A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 464 I Want to Bet on Football!

At noon, Ludo Bagman appeared in the auditorium.

In the British magical world, Ludo is quite famous.

He was the greatest hitter of all time for the Wimbledon Hornets and also played for England in the World Cup more than a decade ago.

Bulgarian football star Čem, who is currently enjoying great popularity, has been described by the British newspaper The Daily Prophet as the modern-day Ludo Bagman.

While it may sound like self-aggrandizement, it's enough to illustrate Ludo's historical status and the formidable influence he wielded back then.

He's at least in the top five of all time among British batsmen.

Even die-hard fans can shamelessly shout out extreme slogans like "sitting second and hoping to be first."

His only weakness is the lack of a Quidditch World Cup title, which significantly impacts his historical ranking.

Therefore, there have been rumors circulating that Ludo will make a comeback to play.

There's nothing you can do if you can't win the championship; even in Britain, there's a saying that goes:

Whoever can lead the England Quidditch national team to the World Cup title will be England's savior!

The difficulty is evident; it's even more challenging than defeating Voldemort!

After all, in the public's eyes, Voldemort is already dead, and the England national team is still many five-year plans away from winning the championship.

Therefore, "the Ludo Bagman of our time" is not a very good nickname; it's more like a curse.

Ludo never won a World Cup in his lifetime, doesn't that imply... Krum... that my Krum will also never win a title?

The Bulgarian team is...gone?!

However, none of this concerns Ludo; he'd love for all the young stars to be touted by the media as his successors.

That way, people will remember him and he won't fade into obscurity too soon.

Isn't historical status solidified through repeated nostalgia trips and various forms of praise?

When Ludo appeared in the auditorium, he was warmly welcomed by the students.

He didn't sit next to Dumbledore, but rather next to Hagrid, away from Professor McGonagall.

Clearly, he was also afraid of being publicly confronted by Professor McGonagall about the debt, which would make him lose face.

William looked up and glanced around briefly.

They were supposed to be discussing the rights to host the Triwizard Tournament, but Judy Crouch's uncle... Barty Crouch, was nowhere to be seen.

Old Barty is the Minister of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, so this kind of transnational event should, in principle, be jointly organized by him and Ludo.

This is understandable; Batistuta is focused on the construction of the World Cup venue and cannot attend to such small campus activities for the time being.

All I can say is that Old Batistuta is in a bit of a predicament.

The issue of Quidditch security is a thankless and arduous task.

Minister Fauci, a long-time political rival, showed no mercy and assigned all the tasks to Baty.

If nothing goes wrong, Fudge gains both face and substance; if something goes wrong, then it will be a major responsibility for Bati, the Minister of Communications.

After finishing his meal, Ludo stood up, beckoned to William, and headed toward the Quidditch pitch.

A group of students followed behind, ready to watch aggressively.

Ludo was already very fat, and his robe was stretched tightly over his large belly.

Once athletes leave the competition arena, without intense physical activity and a disciplined diet, their bodies quickly become out of shape.

Ludo's nose is flat and flat, probably because his nose bridge was broken by a running ball.

His round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like an oversized boy.

"William, I'm a huge fan of yours. My niece talks about you all the time at home, I'm so tired of hearing it."

Ludo happily took out a pen and paper and asked him to sign it.

That's not entirely untrue; William's reputation has grown immensely in recent years.

Merlin's Medal, Valor Medal... even Akali's Mystery Shop products are selling like hotcakes.

Just like Dumbledore's fans, they are all over the world.

In any case, Britain spared no effort in praising William, trying to make him succeed Dumbledore in terms of fame.

He and Hermione, who suddenly became famous last summer, are hailed as the twin geniuses of Hogwarts and are also the official couple designated by the Ministry of Magic.

As for whether the two will get together or become a couple... that's none of their business.

As long as the hype goes up, that's fine.

This is an old marketing account.

"I heard you and Bertha have a good relationship?" Ludo walked with a bouncy gait, as if his feet were made of springs.

William nodded helplessly. "It's alright, I met her at the Merlin Medal award ceremony."

Bertha's downside is that she has a big mouth. She's very useful for gathering information, but she's also prone to leaking secrets.

For example, she likes to intentionally or unintentionally show off that she is good friends with the famous Starks.

So the information William exchanged with her was mostly things that were about to be announced.

She only knew a few days in advance, so it wouldn't matter if it leaked out.

"Yes, the Merlin Medal award ceremony... back then, Bertha was still working under Barty." Ludo tried to get on their good side.

Over the years, Bertha has been arguably the fastest employee to be transferred to a new position at the Ministry of Magic.

She was transferred from one department to another, not only because of her terrible memory, but more so because of her gossipy mouth.

She caused more trouble than she did.

Bertha is now working for Ludo, and he seems to like her quite a bit.

"I plan to give my colleagues in the sports department a few days off before the World Cup starts," Ludo said softly.

"Everyone's been exhausted lately. I heard from Bertha that she's going on a trip to Albania."

"A holiday before the World Cup? We probably don't have enough manpower right now?" William frowned.

"Of course it's enough. We've been working on this for a whole year, from last summer until now, and it's almost time to wrap things up."

Everyone is exhausted; it's time to take a few days off.

Of course, Batistuta's communications department might be a bit busy. I'll have my staff return before the match.

"..." William realized that Ludo was really unreliable.

It's one thing to use public funds for travel, but after Quidditch ends, you can't travel however you want, why do you have to give everyone a holiday before the game?

If he weren't a star athlete, he would never have reached his current position.

Or perhaps Ludo's sudden leave was a deliberate attempt to trip up Barty Crouch?

Fudge and Crouch were old political rivals who competed for the position of Minister of Magic.

It's possible that Fudge deliberately hinted to Ludo that he was going to trip him up.

This will not have a substantial impact, because the Quidditch field is already in its final stages.

The fact that the sports department staff are going on vacation simply means Crouch will be much busier.

This is purely for the purpose of deliberately disgusting people.

Think about it, while colleagues from the company next door are all going on company-funded team building trips, their communications department is still working overtime.

Everyone must be complaining about their boss, Crouch, behind their backs.

"By the way, William, are you interested in joining the Hornets? You'd be just like Krum..."

Oh, of course you're much more famous than him now, but I know... you really like Quidditch, and you're really good at it.

I dare say, even Krum now isn't much better than you.

You're only fourteen years old, don't waste your talent.

"If you're willing to join the Hornets, I can guarantee that the club owner will build a super team around you as the absolute core."

"..."

It is well known that all teams that claim to be "galactic battleships" will disintegrate midway through their journey.

"I will consider it, sir," William said, not giving a direct refusal.

"Of course, we must consider it carefully," Ludo said with a smile.

William is indeed seriously considering whether or not to... acquire the Hornets.

Although I don't have enough money now, I'm sure I will have enough by the time I graduate.

"Which team do you think will perform well this year, William?" Ludo asked again.

"The Irish national team, perhaps."

"Yeah, they are indeed very strong." Ludo shook his pocket and laughed.

"Want to place a bet on the match?"

"Professor McGonagall forbids me from betting on football," William said with a smile.

Ludo's face immediately turned awkward. "Minerva...she...makes a good point...but a little gambling is harmless fun."

He's clearly a seasoned gambler, the kind who gets taken advantage of. Otherwise, he wouldn't be drowning in debt.

William couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are there match-fixing issues in the World Cup?"

"Of course not." Ludo patted his big belly confidently.

"Before the match, each player will be tested with truth serum to ensure that no one has been bribed," Ludo said, patting William on the shoulder.

"The Quidditch World Cup has no bookmakers, no match-fixing, and is absolutely fair and just."

Otherwise, those stingy fairies wouldn't be betting on football with us.

"Even fairies participate in sports betting?" William was genuinely shocked.

"Of course, kid." Ludo laughed. "Those fairies are really good at betting on football."

The goblins don't just stay in Gringotts counting gold; they absolutely love that kind of entertainment.

"And what about their reputation?"

"That's good. There haven't been any instances of them defaulting on their debts. They're all quite wealthy and wouldn't default on their debts, otherwise it would be a fatal blow to Gringotts' reputation."

William seemed to be deep in thought, then suddenly laughed and said, "I'll take the bet."

"Um?"

"I'm not betting with you, I want to play with those fairies." A special look appeared on William's face.

"Oh, really? How much are you planning to bet?" Ludo asked.

"A little gambling is harmless, let's start with 5,000 Galleons for the first round."

"Five thousand...how much?!" Ludo's eyes widened, and he picked at his ears to make sure he hadn't misheard.

The students were all staring at Ludo when William seemed to say something that shocked him.

Ludo was genuinely shocked; his total salary over several years didn't even amount to five thousand Galleons!

The Starks are indeed rich!

The Order of Merlin and the compensation from France added up to more than 10,000 Galleons.

Ludo has many connections, and he also heard about the Gringotts incident three years ago, where the goblins suffered a loss and had to pay a lot of money.

He's young and rich!

William ignored Ludo and instead pondered how to maximize his profits and fleece the韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting people).

Betting on sports is legal in the magical world, and if a contract is signed, it will be protected by law.

Nicole can predict the future and see parts of it. Seeing the results of each match in advance makes winning even easier.

As long as there's no match-fixing, William can uproot these swindlers!

He wasn't betting on football at all; he was openly robbing people.

Beep, the King of Gamblers card!

The money to buy the club... is about to arrive!

The only problem is that the vault key is with Hermione.

How can I persuade her to give me the money?

……

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