Chapter 106 Strange Tent

Shayling and his group walked to the edge of the first camp. The tents here began to become ordinary, and some even looked very old.

Shayling saw a wooden sign with "Wesby" written on it from a distance. Harry, Ron and Hermione were trying to set up the tent in a Muggle way. For some reason, he felt that Hermione seemed a little thinner. Since he had a falling out with her at the end of last semester, Shayling had never spoken to Hermione again. He felt that meeting would only make the two of them embarrassed, so he took a detour to avoid the Weasley camp.

They entered the second camp.

The administrator Mr. Payne standing at the entrance was also a Muggle, and his memory was being modified by officials from the Ministry of Magic. Maybe the memory canceler was too tired, and something went wrong during the modification process, causing Mr. Payne's memory to be confused, and he kept muttering: "A bag of rice has to be carried to several floors, a bag of rice has to be carried to the second floor..."

(Note: Mr. Payne in the original book is really the administrator of the second camp, not the author's fabrication)

Astoria exclaimed as they entered the camp. Looking around, the entire camp seemed like a green ocean, and each tent was covered with layers of shamrocks, which looked like green hills.

"These are all supporters of the Irish team. The shamrock is the symbol of Ireland." Daphne explained.

At this time, Sherin heard someone calling his name behind him.

"Sherin!"

Sherin turned around and it turned out to be Cedric Diggory.

"It's you, Ced." Sherin and Cedric have some friendship. The two of them are not acquainted after Merlin's test event. After meeting, the two of them can't help but exchange greetings.

Cedric's father was Amos Diggory, a red-faced wizard with a short brown beard. He worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic. He was proud of his son and boasted to everyone that his son had defeated the famous Harry Potter in the Quidditch match, which embarrassed Cedric.

The Diggory family had also had a glorious period. Their ancestor was Eldritch Diggory, a beloved Minister of Magic. In the 18th century, during Eldritch's tenure, the Auror recruitment program was first established. He also set up a committee to seek alternatives to Azkaban, at least to remove the Dementors as guards. Unfortunately, after he died of dragon pox, the plan was eventually shelved.

Unexpectedly, after more than a hundred years, the Diggory family has regressed to this point. Amos did not hold a high position in the Ministry of Magic, and they could not even afford tickets to the first camp. No wonder Amos had such high hopes for Cedric after his family produced such an outstanding talent. Perhaps he hoped that Cedric could revive the family's reputation.

Then Sherin encountered the Bones family's tent again. Aunt Leah warmly welcomed Sherin and others to come in and take a seat, and invited them to drink a cup of flower tea.

Susan was not in the tent. Aunt Leah said she was out to find Hannah Abbott, Ernie MacMillan and others. When they were at Hogwarts, the three of them, plus Justin Finch-Fletchley, a total of four people, formed a small circle and often played together. They had a very good relationship.

The front half of the second camp was almost all Irish fans, including Diggory and Bones, who were there. With Amelia's status, it would not be difficult to seek a position in the first camp, but she herself was a supporter of the Irish team, so she preferred to stay in the same area with other fans. The tents in the back half looked much more ordinary, but there were some exceptions.

"Hey, whose tent is that?" Astoria suddenly asked, her voice full of undisguised curiosity.

Everyone looked in the direction she pointed. It was an exquisitely made tent, with canvas wrapped in the shape of a three-story building, strictly following the style of a Muggle tent, but still luxurious.

The open space in front of the tent was neatly trimmed with flowers and trees, and it looked clean and tidy overall, which was very different from the tents of ordinary wizards. What's even more strange is that there was no one around the tent, not even a house elf. For a wizard family that pays attention to taste and pomp, this is unimaginable.

"Maybe the whole family went out to play together." Daphne didn't quite believe her speculation.

"It shouldn't be, the World Cup is about to start, and it wouldn't be chosen now to go out to play. What's more, this is a wilderness, and there are no famous attractions nearby." Sherin shook his head.

"Ladies and gentlemen, is there anything I can do for you?" With a crackling sound, a house elf suddenly appeared in the air, scaring Astoria.

The little fellow had a pair of huge brown eyes and a nose like a big tomato, and her voice was very shrill. She was probably a female house elf.

"Excuse me, where is this place?" Sherin asked the elf politely.

"This is the tent of the Crouch family, and Winky is serving Mr. Crouch."

"Crouch? Barty Crouch? Director of the International Cooperation Department?" Sherin immediately reacted, "Is Mr. Crouch here too?"

"The master is out for something now, and Winky is ordered to guard the tent for the master." The house elf stared with a pair of big eyes, and there was unquestionable persistence and stubbornness in his tone, "The master sent Winky here, and Winky has been guarding here all the time. It's just a pity that I can't invite the ladies and gentlemen to visit the master's tent. Winky doesn't have this authority."

"Excuse me, Winky." Sherin and his group left the tent tactfully, only Astoria kept looking back to admire the strange-looking canvas building.

"Don't you think it's strange, Sherin?" Meredith seemed to think of something, "Since Mrs. Crouch passed away, he is the only one left in the Crouch family, but he has set up such a big tent? Are they planning to open a hotel here?"

"Yes!" Daphne agreed, "With his family background and status, it seems unnecessary to choose the second camp for the tent. He is also one of the persons in charge of this World Cup!"

Sherin did not answer.

Seeing that everyone fell into silence, Astoria changed the subject: "I really want to know what the Bulgarians are hanging on their tents?"

"Okay, let's go to the next camp to take a look!" Sherin decided.

The Bulgarian team's fan area is relatively normal, not as exaggerated as the Irish fan area. The biggest feature is that there is a Bulgarian flag hanging on the tents, and the same poster is posted on the top, with a very gloomy face, thick black eyebrows, and the face is blinking and frowning constantly.

"It's Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker!" Daphne explained to Sherin. The three girls knew that Sherin was not very keen on Quidditch, so they didn't know much about these things. "He is only eighteen years old and is still studying at Durmstrang School of Magic."

"He looks so gloomy." Sherin said, "As if someone owes him money and doesn't pay it back."

Daphne was amused and burst out laughing, "He is a genius, very good, many critics say he is the best seeker of this century, and you actually said that..."

Astoria held the opposite opinion, "Huh, if Brother Sherin was not interested in Quidditch, I don't believe he would be better than Brother Sherin!"

Daphne was speechless after being refuted. Speaking of which, they haven't seen Sherin's performance on the court, but it seems that nothing can stump him. If Sherin devotes himself to Quidditch, he may indeed become a very terrifying existence on the court.

"My Tori, thank you for thinking so highly of me. I'm not good at flying..." Sherin said with a serious face.

Meredith snorted softly, as if to say "Who would believe it?"

To be honest, apart from Sherin's flying level, he can definitely become the most powerful seeker. Under the secret god Amaterasu, the Golden Snitch has nowhere to hide.

Then, the group walked to a strange-shaped tent. The tent was a black cylindrical shape, like the rook in wizard chess, similar to the tower of a castle.

The entrance of the tent was covered with mistletoe, and there were some strange little plants in the small open space in front. Sherin could barely identify the knotweed, because this aggressive and dangerous plant was mentioned in the book "Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi". Shaylin probably guessed whose tent it was.

Sure enough, Luna Lovegood, who was dressed strangely, saw Shaylin in the tent and ran out of the tent in a hurry.

When she was in school, Luna was often excluded and even bullied by her classmates because of her strange dress and unique personality. But she was kind-hearted and didn't care much about this. She chose tolerance and kindness and didn't change her optimistic view of life. Luna was very smart. With Shaylin's silent help, she got the first place in the comprehensive score at the end of last semester, better than Ginny Weasley.

"Shaylin, when did you get here? My father and I came here two weeks ago." The girl's eyes were still hazy, but her tone could not hide her excitement. "You know, he is the editor-in-chief of "The Quibbler". He came early to interview the Ministry of Magic officials responsible for setting up the venue, as well as fans from other countries."

"I came here with Daphne and the others. I just arrived this morning." Shaylin replied gently. "You've been here for so long, have you found anything new and interesting?"

"Yes!" Luna took Xielin's hand, "Come with me, I'll take you to see it!"

Daphne and Meredith glanced at Xielin with a half-smile. Astoria suddenly felt a little sour in her heart. Her brother Xielin was good in everything, but he was a little too popular.

Xielin smiled awkwardly and motioned for several people to follow him into Luna's tent.

The space inside the tent was not large, but there were many strange and interesting things on display.

In a corner of the hall, there was a small fish tank with more than a dozen colorful ball fish swimming around. It was said that they were all caught by Luna herself in the stream in St. Catchpole Village. In the flowerpot next to the fish tank, there were balls of white cattail fluff floating, making a humming sound there.

Luna came out with four wooden tea cups, which were emitting misty hot air. Xie Lin and the three girls took the teacup and took a sip. A taste similar to that of onions went from his throat into his stomach, and he almost choked and couldn't breathe.

"Is this your first time drinking Gordigan tea?" Luna looked at him with amusement, "Most people have this reaction when they drink it for the first time."

Luna took out a plant planted in a pot, pointed to a large round ball and said, "This is Gordigan. It can be used to drive away the big-mouthed ball fish in the river and avoid being bitten by them when you go into the water." Gordigan looks like an oversized green onion.

"There are more interesting things outside! Come with me." Then, Luna took them to the open space in front of the tent where small plants were planted. She pointed to a harmless hollow tree stump and said, "This is a knot vine. Look at the stump. Is it covered with knots? In fact, the knots can produce pods as big as grapefruits, but if you want to take its pods-"

Luna took a small piece of dead branch and poked a knot. Five or six thorny vines suddenly stretched out from the opening of the stump and grabbed Luna. Luna threw the dead branch out lightly, and was swept away by the vine.

Daphne couldn't help but say, "Isn't this more dangerous than the Devil's Snare?"

Meredith also turned pale, "I remember this plant was mentioned in the series of books "The Complete Flesh-Eating Trees of the World". It is one of the most dangerous plants."

(Note: "The Complete Flesh-Eating Trees of the World" is a sixth-grade herbology textbook. It is a series of books divided into several books. People's Publishing House translated it as "The Complete Flesh-Eating Trees". This translation may be concise, but herbology textbooks usually reveal the origin of the herb, so the author added the word "world" back.)

Luna smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. This is just its self-defense mechanism. If you don't provoke it, the knotty vine is very obedient and will never hurt anyone."

Ahem, girl, are you sure your last name is Lovegood? Not Hagrid?

After introducing the knotty vine, Luna introduced the purple spoon-leaf grass, and finally it was the turn of a small shrub with countless orange-red radishes hanging upside down.

Luna picked a few fruits and handed them to a few people, saying, "Try this. This is airship li, which can improve the user's ability to accept abnormal things. My earrings are made of this." Luna's eyes were shining brightly, revealing a sense of expectation.

Xie Lin knew that Luna had a special spiritual intuition that could distinguish true friends. He picked up a fruit without hesitation and chewed it into pieces and ate it into his stomach. The other three women followed suit.

Seeing this, Luna unconsciously showed a brilliant and moving smile. The sun shone obliquely on her long light golden hair, shining with golden luster like golden sand. With her blurred and trance eyes, the girl in front of Xie Lin at this moment had an indescribable ethereal temperament, like a fairy who fell into the mortal world. Even with Xie Lin's state of mind, he felt that a soft place deep in his heart was touched.

After saying goodbye to Luna, several people wandered into the wizard camps of other countries and saw several tents similar to the Egyptian pyramids. They also saw several African wizards roasting something that looked like a hare on a pile of purple fires. As an adventurer in his previous life, Schelling was very interested in the special customs and cultures of other countries, so he also sighed that it was an eye-opener and worth the trip.

1) The Diggory family is located in the second camp, which is the official setting of the original book, but Bones is a fiction of the author. Setting the camp location for each family is a description of the author's distinction of the family's strength; there is also a lowest-ranking family, such as the Fawcett family, who simply can't even buy a ticket

2) Other examples of books that reveal the origin of herbs include: Gilly grass appears in "Mediterranean Magical Aquatic Plants"; Chinese biting cabbage appears in "Asian Anti-Toxin Encyclopedia"