Chapter 57: Outing is the Main Event, Quidditch Match is Just an Aside

Today, the long-awaited first Quidditch match of the school year is finally about to take place.

A little after 10 in the morning, Bell and Hermione arrived together at the Quidditch pitch, securing themselves the best seats at the highest point.

Bell took out his wand and casted a temperature-regulating barrier and a repelling barrier. The temperature-regulating barrier kept the temperature inside the barrier at a comfortable level, while the repelling barrier was an enhanced version of the Muggle repelling charm, effective even on wizards to some extent.

"Bell, what did you do? Why did it suddenly become so hot?" Hermione asked curiously as she took off her coat, observing Bell.

Because the weather was very cold today, Hermione had put on two extra layers before coming out, making her look like a bundled-up ball. Watching those witches wearing temperature-regulating badges, Hermione felt envious inside, but she didn't have enough Galleons to buy one.

"It's a temperature-regulating barrier. You can think of it as extending the range of the temperature-regulating badge," Bell explained casually to Hermione before reaching into his pocket and pulling out various foods: roasted meat, fried chicken, cakes, fruits, and various drinks. These were all prepared by Bell in advance for today's match. He used a levitation charm to control the food floating around them, making it convenient to eat.

"Here, Hermione, eat more. Who knows how long the match will last; let's consider it lunchtime," said Bell as he grabbed a skewer of roasted lamb with one hand and a bottle of cola with the other, eating and drinking heartily.

"... "

"Bell, why do I feel like you're not here to watch the match, but rather to go on a picnic?" Hermione asked incredulously, looking at the floating food around them, blocking the view of the Quidditch pitch.

Didn't you just eat breakfast not long ago, and now you're eating again? Are you a pig?

"Exactly, I'm here for a picnic!" Bell said matter-of-factly. "There's no rule saying you can't watch a match while on a picnic, right?"

Bell enjoyed watching Quidditch matches while eating delicious food, just like in his previous life when he watched movies while eating popcorn and drinking cola. Watching Quidditch matches was enjoyable, eating delicious food was enjoyable, and combining the two brought double the happiness.

"... "

Hermione found herself speechless whenever she was with Bell. Annoyed, she grabbed snacks and stuffed them into her mouth.

"Eat them all, I won't leave any for you, hmph!" Bell chuckled as he watched the suddenly sulking witch.

"Hermione, do you like Quidditch?"

"I'm interested, but I've never watched it before. This is my first time, so I can't say if I like it yet. But if everyone else enjoys it, I should too," Hermione said as she ate.

There was nowhere in the Muggle world to watch Quidditch matches, so her understanding of Quidditch was limited to knowing the rules. Whether she liked it or not, she would have to wait until after watching to decide.

"Huh!? You haven't watched it? 'Personal Terminals' can search for many exciting match videos. Haven't you tried looking it up?" By the way, personal terminals now fully replicate the functions of smartphones, and even exceed them in many areas. So naturally, they can also play videos, with functions like fast forward and rewind.

However, Bell hadn't developed them himself. After handing over the production method of the personal terminal to his father, up to now, Bell hadn't done any related research. Therefore, the development of personal terminals to its current state was all thanks to the researchers William had hired.

As for Bell, he enjoyed the benefits without doing any work. Not only did he master all the technology, but he also used related magical principles to develop some illusion and sound magic.

"Personal terminal?" Hermione raised her small head, thinking. "Oh, you mean that square mirror-like thing, right? That's too expensive; I couldn't afford it."

"The number of Galleons you can exchange for with pounds each year is limited. I spent almost all of them buying things I needed for school, and then I couldn't resist buying several books. After that, there weren't many Galleons left. I heard that the 'personal terminal' costs 10 Galleons each, even more expensive than a wand. I simply can't afford it."

The young witch looked a little crestfallen. She knew Bell came from a wealthy family, perhaps wealthier than she imagined, so she was worried that Bell would look down on her because of it.

Bell suddenly realized why Hermione always seemed to be tight on money.

He knew Hermione's parents were dentists, and even in the 90s, dentists could be considered high-income earners, so Hermione's family conditions should be good. Bell thought it was Hermione's family education that made her develop good habits of thriftiness, but it turned out to be because Galleons couldn't be exchanged freely.

In fact, a little thought would reveal that this was a very normal situation. After all, the pound was a credit-based currency, while the Galleon was a gold-based currency. If Galleons could be freely exchanged for pounds, then there wouldn't be enough Galleons in the wizarding world to cover it, and Gringotts' underground vaults would be emptied by Muggles in no time.

In that case, those fairies who valued gold more than their own lives would definitely go crazy and storm Buckingham Palace.

Obviously, Hermione's worries were unnecessary. In his previous life as an ordinary person, Bell didn't care about money. And in this life as a wizard, he cared even less about material wealth.

Bell snapped his fingers.

"Lym!"

With a 'pop', Bell's personal house-elf appeared once again by his side.

"Do you have any orders, Master?"

"Bring me a 'personal terminal,' the latest version."

"Yes, please wait a moment, Master."

Hermione watched curiously as Lym disappeared. She seemed excited; it was her first time seeing a creature with intelligence other than humans.

"Bell, was that the house-elf you mentioned before?"

"Yes, it's Lym, my personal house-elf. I've been taken care of by Lym since I was a child."

For Bell, Lym was family, even holding a higher status in the household than William. Of course, Bell would never let Lym know this, or else he was certain that Lym would burst a blood vessel from excessive excitement and die on the spot.

"How did it just 'pop' in and 'pop' out?" The young witch's excited face turned red as she danced around, asking.

Hermione was very interested in everything related to magic, especially for phenomena she hadn't seen before, showing it particularly clearly.