James's expression was a little grim.
Weilan's assertion about rats reminded him of Peter Pettigrew.
James, always trusting of his friends, didn't want to dwell on the money pouch issue any longer.
He straightened his collar and urged, "Little Malfoy, since you don't have solid evidence that Weilan stole anything, then let's not waste each other's time!"
"The match is about to start, I think we should enter as soon as possible!"
In the stadium, the cheers rose in waves, making one's heart itch.
Weilan nodded, agreeing with James.
Weilan stuffed all the coins from the cart into his large, tattered money pouch.
"I know a very practical spell that can help you send the cart back."
Lily smiled at him.
Even though her son was fourteen, this Witch was still graceful and charming; a simple smile from her made it hard for anyone to refuse her suggestions.
Weilan bowed to Lily in thanks: "Thank you, Mrs. Potter, your family are all very good people."
"But..."
He suddenly changed the subject, "I've already troubled you too much. I'll handle this small matter myself."
"You just need to give me five minutes."
With that, without waiting for Lily to speak, Weilan hoisted the small cart and sprinted towards the camp.
Squeak.
Behind him, a rat darted past and disappeared into the twilight bushes.
...
All the equipment on the small cart was rented by Weilan, and it must not be damaged.
It was only safe if he returned it himself.
Even with Lily, he was afraid she might cause unintentional damage.
Then he would have to pay repair fees to the rental agency...
Weilan was quick on his feet and returned shortly.
Malfoy had already left.
Even if he hadn't, Weilan wouldn't have stayed.
The dazzling lights in the stadium illuminated the dim sky, and the shouts of the audience almost shook the stars from the heavens.
Weilan's heart soared with them.
If his memories from before transmigration were correct, before this Quidditch World Cup match, he could enjoy Veela dancing.
Those were Veela!
At this thought, Weilan's steps couldn't help but lighten considerably.
At the ticket entrance, James was whistling, and his usual teasing dark eyes, when they looked at Weilan, now held a hint of admiration:
"You, kid, your mind works pretty fast."
"If it had been me just now, hearing someone dare to accuse me like that..."
"I would have lost my temper and thrown a punch already."
"How could I have analyzed what was unreasonable? Listed evidence one by one?"
Lily chuckled, teasing James: "Do you think everyone is like you, a reckless straight-shooter?"
"Harry said that when little Weilan was at Hogwarts, he often did business and made money among his classmates."
"If he wasn't clever enough, he'd probably lose even his capital, wouldn't he?"
They queued up and passed through the ticket check. All four of them had first-class tickets, located in the top-floor box.
It was already past seven o'clock, and there were very few people in the entrance passage.
So they quickened their pace towards the box.
James's interest in Weilan did not stop there:
"So smart? From Ravenclaw?"
"Dad!" Harry glared at his father reproachfully, "He's from Gryffindor! We have classes together every day!"
"Gryffindor?"
James puffed out his chest proudly: "I knew it, we Gryffindors never raise idlers!"
Amidst their laughter, they arrived at a fork in the path.
This was already the seventh floor, the very top. Going straight led to their box, while turning right led to the restrooms.
Considering such an exciting match, it would be too much of a buzzkill if one's bladder suddenly swelled halfway through.
After using the restroom, they finally reached the box.
Pushing open the box door, twenty-odd purple and gilded seats, except for the four adjacent seats in the front row, were all occupied.
Judging by their attire, those seated here were all important figures.
"Aha! James! You're late!"
A stout, short Wizard rose to greet them.
Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister for Magic of Britain.
"You missed the Veela brought by the Bulgaria team!"
"But it doesn't matter, you're just in time for the Ireland team's mascot performance!"
Weilan sighed in internal frustration.
He watched wistfully as the beautiful girls with fair, translucent skin and flowing hair, blowing farewell kisses to the audience, left the center of the field.
So Weilan had to temporarily turn back and, following Fudge's introduction, his gaze swept across the faces in the box:
The Minister for Magic of Bulgaria.
Accompanying Bulgarian Wizard officials.
Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Barty Crouch.
Junior Assistant to the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Percy Weasley.
Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman.
Mr. Weasley did not appear with his wife and children, which Weilan found somewhat regrettable.
And finally... the Malfoy family.
However, at this moment, the three members of the Malfoy family were discussing serious topics.
They had no time to pay attention to them.
"My ring is missing."
Mr. Malfoy's voice was not pleasant: "It's a family heirloom, and I've always kept it carefully."
"I don't know who deliberately stole it."
"Good things" kept happening, making Little Malfoy's tone extremely irritable:
"Did someone curse our family?"
"Today my money pouch was almost stolen by a poor kid..."
"Costa? Potter? How did you get tickets here?"
"—Especially you, Costa, you can't even afford new textbooks, I don't believe you can pay for first-class box tickets!"
Little Malfoy looked angrily at Weilan and Harry, who had just taken their seats in the corner of the front row.
His voice was very loud, drawing the attention of everyone in the box and immediately putting Weilan in a very awkward situation.
Seeing that Mr. Malfoy, who was pondering the whereabouts of his ring, showed no intention of speaking, and Mrs. Malfoy did not intervene in her son's behavior.
Fudge quickly stepped in to smooth things over:
"James was the most outstanding Auror in the Ministry of Magic last year!"
"He just busted a Dark Wizard hideout last month, of course he deserves a few tickets as a reward!"
"As for this strange child..."
Weilan wouldn't trouble James to explain for him:
"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Minister! My name is Weilan Costa, and Mr. Potter gave me the ticket!"
"Thanks to Mr. Potter's ticket, I was able to meet you. Mr. Minister, you are much more amiable in person than in the photos in The Daily Prophet!"
Weilan's bright, shining eyes curved into two crescent moons, and his honeyed little mouth rattled off like a machine gun:
"And Mr. Barty Crouch, I have always admired your contributions in combating the Dark Arts!"
"Percy Weasley! Long time no see! I'm glad to see you found a job under Mr. Crouch, I knew it, after all, you've always been so excellent..."
"Wow, gentlemen and ladies from Bulgaria... Zdraveĭte! (Bulgarian, translated as Hello)"
He quickly put half the officials in the box in a good mood.
Even the ice-faced Mr. Crouch had a barely perceptible curve to his lips.
A female Bulgarian official even enthusiastically came forward, embraced Weilan in her broad chest, and insisted on giving him snacks.
In this warm atmosphere, Little Malfoy's momentum was easily defused.
Weilan watched him silently sit back between his parents, his expression looking as if he had just swallowed an entire lemon.
"What a likable child!" Fudge laughed heartily, "Alright, everyone sit down quickly!—Look, the leprechauns are coming out!"
Weilan comfortably sat back in his seat, also pleased to see that Mr. Bagman, in the seat behind him, was completely preoccupied.
The latter was busy trying to persuade Mr. Malfoy to use Galleons and bet with him on which team would win.
After all, Weilan had consciously avoided mentioning this debt-ridden Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports just now.
Weilan did this simply because he still clearly remembered that Bagman in the original story loved to gamble and was deeply in debt.
Finally, under pressure from his creditors, Bagman had no choice but to abscond to collect debts, disappearing without a trace.
"It's better to stay away from such gamblers."
Weilan thought about these things while watching the Ireland team's mascot pre-match performance.
Their box was at the highest point of the stadium, directly opposite the golden goalposts, with an excellent view.
On the field, the Irish leprechauns formed a giant shamrock in the air, scattering gold coins over the entire audience.
The audience bathed in the rain of gold coins, cheering wildly and scrambling to stuff the coins into their pockets.
In the box, Harry was having a great time picking up gold coins.
Weilan, however, looked at the glittering gold coins scattered everywhere with little interest.
He still remembered that the Irish leprechauns' gold coins were illusory wealth, and would automatically disappear after a few hours.
The Malfoy family was sitting to his right rear, chatting with Bagman.
Weilan was more interested in their conversation.
Mr. Malfoy finally stopped dwelling on the lost ring, but he also ignored Bagman's betting suggestion, instead turning to Bagman to inquire about the recent situation of a Quidditch player.
"I heard that Ryan of the Ireland team seems to be sick? And Rowan is replacing him, is that true?"
His voice was extremely cold, devoid of concern.
"Yes!"
Bagman, however, misunderstood, and gently reassured him: "But don't worry, Rowan just isn't very famous, his strength has always been good..."
Mr. Malfoy impatiently interrupted him: "I just hope that after this match, Rowan gets enough money!"
"This guy partners with you for gambling, and he loses miserably every time... He still owes me twenty thousand Galleons! It's been a whole year!"
At this point, Weilan suddenly felt a sense of shared suffering with this gentleman he had never met.
The shared suffering of the poor.
However, due to Weilan's diligent management, he was still far from taking out loans.
So Weilan craned his neck, wanting to see this indebted player on the field.
Time passed minute by minute, and the Irish leprechauns were still scattering gold coins.
Weilan subtly felt something was off.
Was the leprechauns' performance taking too long?