"How much do you owe to the elves all this time, Ludo?" Amosta asked with a little playfulness.

"Oh, you're underestimating me, Amosta!"

Hearing the inquiry, Ludo suddenly shook his wit, and he opened his mouth exaggeratedly, ready to brag for himself, but when his eyes touched Amosta's insightful eyes, Ludo couldn't blow it anymore, and he smiled wryly,

"Only five thousand Galleons."

"Only five thousand?"

Amosta smiled coldly,

"That's almost all of your salary for three years, Ludo, Quidditch matches don't happen every day, and there aren't that many opportunities for you to make extra money-"

Ludo's oily cheeks flushed, and with just one sentence, he knew that Amosta had seen the way he had just counted the money, and he gasped twice and fanned himself with the hat in his hand.

"This is not a simple loan, Amosta, it is an investment, it is a loan provided by the goblins, wait and see, I won't need much to earn back with interest!"

Amosta's heart moved slightly, but he still looked at Ludo with suspicious eyes,

"The goblins are willing to lend you five thousand Galleons to give you Ludo, so you shouldn't have mortgaged the letter of appointment issued to you by the ministry to the goblins, right?"

Looking at Ludo, who was humming and not daring to speak, Amosta shook his head, allowing a guy like Ludo to stay in the position of director for so many years, the discipline problem in the ministry couldn't be worse,

"What is it that makes you dare to make such a bet, Ludo, you should know very well that such a large investment, if you lose, let alone the position of the director of the Department of Magical Transportation, you are afraid that you will not even be able to stay in the UK, you are so confident in yourself?"

"You've given me confidence, Amosta--"

Talking about gambling, Ludo was in high spirits,

"Remember the draw before the first game of the Triwizard Tournament, where you covered for Hermione Granger and got her the most docile Chinese fireball--"

Amosta's eyebrows immediately raised, it was Dom who was doing the trick at the time, not him, but Amosta did not correct Ludo's wrong statement, but continued to listen.

"--I knew right away that you were fully rooting for Granger, ah, of course, you might just want Hogwarts to win, and I came back that day to find a way to get a fortune to crush Granger to win!"

"Miss Granger will be very touched to know that you support her so much-"

Amosta said in a deep voice.

"Oh, I wasn't going to bet hard at first, Amosta!"

Ludo said a little annoyed,

"Before the start of the match, there weren't many people who favored Miss Granger, and the odds on her to win were high, but after the first match, she became the favourite, and Fairy Lane immediately lowered her odds. Even if I win, the income will not be satisfactory, and I will have to mortgage my house. Ahem, I mean, invest more."

Amosta pursed her lips,

"But I've heard that now, Hermione's odds are getting high again?"

"That was later—"

Ludo said with interest,

"Remember what I told you on the day of the Ball, there was a group of Germans who bet heavily on Granger that they wouldn't be able to finish the race, and that huge sum of money made Granger's win rate fly into the sky again, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Amosta, and if I miss it, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, so."

"So you're putting your career on the plate?"

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

"Haven't you considered that this is a trap, a trap set by the goblins and the Germans, Ludo, why are they so confident that Hermione won't be able to finish the game, you know, even if Hermione doesn't win, as long as she persevers until the end, that large sum of money will be wasted, and there is obviously a problem with the way of betting that she won't be able to finish the game-"

"They're probably hoping that Hermione will get injured in the second or third round and leave the game, and that's probably going to happen, isn't it?"

Ludo didn't seem to realize the problem, shrugged his shoulders and said.

"What if they do it privately, don't you worry about that, the goblins don't worry?"

"Oh, hehe!"

Ludo laughed, and he patted Amosta's arm,

"The goblins who told me the news said they had also worried about this before taking the bet. It wasn't for nothing that had happened, but they finally agreed to the bet, Amosta, the elves thought--"

Ludo looked at Amosta appreciatively,

"No one would dare to persecute the young wizards of Hogwarts under the noses of Dumbledore and Brian, unless, they don't intend to die!"

Amosta was dumbfounded for a moment.

It is true that the Germans may have been lucky enough to have met with good things, but by all indications so far, it is unlikely that these people will have any problems at all.

It's Ludo Bagman.

Amosta looked at the outright gambler, thinking about what Ludo had just said about the goblins facing the bet, and it looked like they were innocent.

"It's suspicious, anyway--" Amosta mused, "I need to meet them and find out where their confidence is?" ”

"It's not going to be easy, Amosta—"

Ludo said,

"You know, these people are in the spotlight, a lot of people want to inquire and ask their details, and they themselves know that, so they hide themselves very well, and after placing their bets, they disappear, and the goblins don't know where they came from and where they are now--"

"But whose vault did so much gold come from, the goblins must know, don't they?"

"It's said that they settled in cash—"

Ludo said, he looked at Amosta who frowned slightly, and said with relief,

"You're worrying about it, Amosta, according to me, what you should do is not miss the opportunity, put all your wealth into it, and then, make sure Granger wins the game, right, that little girl has figured out the secret of that golden egg, did you remind her. Oh, if it's not easy for you to make it too obvious, I can find a chance."

Amosta glanced at Ludo, successfully shutting him up.

While they were chatting, all the activities in the Quidditch arena below were finally over, and the wizards left the arena one after another, Ludo raised his wrist and looked at the time, and suddenly exclaimed,

"Oh, I'm sorry, Amosta, I'd love to keep talking with you, but I have to leave, I have to go back to the ministry, so. How do you plan to do it? ”

"I'm sorry, Ludo, I have other plans and won't go back to London with you--"

Amosta said calmly.

"Good luck, then—"

Ludo apparently anticipated what Amosta was going to do, and after thinking about it, he said to Amosta,

"By the way, the goblin who told me the news is called Engel, he is in charge of the business in Gringotts Paris headquarters, I have a good relationship with him, if you make up your mind to find the Germans, you can talk to Enge, maybe it has some news hidden-"

With that, the apparition of Ludo shifted to the platform below, hurrying away through the repaired fireplace before the departing crowd arrived.

(End of chapter)

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