"Where?" The twins, always eager for excitement, immediately turned their attention to where Ron was pointing.
"Look." Ron pointed to where he had seen: "Do you see them? There's a group of people wearing black robes, and they have skull-like masks..."
"Shut up, Ronald!"
Mr. Weasley scolded him.
When Ron turned around, he saw his father shaking his head. Looking to the side, he saw his father's boss, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, looking extremely displeased, staring at him with an uncomfortable gaze.
He immediately understood what was happening and quickly corrected himself: "Oh, I was mistaken—they must be mascots from a certain country? Maybe clowns?"
Upon hearing Ron's correction, Fudge finally regained his composure.
He turned back and explained to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic and Lady Rozier from the Austrian Ministry of Magic: "It seems the kid was mistaken, haha... Such an event has very strict security checks."
It seemed the Bulgarian Minister of Magic didn't understand a word; he sat there with a clueless expression looking at Fudge.
But Lady Rozier understood, yet she said nothing, merely watching Fudge with a leisurely gaze.
It wasn't until Fudge turned away that Lady Rozier nonchalantly said to Vivi, "Did you see that? This is the British Empire's four-stage strategy for dealing with sudden situations."
"Yes, four-stage strategy." Vivi said with a light smile, "I may have seen it in some TV show, but it's my first time seeing it used."
Lady Rozier smiled, "Indeed, my dear—I have experienced a lot over the years, especially witnessing it firsthand..."
"Four-stage strategy?"
At this point, Cassandra, who was eavesdropping nearby, asked softly in confusion: "What's the four-stage strategy?"
"The British Empire's Foreign Office standard crisis response strategy," Hermione, who was browsing the Quidditch guide on the side, suddenly said: "I know this—"
Since they were sitting on the other side of the box, and Fudge's attention was completely on the just-arrived Malfoy family, they couldn't hear what was being said here.
"Stage one, we say—nothing happened."
"Stage two, we say—perhaps something is happening, but we shouldn't take any action."
"Stage three, we say—maybe we should take action, but we can't do anything."
"Stage four, we say—maybe we could have done something initially, but now it's too late."
Upon hearing Hermione's interpretation, Vivi covered her mouth with her hand, muffling a laugh.
Meanwhile, Lady Rozier clapped for Hermione.
"You are still as good at addressing questions posed by professors as before," she praised Hermione.
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said with a shy smile, then realized her mistake in addressing and quickly corrected it: "Oh, sorry, Minister..."
"Compared to being called Minister, I prefer you calling me Professor," Lady Rozier said to Hermione with a smile.
"Okay, Professor," Hermione said happily.
At this moment, the Weasley twins nudged each other.
"You know," Fred said to George, "if it were Percy, he would definitely insist—'What Professor! I've told you many times, you should use the official title!'"
"Alright, Mr. Weatherby," George said, winking.
The two burst into cheerful laughter, completely unconcerned about how many high-ranking officials were in the box.
Basically, writing freely, as they have no intention of pursuing a career in the political world anyway.
"Those two really lack manners, I'm sorry you've had to witness this," Mr. Weasley explained to Fudge.
Fudge waved it off, now solely interested in building rapport with the Bulgarian Minister of Magic and Lady Rozier.
"Looks like I'm not too late."
Just as Draco exchanged a word with Harry, he was seized by the scruff of his neck by his father.
Lucius smiled apologetically at Harry, dragging Draco to sit far off.
That's why Lucius keeps advancing, just by seeing the situation. Not everyone can have such an eye for things.
That clearly meant—your aunt is fostering a bond with Harry, such a great opportunity—why is this little rascal causing trouble?
The family sat next to Fudge and started mingling with the Bulgarian Minister of Magic and Lady Rozier.
Harry occasionally picked up a few words but couldn't clearly catch whether the Bulgarian Minister was called Boranski or Obalonsk.
Who cares, it doesn't concern him anyway.
"Who do you think will win?" he started making small talk with Vivi.
"I remember I bet on Ireland to win, but Victor Krum will catch the Golden Snitch," Vivi said with a soft smile, tucking her hair behind her ear.
In this simple motion, combined with Vivi's current attire, Harry felt his heart skip a beat.
Noticing Harry's reaction, Vivi smiled contentedly.
Hmm.
At this moment, Ludo Bagman burst into the box.
"Is everyone ready?" Mr. Bagman's round face shone like a giant ball of cheese, "Minister—may we begin?"
"You may start whenever you're ready, Ludo," Fudge said kindly.
Ludo drew out his magic wand, pointed at his throat, and said, "Sonorus!"
Then his voice boomed like thunder, resonating throughout the packed stadium.
His voice echoed overhead, ringing clearly to every corner of the stands.
"Ladies and gentlemen... Welcome! Welcome to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup Finals!"
The audience erupted in cheers and applause, thousands of flags waving in unison, accompanied by a cacophony of national anthems. The scene was truly lively.
The Grangers applauded enthusiastically from the back; it was their first time seeing such a loud and clear sound without any amplification equipment.
"I don't get it, why are they singing Muggle national anthems?" Harry turned back and curiously asked Vivi.
"It's simple, because a significant number of wizards come from the Muggle world," Vivi explained with a bright smile to Harry, "so it's not surprising they feel a sense of belonging to Muggle nationalities."
As she said this, her eyes twinkled.
Well...
Hopefully, wizards from the German magic community won't feel attached to Muggle countries~
At this moment, on the scoreboard opposite them, the last advertisement line (Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans—Every Bite is an Adventurous Experience!) disappeared, now showing: Bulgaria: 0, Ireland: 0.
"Alright, without further ado, please allow me to introduce... the mascot for the Bulgarian national team!"
The right side of the stands, a neat array of bright red, exploded in resounding cheers.
"I wonder what they've brought." Mr. Weasley said, leaning out from his seat.
"Oh!" He abruptly removed his glasses, sitting back in his seat motionless like a wooden statue, muttering in awe, "So they brought Enchantresses!"
"Enchantresses?"
Harry stood up curiously, looking into the arena.
He certainly knew what enchantresses were, but he'd never seen a hundred gathered together before.
After a glance, he quickly lost interest.
"Pretty?" Vivi and Cassandra's voices chimed in his ears simultaneously.
"I think not,"
Harry sat back down, placing his left hand on Cassandra's shoulder, and his right arm around Vivi's slender waist.
The two girls were very pleased with Harry's reaction.
"I'll give you a reward tonight," Vivi whispered to Harry in a barely audible voice.