I'll Give You 20%

George carefully counted the Galleons, one by one. "Mr. Bagman, we don't believe a word you're saying."

"Harry, take another look?"

"This fat guy was broke not long ago, and now he suddenly has this much money? Something's fishy," Fred added.

Ludo cut in, "Nothing's impossible. I told you, I've learned my lesson. I wouldn't be as reckless as I was during the Quidditch World Cup."

Harry took the Galleons George handed him and examined them closely. "They're real. The goblin magic is intact."

Fred, now grinning, pressed on. "So how'd you make so much money?"

"That's a trade secret," Ludo said smugly, shaking his head. "I couldn't possibly—"

"You made money by setting odds on how far ahead I'd be, didn't you?" Harry interrupted, his voice flat.

Ludo's face stiffened.

"If Karkaroff had given me even one more point, or if you had given Krum one less, you would've made even more money," Harry continued.

Ludo clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "Harry! You don't understand—that damn woman, Umbridge!"

"I only won three thousand Galleons."

"If she hadn't suddenly lost her mind—I was ready to give Krum a three, but she gave him a six! If she'd just given him a five, and you had led by thirty points, I would've won five thousand Galleons!"

George and Fred's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Three thousand?! That much?"

"How exactly did you do it?" George asked.

Fred cut in before Ludo could dodge the question. "And don't give us that 'trade secret' nonsense. You made money off Harry—you owe him an explanation."

Ludo glanced at Harry, his shoulders slumping. "Alright, fine. It's not really a secret anyway."

"I actually have a great reputation."

George and Fred both scoffed loudly.

Ludo sighed. "Alright, alright. But it's true! My mistake during the Quidditch World Cup was giving you two too high a payout."

"But other than that, I've always been fair!"

Harry interjected, "You don't scam adults, just kids."

Ludo flinched, then swallowed his retort when he saw the Sorting Hat dangling from Harry's belt. "Besides that, there's also my position."

"Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

George and Fred let out another synchronized scoff.

"I get it, I get it," Ludo said, waving them off. "You're all exceptional young wizards, and in your eyes, the Ministry is a joke."

"To be fair, it is a joke."

"But to the average wizard, the Ministry still carries some weight. Even a capable kid like Percy is obsessed with playing the political game."

He paused, rubbing his face. "Anyway, back to the point. I used my title to gain credibility and opened a betting pool even bigger than the one at the Quidditch World Cup."

"I bet that Harry would beat the second-place contestant by at least ten points."

"If he exceeded ten points, I'd take 20% of all bets placed. If he exceeded twenty points, I'd take a third. If he exceeded thirty points, I'd take half."

"If he won by forty, I'd get 80%. And if he won by fifty points…" Ludo's eyes gleamed. "The entire ten thousand Galleon pool would be mine."

Harry nodded. "No wonder you were so excited."

"Umbridge still owes me two thousand Galleons!" Ludo growled, punching the air. "That damn woman—what was she thinking?!"

George frowned. "But how did you convince people to bet against Harry?"

"Ten thousand Galleons—that's a fortune."

"What would you have owed them if you lost?"

Ludo looked nervous. "That's not important. What matters is, I won."

George and Fred were practically drooling at this point.

Hermione, however, just shook her head in exasperation.

Harry finally spoke. "Mr. Bagman, I'm curious too."

Ludo sighed. "It was simple—money. I promised that if Harry didn't win by more than ten points, I'd double their bets."

"If he didn't get first place, I'd pay out five times their bet."

"You know how it is—people will take risks when the reward is big enough."

George was incredulous. "That's at least twenty thousand Galleons, maybe even fifty! How did they believe you had that kind of money?"

"A department head's salary?"

"Come on, we all know the Ministry is broke."

Fred chimed in, "Unless they're subsidizing goblins, centaurs, or Veela."

"I did have the money!" Ludo protested, though his voice lacked conviction. "Look, my scheme wouldn't have fooled Harry, but it was enough to trick a bunch of ordinary, dull-witted wizards."

Fred gasped. "So if you lost, you were going to scam them just like you tried to scam us?!"

Hermione shot Ludo the same exasperated look she gave Ron when he once misread Flipendo as Flip for Seven Days.

Ludo shook his head. "Of course not! I already bought a ship ticket to Burkina Faso. I wasn't going to back myself into a corner."

Harry stared at him coldly.

Ludo quickly straightened up and saluted. "Of course, Harry, you can trust me. I swear I'll use my winnings to pay back your godfather before I leave."

"I'm an honest man."

Even Hermione couldn't hold back. "How can you call yourself honest when you're openly planning to run away?"

"I am honest!" Ludo insisted. "If I weren't, would I be telling you all this?"

Then he turned to Harry. "I really want to tell you about the third task right now."

"But as a Ministry official, I'm magically bound by a contract. I can't break it."

Harry reached out, his fingers closing around something unseen in the air. Just for a moment, he felt something tangible—a wisp of magic—but it vanished before he could grasp it.

Ludo didn't notice and kept talking. "But I can tell you what the betting odds will be."

"I'm opening a new pool: betting on how long it'll take you to reach the Triwizard Cup."

"The minimum bet is twenty minutes. If you can do it in under ten, even better."

Harry remained silent.

Ludo hesitated, then reluctantly raised two fingers. "I'll give you 20% of the profits. Deal?"

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Powerstones?

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