Chapter 523: Chapter 523: The Weasleys Have Been Knights for Generations (Edited)
Tom wasn't a greedy person. Investing in Fred and George's Weasley's Wizard Wheezes shop was primarily to raise funds needed for alchemy and also to help fulfill the dreams of the two brothers. Killing two birds with one stone, isn't it great?
As for the bet that was destined to fail, let's consider it as a little lesson for Fred and George. They should learn through a painful defeat that gamblers don't have a happy ending.
Betting isn't terrifying; what's terrifying is winning a lot of money on the first bet. That would be like taking half a step towards the door of hell.
During the conversation, Barty Crouch Sr. also made his appearance.
Percy seemed excited and on the verge of fainting. He quickly served a cup of hot tea to Crouch and handed it over with great respect.
"How much do you think Percy would pay for a small sculpture of Crouch?" Tom quipped from behind, unable to contain himself.
"He'd probably part with his last Knut," Fred winked. He hadn't liked Percy's behavior for a long time.
Crouch had come to speak with Mr. Weasley. There was a Middle Eastern trader trying to bypass the Magical Objects Registry and sell flying carpets in the UK.
Arthur's stance on the matter was also clear: it was absolutely impossible. He didn't want flying carpets entering the UK market and competing with broomsticks, even if a flying carpet could carry many people at once. Wizards were self-taught in trade protectionism.
After dealing with official matters, Crouch and Bagman disappeared together as they had to meet with representatives from the Ministry of Magic in Bulgaria.
Just as Percy was about to express his opinion about them, he saw someone. Upon seeing that person, his face turned pink, and all the long words he had prepared got stuck in his throat.
A beautiful girl with long, curly brown hair was standing not far away, glaring angrily at Percy.
The girl's name was Penelope Clearwater, and she was Percy's girlfriend.
Fred was the first to notice something was amiss. He immediately elbowed Tom and George, signaling them to prepare for a show.
George: (σ)σ
Tom: (@ο@)
Looks like things are not going well!
Soon, not only Tom and his friends but also others noticed Percy's discomfort. Under the strange gazes of his family and the guests, Percy couldn't keep his composure. He quickly cleared his throat a couple of times and adjusted his shirt collar as if he had buttoned it too tightly before leaving home.
"I have... I have a friend," he stammered.
"Since we don't have much more to do here, go meet your friend. Being punctual is a gentlemanly quality," Mr. Weasley took the empty plate from Percy's hands.
"We, the Weasley family, have always been gentlemen!" Fred and George joined in on the fun. Percy's face went from pink to peach-red, as if steam were about to come out of his ears.
"Go quickly," Charlie pushed his younger brother to stop delaying.
With the support and attention of his entire family, Percy quickly ran towards Penelope.
"Penelope, I..."
"Percy Weasley," Penelope interrupted, extending her hand. This beautiful young woman now looked angry and called Percy by his full name.
Most of the time, when someone calls you by your full name, it means trouble.
Percy understood this law, so when he heard his full name, his brain started working quickly. Where had he made a mistake?
Then, Percy understood.
He remembered a small bet they had made a long time ago: he and Penelope had bet on the outcome of the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Percy lost that bet and owed his girlfriend some money.
His girlfriend hadn't caused him any trouble; she had only asked him to spend the summer with her watching the World Cup...
Yes, to watch the World Cup with her... but the problem was that Percy had completely forgotten about this matter!
After graduating, he entered the Ministry of Magic and was assigned an important task, busy as the hands of a clock, with almost no time to spare. Percy, fully focused on his work, completed one task after another, and Mr. Crouch's sympathy towards him continued to increase. Meanwhile, Penelope's feelings, his official girlfriend, for Percy continued to wane. Up until today, when the final was about to start, Percy still hadn't shown up.
She finally couldn't contain herself and went to look for Percy to see what he had to say about it.
"Penelope, let me explain..."
"Don't bother explaining to me. I'm just an ordinary student. How can I waste the time of the future star of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?"
...
A short distance away, the Weasley family discreetly observed Percy's predicament. Looking back and forth, they all felt that something wasn't right. Why was there so much tension between this couple?
Finally, Percy managed to temporarily obtain his girlfriend's forgiveness through desperate apologies and sincere reflection. However, without a doubt, he couldn't temporarily return to his family's camp.
After witnessing Percy's "voluntary" performance, Fred and George sneaked away quietly. They had to sell the goods they had acquired from Tom. Although they wouldn't make a lot of money, it would at least be some income.
Time passed minute by minute, and as the sun began to set, the camp was filled with an exciting atmosphere. With the arrival of the night, the wizards shed their last pretenses, and the full-on celebration began. Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Magic also decided to surrender and release their control completely. They considered that instead of suppressing the wizards' enthusiasm, it was better to hit the Muggles with the Stunning Spell and then modify their memories.
Countless vendors appeared out of nowhere, carrying trays and carts filled with strange curiosities. These vendors were like Doraemon; they had everything: bright badges, green for Ireland and red for Bulgaria, even ones that could shout the players' names; flags that could play the national anthems of various countries; statues of famous players; miniature Firebolts...
There was nothing these vendors couldn't do.
Mr. Granger was dazzled by so many choices.
Before going on a big shopping spree, he whispered to Tom privately, "By the way, which team should we support?"
Tom: ...
He really didn't understand what Mr. Granger was thinking. Even from a geographical perspective, they should support the Irish team.
After getting a clear answer, Mr. Granger rushed to a cart and started picking out souvenirs he liked. This was tough for him because he wanted everything!
"Tom, how about this hat?" Hermione followed him, picking up a waving Irish clover hat.
"No, definitely not," Tom looked at the green hat and decisively rejected Hermione.
Chapter 524: Chapter 524: Audience in France (Edited)
"Why not? This hat is quite nice," Hermione said, not fully understanding. She played with the hat in her hand, adjusting the clover on it towards Tom.
"No, definitely not," Tom had no sympathy for that hat. To distract Hermione's attention, he picked up a small Krum figurine in his hands.
"Look how delicately this action figure is made!"
Wizard-made action figures are much more sophisticated than those made by non-magical manufacturers. Some non-magical action figures, from start to finish, convey a sense of wanting to take your money. For example, some very popular anime series that haven't even aired yet have released a ton of low-quality action figures. They're one step away from putting the words "You're a fool, come and spend your money" on them.
Magical world figurines are much more reliable. First of all, the facial reproduction is extremely realistic, identical to a real person. There are no action figures of evil gods with crumbling faces. Second, the quality of magical action figures is quite good; you won't find "mystery box" style action figures with ten stiff hairs and nine broken ones. Most importantly, these figurines can move, walk, and change expressions, making them very lifelike and authentic.
"Would you like to buy a Krum figurine? It's very popular, only costs one Galleon!" The vendor noticed Tom's keen interest in action figures and started promoting them enthusiastically.
"Too expensive," Tom thought the figurine wasn't worth the price because it was very small, barely the size of a pinkie finger.
"It's not a common product," the vendor tried to justify, "This figurine can ride a broomstick!"
Tom immediately became interested and asked the vendor to demonstrate it.
Sure enough, the small Krum model directly mounted a miniature Firebolt and flew around the cart.
Mr. Granger's eyes lit up. Initially, it was just a small figurine that could move, nothing out of the ordinary, but when it mounted the broomstick and flew, its nature completely changed—it became a super cool action figure!
Tom pondered for a moment and said, "I'll take all the starting players from the Ireland and Bulgaria teams. Can you give me a discount? Also, if you've already created this functionality, have you made the Quidditch pitch as well?"
"Of course," the vendor proudly pulled out a large box from under the cart. This box was a 50:1 scale model of a real Quidditch pitch. Of course, even in scaled-down version, it was still ten feet long and four feet wide.
Such a large model, even if the interior was roughly made, still had great value.
After a lively discussion, Tom purchased the model from the vendor for thirty Galleons, in addition to the starting teams of Bulgaria and Ireland, and also received fourteen miniature Firebolts.
Hermione also bought some Ireland badges from the vendor.
"Uncle, this is a gift for you, thanks for taking care of us for so long!" Tom immediately handed the set of models to Mr. Granger.
After that, Tom and Hermione went shopping in the camp and picked out all the souvenirs they liked.
"We've saved so much money for so long just for this moment!"
Tom and Hermione had been working throughout July, and now they could finally spend without restrictions.
"This, this, three Galleons, you understand?" As Tom was considering whether to buy an Omniocular for each of them, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
He looked over and saw Fred and George, each holding a box, trying to sell joke toys while dancing and waving their hands in front of some girls. But due to the language barrier, their business wasn't going very well.
Tom approached them, "Looks like you might need a little help."
"Tom, I can't understand what these lovely girls are saying." Fred held his forehead with his hand, clearly the girls in front of them were very potential customers, but Fred didn't understand a single word they were saying.
Tom listened for a bit and realized they were all speaking French.
"Good evening, may I be your translator?" he asked the French girls in somewhat clumsy French.
Upon hearing the phrases with a strange but understandable accent, the girls' eyes lit up.
"We would like to buy some wands that can turn into kittens." The girl leading the group spoke very slowly, fearing that Tom might not understand her.
Tom nodded and conveyed their needs.
Fred shook his head, "We only have two wands that can turn into cats."
The French girls chatted animatedly and eventually bought five of Fred's fake wands, along with a box of Canary Creams.
"Merlin above!" Fred exclaimed excitedly as the girls walked away, pumping his fist in the air.
"We can sell one fake wand for three Galleons! We just made fifteen Galleons from that sale! Oh, for heaven's sake, I wish the World Cup was held every year," George said while holding a bag full of money and wearing a happy smile.
"If it's held so frequently, not as many people would come to watch the matches," Tom commented with a shrug, then returned to the Granger family.
By that time, Hermione had already purchased four Omnioculars. As soon as Tom returned, she handed one to him.
"It's very versatile, replays, does slow-motion, and gives situational analysis of the game." Hermione seemed very satisfied with the multipurpose telescope.
Tom didn't say much and accepted the expensive gift with gratitude.
When they returned to the tent, both of them had spent all their money, and the others had also bought some souvenirs. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny wore green badges on their clothes, Mr. Weasley waved an Ireland team flag, and Ron wore the green clover hat on his head and held the Krum figurine and the Omniocular in his hands.
"What's that?" When they saw the model of the Quidditch pitch that Tom and Mr. Granger were carrying, the entire tent filled with excitement.
During the next hour, everyone gathered around the table and watched the two miniature teams battle it out on the Quidditch pitch model until the match was about to begin.
He glanced at the clock, and Mr. Weasley decided it was time to head to the match venue. He looked around and counted the people, realizing that Percy, Fred, and George had disappeared.
"Where the hell have those bloody kids gone?" Mr. Weasley felt frustrated. He hadn't even given them the tickets yet!
After a moment of thought, he decided to leave the tickets in the tent and have the rest of the group head to the stadium.
"That's a good strategy," he thought.
They all walked down the lantern-lit path toward the forest. Midway, they saw Fred and George running toward them, out of breath.
From the souvenirs they were carrying, it was evident that their businesses had gone well.
"Percy decided to watch the game with his girlfriend..."
"-not with us."
They both completed the sentence as a play on words.
"Let him go his own way," Mr. Weasley said, raising his hands in a sign that he understood.
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