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"Goodness, Arthur," he said softly, as if he had seen something incredible, "What did you sell to get this seat in the top box? Your belongings can't be worth so much money, right?"
"I almost forgot that you two are old acquaintances." Fudge said with a smile, "Lucius recently donated a large sum of money to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Arthur, he is my guest of honor."
"Oh...that's great." Mr. Weasley managed a smile.
Lucius's eyes flicked to Hermione again and he whispered something to the woman next to him.
Narcissa Malfoy immediately showed a look of disgust, as if she smelled something unpleasant.
It was the same when she saw Winky before, as if in her eyes, Hermione, a Muggle-born, had the same status as a house-elf.
However, under the watchful eyes of the Minister of Magic, they did not dare to say anything out of line and walked towards their seats in silence.
Draco wanted to come over and say hello to Kyle, but was stopped by Narcissa. Lucius watched from the side and did not stop him.
"Annoying guy." Ron muttered, and he, Harry and Hermione turned their attention back to the stadium, looking at the crowd on the other side of the stadium through the panoramic binoculars they had just bought.
Then Ludo Bagman rushed into the box.
"Is everyone ready?" he said, his round face shining like a giant ball of cheese. "Minister...can we start?"
"Just start when you say start, Ludo," Fudge said kindly, "I can't wait to watch a good game."
"You won't be disappointed."
Ludo pulled out his wand, pointed it at his throat and said, "Loud voice." Then his words were like thunder, echoing throughout the packed stadium.
For a moment, his voice was the only sound around.
"Ladies and gentlemen... Welcome!"
……
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 462 Veela and Gold Coins
As Ludo Bagman's voice reached every corner of the stands, the audience instantly burst into loud cheers and applause. Thousands of flags waved at the same time, and the scene was extremely lively.
Kyle didn't listen to Ludo Bagman's cookie-cutter opening remarks, as he glanced again in the direction of the house-elf Winky.
Now the entire box was full of people, with only the seat next to her still empty... It was indeed an empty seat, he had verified it before.
Could it be that Winky really took this for Barty Crouch?
But if that's the case, the game has already started, where are the others?
It's not in Barty Crouch's character to reserve a seat but not show up...or rather, reserving a seat is not something he can do.
"Oh!"
Suddenly, deafening cheers came from the right side of the stands, and everyone stretched their necks to look up above the stands.
Kyle also looked away.
"Allow me to present... the mascot of the Bulgarian national team!"
Following Ludo's voice, Mr. Weasley leaned forward from his seat curiously, "I wonder what they brought...ah...Veela!"
"What is Mei..."
Before Harry could ask, a hundred Veela glided onto the field.
And when Harry saw what they looked like, he was speechless.
They were so beautiful, their skin glowed with a simple soft light like moonlight, and even without wind, their long hair could still flutter behind their heads... Harry's eyes gradually became blurred.
He originally wanted to restrain himself and try to maintain a mature appearance in front of Qiu, but he completely forgot about it at this moment.
Especially when the music started and the Veela began to dance, his mind went blank.
The Veela's dance moves became faster and faster. In full view of everyone, Harry suddenly stood up, with one leg across the partition wall of the box, as if he wanted to jump down from there.
Hermione finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"Harry, what are you doing!" she shouted.
At this time, the music also stopped.
Harry came to his senses as he heard the girls' laughter behind him. He looked at his legs as they stepped out of the wall and finally realized what he had done.
And this laughter was like a killing curse, lashing him again and again. An unprecedented sense of shame instantly took over Harry's body. His face suddenly turned red and he wished he could really jump out.
Hermione smacked her lips loudly, but didn't say anything sarcastic.
Because other people around me behaved similarly.
Ron next to them also stood on his seat, with his arms stretched forward, making a diving posture... Fred and George hugged each other, as if they were dancing some kind of duet.
Cedric was a little better, but he also struck a very contrived pose...as if he was showing off his muscles.
Qiu sneered and turned his head away from him.
Cedric's face was as pale as the wall next to him, without a trace of blood.
As for Kyle, he also stared at the Veela with shining eyes.
Hermione made a smacking sound again, feeling extremely disappointed... She had thought Kyle would be different. People like Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie were not affected at all.
Only Kanna looked at Kyle suspiciously. If she remembered correctly, Kyle's eyes now were exactly the same as when he first saw the Charmander Norbert.
The same thing happened when I went to the Forbidden Forest to see the Moon Beasts.
As the music stopped and the Veela left, the stadium was filled with the angry roars of the audience. Mr. Weasley also pulled Harry back to his seat, and he curled himself up into a ball and tried to reduce his presence.
Malfoy's sneer continued to be heard behind him, but Harry no longer cared. He only noticed that Qiu had a very disappointed look on his face.
Are you disappointed in yourself?
Harry didn't know, but if he could, he wished he was in the stands below, so it would be less embarrassing.
But Ron, Fred and George next to them were different. They were making a fuss like everyone else, wanting the Veela to stay.
"There will be a competition later." Mr. Weasley patted them, "This is much prettier than the Veela."
"Hmm?" Ron snorted indifferently, still staring at the Veela, who were now lined up on one side of the stadium.
"And now!" Ludo Bagman's voice boomed, "Please raise your wands to the air... Welcome the mascot of the Irish national team!"
Then, with a whoosh, something like a comet flew into the stadium, circled the field, and suddenly broke apart, forming a huge, dazzling clover that rose high into the air.
The crowd erupted in exclamations of “Ah ...
Something crackled down from above, like golden raindrops...
"Great!" Ron forgot about the Veela in an instant, took off his hat excitedly and went to catch the falling gold coins.
Kyle looked up at the "Shamrock", which was made up of countless little people wearing red vests and mustaches, each holding a golden or green lantern.
It is an Irish leprechaun, about the same size as a Cornish elf, but much smarter, and is a creature unique to Ireland.
Fortunately, they...
Kyle looked at the gold coins that kept falling. If he replaced it with other mascots, they might not be able to overshadow the Veela.
In the stadium, people were no longer shouting for the return of the Veela. While they were cheering, they were still scrambling or crawling under the seats to pick up gold coins.
"Is this true?" Kanna caught a falling gold coin and couldn't help asking.
"Of course not. The Irish team is not stupid." Kyle said with a smile, "This is a leprechaun coin. It will disappear in a few hours."
"So it's useless?" Kanna asked.
"That's not the case, but at least the visual effect is great...you can't see gold rain anywhere else," said Kyle.
He moved his wand and collected all the gold coins around him, preparing to give them to Sniff as toys later.
After a few minutes, the giant clover disappeared, and the leprechauns landed opposite the veela, sitting cross-legged, ready to watch the game.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen... please give a warm welcome to the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team. I present to you... Dimitrov!"
A figure in red clothes flew into the stadium from the entrance. He flew so fast that Harry had to slow the panoramic telescope down by three times before he could see his appearance clearly.
"Ivano pressure..."
The second red figure flew out, and then the third...
Bagman called out the name of each player loudly, and the applause from the stands never stopped.
"Next, the last one to appear is... Krum!"
It was as if the stands had exploded. The thunderous cheers made people's ears numb. Even many supporters of the Irish team were screaming.
Kyle looked over as well.
Viktor Krum was dark and thin, with a big hooked nose and two thick black eyebrows, looking like an eagle.
And he always had a gloomy face, which made him look like he was thirty years old, not a student who had not yet graduated.
Next came the members of the Irish National Quidditch Team, who also received enthusiastic applause, with Chaser Moran getting less applause than Krum, but not much less.
The two teams flew in the sky on brooms, staring at each other hungrily.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 463 This Ticket is Worth It
After the players, Ludo Bagman introduced the referee of the match, the president of the International Quidditch Federation... a short, thin wizard.
Amid cheers, he strode towards the arena with a large wooden box under his arm.
Everyone fell silent, holding their breath.
The referee got on his broom and kicked the box away...then the whistle blew.
"Ah... they're off!" Bagman screamed. "Now it's Mallett with the ball! Troy! Moran! Pass it to Mallett again! Moran!"
In the top box, Harry had completely forgotten his embarrassing behavior. He pressed the panoramic telescope tightly against his glasses... because only in this way could he see the game clearly.
Kyle was also staring at the field intently. The professional players were incredibly fast. The Chasers kept passing the Quaffle to other players, as if it could explode at any time.
The three Irish Chasers rushed towards the Bulgarian goalpost in a tight circle, the Quaffle bouncing between them in a way that even Bagman, the commentator, found difficult to follow.
Finally he gave up saying names and shouted, "Ireland used the standard Eagle Head attack formation... their specialty... Bulgaria didn't know who to tackle... Oh! Boskov tactics... Moran distracted the Bulgarian beater Ivanova... she threw the Quaffle to Troy..."