Barty Crouch

From clothing to appearance, Crouch was far superior to the unkempt Ludo Bagman in every way.

His neatly trimmed beard, gleaming leather shoes, and spotless, crisp suit made him look like a real bank manager.

Let alone Mr. Roberts, Harry felt that even the most discerning Uncle Vernon would have a hard time figuring out his true identity.

But Bagman didn't seem to care.

He and Mr. Weasley finished a cup of tea and sat leisurely on the grass, drinking it without showing any intention of going to find the Bulgaria.

Crouch frowned, looking somewhat impatient.

"Mr. Crouch," Percy rushed over, leaning forward in a bow that made him look hunchbacked, "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh," Crouch said, glancing at the relaxed Bagman and then at Percy. "Well... thank you, Weatherby."

Fred and George laughed so hard they almost sprayed their tea into their cups.

"Crouch, who speaks two hundred languages, actually got Percy's last name wrong," Fred said to Kyle in a low voice.

"Percy kept saying during the holidays that Crouch admired him..." George said.

"Now it seems the truth is not like that..."

"He probably doesn't even know who Percy is!"

Seeing the two men's gloating expressions, Percy's ears turned pink, and he pretended to bend down and fidget with the teapot.

Crouch's visit included not only meeting with Bagman, but also discussing the embargo on flying Flying Carpet with Mr. Weasley.

There's not much to say about that; since the last century, carpets have been classified as Muggle handicrafts and have appeared on the register of prohibited magical items.

In other words, casting spells on the carpet is forbidden here, and it's even more forbidden for it to make people fly. If discovered, the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office will be coming after you.

Kyle has reason to suspect that this regulation is definitely related to the Broomstick Company, and its purpose is to prevent Flying Carpet from entering England.

After all, from a practical standpoint, Flying Carpet that can seat ten people is sometimes much more convenient than a broom... for example, when traveling as a family.

Crouch had a lot to do, so after a few words, he put down his untouched teacup and left with Bagman.

Afterwards, Kyle and the others pushed the cart to the other side of the field.

They need to sell everything else during this period before the competition.

Once they were far enough away from the tent, Fred finally couldn't help but ask, "Kyle, why did you stop me just now? You heard it too, Bagman offered very high odds, we could have made a fortune."

"I just don't think he's very reliable," Kyle said. "If you don't want to throw all your pocket money away, you'd better stay away from him."

"No, we think we can guess the outcome this time," Fred said. "Trust our judgment... Ireland will definitely win, but the Golden Snitch will definitely be caught by Krum."

"It has nothing to do with that." Kyle shook his head. "Sometimes even if you guess right, you might not get the money."

"You mean... he might renege on his debt?" George frowned.

"But..." Fred said after a moment's thought, "Bagman is a celebrity, he shouldn't do something like that."

"But it's been almost ten years since his most glorious moment," Kyle said. "And with such high odds, how do you expect him to pay you Galleon, the director's meager salary, in the end?"

If it's just the two of you betting, it'll be enough, but don't forget, there are nearly 100,000 wizards here."

Fred and George fell silent.

They realized they might indeed be a little confused.

Thinking about it carefully, the name Ludo Bagman hadn't appeared for a long time before this Quidditch World Cup.

"Phew...you're right!" Fred sighed. "Alright, let's focus our energy on these things instead of playing games with Ludo Bagman."

He patted the box containing the fireworks.

"At least they can be exchanged for real gold coins."

"A wise choice," Cedric said with a smile.

He also felt that Ludo Bagman was somewhat unreliable; he was too lively, and when he spoke, he would always shake the bag of gold coins, as if to deliberately remind others that he had a lot of money.

Moreover, his father mentioned in a casual conversation a few days ago that Bagman had been accused of passing information to Death Eaters.

Although it was later proven that this was not his intention, the deed had already been done, and he could only make some "contributions" to the Ministry of Magic to atone for his mistake and get released as soon as possible.

Therefore, he definitely doesn't have many Galleon available right now.

After calming themselves down, Fred and George stopped thinking about it and continued pushing the cart toward a more crowded area.

By this time, most of the ticket holders had arrived, and the number of people in the venue was significantly greater than in the morning.

With more people, there will naturally be more customers.

Hearing the clinking of gold coins falling into the money box, the last vestiges of regret in Fred and George's hearts quickly vanished.

Furthermore, they encountered Professor McGonagall near the center of the camp.

As a devoted Quidditch enthusiast, she had attended almost Quidditch Match held during Hogwarts ' holidays.

This Quidditch World Cup is definitely not one I can miss.

Moreover, Kyle had never seen Professor McGonagall like this before.

Her round bun was finally let down, held up with a four-leaf clover hair clip, and her unchanging long robe was replaced with an Ireland team uniform. Her face was also covered in thick face paint...

Although she wiped the stuff off her face almost instantly, Kyle still saw it... it was the Ireland flag.

"You look really cool today... Professor McGonagall!" Kyle said, giving a thumbs up.

"I accept your assessment, Kyle," Professor McGonagall said with a smile. "What are you all doing?"

"I made some little trinkets to add some atmosphere to the competition," Kyle said, pushing the cart over to indicate that Professor McGonagall could choose whatever she wanted, and that it was on them.

"Oh, that's really well done." Professor McGonagall picked up a hair clip, which was shaped like a four-leaf clover, like a broom.

Professor McGonagall liked it more and more, and immediately replaced her original one with it.

"Minerva, you're here... Oh, Kyle, Cho... You're here too."

Two more professors approached from a distance: Professor Flitwick and Professor Aurora Sinistra, who taught Astronomy.

"Come and see, Filius!" Professor McGonagall said happily, "Didn't you just say you wanted to buy a hat? I've found one for you."

"Really?" Professor Flitwick quickened his pace, leaning against the cart as he picked out his favorite items.