Kasen casually answered a few more words, and the group headed deeper into the cluster of tents. They had mentioned earlier that Sirius's tent was next to the Weasley family's and the Longbottoms'—that way, it would be easier for the children to play together.
Kasen also approved of this arrangement. After all, the parents of those two families had basically all been members of the Order of the Phoenix when they were young.
The Longbottoms, after being discharged from the hospital last year, had barely taken a few days to recover before the Auror Office sent them an offer.
But they felt they had already missed too much of Neville's childhood and didn't want to return to Auror duty. Instead, they chose to stay home, tending to flowers and vegetables while accompanying Neville.
Still, even so, their fighting strength remained formidable.
Before long, they found the other two families.
Kasen watched Sirius busily pitching a tent with great enthusiasm… though he really had no idea what there was to fuss about with magical tents. Not interested in finding out either, he simply placed a recliner on the grass, lay down, and closed his eyes to rest.
A little nap during the day to restore his energy—and at night he could give those troublesome Death Eaters a "small surprise."
Sniff~~ sniff~~
Before long, a faint, mouth-watering aroma drifted into his nose. He opened his eyes, looked around, and quickly locked onto the group roasting sausages by the campfire. "Hey, do I get some too?"
"On the table, Professor," Mrs. Weasley looked up and called back.
"Oh, just call me Kasen." He chuckled, walked over to the wooden table, grabbed a fork, speared a sausage, and started eating.
On the other side, Percy spotted Kasen heading over and immediately darted away as if fleeing from a plague.
Although, strictly speaking, it couldn't really be called running. Percy was just moving very quickly on two legs, terrified that if his posture looked too much like running, people would notice.
After all, he had observed high-ranking officials up close before—each of them always maintained an expressionless calm. No matter what happened, even if the sky fell, they must never panic, and certainly never run.
On the other side, Kasen didn't notice Percy's little maneuver at all. After polishing off his sausage in just a few bites, he was already scanning around to see if there was anything else he could toss into his stomach.
"Kasen, there's a chance to make some money—want in?" Sirius walked over from not far away, someone trailing behind him.
"Not interested, unless you're paying in pounds." Kasen shrugged, not even sparing a glance at the man following Sirius, dismissing it outright.
"True enough, you're not exactly short on gold." Sirius suddenly realized, then led the person behind him toward the campfire. At this moment, Mr. Weasley finally noticed who it was trailing Sirius. He quickly stood up, brushing a bit of dust off his hands. "Oh, Mr. Ludo Bagman, thank you so much for the tickets!"
Sirius slung an arm around Ludo Bagman's shoulders and nodded. "Right? Without you, even if I had money, I'd have nowhere to spend it."
Only then did Kasen pause in his frenzied sausage assault and glance over at Ludo Bagman.
After all, from what Sirius said, it was thanks to him that they had gotten the tickets to see the match. Out of courtesy, he really ought to go over and say hello, right?
But just as he was about to put down the sausage in his hand, a figure shot past like the Flash—that was Percy. He dropped his sausage and fork in a hurry, wiped his hands messily on his clothes, smoothed down his hair, and rushed forward, intent on presenting the most perfect image possible before a member of the Ministry's upper ranks.
Although Percy didn't have much direct connection with the department this official managed, he thought that if he could get him to say a few kind words to Fudge on his behalf…
And then Percy saw Ludo Bagman smiling at him. Ludo bent slightly at the waist, striding quickly forward with both hands outstretched.
Just as Percy was wondering—Since when did the assistant to the Ministery carry so much weight?—and whether he should also extend both hands for the handshake, or perhaps strike a more dignified pose to look imposing, Ludo Bagman had already bypassed him completely. Instead, he grasped Kasen's unwashed hand directly.
"Ahh~~ Professor Kasen, I've heard so much about you!"
Percy, caught awkwardly, straightened the waist he had just bent and looked at his hands, which he had already unconsciously stretched out. He hurriedly pulled them back in, pretending nothing had happened.
"Uh… you could've waited until I'd wiped my hands first." Kasen, though puzzled as to why a relatively obscure professor like him would be remembered by such a high-ranking official, still responded politely out of habit.
"Oh, no need for that. Honestly, I don't like people who put on airs—it makes them impossible to approach." Ludo Bagman waved his hand as he spoke.
"…Alright then. Please, after you, Mr. Bagman." Kasen still nodded politely, then drew his hand back. "Is there something you needed?"
"Uh… no, nothing at all. Why would there be?" Ludo laughed awkwardly. In truth, he was here today to set up his betting pool and rake in money, but the first rule of running a betting game was that he absolutely couldn't show any weakness.
If people thought the bookmaker was a pauper, who would dare place their bets?
Kasen, on the other hand, paid no attention to these matters—or rather, he didn't want to.
Just as he and Ludo Bagman were staring at each other, neither knowing what to say, Sirius had already started explaining Bagman's little betting scheme from behind. That "chance to make money" he had mentioned earlier was exactly this.
Only then did Ludo Bagman recover the social demeanor an official ought to have. But he couldn't help recalling that the professor standing before him had once stormed into Fudge's office and chopped off his arm without hesitation.
If Kasenhis lost money in this betting pool, would he chop off his head next?
Just as Bagman was nervously working out how to politely and tactfully refuse Kasen's potential wager, the very first bet was handed to him.
"Two Galleons."
Ron held out his palm, where two glittering gold coins lay.
These were taken from the pocket money Sirius had given him earlier—an amount small enough to feel reasonable and not painful to part with.
Bagman looked at the two Galleons and, thinking that even a mosquito's leg was still meat, accepted them naturally. "Which team are you betting on?"
"Bulgaria."
Meanwhile, standing just behind Bagman, Kasen was silently debating whether he should punish Ron on such a happy day. But since Mr. Weasley himself said nothing, Kasen didn't dwell on it—after all, compared to him, parents were far more qualified to discipline their children.
However, he quickly changed his mind, because the Weasley twins were approaching, carrying the gold they had skimmed off from selling alchemy products and from embezzling the alchemical materials Kasen had distributed to them.
If Ron's wager was unhealthy gambling entertainment, then the twins' actions had already reached the level of the kind of reckless high-stakes betting that could make someone jump off a rooftop.
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