Ludo Bagman is truly a wizard who is easy to be surprised by. He is the head of the Department of Magical Sports, a position much higher than Mr. Weasley's in the Ministry of Magic, but Harry sees no trace of any great person's airs in him.
"Thank you--"
Sirius also felt somewhat surprised at Ludo's comments about him. He shook hands with Ludo.
"In fact, quite a few people think of me as a complete fool."
This is the truth. Since the exposure of Sirius's affairs, he has always been a controversial figure in the magical world. Some people think he is very noble, while others think he is just an idiot and a fool.
Mr. Weasley knew that Sirius didn't want to delve into the comments he received, so he smiled and introduced others to Ludo.
"These are my three sons; Fred and George are the ones who look alike, this is my youngest son, Ron, and then, this is Harry Potter--"
Upon hearing Harry's name, Ludo Bagman slightly displayed a surprised look. His eyes immediately scanned towards Harry's forehead scar, which Harry had long gotten used to, so he did not feel offended. He felt a bit curious about Ludo Bagman, not because of his status as a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic, but because Ludo had once been an internationally renowned Quidditch player.
Harry, his classmates from Hogwarts, Oliver Wood who had graduated and was the captain of the Gryffindor team, also dreamt of becoming a Quidditch player, and he himself had also thought about this. Becoming a Quidditch player was one of his few choices that he did not mind.
"Let me introduce you to everyone," Mr. Weasley continued, "This is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is. We owe him for getting us such good tickets—"
Ludo Bagman was beaming with a smile, waving his hand as if it wasn't anything.
"Would you like to make a bet on the match, Arthur?"
Ludo asked eagerly, jingling his pockets filled with gold coins as if they were quite substantial.
"I've managed to convince Roddy Puntner to bet against me, he says Bulgaria will score the first goal -- I set him a very high stake because I consider Ireland's third forward to be the best I've seen in years -- Little Agatha Timms has staked half of her eel farm on a bet that the match will last a week."
"Oh, well then."
Mr. Weasley was clearly familiar with Ludo, and did not seem overly surprised at his unexpected invitation. After hesitating for a few seconds, he pulled a gold coin from his pocket,
"Let me think. How about I bet one Galleon on Ireland to win?"
"One Galleon?" Ludo Bagman appeared somewhat disappointed, but quickly regained his enthusiasm. He pulled out a notebook and quickly wrote down this bet. "Very good. Very good, then--"
Ludo Bagman looked at Sirius, his eyes full of fervor,
"Would you like to share your thoughts on the match, Sirius? Who do you think will ultimately win, Bulgaria or Ireland?"
Sirius furrowed his brow, and the instant liking he had developed for Ludo Bagman vanished. He deduced that this guy was probably rich based on this tent.
Sirius was preparing to gently decline Ludo Bagman's invitation, but before he could open his mouth, someone suddenly grabbed his robe from behind.
It was Fred and George, looking at him with beseeching eyes.
"Do you want to join in?" Sirius asked with a smile.
"No, Fred and George, your mother won't be pleased to see you're involved, and besides, you're planning to ask Sirius for money?"
Mr. Weasley furrowed his brow, giving his sons an unpleased stare.
"Our mother burned all the inventions we made to earn pocket money, that was our hard work for months!"
Fred said dejectedly.
Mr. Weasley immediately softened. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said tentatively,
"Alright, you can bet on what you want, I'll cover the cost for you--"
"Let me take care of it, Arthur—" Sirius said smilingly, looking at Harry and Ron. "Quidditch World Cup is a rare opportunity, you both can participate in it, each twenty-five Galleons, I'll pay for you."
Harry didn't feel much about it, but Fred and George erupted into cheers. Ron cheered for two seconds before looking at Sirius doubtfully again.
"If I don't participate--"
"Ron!" Mr. Weasley said sternly, and Ron instantly shut up.
"We're putting a total of fifty Galleons on the line,"
"With the excitement gone, Fred eagerly said to Ludo,"
"Bet on Ireland to win -- but Viktor Krum will catch the Golden Snitch!"
Ludo Bagman had been smilingly observing their conversation, but only when the twins made their choice did he look surprised.
"You think Ireland will win, but Krum can catch the Golden Snitch? That's impossible, kids. No one would think that. I can offer you very high odds, one to fifteen, how about that? If you guess right, you can take seven hundred and fifty gold coins from me!"
Ron's breathing had become shallow, his face flushed red, and he trembled while holding onto Harry's wrist, "What should we do, Harry? Who should we bet on?"
Because of the gold his deceased parents left for him at Gringotts, Harry had lived rather comfortably these years. But if they won, there would be several hundred gold coins, which was no small sum to him either!
"Harry looked to Sirius for help, but Sirius only smiled and said,"
"I know less about Quidditch than you do, Harry. Just follow your instincts—"
"I have to remind you, betting just on Ireland winning or Bulgaria losing won't earn you much money. You need to make the right, bold predictions to get yourself a pile of gold!"
The tone of Bagman's voice was like that of a demon's temptation, making Ron's mouth dry.
"There's no doubt that Ireland will win, Charlie agrees, their lineup is the best in years—"
Ron muttered to himself softly.
"But Lynch isn't a match for Krum, he's the best Seeker in the world, he's only eighteen years old, a genius. So--"
Ron glared at Fred and George. Upon further thought, his twin brothers' seemingly absurd prediction actually had a chance of coming true.
Harry spent half of the summer at the Dursleys' and had no idea about the previous match. Moreover, he didn't know as much about those players as Ron did, so he simply handed over the decision to Ron.
"--That way, the match won't last long."
Ron walked back and forth by the pool, muttering to himself constantly. This was a rare opportunity to change his fate, and he couldn't afford to be careless. The others did not disturb him, waiting quietly for his decision.
After a few minutes, Ron returned to Ludo Bagman, taking a deep breath.
"How's it going, young fellow? Do you have any ideas?" Ludo Bagman said affectionately. "Come on, share your thoughts. It's not a big deal if you're wrong!"
"My bet is the same as Fred and George's. I think Ireland will win, but Viktor Krum will catch the Golden Snitch first!"
"A bit of a keen eye."
"It's rare to find your mind clear at times."
Fred and George nodded in approval of Ron, but Ron's prediction was not yet finished. He continued to say,
"Also, I bet the difference between Bulgaria and Ireland will not exceed twenty points!"
Ron said firmly.
"Oh, that's excellent! A ratio of one to twenty!" Ludo Bagman said joyfully, as if the fifty gold Galleons belonging to Ron and Harry were already his. He eagerly wrote down the names of the individuals, the amounts of their bets, and the match results on a piece of paper, then stuffed it into his pocket and fixed his gleaming eyes on Sirius.
Sirius pulled out a bunch of gold coins from his pouch and filled Ludo's pockets to bursting. Ludo seemed afraid that the children would change their minds, so he quickly finished passing the bets and documents to the kids, then left hurriedly.
Seeing Ron who took out the Merlin's Memorabilia Coin given by Professor Bran to pray, Mr. Weasley helplessly shook his head.
(End of chapter)
