Chapter 503: Gambling is an abyss full of disasters (Edited)

At first, the twins approached Bagman with the intention of buying him a drink and having a nice chat about the Quidditch World Cup bet, but Bagman, as before, kept putting it off.

"Sorry, I'm busy at the moment, can we talk about it in a couple of days?".

Bagman said as he looked around, as if looking for a way to get away from the twins.

"We'll just take up a little of your time, Mr. Bagman."

Fred and George held Bagman side by side, refusing to let him go.

George and Fred had been negotiating with him politely, thinking he was an official of the Ministry of Magic, since he had lost the bet.

But as it dragged on, the twins' patience was wearing thin.

"Even if you're not going to give us our fair share of gold galleons, the least you can do is return the capital!".

The twins no longer expected to win with Bagman, they wanted at least not to lose money.

However, the capital they had wagered had already been taken by Bagman to fill the hole he owed the goblins.

"Oh, the capital, yes, the capital..." said Bagman perfunctorily as he looked around with wandering eyes: "That's no problem, and I'll be sure to give you your winnings as well..."

His words gradually became fluent, "But you should know that no one would walk around with such a large sum of money, and you should also know that I'm busy with the Triwizard Tournament, how about this? When the Triwizard Tournament is over, I will immediately go to Gringotts, take out the money and give it to you."

But the twins, who had been rejected many times by Bagman, no longer trusted him and kept dragging him relentlessly to keep him from leaving.

"No! Where will we find you when the Triwizard Tournament is over? We've asked Percy and he says you don't even work at the Ministry."

If that wasn't enough, Percy told the twins that every once in a while someone would come to the Ministry to collect a debt from Bagman.

This was a big reason why the twins were so relentless now.

"George, Fred, did he cheat them out of their money nya?"

(?ΦωΦ?)

When the three of them were tangled up, Fish suddenly appeared from the side. Bagman, who was in the bar earlier, naturally knew of Fish's existence, and the twins ran to Bagman as soon as they reached the bar.

"Fish..."

The twins looked embarrassed, not wanting Fish to find out....

For one thing, if Professor McGonagall found out, they would have a hard time, and for another, if Fish found out that they had been robbed of the money they had earned together, she probably wouldn't let it go.

Ludo Bagman was of the same opinion, and that was why he had been trying to escape, but he didn't know the cat's ear well enough to know that his conversation with the twins had been overheard by Fish.

"How could he swindle them out of their money?" The unsuspecting Bagman was still trying to disguise the situation, "We just had a little misunderstanding."

"You're lying nya! Fish heard everything! And those goblins just now, you owe them money too!".

?(? `ω′?)?

The conversation earlier between Bagman and the goblins didn't interest Fish, but that didn't mean he hadn't heard it, and the content had to do with money.

Realizing that everyone in the bar had their eyes on him, especially Rita Skeeter, who had pulled out her quill and parchment, Bagman's face paled.

"There's been a mistake! There's been a misunderstanding!"

Bagman wasn't explaining as much to Fish as he was to the rest of the bar, or rather to Skeeter, the reporter.

He took Fish's arm and whispered, "Don't make a scene, I'm sure I'll get it back to George and Fred, so let's talk this over."

The twins didn't want to make a scene and, along with Bagman, backed Fish into another corner; only Hermione and Skeeter joined them.

"What are you two doing here?!"

Bagman opened his big blue eyes and stared at Skeeter with an ugly expression, his face, which had been that of a kindly doll, was now unusually morose.

"Keep Fish, of course, to see if you'll cheat him like you did the old debtors."

Skeeter smiled, showing the three golden teeth in her mouth.

Skeeter had already gathered a lot of information about Bagman's history, but his debts, though numerous, had been paid in small amounts and he had been paying them off bit by bit.

So, while Skeeter had a lot of material on her hands, not much of that material was really a threat to him, and the Ministry of Magic's Sports Department wasn't really a powerful department, so even if he reported it, it wouldn't be big news, which is why he never did.

But it's different now. From what Fish said a moment ago, Bagman's gamble seems to involve goblins. If this isn't handled properly, not to mention another goblin rebellion, at least the Ministry of Magic will have a headache for a while. Naturally, Skeeter won't let it go easily.

Fish really is her lucky star!

Rita Skeeter, who had already gotten several important stories from Fish, was delighted.

Bagman's face turned even uglier, he had indeed been trying to fool Fish and the Weasley twins, but with the wily Skeeter, his plans would have been foiled.

But Fish didn't care what Bagman thought, he shook his little fist angrily and shouted, "Tell me! Why did you swindle George and Fred out of their money?"

?(? `ω′?)?

"I didn't swindle them out of their money!" Bagman waved his hands repeatedly, looked at the twins who were glaring at him angrily, and at Skeeter who was watching him coolly, and finally sighed helplessly and said truthfully, "It's just...I just...I don't have enough money to pay them back right now..."

Then, without waiting for Fish and the twins to ask him any more questions, he told them all about his current situation.

He had bet on the Quidditch World Cup because he thought he could keep the money he owed even if he lost, but what he hadn't expected was for the losing team to catch the Snitch, a result he hadn't seen in years.

What drove Bagman crazy was that several people had bet heavily on this, including the Weasley twins and the goblins, but it was the Ministry officials and the Purebloods who had to be paid first, so he had to use what he had to plug the hole, while the twins and the goblins had to make do with the few gold coins he had.

"I'm not thinking about owing money," Bagman said bitterly, "Rs I really don't have any money right now...".

"That's true," nodded Rita Skeeter, and actually took the floor to help explain, "Bagman hasn't been able to pay for a while before, but he's been able to since then, just..."

She said, "He used to make small payments, now he owes all this money, and probably won't be able to pay it back for the rest of his life."

"I have a solution!" Bagman was quick to defend himself, "I've made another bet with the goblins that the winner of the Triwizard Tournament will be Fish! If Fish wins, my debt will be paid off! They've promised!"

"What?! those goblins don't think Fish can win?!"

(〃｀3′〃)

Fish didn't care much about the whining Bagman had said earlier, but he couldn't stand the last sentence, Fish folded his arms and shouted indignantly.