Chapter 504: Treasury (Edited)

"..."

Bagman was speechless for a moment, before explaining, "The goblins probably thought you were younger, that's why they looked down on you, in fact, after seeing Fish defeat the fire dragon, those goblins already regretted it, just now they bothered me to try to backtrack."

He smacked his lips and sighed, "In fact, they agreed to halve the amount of compensation to cancel the Three Wizards Tournament bet, which is unbelievable for those stingy goblins." He paused and immediately said, "Of course, I didn't agree.

In fact, he would have agreed if Bagman didn't owe the goblins so much money that he couldn't pay them back even if they cut it in half.

For, although Fish had won the first test with a landslide victory, but his way of deliberately increasing the difficulty for himself made Bagman feel terrified, so, if possible, he hoped to be safer.

It's a pity... He owes so much money....

"What about us?" The twins listened for a long time and found that Bagman never mentioned the two of them, so they couldn't help but ask glaring at him.

"Yes! What about the money you owe George and Fred?!"

?(? `ω′?)?

Fish also shook his fist for the twins and said.

"If we're successful in the Triwizard Tournament, I'll get a big bonus!". Bagman explained to the twins, "I can't give you back the full amount, but I can give you back the principal! I will also pay back the rest of the money over time. My salary at the Ministry of Magic is still very substantial."

He then looked at Rita Skeeter and pleaded, "You must not report this matter, if I am fired because of the incident, I'm sure the goblins will take advantage of it!"

Skeeter thought about it for a moment and decided to agree for the time being.

She knew that if her story led to overturning the bet between Bagman and the goblins, Bagman would be finished for sure, but she would also be hated by the Ministry of Magic, which was not the same as reporting on officials' privacy and past inventions.

Rita Skeeter likes to give people something to talk about, but she knows exactly what she can and cannot write about.

Of course, she will have no problem reporting on it when the Triwizard Tournament is over and the dust settles on the Bagman bet with the goblins.

As for what would happen to Bagman then.

She didn't bother to think about it.

The twins are still thinking about Bagman getting his winnings back, so there's no way they'd rat him out.

The only person who could have leaked it was Fish, but Fish didn't care much about it, so as long as no one talked about it, she wouldn't have thought about it, and most of the time, Fish had Hermione watching.

Once the Bagman business was settled, it was getting late, so after saying goodbye to Rita Skeeter, Fish and Hermione left with the twins for the Three Broomsticks....

This made Skeeter very unhappy, Fish's interview had disappeared again, blame that Bagman guy!

When the Triwizard Tournament is over, he'll unmask Bagman for gambling with the goblins!

"Is the problem with your funds because you used them to gamble nya?"

?ω?

Back at Hogwarts, Fish suddenly remembered that the twins had mentioned the money problem, and immediately asked curiously.

"Er... yes..." replied George and Fred, scratching their cheeks in embarrassment.

"No wonder Minerva says gambling is bad, and Fish isn't allowed to participate nya."

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

Fish nodded thoughtfully.

The twins, who were used as negative teaching materials, looked at each other and sighed helplessly.

The rest of the day was more normal, and Hagrid's identity as a half-blood giant did not cause as much opposition as Lupin's.

The parents of the Hogwarts students, most of whom had graduated from Hogwarts, were familiar with Hagrid and didn't think he was dangerous...although Hagrid was a bit of a crackpot in some respects.

And after the Slytherins made a bit of a fuss about it and found out that it didn't work, they stopped doing it, and even Malfoy didn't bother to provoke Harry about it ...

Since Hagrid hadn't been fired and hadn't been hiding in his own house as he had at first, Malfoy found that provoking Harry about it was less effective than telling him "Potter sucks."

Even Harry was encouraged by Ron to stop practicing in secret at night and throw down with Fleur and Krum in front of a crowd of onlookers.

Of course, none of the three champions swam without the means they had prepared for diving.

As the three champions got into the water more often, and even competed together, it became clear that, apart from Fish, who had no desire to get into the cold water, they were, from best to worst, Krum, Fleur and Harry.

Harry was overwhelmingly bad, and Fleur, in second place, could easily pull away from him in ten seconds or so.

Then some of the Gryffindors who were good swimmers couldn't take it, and although they would have preferred Fish to win, they didn't want to see Harry embarrassed, so they all jumped into the lake to teach him how to swim.

Not to be outdone, students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were not far behind and joined their champions' training team one after the other.

This has slowly become an epidemic, and these days it is not uncommon to see groups of students jumping into the icy lake after class, screaming as the champions swam in the water.

Fish, of course, remained impassive, spending most of his time with Hermione, in front of the fireplace in his cat form.

As always...

No fool would get into the cold water!

February 23rd was fast approaching, and tomorrow was the second trial of the Triwizard Tournament, and since no one had lost much time in the last three months, even Harry was confident.

With the help of the others, he had finally improved in swimming, and with the help of his bubble head spell, which he has long been proficient in, and some of the more effective spells against underwater creatures, Harry believed he could complete the event without any problems.

As for qualifying for the contest, it would be a matter of fate.

"Fish, you're not prepared at all, are you really okay?"

Harry was even thinking about Fish at this point.

The twins also looked nervously at Fish, who was lying on Hermione's lap, enjoying his girlfriend's brushing, as his money was tied to Fish's victory.

"Nya!"

(=?ω?=)

Fish replied lazily, wagging his tail gently before turning around so Hermione could brush on the other side.

Seeing Fish's appearance, the twins felt much calmer, and Harry thought for a moment, pulled out the "Guide to Medieval Witchcraft" he had borrowed from the library and read it carefully.

As time passed, the rest of the Gryffindors returned to the common room before curfew, and Fish's hair was brushed by other girls instead of Hermione.

Suddenly, Fish jumped off Angelina's lap and ran into the portrait hole.... Fred, who was there, sighed in relief.

"Minerva~"

?●ω●?

Fish, who had regained his human form, jumped into the arms of Professor McGonagall, who had just entered.

"What are you doing here nya?"

"I didn't come looking for you," Professor McGonagall said as she pinched Fish's cat ears, then scanned the common room, "Just in time, you're both here," she said as she pointed a finger at Hermione and Ron, "Hermione. Weasley, come with me for a moment."

"What are you doing looking for Hermione right now? Fish is going out with her later!"

? (? `ω′?) ?

Fish protested in disgust.

"With the tournament tomorrow, you're staying in your dormitory tonight and resting, and not going anywhere!"

Scolded Professor McGonagall, smacking Fish upside the head.

"Nya!"

∑(?`Д′?)

Fish tried to argue with her, but Professor McGonagall wouldn't let her.

"Okay, I have something to do with Hermione and Weasley!"

Professor McGonagall shooed Fish away impatiently and left with Hermione and Ron.

?(?`?′?)?

Fish grimaced towards the closed portrait hole, he wasn't going to listen well, when Hermione returned, they would go out at night as usual.

The result...

It was eleven o'clock at night and Hermione hadn't returned, neither had Ron.

"Oh... Fish understands nya..."

∑(?ΦДΦ?)

Fish, who had been waiting impatiently, suddenly realized and said to Harry, who was still reading, "Is that Hermione and Ron in the song?"

Then Fish scratched his head again, confused.

"What Fish saw on TV, does it look like only parents and children, or between lovers, will be called 'treasure' nya? Hermione is Fish's 'treasure', it doesn't seem to be a problem, what about you and Ron, Harry?"

(??ω??)?