Harry felt like he had lost a love.
The boy sat somewhat forlornly in his seat, his eyes fixed on the spot where the Veela had lined up—a lot of people in the stadium were like him, shouting for the Veela to perform another dance, but clearly, Ludo had no such plans—although he would love to see it again.
However, if the Veela performed for another half-minute, probably many people would directly jump down, turning it into the biggest falling incident of the twentieth century!
He had no intention of creating such history—
"Now," and with that, Bagman's voice rang out like a giant bell, "Please raise your magic wands into the air... Welcome the mascot of the Ireland National Team!"
Next moment, a "swoosh" sound was heard, and after a series of crackling sound effects, money started raining down from the sky—
"!"
Sitting on William's palm, Kabuda was instantly restless. It stared at the gold coins falling before it, tiny eyes sparkling with big curiosity.
"These are Leprechaun gold coins, which will soon disappear—"
William glanced at the coin and let Kabuda loose. The Niffler didn't care much; unlike the dragons of stories who love sleeping on piles of treasure, it simply had no resistance to these shiny objects, enjoying the collection process—
Soon, the rain stopped, and Kabuda rolled back full and satisfied, lying on William's palm with a content sound.
…
Next, the players entered the field, followed by the Quidditch chairman's speech—luckily the latter did not have a long-winded speech, and soon the match started, with a dozen colorful figures starting to move swiftly above the field, "Troy scores!" Bagman's voice was still loud, and cheers and applause exploded in the stadium. William could feel the floor beneath him slightly trembling, "10:0, Ireland leading!"
The atmosphere was infectious, Hermione beside William started to get excited; probably only William remained calm in his seat—
So, with a thought, the magic that bound his emotions dissipated, and feeling the shouts of excitement, joy, and anger around him, his mouth couldn't help but lift in a smile. In his vision, countless blue-gold dots of light began to float up from the crowd—
Rich emotions have always been... fuel for ancient magic.
Watching this scene, William, well-prepared, reached out and took from Kabuda's pocket a silver-white sphere the size of a head.
The next moment, the sphere floated up, slowly spinning above William's palm, and those scattered and aimless blue-gold light dots finally found a target, starting to rapidly converge towards the sphere in his hand—
This visually striking sight for William went unnoticed by others, and soon the light sphere vibrated momentarily, and William carefully put it away, then… pulled out two more from Kabuda's pocket.
On the sphere, the blue Rune Patterns "breathed" rhythmically.
…
"... Lynch sees the Golden Snitch!"
Bagman shouted, "He sees it! Look at him!"
Most spectators realized what was happening, and soon, Ireland supporters stood up, a green wave surged in the stands, and they screamed to cheer for their Seeker… but a red figure closely followed.
"It's Krum!" Ron shouted.
"They're going to crash to the ground!" Hermione screamed.
"No, they won't!" Ron continued to shout.
"Lynch will!" Harry shouted loudly.
Harry was right — the next moment, Lynch fell heavily to the ground along with his broom, and the Veela quickly surrounded him in fury.
"Where's the Snitch, where's the Golden Snitch?" Charlie shouted from the other side of the stands.
"He caught it! Krum caught it! The match is over!" Harry shouted madly.
The crimson robe rose lightly into the air, Krum raised his fist high, revealing a flash of gold between his fingers.
The scoreboard above the stadium flashed the score, Bulgaria: 160, Ireland: 170.
Most of the spectators still hadn't realized what had happened, but then gradually, like a rocket igniting and exiting the atmosphere, the discussions among Ireland supporters grew louder, eventually exploding into countless joyous shouts.
William closed his eyes; the flashing dots made his eyes hurt a bit. Before him sat five or six spheres now charging.
"Ireland wins!"
Bagman, who supported Ireland, shouted, but he seemed a bit puzzled by the sudden end of the match, "Yes, Krum caught the Golden Snitch—but Ireland wins—wow, I don't think anyone anticipated this outcome!"
Below him, Fred and George instinctively exchanged a glance—blimey! They bet correctly!
We're rich!
They turned to look at Bagman, whose plump double chin seemed endearingly adorable in their eyes, glowing with the light of Golden Galleons.
"... Just brilliant, what are these?"
Hermione sat back with lingering excitement, then looked at the few white light spheres floating in front of William, somewhat puzzled.
"This is... how to say it, missiles?"
William smacked his lips, storing away another light sphere full of "electricity." It was a small replica he created based on the Secret Vault left by "predecessor" Isadora, capable of absorbing emotional energy, be it happiness or fear, it would take it all.
Throwing them out like grenades was the dumbest way to play, but just one of these could destroy Malfoy Manor without much problem.
The key point is, they can be used as an energy source, like a "battery," which means that later on, the charging of those golems won't need his constant maintenance!
Sustained combat, this is the most crucial step... but somehow, as William looked at the "battery" in his hand, he felt something was off... hmm, so what's the next step? Mass-produce golems? Then what? Use golems that can survive without his support to form a private army?
Damn... it's getting more and more criminal.
William furrowed his brow, but his hands didn't stop moving one bit—criminal or not, ever since that green light burst from his magic wand, he had been running headlong toward a life sentence in Azkaban, so he wasn't worried about a little slip-up.
Then, the top-tier box they were in was illuminated, attracting the attention of the entire stadium.
The door opened, and the team members of both squads filed in. William turned around and saw a young man clutching the Golden Snitch; his face was pale and disheveled, with bloodstains on his face and prominent dark circles.
The award ceremony concluded quickly. After the championship-winning Ireland team flew around the field once, everyone began to exit in an orderly fashion.
"Don't tell your mom about your gambling."
As everyone slowly descended the stairs covered in purple-red carpet, Mr. Weasley suddenly implored Fred and George—the two had just received a hefty sum of Galleons from Bagman, and the boys were grinning with satisfaction.
"Don't worry, Dad!" Fred said happily. "We have big plans for this money; we definitely don't want it confiscated."
Mr. Weasley hesitated for a moment, perhaps considering asking about their grand plans, but he quickly thought better of it, deciding not to inquire so as not to be burdened with secrets he might let slip to Molly, sparing not just the boys, but himself from her wrath.
Soon, they were engulfed by the crowd heading back to the campsite, and as they walked along the lantern-lit path, loud, boisterous singing echoed in the night sky. The little Leprechauns of the Ireland team darted overhead, racing and swinging their lanterns, cackling joyously.
Nobody was keen on sleeping; given the noisy environment around them, Lupin kindly offered each person a cup of hot chocolate milk and some filling pastries prepared beforehand, earning exclamations from Sirius and William about Lupin's "homely feel."
"You don't have to drink."
The werewolf, with a dark face, was about to take away their cups.
Finally, as the moonlight climbed to the center of the sky, the kids started yawning, and Ginny had even fallen asleep at the table, leading everyone to finally stop chatting. After saying goodnight, they each returned to their tents—
The excitement began to fade away slowly, and everyone lay on their beds, gradually slipping into slumber.
"Squeak, squeak."
Lying in bed, Kabuda felt his empty pocket and sighed in slight depression—though the fun was in collecting, seeing those Galleons disappear still made the Niffler a bit sad.
William kindly patted its little head and then handed it a storybook, indicating for it to read him a bedtime story—
"Squeak, squeak?!"
Kabuda widened its eyes, incredulous at William's intention for a Niffler to put him to sleep.
...
"... The trophy goes to you, Potter!"
Harry squinted, as Ludo Bagman's exhilarating voice echoed in his ears. He wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep until a swaying shadow startled the drowsy boy awake. He looked at the shadow inching closer to his bedside, and an inexplicable sense of panic surged in his heart—
He wanted to call out but couldn't even open his mouth. He wanted to wake Ron in the bunk above him but couldn't even move a finger.
So, Harry could only watch as the shadow slowly approached him. He noticed the figure seemed small and skinny, with large bat-like ears and eyes as big as ping-pong balls, looking strangely familiar—
... Dobby?!
Harry widened his eyes, staring at the House-Elf slowly advancing toward him with a knife, filled with puzzlement.
But Dobby's actions didn't slow because of Harry's panic; it shrunk and approached Harry, raising the blade aloft. Then, a look of struggle appeared in Dobby's eyes, but it quickly clenched its teeth and closed its eyes, driving the knife down hard—