Inside the box hosting London's Crown Casino, Ludo Bagman nearly wet himself in sheer terror upon seeing the two Dark Lords, senior and junior, materialize out of nowhere.
He assumed that some past scheme of his had inadvertently offended the Dark Lords, and now they were coming to settle the score.
Fortunately, upon hearing that they were merely there to place a bet, Ludo finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Lord Grindelwald," Ludo Bagman pushed a kiss-ass expression onto his face and shuffled forward, warmly shaking the hands of both Grindelwald and Kyle. "How would you two like to place your bet?"
Kyle smiled faintly. "I'd like to bet on Ireland to win."
"Of course, no problem! On an Irish victory, the current odds are—"
Before Ludo could finish, Kyle interrupted him: "And simultaneously bet that Viktor Krum catches the Golden Snitch."
The smile on Ludo's face broadened even further. His flat, stubby nose was almost squeezed directly into his round blue eyes by the corners of his mouth curling upward so frantically.
If the bet was placed like this, Ireland would need to be ahead by at least sixteen goals for Kyle to win this wager.
But was that even possible?
No team capable of reaching the Quidditch World Cup final could possibly be weak. Pulling ahead by sixteen goals was an achievement roughly equivalent to the Chinese national football team qualifying for the World Cup.
In Ludo Bagman's eyes, this little Demon King was practically here to deliver free money.
His only hesitation was that if the little Demon King lost too heavily, would he fly into a rage out of humiliation and kill him on the spot?
Yet, in the eyes of an inveterate gambler, all risks were negligible compared to Galleons.
Grit-toothed, Ludo decided to take the little Demon King's bet.
"How much do you intend to wager?" Ludo rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "If you bet like this, I can offer you odds of ten to one."
Ten to one?
If that were the case, betting fifty thousand Galleons meant he would receive five hundred thousand in return?
No, with an amount that massive, Ludo Bagman wouldn't be able to pay up even if he smashed his pots, sold his scrap metal, and auctioned off his wife and daughter.
Kyle estimated that being able to recover one hundred thousand Galleons would already be considered pretty good.
Kyle raised an eyebrow. He tossed the jingling money bag in his hand onto the table in the center of the box.
"Sixty thousand Galleons."
The other three Father-Troublers were betting three thousand each, and Kyle originally intended to bet fifty thousand.
After thinking it over, he threw in another thousand just to round it off to a neat figure.
Ludo's eyes instantly went wider than a Golden Snitch. "This... isn't this... way too much?!"
It wasn't that he was afraid of being unable to pay up—in his mind, he was bound to win this bet no matter what—but the larger the sum, the greater the likelihood that these two great Dark Lords would go back on their word or snap in rage.
"Not much at all," Kyle pushed the money bag across the table. "It's only a few months' worth of pocket money."
Ludo Bagman's entire old face twitched uncontrollably. In the end, hardening his heart, he scooped up the money bag, pulled a piece of parchment from under the table, and began drafting a betting contract.
Once both of them signed their names on the parchment, Kyle clapped a hand onto Bagman's shoulder.
"Mr. Bagman, if I happen to win later, don't even think about defaulting on the debt," Kyle said, his tone very light, yet carrying an incomparably frigid murderous intent. "You should be well aware of the Grindelwald family's methods."
Ludo Bagman's face froze in an instant.
He knew that the little Demon King was definitely not joking with him.
The old gambling addict Ludo began to panic for no apparent reason. Although the odds for Kyle's wager were astronomically stacked against him, what if he actually won? What on earth was Ludo going to do then?
Six hundred thousand Galleons—even if he robbed Cornelius Fudge's vault at Gringotts, it wouldn't be enough to pay off that debt!
Watching the two Dark Lords, father and son, leave the box, Ludo Bagman instantly collapsed onto the box's sofa, his back completely drenched in cold sweat.
No way!
For safety's sake, before the match results came out, he couldn't stay in Britain any longer.
He had to flee overnight to Africa and hide out!
As for his duty to commentate the match tonight, it was thrown completely to the back of his mind. At this moment, what could possibly be more important than absconding with the cash?
However, the second Ludo Bagman stepped out of the box door, he discovered two burly men with cold expressions unabashedly tailing right behind him, monitoring his every move.
Glancing at the Deathly Hallows emblems pinned to their chests, Ludo Bagman looked utterly devoid of hope.
What was he supposed to do now?!
By the time Kyle and his father returned to their own luxurious box, the ten thousand seats in the stadium were nearly completely filled.
Their box was located in the absolute best viewing position in the entire venue, situated at the very top tier of the spectator stands. It was equidistant from the golden goalposts on both sides, looking across the pitch from afar toward the top-tier box occupied by Cornelius Fudge and other "dignitaries."
The exceptionally spacious box housed roughly thirty purple-and-gilded chairs arranged in three rows from front to back.
Beside the seats were side tables laid out with fruit and various snacks for them to enjoy while watching the match.
Dumbledore sat in the very front row of the box. To his right, two seats remained empty—clearly reserved specifically for Kyle and Grindelwald by the others.
The large Weasley family, as well as Cedric's family of three, who had been invited to watch the match in their box, had all unanimously chosen to sit in the back two rows.
It wasn't that there were no empty seats in the front row; they simply didn't dare to sit too close to Grindelwald.
Although Grindelwald looked like a kindly old grandfather next door, and despite the presence of a big boss like Dumbledore, sitting in the very same row as Grindelwald...
They preferred to pass; they were quite terrified in their hearts.
Walking to the front row of the box, Kyle took a glance at the tsundere expression on Dumbledore's face. In the end, he chose to yield the seat adjacent to Dumbledore to Grindelwald, letting those two tsundere old men sit together.
After sitting down in the seat between Konan and Hermione, Kyle turned his head to glance behind him and immediately met the inquiring gazes of the other three Father-Troublers.
Secretly flashing an "OK" hand sign to the trio, Kyle signaled that their bets had been settled.
Twenty minutes later, Ludo Bagman's voice, amplified by the Sonorus Charm, boomed through the entire stadium like thunder.
"Ladies and gentlemen... welcome! Welcome to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup Final!"
For some reason, Kyle couldn't help feeling as though he caught a slight trace of weakness in Ludo's voice.
This guy couldn't be scared out of his wits and trying to run off with the money, could he?
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