The match hadn't started yet. Inside the stadium, a massive Streaming mirror was set up. After a series of commercials, it began to replay highlights from the preliminaries and semifinals.
From the stands, waves of enthusiastic cheers erupted now and then as people applauded and celebrated their favorite players.
While Harry and the others were discussing the athletes' performances, a quarrel was taking place in the corridor behind the top-tier VIP box.
"Master Barty, Master Barty, what are you doing?!"
A house-elf with brown eyes tugged anxiously at the wizard's robes in front of her and said urgently, "Master has been looking everywhere for you. Why won't you come home?"
"Go home?" Barty Crouch Jr. said resentfully. "Go back so he can lock me up for life? Or send me back to Azkaban again?"
"Don't… don't say that. Master wouldn't do that to you," the house-elf pleaded, holding onto him. "Please come back with Winky, Master Barty! Master loves you. He's your father!"
"I don't need a father like him! Get out of my way, Winky!" Barty Jr. shouted in fury. "Don't get in my way!"
He kicked the elf aside and was about to leave when, after taking just two steps, he suddenly felt a tight pull around his waist—as if a rope had fastened itself around him.
"Winky!" Barty Jr. roared furiously and turned back with rage.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Master Barty," Winky sobbed. "Master Barty is a bad child, Winky cannot let you leave like this! Winky must take Master Barty home! Otherwise, Master will be in trouble!"
The little house-elf cried heartbrokenly with fat tears rolling down her cheeks. Her tiny body trembled as if it were about to collapse at any moment.
But she kept one hand firmly raised, tightly binding Barty Crouch Jr., stopping him from escaping. Even his wand had flown from his hand into hers.
Barty Jr. roared, struggled, and snarled like a wild beast, but he couldn't break free from Winky's magic. She began dragging him down the stairs.
Inside the stadium, the roaring crowd completely drowned out his voice, and no one noticed the struggling, writhing figure.
"Wait, wait, Winky!"
After being dragged down two flights of stairs, Barty Jr. finally stopped resisting. He tried to calm himself down and said, attempting a compromise, "Alright, I get it. I'll go back with you! Just stop pulling!"
By the end, he yelled in frustration.
Winky turned back, and looked at Barty Jr. with a mix of emotion and suspicion. "Really? Master Barty is really willing to go home?"
"I'll go with you, but I have one condition—no, one request," Barty Jr. took a deep breath and said, "Let me watch this match. Please?"
Winky bit her lip, and stared at him pitifully and hesitatingly.
"You know, Winky… if I go back, I'll be imprisoned for life by my father. So just this once! Let me see the Quidditch World Cup final!"
Barty Jr. lowered his head. "You know how much I love Quidditch… If my mother were still alive, she would never let me live like this. She would've given me everything I ever wanted!"
Winky wavered. She thought for a long while and finally said, "Then… after the match, you go home with Winky?"
"Alright. I promise," Barty Jr. said in a low voice. "But… How do I get in? I don't have a ticket… and I can't let anyone see me."
Winky quickly came up with a solution. "Your Invisibility Cloak is still in Master's tent, and there's a seat reserved for him in the top-tier box…"
"But he might not have time to come. You can take me there to watch the match," Barty Jr. continued.
"O… okay." Winky bit her finger, suppressing the unease in her heart and treating this as an order from her young master.
Barty Jr. looked at Winky, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly. "Thank you, Winky. I know you're the one who cares about me the most at home."
Winky summoned the Invisibility Cloak from the tent with a Summoning Charm. Then, gathering her courage, she led the now-invisible Barty Jr. and pushed open the door to the top-tier box.
The moment the outside scene came into view, Winky was so startled she covered her eyes. The tension around Barty Jr. suddenly vanished — the invisible rope binding him disappeared.
The very next second, Winky snapped back to her senses and used her house-elf magic to restrain Barty again. But this time, Barty Jr. didn't rush to break free. Instead, he quickly scanned the box, then frowned deeply.
There were quite a few people inside: Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, several officials, the Malfoy family, and a few red-haired Weasleys.
Barty Jr.'s eyes brimmed with murderous intent. Most of the people in this box made him want to cast the Killing Curse right then and there.
But no. They weren't his target.
Lucius Malfoy suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck. He turned around and saw a house-elf pushing open the door.
"What, even that thing has a ticket?" Malfoy said disdainfully.
"My name is Winky, sir," the house-elf replied timidly, covering one eye with her hand. "My master is Mr. Barty Crouch. Master… Master sent me to hold a seat for him in the top-tier box."
Draco Malfoy also turned to glance at the ugly little elf, and it reminded him of Dobby, who had run away from home. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly and asked arrogantly, "Why are you covering your eyes?"
"Winky has a fear of heights…" the house-elf whimpered as she found an empty seat in the back row and sat down, curled up.
For some reason, the box had five or six unoccupied seats, so Barty Jr. quietly sat next to her under the Invisibility Cloak.
He looked ahead and saw two officials speaking in hushed tones. One of them casually left his omnioculars next to his seat. Barty Jr. reached out and deftly swiped the omnioculars, hiding them under the cloak.
Winky, who was still covering her eyes in fear of heights, did not noticed the theft at all.
Barty Jr. raised the omnioculars, adjusted the focus, and began scanning the other VIP boxes.
He had learned through the Imperius Curse cast on the ticket checker that Harry Potter was in a top-tier box, but the fool hadn't noted the specific box number. So now Barty had to search each one himself, carefully and patiently.
Suddenly, Ludo Bagman burst into the box and asked, "Minister, shall we begin?"
"Start whenever you like, Ludo," Fudge replied.
Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and said, "Sonorus!" (Amplifying Charm)
Immediately, a thunderous voice echoed through the entire stadium:
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome! Please allow me to introduce… the mascots of the Bulgarian National Team!"
A wave of cheers erupted from the Bulgarian supporters. In the box, Arthur Weasley leaned forward in excitement and exclaimed, "Veela!"
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