The Return to Hogwarts

Upon hearing the question, Ludo immediately shuddered. He grinned exaggeratedly, ready to boast a bit, but when his gaze met Amosta's insightful eyes, Ludo hesitated and gave an awkward laugh.

"Only five thousand Galleons."

"Only five thousand?"

Amosta laughed coldly.

"That's almost three years' worth of your salary, Ludo. Quidditch matches don't happen every day; there aren't that many opportunities for you to make extra money on the side—"

Ludo's oily cheeks flushed. From that one sentence, he knew Amosta had seen him counting the money. He took a couple of guilty breaths and fanned himself with his hat.

“This isn’t just a simple loan, Amosta, it’s an investment, a loan provided by the fairies. Just wait and see, I’ll make back the principal and interest in no time!”

Amosta's heart skipped a beat, but he still looked at Ludo with suspicion.

"The fairies are willing to lend you 5,000 Galleons, so you didn't mortgage the appointment letter the ministry gave you to the fairies, did you?"

Looking at Ludo, who was groaning and not daring to say a word, Amosta shook his head. The fact that someone like Ludo could stay in the position of director for so many years meant the department's discipline couldn't be any worse.

"What exactly makes you dare to take such a gamble, Ludo? You should know very well that if you lose such a large investment, forget about your position as Director of the Department of Magical Transportation, you probably won't even be able to stay in England. Are you that confident in yourself?"

“You gave me confidence, Amosta—”

When talking about gambling, Ludo became very animated.

"Remember the draw before the first match of the Triwizard Tournament? You covered for Hermione Granger, letting her get the gentlest Chinese Fireball—"

Amosta's eyebrows immediately rose. It was Dom who had done the tampering, not him. However, Amosta did not correct Ludo's mistake, but continued to listen.

"--I immediately realized that you were fully supporting Granger. Ah, of course, you probably just wanted Hogwarts to win in the end. When I got back that day, I found a way to get some gold to bet on Granger's victory!"

"Miss Granger would be very touched to know how much you support her—"

Amosta said in a low voice.

"Oh, I wasn't planning on betting big, Amosta!"

Ludo said with a hint of annoyance,

"Before the competition started, not many people favored Miss Granger, and the odds of her winning were very high. But after the first match, she became the favorite to win, and the fairies immediately lowered her odds. So even if she wins, the returns become less than satisfactory, and I have to mortgage my house. Cough cough, I mean, increase my investment."

Amosta pursed her lips.

"But I heard that Hermione's odds have become very high again?"

"That happened later—"

Ludo said with great interest,

"Remember what I told you at the Christmas ball? A group of Germans placed a huge bet that Granger wouldn't finish the race. That massive sum of money sent Granger's odds soaring. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Amosta. If I miss it, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, so..."

"So you've staked your entire career on this?"

Amosta narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze fixed on Ludo's face.

“Didn’t you consider that this is a trap, a scheme set by the goblins and those Germans? Ludo, what makes them so confident that Hermione won’t finish the match? You know, even if Hermione doesn’t win, as long as she perseveres to the end, that huge sum of money will be gone. There’s clearly something wrong with betting on her not finishing the match—”

"They probably hope Hermione gets injured and has to withdraw from the competition in the second or third round. That's quite possible, isn't it?"

Ludo seemed unaware of the problem and shrugged.

"What if they do something behind the scenes? Aren't you worried about that? Aren't the fairies worried about that too?"

"Oh, hehe!"

Ludo laughed and patted Amosta's arm.

"The fairy who told me this said they had also worried about this issue before accepting the bet. It's not like it's never happened before, but they ultimately agreed to the bet, Amosta, the fairies think—"

Ludo looked at Amosta with admiration.

"No one would dare to persecute young Hogwarts wizards under Dumbledore and Blaine's very noses, unless they were willing to risk their lives!"

Amosta was speechless for a moment.

Indeed, these Germans may have had a stroke of luck, but judging from the current indications, it is highly unlikely that they are completely without problems.

But it's Ludo Bagman.

Amosta scrutinized the gambler, pondering Ludo's earlier comments about the fairies' perspective on the bet; they seemed innocent, in fact.

“Anyway, this is too suspicious—” Amosta pondered, “I need to see them and find out where their confidence comes from?”

"That won't be easy, Amosta—"

Ludo said,

"You know, these people attract a lot of attention. Many people want to find out about them, and they themselves know this, so they hide themselves very well. After placing their bets, they disappear. Even the fairies don't know where they came from or where they are now."

"But the fairies surely know whose vault all that gold came from, don't they?"

"They supposedly settled in cash—"

Ludo said, looking at Amosta with a slightly furrowed brow, "I can comfort you."

"You're worrying unnecessarily, Amosta. What I'm telling you is, you should seize the opportunity, put everything you have into it, and make sure Granger wins. Right, that little girl figured out the secret of the golden egg, didn't she? Did you remind her? Oh, if you don't want to be too obvious, I can find an opportunity."

Amosta glanced at Ludo, successfully silencing him.

While they were chatting, all the activities on the Quidditch field below finally came to an end. The wizards gradually left the field, and Ludo raised his wrist to check the time, then exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Amosta, although I'd love to continue our conversation, I have to leave now and get back to the department. So, what are your plans?"

"I'm sorry, Ludo, I have other plans, so I won't be going back to London with you."

Amosta said calmly.

"Well then, good luck—"

Ludo had clearly anticipated what Amosta was planning to do, and after thinking for a moment, he said to Amosta,

"By the way, the fairy who told me this is named Engel. He's in charge of related business at Gringotts' Paris headquarters. I have a good relationship with him. If you're determined to find those Germans, you can talk to Engel. Maybe he's hiding some information—"

After speaking, Ludo Phantom teleported to the platform below and hurriedly left through the repaired fireplace before the main group of departing people arrived.

Chapter 783 Vogel or Rozier

2024-03-04

Not many wizards knew that Amosta maintained friendly relations with the highest elves, but it was no secret among the elves.

Unfortunately, when Amosta arrived in Paris, old Barna was not at headquarters. He was in charge of the financial business of many goblins in various countries and was usually much busier than Amosta. It was quite normal for him to visit Gringotts in other countries. Fortunately, he had a great reputation among the goblins and it did not take much effort for him to meet Engel, who had a 'friendly' relationship with Ludo.

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Blaine—"

Just like the goblins who were in charge of Gringotts' business in various countries, Engel, dressed in a black suit and bow tie, looked every bit the shrewd business elite. After listening to Amosta's request, Engel did not show any excessive surprise.

pat-

Eng, in the prime of his life, snapped his fingers. With a flash of sparks, a bookshelf in the office slowly rotated, revealing a heavy, round metal door embedded in the wall behind it. The door was covered with intricate and complex mechanisms, and the highly poisonous potions and defensive magic attached to the metal door, which shone with a ghostly light, made Amosta raise an eyebrow.

After a series of crisp clanging sounds, the door swung open halfway. Through the crack, Amosta glanced into the expanded space and saw a stack of magical contracts stretching from the floor to the ceiling, like pillars supporting the building.

A stack of magic contracts, several inches thick, floated out from behind the metal door and landed in Engel's hand.

"Is this the bet that the Germans made with you?"

Amostella took the contract from Engel, glanced at the betting details, carefully examined each magical signature, and casually asked a question.

"That's not accurate, Mr. Blaine—"

Engel spoke in a deep, meticulous voice,

"They did say they were from Germany, but when I spoke with them, I discovered that not all of them spoke German; they were more accustomed to English, but with different accents. I think they must have come from many different countries—"

Amosta nodded thoughtfully.

"So how did this group of people introduce themselves?"

"They claimed to be a team brought together by shared interests, very interested in the outcome of the Triwizard Tournament, and deeply divided on the results. However, this group believed that Hermione Granger, having received less magical training than the other three champions, would most likely face a fatal danger in the next two rounds and be forced to withdraw from the competition."

Amosta was still flipping through the names on the contract when he asked in a casual tone,

"When I spoke with Ludo about whether there might be a trap behind this, he told me that you have great confidence in me and Dumbledore, and that you believe these people won't dare to offend us—"

Amosta paused his reading, picked up a teacup from the wooden table, took a sip of the hot green tea, and with a satisfied sigh, smiled slightly at Engel.

"I have to thank you for your trust in me, but if I may be so bold, this is not in line with the usual style of fairies."

"Engels, although this is a gamble by the Fairy Organization, you wouldn't do a losing business, would you? I think you can definitely sense the risks involved, can't you?"

"In fact, we'd love to see these guys do some foolish things to win the bet, Mr. Blaine—"

Since they met, Engel, who had never smiled, curled the corners of his mouth, revealing the shrewd smile familiar to wizards, with a hint of smugness hidden in it.

Amostah raised an eyebrow, immediately understanding what Engel's smile meant. He lowered his head to look at the contract in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the light-colored but finely textured parchment as he reread the agreements made in the wager. Suddenly, his expression shifted slightly, his gaze fixing on the intricate patterns on the four sides of the decorative paper's borders, which he had previously overlooked.

"These patterns?"

"Your wisdom is admirable, Mr. Blaine?"

Engel smiled happily.

"This is a script once used by one of our goblin tribes. It's very ancient and only circulated for a short time, so even knowledgeable wizards can't decipher it. The meaning of the markings on this contract is that if Hermione Granger is subjected to any malicious attack by either party or their related forces outside the competition arena before the Triwizard Tournament ends, then the entire bet amount will belong to the goblins—"

Engel couldn't hide the smugness on his lips, but when he noticed the flash of displeasure in Blaine's eyes, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly explained,