After Professor McGonagall and the others left, Wayne stayed behind to join the twins and Cedric.
While selling their wares, they chatted about the O.W.L. results they'd recently received.
"Thank Merlin Mum didn't come," said Fred. "With Mr Diggory mentioning grades every minute, our backsides would've been toast when we got home."
Cedric had passed all ten of his elective subjects, earning six 'Outstandings', whereas the twins had only passed six subjects with two 'Os'. The only reason they'd escaped Molly's wrath was because both Charms and Potions were among their 'O's.
"I can't control him," Cedric said with a pained smile. Having a father who loved showing off his son's achievements was rather troublesome.
"What subjects are you taking this year?" Wayne asked.
"Dad wants me to become an Auror," Cedric replied, still looking miserable. "So I'll have to take Charms, Potions, Herbology and Transfiguration. I'm also quite interested in Care of Magical Creatures, so probably just those six."
Fred frowned. "Cedric, what you do in the future is your own business. You can't just follow your dad's plans blindly."
In the Weasley household, though Mrs Weasley cared deeply about her children's academic results, she rarely interfered with their career choices after graduation.
Take Charlie and Bill—both had been Head Boys with outstanding grades. By all rights, they could've easily secured prestigious positions at the Ministry of Magic. Yet one became a curse-breaker, and the other went off to work with dragons.
Compared to Ministry jobs, neither was particularly impressive.
Wayne shot the twins a sidelong glance. "Have you told her about your plans to open a shop after graduation?"
George shrank back. "We're not stupid. If we told her now, she'd nag us about it for years until we graduate. We'll tell her after we leave school—at worst, she'll only lecture us for one summer."
"That's nice," Cedric said enviously. "I wish I had a few siblings, too, then I could do whatever I wanted."
"What would you want to do?" Wayne was somewhat curious. He'd known Cedric for so long but had never heard him talk about career plans.
At once, Cedric became much more animated as he shared his dream.
"I want to be a Quidditch player for a few years first, then join the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes at the Ministry of Magic – preferably the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad."
George looked surprised. "Why that department? I heard from Dad that it's the most exhausting one. Sometimes they even get called out of bed to work overtime."
"Because it's interesting!"
Cedric punched his palm excitedly. "The Reversal Squad deals with all sorts of messes caused by wizards – the strangest things you can imagine. Like Apparition splinching, or people using fake Floo Powder and ending up in bizarre places."
"Or even toilets that flush upwards. Don't you think that sounds fun?"
Hearing this, Fred and George had to admit it did sound rather amusing and shared an embarrassing story about Charlie.
During his Apparition test, Charlie failed his first attempt. He'd landed two kilometres off target – right on top of an old lady's head, nearly giving her a heart attack.
"Why don't you join the Reversal Squad with me?" Cedric's eyes shone brightly.
Fred and George shook their heads vigorously. "No thanks, we'd rather run our own shop than work at the Ministry."
"Alright then," Cedric said dejectedly.
...
By nearly four o'clock, they'd sold most of their stock. The remaining items weren't worth staying for, so the four of them returned to the campsite together.
Seeing them return safely, Mr Weasley sighed in relief.
"Where have you been? If you'd been any later, Amos and I would have gone looking for you."
"We ran into loads of classmates and professors, so we chatted for a while," George quickly supplied a plausible excuse.
It wasn't entirely a lie – they had encountered several professors and students while running their stall.
Mr Diggory smiled. "See? I told you nothing would go wrong with Cedric around."
"We're going to rest for a bit," Fred said, dragging George and Wayne into the tent.
"Wayne, call Cho and Hermione over. Time to split the profits," George said excitedly. Ginny's eyes lit up at the mention of money.
"One moment."
Wayne went to his own tent to fetch the girls, with Astoria tagging along out of boredom.
George emptied today's earnings onto the dining table – a glittering pile of Galleons and Knuts. Ron, who'd been playing Magical Awakened with Harry, gaped at the sight.
"Did you just rob someone?"
Fred gave him a disdainful look. "Robbery's slower than business. Unless you're robbing Gringotts."
With that, he ignored his foolish younger brother and began the 'profit-sharing meeting'.
Their one-day sales had reached nearly eight hundred Galleons – a figure that even surprised Wayne.
But after careful calculation, it made sense.
First of all, today's prices were two or three times more expensive than usual. Given that this was a final that only happened once every four years, the higher prices were somewhat understandable.
Then there was the advantage of quantity.
With Wayne's suggestion, the group had started stockpiling supplies right at the beginning of the summer holidays, preparing very thoroughly.
Fred and George were going through the accounts one last time, distributing one hundred Galleons to Hermione and eighty to Cho.
Among the products just sold, the badges that loudly cheered for the supported teams were made by Hermione, while Cho had crafted numerous banner ribbons. Since both items had relatively low unit prices, their dividends were smaller.
The rest, after spending three hundred Galleons that morning, was split equally between the twins and Cedric at one hundred Galleons each. The remaining twenty Galleons went to Ginny as payment for keeping watch, making the girl's face turn as red as her hair with delight.
Cedric took out another thirty Galleons from his pocket money and handed them all to Wayne.
"Now we're finally square."
Wayne hadn't wanted to accept it, but seeing Cedric's determined expression, he eventually gave the money to Astoria as her allowance.
It wasn't that he didn't need Cedric to repay him—even brothers kept clear accounts, and even the closest friends should mind certain matters.
But he didn't want Cedric to use his pocket money to repay him. Wouldn't that leave him with nothing to spend here?
Actually, Cedric had already saved up enough last term, but under Wayne's persuasion, he'd blown it all on games.
"Why wasn't I included in such a good deal?" Ron asked, nearly overheating with envy upon seeing Ginny receive twenty Galleons.
George looked at him disdainfully. "Ginny could keep watch for Mum. What can you do?"
Ron blurted out, "I can do that too!"
"Don't bother," Fred said scornfully. "You sleep twelve hours a day during summer. If we relied on you as lookout, we'd have been caught ages ago."
Ginny smirked triumphantly at him.
Ron opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't think of a retort.
Fine... he admitted it. He was a bit useless...
A while later, a deep, resonant gong sounded from somewhere in the distance. Mr Weasley lifted the tent flap and called out excitedly, "Kids, it's time!"
Wayne and the others stepped outside. The path was already teeming with wizards, streaming towards the stadium under the guidance of countless red and green lanterns.
Sakura and the girls emerged from the tent, too. When Wayne saw her current appearance, he couldn't help but laugh.
Just as Sakura looked puzzled, wondering why he was laughing, Tomoyo gently reached out and removed the slip of paper stuck to her forehead. The girl immediately flushed crimson.
"I forgot about this... it was from losing a game earlier."
"No worries, buy a few more card packs and you'll win," Wayne whispered temptingly, still angling for profit.
Sakura clutched her purse fearfully.
The boy was practically a demon. In just a few days here, her purse had already been half emptied.
Tomoyo watched their exchange with quiet amusement. She'd actually spent far more, purchasing many beautiful magical accessories at steep prices.
But it didn't matter. Gringotts operated globally—wherever there was a Gringotts, Miss Tomoyo would never want for money.
"We can take the VIP route. Let's grab some food first before heading off."
Mr Weasley's suggestion was unanimously approved—after all, one couldn't watch the match on an empty stomach. After a quick meal, the group followed the crowd under the adults' guidance.
Sirius suddenly said regretfully, "If only Lupin could be here too. Such lively occasions are so rare."
"Can't be helped. The timing's just unfortunate," Wayne shrugged helplessly. Tonight happened to be the full moon, leaving Lupin no choice but to lie low at home alone.
Thud!
Two figures—one large, one small—suddenly descended from the sky, landing right in front of them and startling Mr Weasley. Upon recognising the newcomers, he complained:
"Lovegood, you're so late! I'd almost given up on you coming."
"We spotted a Glimmerbeast. Pity we couldn't catch it in the end," Mr Lovegood explained.
"What's that?" Harry looked utterly baffled, having never heard of such a magical creature.
"You'll get used to it."
Ron said dismissively, "He and Luna are always saying things like that. He's the editor of The Quibbler—that rag's full of nonsense."
Mr Lovegood didn't hear Ron's remark, but Luna did. She glanced at Ron before moving to stand beside Wayne, murmuring softly, "Sorry."
Hermione eyed them suspiciously. "Luna, why are you apologising to Wayne?"
Luna tilted her head in confusion. "Because I'm late?"
Something felt off to Hermione, but with the swelling crowd pressing in around them, this wasn't the time for conversation.
After twenty minutes of walking, they emerged from the opposite side of the woods and gasped in awe.
People stood in the shadow of a vast oval stadium, catching only glimpses of the magnificent golden walls surrounding them.
"Seats a hundred thousand spectators," Mr Weasley declared proudly. "Five hundred Ministry workers spent a whole year preparing this."
Wayne nodded appreciatively.
Wizards certainly excelled at infrastructure. Five hundred people completing such a massive project in just one year...
No wonder magical real estate was so cheap.
Breaking away from the main crowd, they reached the outermost entrance.
"Top box tickets!" the witch at the checkpoint announced after inspection. "Keep climbing straight up. Arthur, you've got some luck!"
"All thanks to Ludo," Mr Weasley chuckled, pocketing the tickets as he led the group upwards. At the staircase's summit stood three private boxes.
Checking the ticket numbers against the boxes, he confirmed, "Middle one's ours. The side one's yours, Wayne."
"Dad, can I go to Wayne's box?" Ginny asked.
Though their central box had better views, she'd be the only girl there—and it would soon fill with Ministry officials.
"Well..." Mr Weasley hesitated, glancing at Wayne.
"Come along if you like. Plenty of spare seats. Luna can join Ginny, too."
Ginny cheered, linking arms with Luna as they followed Wayne into the adjacent box. Inside awaited two dozen purple-and-gilt chairs arranged in tiered rows.
Wayne waved his wand, moving the excess chairs aside and transforming them into more comfortable sofas, then addressed the girls: "I need to pop next door. Mr Mostafa from the International Quidditch Association is there. Since he gave us the tickets, I ought to thank him.
Cho nodded. "Go ahead, don't mind us."
Upon entering the neighbouring box, Mostafa enthusiastically embraced the young man.
"Mr Lawrence, I'm absolutely delighted to see you!"
"Likewise, Mr Mostafa. Thank you for the tickets."
"That's nothing. Didn't Mr Wallow and Mr McKay come?"
"They're developing faster broomsticks and don't have much spare time."
"What a shame. I was hoping to chat with them." Mostafa shook his head regretfully. At that moment, Wayne noticed someone staring at him and turned to look.
Winky immediately tried to bow instinctively, but an invisible force held her in place.
The house-elf suddenly remembered her master's relationship with Wayne couldn't be revealed, her large eyes filling with terror.
"Are you alright?" Harry, standing beside Winky, asked curiously.
"Winky is fine!" Winky said stiffly.
Harry observed her sweating profusely and thought she looked anything but fine, though house-elves were known for their odd behaviour, so he didn't dwell on it.
As time passed, more guests kept entering the box. Percy was so excited that he hadn't sat down once, trailing after Mr Weasley to watch him shake hands with various people while offering ingratiating smiles.
What shocked him more was how these Ministry officials would exchange pleasantries with Mr Weasley before gravitating towards Wayne to greet him.
Finally, when a Wizengamot member finished speaking with Wayne, Percy seized the chance to approach:
"Wayne, how do you know so many important people?"
Wayne shrugged casually. "As a Hufflepuff, having many friends is normal, isn't it?"
Cedric's expression turned peculiar. "This Hufflepuff doesn't have nearly as many Ministry friends."
"That's because I'm more Hufflepuff than you." Wayne patted his shoulder with mock solemnity, adopting a lecturing tone that made young Diggory grit his teeth.
Percy began questioning his life choices.
Should he have been sorted into Hufflepuff instead? Would that have advanced his Ministry career faster?
His introspection was interrupted by the arrival of Fudge and Bulgarian Minister for Magic Oblansk.
Percy bowed so low his glasses fell and shattered on the floor. Flustered, he repaired them silently, too embarrassed to speak.
Like everyone else, Fudge completely ignored him, instead spotting Wayne and beaming warmly as he spread his arms towards the boy.
But someone was quicker.
The Bulgarian Minister shoved past portly Fudge, practically running to reach Wayne first.
"Mr Lawrence! At last, I meet you in person."
"You simply must approve another twenty sets of equipment for me this time. Price is negotiable."
Fudge's smile froze, his finger trembling as he pointed accusingly. "You speak English? Yet you've had me gesturing like a fool all this time!"
"I never said I couldn't," the Bulgarian Minister shrugged. "Don't you think it's rather amusing?"
Fudge saw black spots before his eyes.
Bloody amusing? So I'm the clown now?