From his attire to his appearance, Barty Crouch was far superior to the unkempt Ludo Bagman in every way.
With a neatly trimmed beard, shiny leather shoes, and a spotless, crisp suit, he looked just like a real bank manager.
Not to mention administrator Mr. Roberts, Harry thought that even the most discerning Uncle Vernon would find it difficult to see through his true identity.
But Bagman didn't seem to care about this at all.
He and Mr. Weasley finished a cup of tea and sat leisurely on the lawn, showing no intention of finding the Bulgarians.
Barty Crouch frowned, looking a bit impatient.
"Mr. Crouch." Percy hurried over, bending his body in a bowing gesture, which made him look like a hunchback, "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Oh," Barty said, glancing at the relaxed Bagman and then taking a look at Percy, "Well… thank you, Weatherby."
Fred and George laughed so hard that they almost spat their tea back into their cups.
"Crouch, who knows two hundred languages, actually got Percy's last name wrong," Fred whispered to Kael.
"Percy kept saying during the holidays that Crouch appreciated him…" George said.
"Now it seems the truth might not be that way…"
"He probably doesn't even know who Percy is!"
Seeing the two's schadenfreude, Percy's ears turned pink as he pretended to busy himself with the teapot.
This time, Barty Crouch was here not just to find Bagman, but also to discuss the issue of banning flying carpets with Mr. Weasley.
There was nothing much to say about that; carpets had been defined as Muggle handcrafts since the last century and listed in the registry of banned magic items.
In other words, enchanting carpets with magic was prohibited here, let alone allowing them to fly with people on them. Once discovered, the Department of Prohibition of Misuse of Muggle Items would be at your doorstep.
Kael had reasons to suspect that this regulation was definitely related to the Broomstick Company, aimed at preventing the flying carpets from entering England.
After all, when it came to practicality, a flying carpet that could seat ten people might sometimes be more convenient than a broom… for instance, for family outings.
Barty Crouch had many things to attend to, so after chatting for a bit, he placed his untouched teacup down and left with Bagman.
Later, Kael and the others also pushed their cart to walk to the other side of the venue.
They needed to sell all the remaining items during the time before the match began.
Once they were far enough away from the tent, Fred couldn't help but ask, "Kael, why did you stop me just now? You heard it too; Bagman's odds are really high, we could make a fortune."
"I just think he doesn't seem very reliable," Kael said, "If you don't want to lose all your pocket money, it's best to keep your distance from him."
"No, we think we can guess the match result correctly this time," Fred said, "Trust our judgment… Ireland is definitely going to win, but the Golden Snitch will definitely be caught by Krum."
"That's not the point," Kael shook his head, "Sometimes even if you guess right, you might not get the money."
"You mean… he might renege?" George frowned.
"But…" Fred thought for a moment and said, "After all, Bagman is a celebrity, he shouldn't do something like this, right."
"But it's been almost ten years since his glory days," Kael said, "And with such high odds, what do you expect him to pay you with Galleons, his Minister salary?
If it were only you two placing bets, maybe that would be enough, but don't forget, there are nearly a hundred thousand wizards here."
Fred and George fell silent.
They realized that they might indeed have been a bit rash.
Upon thinking carefully, the name Ludo Bagman had hardly come up before this World Cup.
"Phew… you're right!" Fred breathed out, "Alright, compared to playing games with Ludo Bagman, we'd better focus our energy on these things."
He patted the box filled with fireworks.
"At least they'll bring in real gold coins."
"A wise choice," Cedric said with a smile.
He also thought that Ludo Bagman seemed a bit unreliable. He was too lively, and when he spoke, he would always shake that bag filled with gold coins, as if intentionally reminding others of his wealth.
And during a casual chat a few days ago, his dad also mentioned that Bagman had once been accused of passing on information to the Death Eaters.
Although it was ultimately proven that it wasn't his intention, the incident still happened, and he could only make some "contributions" to the Ministry of Magic to redeem himself and get released sooner.
So he definitely couldn't come up with too many Galleons now.
After calming themselves a bit, Fred and George didn't think about it any longer and continued to push their cart toward the crowded areas.
By now, the audience holding tickets had mostly arrived, and there were significantly more people in the venue than in the morning.
With more people, naturally, there were also more customers.
Hearing the jingling of gold coins falling into the money box, the remaining regret in Fred and George's hearts quickly vanished.
Moreover, they met Professor McGonagall near the center of the camp.
As a true Quidditch enthusiast, she had watched almost every Quidditch match held during Hogwarts' vacation periods.
It was impossible for her to miss this World Cup.
And Kael had never seen this side of Professor McGonagall before.
Her round bun was finally let down, held with a clover hairclip, and her ever-consistent robes were replaced by Ireland's team colors, with thick face paint on her beaming face...
Although she wiped it off her face almost instantly, Kael still saw it… it was the pattern of the Ireland team's flag.
"Your outfit is really cool today… Professor McGonagall!" Kael gave a thumbs up.
"I'll take that as a compliment, Kael," Professor McGonagall said with a smile, "What are you doing here?"
"Made a few gadgets to add some atmosphere to the match," Kael said, pushing the cart forward to indicate that Professor McGonagall could pick anything she liked, on the house.
"Oh, really nice work," Professor McGonagall picked up a hairclip, a clover-shaped broom.
The more she looked at it, the more she liked it, and she replaced her original one with it.
"Minerva, you're here… oh, Kael, Cho… you're here too."
Two more professors approached from a distance; it was Professor Flitwick and Professor Aurora Sinistra, who taught astronomy.
"Come quickly, Filius," Professor McGonagall said happily, "Didn't you just say you wanted to buy a hat? I've found it for you."
"Really?" Professor Flitwick quickened his pace, leaning on the cart to select something he fancied.