<h4>Chapter 234: People who like to bet more than the twins</h4>


    "Papa, don''t sell us short, what is it that concerns us so much!" George asked with an anxious nature.


    "George, you''re naive!" Compared to his twin brother, Fred was a bit listless, "What else could be the things that are closely rted to us students who are in school? It must be something like exams, homework, assignments and the like ..."


    "If I say so, maybe the Ministry of Magic cane up with some new regtions for exams or something like that, and it will be even harder to pass the ordinary wizard level exams in the future. Not to mention the advanced wizard rank exam."


    "You actually have the guts to mention exams?" Hearing Fred''sint, Mrs. Weasley red viciously at him and George, "I haven''t even said anything about the two of you yet, why don''t you tell me how many O.W.L.s you''ve passed in total? The two of youbined don''t have as many certificates as Percy alone!"


    "Yes, Percy, the Ministry of Magic''s outstanding intern-" George said in a long drawn out ent, "we saw it a long time ago, he can bend his back into a shrimp when he meets any of the Ministry''s junior officials! "


    "That''s right, Percy''s the best at that sort of thing, and if he ran into a senior Ministry of Magic official of that rank, maybe Percy could wipe the floor with his own nose!" Fred said yfully.


    "Shut up, Fred, George!" Percy''s face was red with anger.


    "You have no right tough at Percy!" It was obvious that Mrs. Weasley was looking towards Percy, who had taken twelve certificates, "Percy at least has very long term ambitions, don''t you?"


    "You used to spend all your time thinking about tossing around your mischievous contraptions, and then you tell me you want to open a joke store in the future? I think you guys are just trying to piss me off!"


    "Mom, you''re being professionally discriminatory! Every profession has a reason to exist." Fred shouted, "Didn''t Quidditch start out as something wizards used as a pastime, and now it''s a decent profession!"


    "Yeah, mom, you and dad were trying to get Charlie to be a professional Quidditch yer back then!" George chimed in and protested, "So how is a joke product that also serves as a pastime not a decent profession?"


    Mrs. Weasley froze.


    She nced at the mountain of tents in the room, all of which were spectators who hade to see the Quidditch World Cup duel, and was surprised for a moment that she couldn''t find the words to retort.


    Just then, Mr. Weasley suddenly jumped up, grinning and waving at a man striding over to him.


    "Here, I''d like to introduce you to one of the most important people in this Quidditch World Cup final." He introduced Harry and a few other kids, "Ludo Bagman! He''s the Head of the Department of Sport and Physical Education."


    Ludo smiled back and waved as he made his way over to Mr. Weasley.


    He was wearing a long Quidditch robe with a wide yellow and ck crosswalk, and a giant wasp sshed in ink across his chest - the


    It was the uniform of the Wimbledon Wasps, and Bagman was an extremely popr batsman on the Wimbledon Wasps team in the 1980s.


    It looked as if he had originally been fit and strong, but now it was starting to go downhill. The robes were stretched tightly over his big belly, and the bridge of his nose was ttened, presumably broken by a wandering ball.


    But despite being a little out of shape, his round, blue eyes, short blonde hair, and flushed face still made him look a lot like an overlyrge sports boy.


    "Aha!" Bagman shouted happily. He walked with a bounce as if he had cartridge yellows in the soles of his feet, and was evidently in a state of extreme excitement.


    "Arthur, old fellow," he panted, as he came to the tent where the Wesleys were, "what fine weather, isn''t it? The weather is marvelous! Where can you find weather like this! There are certainly no clouds at night ... The whole preparation is well organized ... I have nothing to do!"


    Behind him, a group of gaunt-faced Ministry of Magic members scurried past, and in the distance there were signs of someone ying with magical fire, purple sparks leaping up over twenty feet high. They were going to stop them, to prevent magic from being exposed in front of the muggles.


    "Good morning, Director Bagman!" Percy hastily stepped forward and bowed deeply.


    He bowed so eagerly that the sses on his face fell to the floor with the inertia.


    Immediately there was loudughter from Fred and George beside him.


    "What did I say, what did I say!" Fred coaxed excitedly, "Percy he can actually wipe the floor with his own nose!"


    Percy awkwardly retrieved his sses, which had fallen to the floor, his face as red as red-hot charcoal in a campfire in front of the tent.


    "Ah, yes," Mr. Weasleyughed and introduced Bagman again.


    "This is my son Percy. Just got a job at the Ministry of Magic; this is Fred ... No, that''s George, sorry, that''s Fred; this is my son Ron, and my daughter Ginny; and these are Ron''s friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."


    "Oh yes, and Sirius ck, who is Harry''s godfather."


    At the sound of Harry''s name, Bagman showed slight surprise, his eyes immediately sweeping to the scar on Harry''s forehead.


    Harry was so used to this kind of behavior from others that his expression didn''t even change.


    And when Mr. Weasley pronounced Sirius'' name, Bagman was clearly startled and subconsciously tried to step back.


    It wasn''t until he saw that Sirius wasn''t as brutal and insane as he was on the wanted list that he let out a quiet sigh of relief.


    "You guys can thank Ludo for that," Mr. Weasley continued, "We got such great tickets thanks to him-"


    "Ah, hello, everybody!" Bagman was all smiles and waved his hand, "It''s nothing; Arthur and I are old buddies."


    "Want to ce a bet on the race, Arthur?" He then asked eagerly.


    Bagman jingled the pockets of his yellow and ck robes, which appeared to contain quite a few gold coins, "I''ve persuaded Roddy Pontene to bet me that Bulgaria will score the first goal - I''ve set him high odds, considering that Irnd''s number three striker is the best I''ve seen over the years The best ... little Agatha Timms has put half the stock in her Eel Farm on the line, betting that the game wouldst a week."


    "Oh ... well, then," said Mr. Weasley, after a moment''s hesitation, "let me think ... I''ll put up a galleon on Irnd to win, won''t I ?"


    "One galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked a little disappointed, but quickly recovered his interest, "Very well, very well ... Is there anyone else who would like to bet?"


    "They''re too young to gamble." Mr. Weasley held back the exuberant Fred and George, "Molly wouldn''t want to ..."


    However how could Fred and George, the two self-proimed gambling kings of Hogwarts, be willing to just give up on this great opportunity, they took out arge handful of gold Galleons.


    Ron watched in awe from the side, he never knew that his two brothers were so rich.


    "Wait, where did you guys get so much money?" Mr. Weasley froze for a moment as well.


    "That''s thanks to those con-emotional Slytherin bosses!" Fred said with a grin.


    "And Professor Drac kindly sponsored some of it." George added.


    "Well, no matter how you saved it, but listen to me ..." Mr. Weasley said in a lowered voice, "I don''t want you to gamble. This is all your savings you ... have."


    Before he could finish, Mrs. Weasley shouted a reprimand.


    "How dare you two still gamble at Hogwarts?!" She took out all the fire that she had just been dumbfounded by the twins, "I can finally realize why you guys didn''t do well in the exams, so it''s because you''ve been doing this kind of thing all day long!"


    "Eh, it''s a happy day don''t be a spoilsport Arthur, Molly!" Bagman said gruffly, jingling his pockets excitedly as he did so, "They''re old enough to know what they want!"


    "Well, since Ludo interceded for them ...," Mrs. Weasley hesitated for a moment, then red viciously at the twins, "Just this once, and never again!"


    It was mainly because of the fact that this Director of Sports and Physical Education was now in high spirits, and for the sake of Percy''s poprity in the Ministry of Magic, Mrs. Weasleypromised once.


    "Got it, Mom!"


    Fred and George jumped up and down gleefully and voiced their choices to Bagman.


    "You think Irnd will win, but Crumb can catch the Golden Flyers? No way, boys, that''s impossible ... I''ll give you good odds ... plus the five Galleons for that funny wand, okay, so are we ... "


    Ludo Bagman drew out his notebook and quill quickly, scribbling down his twin''s name as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked on with some concern.


    "It''s done." George took the small strip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucked it into the front of his robe.


    Bagman, who had pulled in another big order, was in a good mood and turned to Mr. Weasley again with a raised eyebrow.


    "Arthur, would you do me a favor?" He asked, "I''ve been looking for Buddy Crouch. The official in Bulgaria who I''ve been corresponding with is makingments to spite us, but I can''t understand a word he''s saying. Buddy will solve that problem; he speaks about a hundred and fiftynguages yet."


    "Mr. Crouch?" Percy said suddenly, frozen by the twins'' scorn a moment ago, and suddenly finding a way to insert himself into the conversation at the moment, "He can speak two hundrednguages! Mermaid''s, turkey''s, and troll ..."


    "Anyone can speak thenguage of the troll," said Fred, unimpressed; "you just point at it and make a purring noise."


    Percy gave Fred an evil look and proceeded to discuss with Bagman where Barty Crouch, the Director of the Division of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, might be.


    Just then, a silver-haired figure appeared beside the Weasleys at an unknown time, looking thoughtfully at Bagman, who was talking to Percy at a high level.


    "Huh, Professor Drac, when did you get here?" Harry was the first to notice that there was an extra figure here and asked in surprise after seeing who it was, "I thought you didn''t like Quidditch matches!"


    "I really don''t have much interest in the game itself." Drac nodded, "But there''s likely to be a great deal of fun to be had around this World Cup venue before long."


    Drac quirked his mouth pleasantly and turned to Fred and George.


    "Are you guys really going to bet against him?" He asked to the twins, "Aren''t you afraid of losing when you''re betting your entire fortune?"


    "No fear, we have a hunch!" Fred said confidently.


    "It''s not all hunches, we still have the facts." George was obviously full of confidence as well, "In this match, in terms of the overall strength of the team, Irnd is obviously stronger than Bulgaria by more than one level."


    "But who let Bulgaria have Crum, he''s the best ball finder we''ve ever seen!"


    "Don''t worry, Professor Drac, the two of us have made so many bets and we haven''t really lost a few!"


    Fred and George both smiled yfully and nced at each other, both of them looking like they had it all figured out.


    "Like this?" Drac thought for a moment, and took out arge sack of gold galleons from his pocket and threw it in front of Bagman.


    "Mr. Bagman, ce a bet on me as well." Heughed softly, "Just the same as Fred and George and the two of them pressed."


    Bagman, who was originally bragging with Percy, turned his head, and when he saw thisrge sack of gold galoshes, his mouth unconsciously opened, sorge that he could stuff a ghostly flying ball into it.


    Then, uncontroble ecstasy appeared on Bagman''s face.


    "Ah, no problem, of course! Professor Drac right, don''t worry, I''ll definitely give you guys a very high multiplier, you guys wait to make a lot of money!"


    Of course, while Bagman was saying that Drac and the twins would make a lot of money, what he was thinking in his heart was that he had made a lot of money this time.


    Since he had gotten enough gold Galleons, Bagman was toozy to chat and brag with Percy here anymore, and even his interest in the Quidditch match had waned a lot.


    All he wanted to do now was to take these gold Galleons back and hide them.


    After Bagman left, Fred and George leapt to Drac''s side.


    "Professor Drac, do you also think that the two of us guessed correctly?" George asked with an expectant look on his face.


    "That''s not true, I just want to see what this Director of Physical Education and Sports will do." Dracughed lightly and shook his head, "Seriously, even if you guys do guess correctly, you two won''t necessarily get the money you won."


    "Huh? Why is that?" Fred''s eyes widened in shock, "The Director of the Sports Division wouldn''t be a scoundrel, would he?"


    "That''s not really true." Drac snorted, "I just noticed that he wasn''t acting too unusually, so I took a look at him with my regal fetching thoughts ..."


    "You guys probably won''t believe this, but this Bagman Director has a lot of gambling debts and is waiting for this Quidditch World Cup final to roll over and pay them off!"