The Admiral of Hogwarts

After Ludo Bagman announced the start of the match, the audience erupted in cheers and applause. Thousands of flags waved simultaneously, accompanied by a cacophony of national anthems, creating a truly lively scene.

On the scoreboard opposite them, the last line, 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans — A risk with every mouthful!' was wiped away, now displaying: Bulgaria: 0, Ireland: 0

"That noseless guy either didn't come or he's in disguise," Indomitable said to Hugo through the admiral network as he returned to the box.

Dozens of ship girls distributed around the stadium were now fully searching the stands, but found nothing.

"If he's coming, he should be hiding in the campgrounds. After all, there are too many people in this kind of stadium, and it would be easy to get trapped if something happened," Hugo said, looking at the cheering crowd below.

"If that noseless guy was in his prime, he might dare to do something like this, but even in the best-case scenario, he's only half-alive now. He shouldn't be so reckless."

Just as the two of them finished talking, a loud cheer erupted from a neat, bright red formation on the right side of the stands.

It turned out that the Bulgarian team's mascots had entered the arena. A hundred Veela glided onto the field, their skin gleaming with a soft, moon-like radiance, their hair billowing behind them even without wind.

After the music started, the Veela began to dance in rhythm. It has to be said that compared to them, the various cheerleading squads in the ordinary human world were clearly inferior.

However, to Hugo, these Veela's appearances could only be described as relatively pretty, but not particularly attractive. After all, if the ship girls were to remove the disguises they usually wore, any one of them would be more beautiful than these Veela.

But the Veela had a different effect on others. For example, Hugo could see that the adults in the Minister's box seemed very calm, but the minors were clearly affected:

The Weasley twins had struggling expressions on their faces, their hands clenched into fists as if resisting something. Harry and Ron, on the other hand, each had one leg over the railing, and the other began tearing at the shamrock on his hat.

Malfoy looked very calm, but under Indomitable's guidance, Hugo noticed that the defensive magic on the brooch on Malfoy's chest had been activated, even emitting a faint white light.

In fact, many wealthy people in the magical world prepare some magical defensive items for themselves, among which magical items that prevent mental interference are the most popular, and the one on Malfoy's chest should obviously be an heirloom from his family.

As the Veela danced, a faint, alluring magic permeated the entire arena. However, to Hugo, these mental powers were too insignificant compared to the admiral network to have any effect.

Obviously, the Bulgarian side also knew about this characteristic of the Veela. So, they stopped while they were ahead, stopping the Veela from dancing and leaving the field before the other wizards became too agitated.

However, at this time, as the awakened wizards roared, most of the wizards in the arena who supported the Irish team suddenly turned to the Bulgarian team, and some impatient ones even began to tear off the Irish team's shamrock logo on their bodies.

"Now," Ludo Bagman's voice boomed, "please raise your wands into the air... and welcome the Irish National Team's mascots!"

Immediately afterward, with a whoosh, a huge, green and gold object flew into the stadium, like a large comet. It flew around the stadium once, then split into two smaller comets, each heading towards a set of goalposts.

Suddenly, an arched rainbow appeared across the stadium, connecting the two shining balls. The crowd erupted in gasps of 'Ooh' and 'Aah,' as if watching a fireworks display.

Soon, the rainbow faded, and the shining balls connected and merged, forming a giant, dazzling shamrock.

The shamrock flew high and began to circle overhead, scattering thousands of golden lights from the shamrock onto the stands, like golden raindrops.

Through his enhanced vision, Hugo discovered that it was actually composed of countless little people wearing red vests and sporting mustaches, each carrying a small golden or green lantern.

Everyone in the arena suddenly became excited. People cheered and scrambled chaotically, or crawled under their seats to pick up gold coins. For example, Ron and Harry in the next box were picking up gold coins.

However, almost no one in Hugo's box bent down to pick them up. Only Indomitable picked up a few out of curiosity, intending to study the innate magic of the Irish leprechauns through this object.

Just as Indomitable began to carefully analyze the magic contained in the leprechaun gold coins, Hermione stood at the edge of the stands, observing the entire field. Suddenly, she muttered to herself, "How did those two learn Care of Magical Creatures? It's simply embarrassing."

After hearing this, Hugo raised his head and twisted his neck to look in the direction Hermione was looking. As a result, he saw Harry and Ron in the top box, each holding a handful of leprechaun gold coins and grinning foolishly.

Seriously, doing this in front of a bunch of big shots from the magical world is really embarrassing. It's understandable if many people below haven't studied Care of Magical Creatures and are fooled, but it's really inexcusable for you guys.

Of course, if Ron and Harry heard what Hugo was thinking now, they would definitely say, 'Who's as perverted as you guys, memorizing the entire book after getting the textbook?'

At this time, Ludo's voice rang out again: "And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome—the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! Let me introduce—Dimitrov!"

In his introduction, the players came out one after another. It must be said that although Ludo is a gambling addict, he really does a good job in his professional work.

At least now the atmosphere of the game has completely heated up. Every time Ludo called out a name, the audience below echoed loudly. Especially when the Irish team was mentioned, the home-field advantage allowed the cheers of the audience to resound throughout the stadium.

"And our referee today, traveling from afar from Egypt, the deeply supported President of the International Quidditch Association—Hassan Mostafa!"

In the final introduction, the referee, who had come all the way from Egypt, strode into the arena wearing a golden robe that immediately evoked images of the vast desert. Then, he kicked open the box.

All kinds of balls shot straight into the air, and the smallest Golden Snitch directly disappeared without a trace. As he blew the delicate silver whistle in his mouth, the game began.

Hugo, as someone who wasn't very interested in Quidditch, could also see that the game here was indeed top-notch, because all the athletes were flying much faster than those players at school, even forming streaks of red and green shadows in the air.

At this time, Ludo's commentary speed soared, because many times he had just said the name and the Quaffle had already appeared in someone else's hands.

Many Quidditch tactics that Hugo had only seen in books were used smoothly, and even Ludo didn't have time to announce the names of these tactics.

Comparing it this way, it must be said that Quidditch at school is actually just a game for students to relax in their spare time.

Of course, for Hugo and the others in the arena, tracking these players was very simple, after all, these players didn't fly as fast as airplanes and were easily locked onto by everyone.

"Well done," Hermione cheered, raising her hands, because the Irish team scored the first goal of the game in less than a minute after the start.

Seeing those leprechauns watching the game on the sidelines rise into the air again, once again forming that huge, sparkling shamrock. The Veela on the opposite side of the field stared at them with gloomy faces.