"Calm down, calm down, dear Sybill. I swear I never intended to cheat you. Merlin be my witness, I'm just a pitiful victim too!"
Bagman wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in his usual slick tone: "I was tricked as well! They gave me leprechaun gold to place my bets with, but the money I paid out was all real Galleons. In the end, I lost a fortune!"
He patted his side to show that his money pouch was empty—completely penniless.
"Liar!"
Trelawney's lips trembled as she said, "Then why—why was everything you gave me leprechaun gold? Not a single real Galleon! You must have done it on purpose! The goddess of fate tells me you are lying!"
"This is slander!"
Bagman's round face flushed crimson with anger.
"As a senior official of the Ministry of Magic, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, do you think I'd covet your meager savings? You had better take responsibility for those words! Otherwise I—"
"Enough!"
A cold, sharp voice suddenly cut in.
Trelawney, who had been trembling under Bagman's aggressive tone, gave a sob and clutched her long shawl tightly as she turned her head.
Barty Crouch Sr. strode out from the shadows, and his eyes were burning with icy fury.
"Otherwise what, Ludo Bagman?"
Bagman's ruddy complexion instantly drained of color. He unconsciously stepped back and stammered:
"You don't understand the situation, Barty… it's, uh, very complicated between us…"
"I don't see anything complicated about it!"
Crouch Sr. said with open disgust. He took a step forward and pressed in on Bagman with icy voice:
"Look at me, Ludo! Did Professor Trelawney personally hand over her Galleons to you?"
Bagman's Adam's apple bobbed as he stuttered: "Well… yes, that did happen, but—"
"Silence! Don't you dare quibble! As Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, to organize gambling during an international competition that you yourself helped plan and oversee—this is an utterly vile, disgraceful, and illegal act! You must face suspension and investigation!"
Crouch's sharp gaze swept over Bagman's ashen face as he declared mercilessly:
"Before that, you will return Professor Trelawney's full stake within twenty-four hours! That might spare you a sliver of guilt!"
Bagman's pupils contracted violently. He shrieked: "You can't do this! Barty, for Merlin's sake—we've worked together for so many years! Must you really destroy me completely?"
"Now," Crouch said impassively, "you have twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes left to get the money ready."
"I told you already, I've lost everything!" Bagman shouted, hopping in frustration. "My purse is lighter than your handkerchief—what could I possibly repay her with?"
"No money? How could you have no money?" Trelawney shrieked from behind Crouch, just as sharply. "You swindled so many Galleons from me alone!"
"I don't care whether your words are true or not. You still have twenty-three hours and fifty-eight minutes."
Crouch said: "When the time is up, a full report of your misconduct will be on the Minister's desk!"
Bagman stamped his foot furiously, flung his arm, and stormed away with heavy strides.
Trelawney finally let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto a nearby bench, her glasses fogged and her fingers nervously twisted her necklace as she asked worriedly:
"Will he… will he really repay the money? To tell the truth, I've already gone to him several times, and each time he found some excuse to brush me off…"
Barty Crouch Sr. turned to look at her and said: "Don't worry. I'll personally see to it."
At the sight of his stern expression, Trelawney shrank back a little. But then, perhaps driven by greed, she gathered her courage, clutched at Crouch's sleeve, and said tremblingly:
"In fact… I wagered everything on the match's outcome. The odds were the highest… I should have won—won thirty-five thousand Galleons…"
Crouch gently removed her hand from his arm and said evenly:
"Gambling is illegal, madam. As a professor—"
His gaze swept over the hedges and statues not far away, and he added with meaning: "You, of all people, should not let students see you indulging in gambling and trying to profit without effort."
Trelawney's face instantly turned as pale as Bagman's had earlier.
Crouch gave her a curt nod, then turned and strode away as well.
Trelawney drew her shawl tightly around her, feeling chilled to the bone.
She didn't even have the courage to look around for fear that students might be hiding nearby. Tilting her head toward the night sky, she put on a trance-like expression and muttered vaguely:
"The gift bestowed upon the Seer by Fate… stolen away by a vile thief… Ah, I see it now!"
She spread her arms wide, her eyes unfocused, and said:
"All-knowing God, is this your test for me? A warning that I must not use these eyes that glimpse destiny to covet worldly desires…"
By the end, her words broke into sobs, as if her throat were being squeezed.
With a stifled cry, she whispered: "I understand… I must go and listen to the revelations of the stars…"
Then, gathering herself, Trelawney hurried off toward the North Tower.
Some time later, Wade emerged from behind a pillar.
It wasn't that he had intended to eavesdrop, but once he heard the beginning of the exchange, he remembered the "prophecy" he had made up last term to fool Professor Trelawney.
He realized at once how everything had come about, and so he stayed to hear the rest.
In the original story, Bagman had cheated Fred and George out of their money and, it seemed, never returned it in the end. Who would have thought that this time, it was Barty Crouch Sr. who stepped in to settle the matter?
Even though he was no longer Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the decisiveness, severity, and utter lack of favoritism he showed made it easy to imagine what kind of authority and presence he must have commanded back when he held power.
That was why people once trusted him and held him in such esteem—but when a stain appeared on his record, those same voices rose together to condemn him.
As Wade pondered, he suddenly heard a rustling in the nearby shrubbery.
Two students scrambled out in a fluster with their ties crooked and scarves bunched in their hands. Not realizing anyone else was nearby, they fled down the path along the flowerbeds with their faces flushed crimson.
Wade: "…"
His gaze drifted slowly to the courtyard, with its temporary hedges, rose garden, fountain, and great statues, and he suddenly understood. Though it looked quiet and deserted, the place might actually be hiding quite a few couples in the middle of secret rendezvous.
Shaking his head, unwilling to stumble upon anyone else's intimacy, he turned back toward the castle.
There were still a few hours before bedtime. With the Time-Turner, he could carve out seven or eight more hours. Better to head back to the Room of Requirement and continue his alchemy studies.
He ascended the stairs at a leisurely pace. By the time he reached the second floor, the sounds from below had faded almost completely. The corridor was so still that even his footsteps sounded amplified, their echoes making it feel as if someone were following him.
Wade gave a light flick of his wand and cast a levitation charm on his boots. At once, an invisible buoyancy lifted him, carrying him silently down the corridor and upward.
From a distance, it looked almost as though Hogwarts had gained another young ghost.
He reached the seventh floor of the castle, just about to release the spell, when he suddenly heard the shuffle of footsteps.
He instinctively held his breath and pressed against the wall, peering out.
A shadowy figure was skulking near the tapestry, pacing back and forth.
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