After HP shared the dream, Lao Fu was conquered by me

Chapter 214 Bagman (1)

"Ahoy!" Bagman cried joyfully, bouncing along as if he had springs under his feet, and it was obvious that he was in a state of great excitement.

"Arthur, old fellow," he panted, coming up to the fire, "what a fine day it is, isn't it? Magnificent weather! Such weather as you can ever find! There must be no cloud in the night. All the preparations are so well done, and I have nothing to do!"

Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry officials hurried past, and in the distance there were signs of someone playing with magic fire, purple sparks shooting up more than twenty feet high.

Percy stepped forward hastily, holding out his hand. It was clear that his disapproval of the way Ludo Bagman ran his department didn't stop him from wanting to make a good impression.

"Oh, are these all your children?" Bagman glanced back and forth at Lamia and the others following Arthur. His gaze fixed on Lamia, Hermione and Harry. He looked at Arthur hesitantly.

"Ah - yes," said Mr. Weasley, smiling, "that was my son Percy. He's just started working at the Ministry - and this is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred - Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter Ginny - and this is Ron's friend, Lamia Nocturne, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

Bagman looked slightly surprised at the mention of Harry's name, and his eyes flickered to the scar on Harry's forehead, which Harry was already very familiar with.

But then Bagman looked at Lamia, as if trying to recall which wizard family Nocturne belonged to. In the end, he couldn't remember, but Lamia's temperament showed her extraordinary identity. Bagman was not sure whether he had overlooked a famous wizard family.

"Nockturn? I don't seem to have heard of such a wizard family." Bagman asked in a tentative tone, his big belly shaking.

"Oh, yes, Lamia is a poor child." After Mr. Weasley said this, Bagman was too embarrassed to ask any further questions. He winked at the subordinate following behind him, and the man immediately nodded and turned around quickly.

Mr. Weasley didn't know whether he saw it or not. He was just busy introducing this wizard who looked a little not very smart to the children.

"Let me introduce you all," continued Mr. Weasley. "This is Ludo Bagman. You know who he is. It's thanks to him that we got these great tickets—"

Bagman smiled broadly and waved his hand, as if to say it was nothing, but he was paying close attention to every move behind him, waiting for his subordinates to report to him Lamia's true identity.

Bagman and Mr. Weasley talked for a long time, so long that they had no more topics to talk about, but the man who had left had not returned. Bagman was a little impatient, but he still did not intend to take anyone away and tried every means to continue chatting with Mr. Weasley.

"Want to place a bet on the race, Arthur?" he asked eagerly, making the pockets of his yellow and black robe jingle, as if they were filled with gold coins.

"I've persuaded Roddy Pontner to take a bet with me that Bulgaria will score the first goal—I gave him very high odds, considering Ireland's third striker is the best I've seen in years—and little Agatha Timms has put half her Eel Farm stock on it, betting the match will last a week."

Bagman suddenly had an idea and actually thought of a perfect topic. Once this topic came up, no matter how embarrassed Mr. Weasley was, he would continue to talk to Bagman.

"Oh... all right then," said Mr. Weasley, "let me see... I'll put a Galleon on Ireland to win, all right?"

"One Galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked a little surprised, but he quickly recovered his interest. After all, his purpose was not here. "Very good, very good... Anyone else want to bet?"

"They're too young to gamble," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't want to -"

"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, and three Knuts," said Fred, and he and George quickly pulled out their money. "On Ireland to win - but Viktor Krum to catch the Snitch. Oh, and we'll throw in a fake wand, too."

"You're going to show Mr. Bagman those rubbish—" Percy muttered in a low voice. But Mr. Bagman didn't seem to think the fake wand was rubbish at all. He took the wand from Fred, and it croaked and transformed into a little rubber chicken, and Mr. Bagman laughed, his childish face full of excitement.

Now he seemed to have forgotten his previous purpose and began to discuss the fake wand and their other gadgets with the Weasley twins.

"Great! I haven't seen anything this realistic in years! I'll buy them for fifty Galleons!"

The Weasley twins didn't know where they got all these things from, and Bagman loved every one of them, especially the exercise books that turned into Quidditch goals.

Percy was stunned for a moment, both surprised and dissatisfied.

"My children," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his voice, "I don't want you to gamble... This is all your savings... Your mother -"

"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" growled Ludo Bagman, jangling the money in his pocket excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You think Ireland will win, but Krum will catch the Snitch? No way, boys, no way. I'll give you long odds, and add the fifty Galleons we got for those things, so shall we—"

Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman whipped out his notebook and quill and scribbled the twins' names.

"It's done." George took the small piece of parchment Bagman handed him and tucked it into the front of his robes. Bagman turned to Mr. Weasley with a beaming look on his face.

"Would you do me a favour? I've been looking for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian counterpart is giving us a hard time, but I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty will sort it out. He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."

"Mr. Crouch?" said Percy, who had been frozen like a telephone pole at Bagman's displeasure, and now was suddenly agitated with excitement. "He speaks two hundred languages! Mermaids, turkeys, trolls..."

"Anyone can speak troll language," said Fred dismissively. "All you have to do is point at it and make a purring sound."

Percy gave Fred a nasty look and fanned the fire, getting the water in the kettle to boil again.

But no one noticed that Lamia had disappeared long ago.