Cassandra's forehead, much to Cassandra's astonishment.

Cassandra stood there stunned for a long time before finally snapping out of it. As if she had something dirty on her forehead, she grabbed Harry's sleeve and rubbed it against it repeatedly.

Her forehead was rubbed red, but she still wouldn't stop.

Ron had already put the binoculars back in front of him. He looked around the area and suddenly pointed to another side, saying, "Hey? What's that group of people whispering over there? They don't look like any good people..."

"Where?" The Twins, always eager for a good show, immediately turned their attention to where Ron was pointing.

"Look," Ron pointed where he was looking, "Do you see that? There's a group of people wearing black robes and skull masks..."

"Shut up, Ronald!"

Mr. Weasley snapped.

When Ron turned his head, he saw his father shaking his head. Looking to the side, he saw his father's superior, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, sitting there with a very unpleasant expression, looking at him with a very uncomfortable gaze.

He immediately understood what was going on and corrected himself, saying, "Oh, I misread it—that must be some country's mascot? Maybe a clown?"

Fudge's expression calmed down after hearing Ron's explanation.

He turned to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic and the Austrian Minister of Magic, Ms. Rosier, and explained, "It seems the child has misjudged, haha... Such a grand event has very strict security checks."

It seemed the Bulgaria Minister for Magic hadn't understood a thing; he remained seated, staring at Fudge with a bewildered expression.

But Ms. Rosier understood, though she said nothing, only looking at Fudge with a calm and collected gaze.

Only after Fudge turned his head did Ms. Rosier casually say to Veratia, "See? This is the British Empire's Four-Stage Strategy for dealing with emergencies."

"Yes, Four-Stage Strategy," Veratia said with a slight smile. "I think I've seen it in a TV series, but this is the first time I've seen someone actually use it."

Ms. Rosier smiled. "Yes, Miss—I've experienced a lot over the years, especially what I've witnessed firsthand..."

"Four-Stage Strategy?"

At this moment, Cassandra, who had been eavesdropping nearby, asked in a low voice, puzzled, "What is the Four-Stage Strategy?"

"The British Empire Foreign Office's standard crisis response strategy," Hermione, who was flipping through Quidditch Guide, suddenly said. "I know that—"

Since they were sitting on the other side of the box, and Fudge's attention was completely focused on the Malfoy family had just arrived, they couldn't hear what was being said on the other side.

"In the first phase, we say—nothing happened."

"In the second phase, we said—maybe something is happening, but we shouldn't take any action."

"In the third phase, we said—maybe we should take action, but there's nothing we can do."

"In the fourth stage, we say—maybe we could have done something back then, but now it's too late."

Upon hearing Hermione's interpretation, Veratia put the back of her hand to her lips and chuckled softly.

Ms. Rosier then clapped for Hermione.

"You still understand the questions the professor asks just like before," she praised Hermione.

"Thank you, Professor." Hermione smiled shyly, then realized her mistake and quickly corrected herself, "Oh, I 'Lady Minister..."

"I'd much rather be called Professor than Minister," Ms. Rosier said to Hermione with a smile.

"Okay, Professor," Hermione said happily.

Just then, the Weasley twins nudged each other.

"You know what?" Fred said to George, "If it were Percy, he would definitely declare—'Professor! How many times have I told you, use his title!'"

"Okay, Weatherby's job," George said, winking.

The two burst into cheerful laughter, completely disregarding how many high-ranking officials and leaders were in the private room.

In short, the emphasis is on freedom and spontaneity, since neither of them intends to pursue a career in government.

"Those two are really unruly, I'm sorry to have made you laugh," Mr. Weasley explained to Fudge from the side.

Fudge waved his hand; all he wanted now was to cultivate relationships with the Bulgarian Minister of Magic and Ms. Rosier.

"Looks like I'm not too late."

Draco had barely exchanged a word with Harry when his father grabbed fate by the scruff of the neck.

Lucius smiled apologetically at Harry, then sat down a distance away with Draco in tow.

That's why Lucius is so good at improving; his keen insight is something not everyone possesses.

The implication was clear: your great-aunt is getting closer to Harry, what a great opportunity—why are you, you little rascal, causing trouble?

The family sat down next to Fudge and began chatting with the Bulgarian Minister of Magic and Ms. Rosier.

Harry occasionally overheard a couple of sentences, but he couldn't quite make out whether the Bulgarian Minister of Magic was named Berank or Obalonsk.

Who cares? It has nothing to do with me anyway.

"Who do you think will win?" He started making small talk with Veratia.

"I remember I bet on Ireland to win, but Viktor Krum will catch the Golden Snitch," Veratia said with a slight smile, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

With just that one action, coupled with Veratia's current attire, Harry felt his heart skip a beat.

Seeing Harry's reaction, Veratia smiled with satisfaction.

snort.

Just then, Ludo Bagman burst into the box.

"Is everyone ready?" Mr. Bagman's round face Winky like a giant spherical cheese. "Minister —may we begin?"

"Let's begin, Ludo," Fudge said kindly.

Ludo drew his wand, pointed to his throat, and said, "Sonorus!"

Then his words resounded like thunder throughout the packed stadium.

His voice echoed above them, resounding loudly to every corner of the stands.

"Lady and gentlemen... welcome! Welcome to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup Final!"

The audience erupted in cheers and applause, thousands of flags waved simultaneously, accompanied by a jumble of national anthems, creating a truly lively scene.

The Mr. and Mrs. Granger, sitting in the back, applauded enthusiastically; it was the first time they had ever seen such a loud and clear sound without amplification equipment.

"I don't understand why they're singing the Muggle national anthem?" Harry asked Veratia curiously as he turned around.

"The reason is simple, because a significant portion of wizards come from the Muggle World," Veratia explained to Harry with a smile. "So it's not hard to understand why they feel a sense of belonging to the Muggle nationality."

As she said this, her eyes flickered.

Hmm...

Hopefully, the wizards in the Germany Magical World won't feel any sense of belonging to Muggle countries.

At that moment, the last line of GG (Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans – every bite is an adventure!) on the blackboard opposite them was erased, and it now showed: Bulgaria: 0, Ireland: 0.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, please allow me to introduce... the mascot of the Bulgarian National Team!"

On the right side of the stands was a neat, bright red square formation, which erupted into loud cheers.

"I wonder what they brought," Mr. Weasley said, leaning forward from his seat.

"Ah!" He abruptly took off his glasses, sat back in his chair, and remained motionless like a wooden statue, remarking with a sigh, "So it's Veela!"

"Veela?"

Harry stood up curiously and looked into the arena.

He certainly knew what Veela were, but he had never actually seen a hundred Veela gathered together.

After one glance, I immediately felt it was utterly uninteresting.

"Is it pretty?" Veratia and Cassandra's voices rang in his ears at the same time.

I don't think it's very good.

Harry sat back down in his chair, his left hand on Cassandra's shoulder and his right arm around Veratia's slender waist.

The two girls were very pleased with Harry's reaction.

"I'll give you a reward tonight," Veratia said to Harry in a barely audible voice.

(End of this chapter)