Upon hearing Ludo's words, Cagnak stood still, unmoved.
"I don't drink," he said, "Especially when dealing with debt issues."
Debt problem?
"I see," Morris thought to himself.
Borrowing money from Goblin? It's unbelievable that Ludo would do something like that.
Given the Goblin's personality, he undoubtedly borrowed money at exorbitant interest rates.
We can enjoy the gossip again.
Morris leaned against the counter, hands in his pockets, adopting an indifferent attitude.
Phoebe glanced at him and silently stood beside him, observing how things would unfold.
" Cagnak," Ludo swallowed hard, "I think we've pretty much reached an agreement. See, Mrs. Heap has already vouched for me, hasn't she?"
Cagnak shook his head.
"But I haven't seen a single Galleon yet." He said impatiently, "Don't force us to use our last resort, Bagman."
Ludo's expression was stiff.
He glanced at Morris and Phoebe, clearly unwilling to appear embarrassed in front of him.
But Cagnak wanted to use this to put pressure on Ludo.
"By summer at the latest," Ludo eagerly patted his chest to assure him, "I'll have paid off the debt. Cagnak, you know me, I keep my word. Besides, I have a job here, I can't go anywhere else."
Cagnak stared at Ludo for a few seconds, then slowly exhaled.
"That would be best." He straightened his collar. "I'll come see you every month to check on the progress, Ludo."
After saying that, he turned and left the shop with his men.
At that moment, the shop owner walked in from outside. He looked somewhat disheveled and had a flushed face.
He clearly recognized Ludo.
" Bagman?" The shopkeeper gave a knowing look. "You've been bewitched by Goblin again?"
"Don't mention it." Ludo waved his hand impatiently, then turned to Morris and Phoebe, giving them an awkward smile. "You two, want to go to Three Broomsticks? My treat."
Phoebe winked at Morris.
"No, Mr. Bagman," Morris shook his head, "We should head back to Hogwarts after we've finished shopping."
"Ah, what a pity." Ludo shrugged, then added, "Don't tell anyone about what happened today, okay? It's just a small trouble, don't worry about it."
Morris and Phoebe readily agreed.
They don't need to meddle in other people's business.
On the way back to Hogwarts, Phoebe and Morris kept talking about this topic.
In her opinion, Ludo was a decent guy—at least on the surface.
"Don't judge a book by its cover," Morris said.
Ludo's desperation to borrow money from Goblin indicates he must be in a desperate situation.
If there were any other way, no one would willingly knock on the Goblin's door.
Those guys are terribly greedy.
As for the reason for borrowing money...
Morris recalled how the other party had repeatedly tried to persuade him to join the betting.
Could he be a gambling addict?
Oh, right, Ludo also mentioned Mrs. Heap earlier.
Mrs. Heap vouched for him, which clearly indicated that the relationship between the two was delicate.
Could it be that... Rita Skeeter's report about Ludo in the newspaper was correct?
Morris felt as if he had suddenly grasped the truth of the matter.
Of course, this has nothing to do with him.
In situations like these, simply respecting other people's fate is sufficient.
Before we knew it, more than a month had passed.
It was a Sunday morning in early June.
After getting up, Morris immediately went to the Black Lake and boarded the Ship in a Bottle.
As soon as he entered the living room, the Champion immediately came to greet him.
"I want coffee, extra sugar."
After giving his instructions, Morris turned and entered the corridor, heading towards the skeleton workers' workshop.
The corridor had been lengthened, and the magic lamps on both sides lit up one after another, illuminating a Skeleton Dog beside them.
Morris pushed open the door and entered the studio.
The skeleton workers are working enthusiastically among them.
Recently, Morris obtained some more materials from Frick and transformed them into new skeleton workers.
The number has surpassed twenty, reaching twenty-one.
Perhaps due to the quality of the materials, Morris discovered that there were also differences among these skeleton workers.
Some skeletons are highly talented and can quickly learn the relevant operations, while others are very slow and are completely mentally challenged.
Fortunately, the magic they use is directly imprinted on Morris's body, so they don't need to use their brains to understand it.
Among them, the one with the highest IQ was Skeleton Number One, Morris directly assigned it to help produce the Phantom Flying Broomstick.
Of course, the most crucial and complex steps in the Phantom Flying Broomstick were completed by him personally.
Even so, production efficiency has been greatly improved.
After checking on the skeleton workers, Morris left the Ship in a Bottle and returned to the castle for breakfast.
After breakfast, the sun was shining brightly.
Morris went to the courtyard and basked in the sun by a tree. It was the most comfortable time of year at Hogwarts.
However, the other students weren't so relaxed.
With final exams just two days away, most students are cramming in the library or common room.
Morris stayed in the courtyard for a long time, but didn't see anyone else come over.
He patted the pocket of his robe, and the little Bone Dragon immediately crawled out and slid down his knee to the ground.
Morris then took out a Gap Energy Crystal from another pocket.
Go, pick it up.
As he spoke, he tossed the energy crystal high into the sky.
This is a classic dog-teasing game, except he's not teasing a dog, but a Bone Dragon.
The energy crystals reflected a dazzling light in the sunlight.
"Whoosh"
The Bone Dragon shot up from the ground like an arrow, leaving only a blur.
In just one second, it landed back in front of Morris with the energy crystal in its mouth, its tail clicking loudly.
Morris crouched down, took the crystal from its mouth, and patted its head.
The shrunken Bone Dragon's abilities in all aspects decreased significantly, except for its speed, which was greatly increased as its body became much lighter.
"Eat."
Morris tossed the energy crystal to the Bone Dragon, Bone Dragon immediately and eagerly crushed it.
The energy crystals instantly turned into mist and entered its body.
That's right, Gap Energy Crystal can be directly absorbed by Bone Dragon.
Its function is simply to replenish some of its magic power; there's nothing special about it.
The Bone Dragon clearly didn't care about these theoretical aspects; it only knew that this little snack made it feel comfortable.
Morris threw out another Gap Energy Crystal, this time imbuing it with magic that would allow it to fly at high speed.
"Wait for it to fly for twenty seconds before you set off."
He wanted to test whether the Bone Dragon could find its target on its own under these conditions.
"Go."
As soon as the words were spoken, the Bone Dragon shot out and disappeared into the horizon.
Half a minute later, the Bone Dragon returned.
But Morris noticed a red figure following behind it.