Quidditch World Cup Final

"Merlin's beard, this place was really hard to find."

Fred looked around the tent's spartan interior, then stared at his friend in confusion. "Don't tell me you've been living here these past few days?"

"Don't be silly, Fred. Albert enjoys life more than you do. How could he possibly sleep here?" George thought Fred's words sounded ridiculous. He handed Albert the parchment Sirius had asked them to deliver, smoothly steering the conversation back to why they had come to see Albert.

"You asked Sirius to help you place a bet?"

Seeing Albert carefully read the parchment without any intention of answering, George took that as confirmation.

Some things were better left understood without being said aloud.

George continued, "We placed a bet with Ludo Bagman. Like Black, we bet that the Irish Team would win and score first, but Viktor Krum would catch the Golden Snitch..."

"And when the match ended, the difference in score between the two sides wouldn't exceed thirty points," Fred cut in.

"How many times?"

"What?" Fred did not react at once.

"Eight times," George immediately answered.

"Ludo Bagman has lost quite a few Galleons recently." Albert took a Fountain Pen from his pocket and began making notes on the parchment without looking up. "He borrowed a large sum of Galleons from the Gringotts goblins. He probably can't pay it back."

"You mean..." George frowned deeply, clearly understanding Albert's implication. "He plans to default? No wonder his reaction just now seemed strange."

"The goblins won't let Bagman default," Fred said, shaking his head. "They aren't House-elves."

"No, you didn't understand what Albert meant." George raised a hand to cut him off. "He means Bagman might cheat us out of our Galleons. And, of course, cheat the goblins out of theirs too."

"Could you two speak normally?"