Opportunities Rained Down!

Minister Fudge's suggestive attempt to solicit a bribe, without a doubt... failed.

The minister's meaning was simple: since William was willing to pay the exorbitant price of 70,000 Galleon to buy this GG position, he could use 30,000 Galleon for bidding... but secretly he would collect 50,000.

William offered a lower price, Fudge made a net profit of 20,000... The only one who got fleeced was the Ministry of Magic.

It's not really about taking advantage of others; no one had ever considered that area as a GG spot before. William was the first wizard to come up with this idea.

If you don't sell, you won't earn a single Knut; if you do sell, you'll definitely make extra money, it's just a matter of how much.

This is a win-win-win situation.

However, William pretended to be oblivious, feigning that he didn't understand Fudge's hints.

To put it bluntly, the Black and Peter incident made William see through this minister:

They weren't on their side, and secretly they were even more wary of Dumbledore.

But with Peter's help, Voldemort might be resurrected at any time.

Fighting amongst themselves at this point would only give Voldemort an opportunity to secretly grow stronger, wouldn't it?

William had already instructed Rita to gather evidence of Fudge's crimes, waiting for the crucial moment to eliminate the minister and replace him with one of his own.

Given that, William had no reason to return the bribe and leave him with leverage.

Unlike smuggling in Buckbeak, bribes of tens of thousands of Galleon would leave behind a wealth of evidence... and could very well implicate oneself in the end.

This is similar to William's refusal to cooperate with Ludo; the man is unreliable. William also doesn't care about those small Galleon.

Let alone a 30/70 split, even a 20/80 split... so what?

If William just wanted to, he could rake in millions of Galleon from this Quidditch World Cup. And once the Philosopher's Stone was created, how much gold wouldn't he have?

What William needs is not Galleon, but influence, and indirect control of the Wizarding World.

He wants to turn Akali's Mystery Shop into a monopoly, an international conglomerate, and control the economic lifeline of wizards.

He wanted the wizard to be inseparable from a mysterious witch from birth to death... Akali!

That was William's true objective.

So that 30-second performance is crucial; he absolutely has to get it right.

This is the best opportunity to promote Akali's Mystery Shop.

William had no intention of saving Galleon. Besides, the Galleon he was spending weren't his; they were all from betting, so he didn't care at all.

Fudge, seeing that William didn't seem to understand, also sighed.

Can he really say, "Give me 20,000 Galleon and I'll sell it to you"?

Fudge didn't want to offend the boy. Besides, wasn't an income of 60,000 to 70,000 Galleon already a profit?

Even if it went through the official accounts, Fudge could still find a way to pocket the money, it would just be more troublesome and easier to be discovered.

The entire process went fairly smoothly, so William bought a few more GG slots.

"Minister, I would like to request permission for House-elf to sell items at the camp," William said.

The camp now houses 100,000 wizards. That's more than all of the United Kingdom combined.

This place is now a huge market, so we have to temporarily move Akali's Mystery Shop here.

"That's against the rules, but..." Fudge chuckled, "Owls can deliver things, House-elf- elves are the same as owls, they can too."

The minister readily agreed, then took William's hand earnestly and said:

"William, tonight it's Norway Team vs. United States Team, who are you betting on?"

"Minister, I really just placed a random bet last time, and you followed my bet. What if we make a mistake this time?"

"So what if we're wrong? Nobody can win all the time."

William shrugged. "You said it."

"Then I'll leave it to you, bro!"

Fudge patted William on the shoulder, "Whoever you bet on, I'll bet on."

"..." Who the hell is your brother?!

Fudge stood up, prepared to bet everything he had on the team William favored.

After Fudge left, Ludo didn't return. William picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet from the table and started reading it casually.

Eye-catching title:

10:390

Written by: Rita Skeeter.

Below is a photo of the Scotland Team being forcibly kissed by the former coach of the Transylvania Team.

In last night's match, the England National Team undoubtedly made a respectable new chapter in history.

If I could tell my past self from 24 hours ago one thing, it would definitely be the pressure of going bankrupt... Transylvania Team

This is ten times more generous than betting on the Selma Lake Monster attacking the Quidditch World Cup; even if Minister Fudge is ousted next year, the black market bets are only 1 to 7.

England has created the impossible. It's no less incredible than You-Know-Who suddenly resurrected and standing before us.

But was this just an accident?

Of course not.

One England National Team player said, "The night before last, our whole team went to a club to drink. We drank until the next day, and our legs were so weak."

... My legs are so weak, how can I possibly beat someone?

A Gringotts Goblin revealed that the England National Team bet on themselves to win the match.

It turns out they weren't throwing the match, they were just genuinely bad...

Rita, true to her reputation as a quick-draw writer, managed to produce a lengthy report overnight, even though she was in Venice.

She also drastically altered a lot of the content, but after reading it, it made people even more angry.

As expected of Rita.

The entire Daily Prophet was filled with reports of England's unexpected defeat, without mentioning the death of an United States wizard.

It seems they've been overshadowed by Fudge and are instead using the England National Team to draw attention away from the game.

Fudge is really good at making money and suppressing scandals...

Hermione returned quickly.

She brandished the keys, beaming, and said, "Got it, 220,000 Galleon."

William put down his quill, looked up, and laughed, "However, I'm going to lose 40,000 Galleon tonight."

William can't keep winning, otherwise everyone will follow his bets. The result would be that the Goblin a derogatory term for a player who wins the betting game) would stop betting on him and wouldn't include him in their betting.

Therefore, William is prepared to lose one game tonight.

"If you bet on Norway, everyone will bet on it, and the Goblin will definitely change the odds quickly."

Hermione sat down next to William, her bright eyes darting around, and whispered, "Shall I secretly use the remaining Galleon to bet on United States Team?"

"That's right," William grinned, "But using multiple identities and betting 160,000 Galleon at once will attract too much attention."

"I know," Hermione blinked. "I'll take Anne, Luna, and Ginny with me!"

William lowered his head again and continued writing the letter.

Hermione leaned closer and asked, "Who are you writing to?"

"Cedric, Cho, the twins, and Professor Lupin, bring them to the Quidditch World Cup camp... Minister Fudge agreed they can sell things here."

William whispered, "Akali's Mystery Shop Quidditch World Cup branch... is open!"

Following England National Team's humiliating defeat, a news item quickly made headlines in major newspapers:

Led by the renowned Stark, the three leaders of Hogwarts made a huge bet in one night, winning over 400,000 Galleon!

All the fans went wild; this kind of overnight riches story is the most captivating.

Many wizards followed Stark, betting on the underdog Norway Team in an attempt to replicate their legend.

Unfortunately, the legend didn't continue...

Norway Team suffered a crushing defeat to the United States Team, Stark lost 40,000 Galleon... a complete financial ruin!

Those who also suffered heavy losses included Minister Fudge, Director Ludo Bagman, and a series of other wizards who followed suit.

In the third game, everyone began to wait and see. Stark continued his high-stakes gamble, betting 60,000 Galleon on the defending champions Canadian Team.

As a result, the Canadian Team suffered a crushing defeat, losing 60,000 Galleon in the process.

No one dared to follow Stark's lead anymore; instead, rumors began to circulate that the first two hundred thousand won was entirely due to the Prophecy of Professor Trelawney Divination.

And then the next two games... she bet on them both correctly!!

In an instant, the title of the greatest Seer in history was bestowed upon Professor Trelawney.

Everyone was ready to follow Trelawney's lead.

The fourth match... Professor Trelawney bets on the England National Team.

As a result, Scotland was utterly defeated by Luxembourg Team.

Stark wagered 80,000 Galleon on Luxembourg Team and made a staggering 500,000 Galleons overnight...

In the fifth game, Stark lost $100,000, while McGonagall made a net profit of $300,000.

Every wizard wanted to vomit blood... So, you three, master and disciple, were taking turns?

The one who must have felt most frustrated was Malfoy... He followed the wrong trend five times in a row.

Opportunities rained down on him, but he skillfully dodged them all.

(Please vote for this post, everyone!)

Thank you to reader "20200814164226957" for the generous donation.