Hogwarts: Me? Fight Voldemort?

After packing up, the two rode brooms to the Quidditch World Cup camp.

The wizards, still not satisfied after playing all night, gathered around several highly entertaining shops, including a card shop and a gym, providing Jimmy with a steady stream of income.

As I passed by the Raccoon Alchemy Workshop, the card players inside were still arguing heatedly, their faces flushed, while enjoying both coffee and milk tea.

The drowsy shop assistants had been replaced time and again; no one had the energy to push the cards anymore.

Anyway, people who see others playing and want to try it out will buy it.

After buying their tickets, people would sit on the ground and start card games with random strangers. If it weren't for the discussions about Quidditch teams outside, probably no one would know that this was the Quidditch World Cup camp.

Jimmy and Hermione arrived at the temporary command and control center.

Barty Crouch, now old and with significantly reduced sleep quality, wakes up earlier than the rest of them and is currently holding a meeting in the hall facing a densely packed crowd.

He once again emphasized that there should be no mistakes at the opening ceremony, and when he saw Jimmy and Hermione arrive, he voluntarily gave up his seat.

Jimmy nodded to Barty Crouch Sr., then walked to the front of the crowd and asked, "Has the cleanliness of the venue been checked?"

Immediately, someone said, "We'll go get checked out soon."

"You know the requirements, right?" Seeing the man nod, Jimmy looked at the other person and asked, "Any accidents with the band and dance troupe? Injuries, procedures, or equipment? Check them several times!"

"understand!"

"Have the arrangements been made regarding the ticket checking order and the release of refunded tickets?"

"Everything is arranged!"

"The staff at the help center will be quite busy. If needed, please coordinate with other departments. Stability is the top priority!"

As Jimmy inquired, instructions were issued one by one, and Hermione humbly learned and memorized these arrangements.

After arranging everything, Jimmy gave a brief pat on the shoulder and announced, "Meeting adjourned. Get back to work. Success or failure hinges on this!"

"Yes!" A group of employees were so excited that they were all eager to see the amazed expressions on the faces of the audience when they saw the opening ceremony.

After the crowd dispersed, Barty Crouch exclaimed, "The young are far superior to the older generation. Perhaps I'm getting old too..."

Barty Crouch was only fifty years old, which, compared to the average age of over one hundred in the wizarding community, meant he was still in his prime.

Jimmy said modestly, "We still lack experience and have room for improvement. I'll leave this to Chief Crouch; Hermione and I will go and check on other places."

After saying that, she and Hermione went directly to the entrance of the Portkey to wait for Harry and Ron's family. The letter said they would arrive at the camp at 5:15 in the morning, which was about the right time.

As the two arrived at a key entrance, they saw a flash of white light, and a large group of people appeared in a flurry.

Harry, Ron, Lavender, Ginny, George, and Fred were all sprawled out on the ground.

Harry and Ron were still lying on top of each other, groaning on the ground, clearly not feeling well.

Three more people appeared in mid-air: Arthur Weasley, a middle-aged man wearing round glasses, and a tall, handsome young man with a square face.

The Auror stepped forward, took the portal key they had been teleported to, and threw it into a large box next to them.

The people who had fallen to the ground got up one after another. The experience of using the door key was not much better than the teleportation experience.

"Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lavender, welcome to the Quidditch World Cup!" Hermione was overjoyed to see her friends again, and she waved to them.

When Harry and the others first saw Hermione, they didn't even dare to recognize her; Hermione's appearance had been altered so much during the holiday.

Without their signature bunny teeth and messy hair, they look really strange.

After getting up, Ginny and Lavender circled around Hermione, praising her repeatedly.

Hermione looks beautiful today.

"Oh, darling, you look amazing!"

Jimmy, standing to the side, said rather proudly, "Of course, I picked out this outfit myself!"

"Hmph!" Ginny glared immediately, snorted coldly, and walked away.

The way she got rid of the internal strife was truly baffling.

Jimmy shrugged and raised his hand to Harry and Ron as they approached; the boys gave each other a high five and a fist bump in unison.

"Are we not too late? Did we miss anything?" Harry looked around, not at the World Cup camp, but looking for Sirius Black.

Sirius Black told him to go with the Weasleys first, and that he would arrive later. Unfortunately, Harry didn't see Sirius Black around.

Ron yawned and casually asked, "Where can we buy food around here? We haven't had breakfast yet..."

George and Fred also arrived yawning; now that they had money, they weren't going to skimp on their stomachs.

"Why do you all look so tired? Didn't you sleep well last night?" Jimmy teased them with a smile, then pointed to the road behind him and said, "There's food in the commercial area. I suggest you put your luggage at your accommodation first."

George and Fred wiped their faces and perked up a bit, saying, "Our shop is opening! Weasley's Magic Tricks Shop! Mum agreed to let us open a shop, and we were making joke products last night!"

As they spoke, the two men pulled out various joke products and a large bag of candy from their pockets.

"Quick-acting skipping candy! We've already made two kinds in this series: Nosebleed Nougat and Spit-Spit Candy."

Fred grabbed a handful of candy and stuffed it into Jimmy's pocket. "One will make your nose bleed, and the other will make you throw up!"

George grinned mischievously and said, "If you don't want to go to class, just eat one!"

"Hey kids, this isn't the place to chat. A big group of people is coming soon, hurry up and move inside!"

Arthur Weasley, noticing the crowd gathering, came over to shoo them away. Seeing Jimmy, he waved enthusiastically, "Jimmy! It's so nice to see you here. How's the Quidditch World Cup preparation going?"

“You’ll never forget this!” Jimmy raised his hand and shook hands with Arthur Weasley, then looked at the smiling middle-aged man with glasses beside him.

“The renowned Jimmy Blaine, I am Amos Diggory. We met at the Ministry of Magic last time.”

Amos Diggory shook hands with Jimmy, then proudly introduced the tall young man beside him, "This is my son, Cedric. Although he is not as outstanding as you, he is just as good!"

“We know each other.” Jimmy bumped fists with Cedric. “We got along pretty well in school.”

“That’s right, Dad.” Cedric nodded as well. They weren’t exactly close, but they could still exchange a few words.

Amosdigori laughed and said, "That's great! Young people as outstanding as you will surely have more in common. But let's go into the camp first!"

Chapter 270 Opening Ceremony

The group made a lot of noise as they walked deeper into the camp, exclaiming in amazement at all sorts of interesting things along the way.

There were acrobats, a fairy choir, and some clowns wandering around on shoe insoles that were tens of meters high...

Arthur's family and Amos Diggory's father and son parted ways at a fork in the road, having agreed to go shopping in the commercial district later.

Arthur knew his children hadn't eaten breakfast, so after putting their luggage away at the house, he went with Jimmy and Hermione to the commercial district to get something to eat.

Compared to the residential areas outside, the commercial area is much more lively, bustling with people everywhere, and the streets are crowded with people.

The air was filled with the aroma of food, and various stalls displayed local specialties for sale. Everywhere was crowded with wizards and creatures of other races.

"Jimmy, have you seen Sirius?" After searching everywhere but not finding his beloved godfather, Harry had no choice but to squeeze to the front to ask Jimmy.

Jimmy, who was showing the store to his customers, turned around and replied, "I didn't see him. Or you could ask Hermione; she's in charge of recording and reviewing the flow of people."

Harry then turned to Hermione, who was with two girls, and asked, "Hermione, have you seen Sirius?"

Ginny, who had been chatting and laughing, immediately turned cold when she saw Harry. She stopped talking to him and just stared at him.

"He probably hasn't arrived yet. He has a VIP ticket, so if he comes, it will be recorded. Maybe he'll arrive in a while?" Hermione also said she hadn't seen him.

"Thanks, please let me know if he comes." Disappointed, Harry wanted to get away from Ginny as soon as possible; her gaze was very unsettling.

Hermione agreed, and then she, Lavender, and Ginny went into the Blaine Potions shop next door, which was almost entirely filled with women.

Ron and George Fred had a blast. They were so excited that they were no longer hungry. They browsed the stalls, looking at this and that, and soon bought a whole bunch of stuff.

The group quickly dispersed into the crowd, but Arthur Weasley didn't care and excitedly ran into the Raccoon Alchemy Workshop to watch others play chess.

If a Dementor could absorb all the happiness here, it would become the king of Dementors.

As time went on, the number of people in the streets and alleys increased, eventually to the point that there were people everywhere you looked, and some businesses had to urgently stock up on goods to meet the needs of tourists.

Jimmy and Hermione saw many foreigners setting up tents on the outskirts of the camp. They hadn't originally planned to come, but came after seeing the newspaper reports.

Without tickets, there are no rooms and no entry to watch the game, but they can pitch tents, shop in the commercial area, and participate in some free activities.

The sudden surge in numbers has increased the workload of security guards, with each guard now managing more than one hundred people.

Moreover, not everyone follows the rules. There have been many cases of wizards disobeying and causing trouble, but overall it is still within a controllable range.

Soon, it was seven o'clock in the morning, and music began to fill the Quidditch World Cup stadium. The main roads surrounding the stadium were cleared, and the invited Quidditch team members set off for the stadium amidst cheers from the fans.

To add to the sense of ceremony, Jimmy also had them hold up various floating balls, including a bouncy ball, a Quake, and a Golden Snitch.

As they walked a certain distance, fireworks hidden on the rooftops would rise into the air and explode into the shapes of each team's mascot and logo.

The crowd began to move with the team, and entered the stadium with their tickets according to the travel brochures distributed the day before.

Jimmy and Hermione had already entered the main stand of the stadium ahead of time, standing alongside Ludo Bagman and Batty Crouch, who had changed into formal attire.

The scene in the main stands is projected onto the huge glass directly above them. There is such a giant glass panel on each of the four opposite sides of the oval stadium.

They, as hosts and guests, are waiting for the team to enter.

The crowd gradually filled the stands, and several teams had already entered the stadium and arrived in the center of the green field.

Harry and the Weasleys also arrived at the stadium, and they were stunned when they saw Jimmy and Hermione in the glass curtain wall.

The students who were chatting one second ago are now on TV the next.

The teams stood in a row facing the main stand on the green field, forming a square formation.

The music reached its most exciting moment. As the last note was played, even more dazzling fireworks burst in the sky, and colorful ribbons fell, creating a breathtaking spectacle.

These ribbons are special effects; they will disappear when they fall to the ground.

"Hello everyone, I am Ludo Bagman, Director of Magical Sports and Motion at the Ministry of Magic, UK. It is an honor to meet you all here!"

Ludobagman poked his neck with his wand and read from the speech Jimmy had given him. The speech was very brief, after all, it was a sporting event.

"The 422nd Quidditch World Cup Finals are hosted by the Ministry of Magic, in partnership with Blaine Potions, Dragon Gym, and Raccoon Alchemy. Promoting the spirit of Quidditch and boldly innovating, the 422nd Quidditch World Cup will adopt a new seven-day format, enhancing both competitiveness and entertainment to present an even more exciting competition!"

The audience was a bit confused and surprised. This Quidditch World Cup was indeed very different; they were even reciting the advertising slogans.

Hermione, with a fake smile on her face, kept nudging Jimmy in the stands with her elbow. Was there something wrong with this manuscript?

Jimmy gave him a reassuring look and continued listening.

"I now declare the 422nd Quidditch World Cup officially open!"