Chapter 153: Competition and After

"On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I welcome you to the 442nd Quidditch World Cup. The two teams in the game are Ireland and Bulgaria! The game starts now!"

After using "Loud Voice", Ludo Bagman, whose voice resounded throughout the stadium of 100,000 people, swung his wand outward, and a golden snitch flew into the stadium. The final of the Quidditch World Cup officially began.

The whole stadium was boiling all of a sudden.

However, this did not seem to include the group of "leading figures" sitting in the minister's box. And some of them were even more serious.

After chatting with Lu Yunkai about Voldemort for a few words, Lucius seemed to have completely lost interest in this game. He seemed to be thinking about something with a dark face, although his eyes were still looking at the two sides fighting fiercely in the field.

Draco, who was sitting at the other end of him, was completely immersed in the game, with an excited expression on his face.

As for Lu Yunkai... boring. Although the Irish team rode the latest Firebolt brooms, the excellent start-stop performance made Lu Yunkai even want to buy one himself, but he really couldn't get into the game.

He really couldn't understand those complicated coordination and tactics.

In addition, he and Daphne had agreed to go to see her father together, so he didn't plan to watch the game from the beginning. Daphne didn't get a ticket today and didn't come at all, which made Lu Yunkai feel that if he watched the game too happily, he would be a little sorry for her...

So he focused on another thing.

In order to avoid appearing to know nothing and being shown off by Draco, who liked to show off, Lu Yunkai did some homework.

The first Quidditch World Cup was held in 1473, and it was held every four years. Lu Yunkai calculated it several times in his mind, but he couldn't figure out why this year would be the 442nd.

Then he was completely entangled in this problem and couldn't extricate himself.

So much so that he didn't even notice that the owner of the house elf who claimed to occupy the seat hadn't shown up until this time.

...

"Today's game is really exciting!! The performance of the Irish team is simply amazing! Defense is indeed the key to the team's victory!" Malfoy shouted excitedly, "Those Bulgarian barbarians! Go to hell!!"

"...Yeah."

Lu Yunkai smiled and clapped.

Most people in the entire box were clapping.

The game started and ended in one afternoon. Fortunately, the legendary match between Goyle and Crabbe that took several months did not happen in the final of this Quidditch World Cup.

All this is thanks to Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian team's seeker who was ridiculed by Malfoy as a barbarian. He should be less than 20 years old this year, and he successfully caught the Golden Snitch before the Irish team's seeker.

However, his teammates were really a bit lame. In the process of his efforts to chase the Golden Snitch, the excellent performance of the Irish team's beaters and chasers had already made them far ahead of Bulgaria.

This was a victory for defense and teamwork, but Krum was the hero of this game.

It was indeed as Malfoy said, this was a very exciting game, but because there were no teams from the British Isles participating (the three British teams had already been defeated and left the field in the qualifying stage), the audience in the box were not so excited.

As the game ended, the award ceremony was about to begin, but Lu Yunkai had no interest in this, so he wanted to leave first.

"Don't worry, right? The award ceremony will be held here soon! You can also congratulate the Irish team up close." Malfoy was a little confused about Lu Yunkai's rush to leave at this time.

"After the award ceremony, I guess there will be a huge crowd outside. I'd better not join in the fun." Lu Yunkai said with a smile, "Otherwise, I don't know if I can find Old Eli and the others after I leave..."

"Don't worry! We'll go to my house together with our door keys, and then you can go back with the Floo powder." Malfoy insisted, "Do you want to stay in the tent for a night like those people and go back tomorrow morning?"

"Since we're here, it's good to have a drink..." Lu Yunkai muttered, "Aren't Goyle and Crabbe here too? Are they going back tonight too?"

He was still thinking that after meeting Old Eli and the others, he would go and see if he could meet Ron and Harry and the others!

"We're all going back tonight." Lucius interrupted and nodded, "There are too many people here. It's not safe to stay for a long time." ”

“Why is it unsafe? There are so many people in the Ministry of Magic…” Lu Yunkai muttered.

Looked to the side.

Stunned.

The house elf is still there!

This is weird! You claimed to be saving a seat for your master, and you have been saving it for the whole game. Now the game is over, your master hasn’t come yet, and you are still saving it…

You are saving the seat for yourself, right?

Uh, that’s not right! If you saved the seat for yourself, why would you stand next to it for the whole game? It’s not like there’s anyone sitting there…

Wait a minute!!

Lu Yunkai’s eyelids suddenly jumped, and then he lowered his voice.

“Mr. Malfoy, whose seat is next to me? Why has no one been sitting there for the whole game?”

"...It seems to be Barty Crouch, Director of the International Cooperation Department?" Lucius was first stunned by Lu Yunkai's question, and then glanced at the house-elf standing there, "He is always busy. Maybe he has something to do today and can't come to the game?"

"Oh..." Lu Yunkai glanced at the empty seat again and said nothing.

If he couldn't come because he was busy, the house-elf should have left, right? After all, the game is over. I think that seat is probably not empty, right? At this moment, Lu Yunkai had such a thought in his mind.

Invisibility cloak?

Since it is Barty Crouch's house-elf, is the person sitting on it...his son? ? Damn it! If he had known that there was someone in the seat next to him, he shouldn't have said those words to Lucius just now! !

Why didn't I notice it earlier!

Uh, it doesn't seem right. If the seat was not empty until the end of the game, Lu Yunkai would not dare to think that there might be a person wearing an invisible cloak sitting on it, right?

…

The award ceremony after the game went very quickly. The losing Bulgarian team did not have too many regrets. Krum won the best player award. As for the champion Ireland, it was no problem. He happily took the trophy and began to celebrate.

The winning Irish players did not even leave the minister's box, and Lucius stood up.

"Let's go." Lucius said to Lu Yunkai.

Lu Yunkai glanced at the Irish players who were still flying all over the field and was a little confused.

No, you said you wanted to watch the award ceremony. Now the awards are over, but the ceremony is not over yet! You should wait until the players leave and the audience start to leave before talking about the end, right?

This is just to watch them leave after receiving the award... Well, this time is actually not much different from when I was about to leave just now, so there should be no congestion or other problems.

So I simply stood up with Malfoy and his son, walked out of the minister's box, and walked out of the stadium along the dedicated passage.

As they walked, Lu Yunkai kept an eye on the house elf who was standing there in a daze until they turned a corner and could no longer see it.

"I really don't understand why the portkeys are not allowed even in the minister's box. Can we arrange a floo network?"

Draco walked a few steps and seemed to have recovered from the excitement of the game just now, and began to complain.

"The entire stadium is not allowed to use magic such as Apparition, and the Ministry of Magic does not want this box to be too special. You can't walk far, and you won't be tired to death." Lucius scolded Draco with a stern face.

"...Even if you don't want to be special anymore, it's still special. Is it useful to pretend like this?" Draco continued to complain in a low voice.

But he was indeed not as confident as before.

Lu Yunkai, who was following him, smiled. Although he always thought that Draco's idea of ​​being the best in the world was naive, this time, he really thought that Malfoy's statement was correct.

The passage from the minister's box to the outside of the stadium was not long, so it didn't take long for the three of them to reach the place outside the stadium where the portkeys could be used.

"You guys go back first." Lucius took out the door key and handed it to Draco.

"...Do you have anything else to do?"

"Some things have nothing to do with you." Lucius shook his head and glanced at Lu Yunkai.

Lu Yunkai was stunned.

Why are you looking at me? If it has nothing to do with Draco, does it have something to do with me?

After secretly complaining in his heart, Lu Yunkai still took the door key with Draco and returned to Malfoy Manor together. After greeting Mrs. Malfoy, who didn't go to watch the game for some reason (Lu Yunkai guessed that it might be to give up her seat to him), Lu Yunkai went home through the fireplace.

"Why did you come back today?"

"Yeah. What did you do?"

"Shirley's cooking is really terrible, so I thought since you weren't home for the past two days, I just brought my house elf here to teach it how to cook." Daphne smiled naturally and waved to Lu Yunkai, motioning him to sit down on the chair next to her, "And I don't want to stay at home either. Astoria's friends want to play with her, and the whole house is noisy. It's a headache."

"It's nothing, actually! Astoria is always shy, so don't nag her when she has a good friend to play with."

"I know! So I didn't say anything! I just avoided her. You don't need to feel sorry for my sister!" Daphne rolled her eyes at Lu Yunkai. He glanced at her, then picked up the red teapot beside him and poured a cup for Lu Yunkai, "Have you had dinner?"

"No, the stadium doesn't provide meals, and the Malfoys don't provide meals either." Lu Yunkai laughed and complained, "Draco's father is so weird that I don't know what he is doing, and his mother is also a little absent-minded, so she didn't keep me for dinner."

"Oh, then I'll let Shirley make it for you now, so you can also test the results of its learning this afternoon?"

"Okay." Lu Yunkai smiled and nodded, "By the way, I saw a man selling transformable golden snitch toys outside the Quidditch stadium today, so I bought a pair and gave you one."

As he spoke, Lu Yunkai took out two golden balls from his pocket and handed one to Daphne.

"Oh? How do you play this thing?"

"It's similar to my communication mirror, it will turn into a person holding another golden ball, and then talk to you in the same way he talks... But I think it can fly around, and it's more convenient not to have to hold the mirror with your hands, so I bought two."

"...This is not as good as a mirror!"

Taking the golden snitch, and then watching it turn into a golden little man with a pair of dragonfly-like wings that looks 90% like Lu Yunkai in her hand, Daphne complained speechlessly.

"Before, you always said that the mirror I studied must be held by hand, and it will hit your face when you fall asleep while chatting at night! This won't happen."

"...Okay. But I still like to use a mirror." Daphne put away the flying golden snitch, turned it into a small ball again, and put it in her pocket, "I'll ask Shirley to cook for you, and then you can talk to me about the game later?"

"There's nothing to talk about the game, but there are some interesting people outside the stadium, I'll tell you about them later!"

"Yeah! Okay!"

...