As more and more people gathered on the grounds, the tents gradually became less diverse.
Once the first Bulgaria Team flag was displayed on a tent, others couldn't sit still and quickly adorned their tents with logos supporting their teams, making the grounds increasingly divided.
Occasionally, you'd see someone from the Ireland Team's camp suddenly setting up a Bulgarian camp, but the next moment, they'd pack up and move to another side.
At this point, the members of the Ministry of Magic in charge of the grounds would turn a blind eye, pretending not to see.
The Weasleys, however, didn't partake in this.
After all, there were so many of them, and they had supporters of different teams among them, making it impossible to reach a consensus. Even if they wanted to pick a side, they couldn't, so they remained neutral, watching the excitement from the sidelines.
"I've never seen so many foreign wizards face to face," Harry said, returning to the tent with a bucket of water while waiting for their meal.
This was already his second time fetching water.
Harry enjoyed this task because every time he went to fetch water, he encountered many wizards he had never seen before.
For instance, not far from their tent, there were three African wizards with some kind of paint on their faces. Harry had never seen them use a wand... because with just a flick of their fingers, they could make the meat on the stove flip over automatically.
"Those people are really amazing," Harry said quietly to Ron. "I remember Professor Flitwick mentioning that this is wandless spellcasting, a very advanced skill that even seventh-year graduates might not be able to master.
But they look like they're just fifteen or sixteen years old, not much older than us."
"No, Harry," Bill, who happened to be passing by, whispered after hearing him. "Those guys are from Uagadou School of Magic. They aren't accustomed to using wands and prefer ancient gesture magic."
"Uagadou School of Magic...?" Harry repeated.
"Yes," Bill said, "It's located in the African Moon Mountain and is as ancient as Hogwarts. There, wands are considered the least important commodity."
Harry nodded, trying hard not to appear too surprised.
Seeing so many wizards from different countries on the grounds, he suddenly felt foolish for never realizing that Hogwarts wasn't the only magic school.
Soon, Kreacher had lunch ready.
There were a lot of them, and it was too cramped to eat inside the tent, so Mr. Weasley set up a large table outside.
Everyone gathered around, eating and discussing the upcoming match.
Ron enthused about how great Viktor Krum was, trying to persuade others to support Bulgaria, but to little avail.
Even Cedric pretended not to hear it... He was the only Seeker there who supported Ireland.
The remaining two Seekers, Harry and Charlie, were both loyal Bulgaria fans.
Just as Ron emphasized Krum's age for the third time, Mr. Weasley suddenly stood up and waved cheerfully at a man striding over.
"Haha!" he said, "The most important person right now, Ludo!"
Ludo Bagman, wearing the old Wimbourne Wasps uniform, was particularly noticeable. But the clothes seemed a bit small for him now, with his robes tightly stretched over his big belly, as if he'd pulled them out last minute without time to alter the size.
"Ah, Arthur, what are you eating? I could smell it from miles away," Bagman called out merrily, bouncing with every step like he had springs in his shoes, clearly in a state of extreme excitement.
"Just a simple lunch," Mr. Weasley replied, "You're welcome to join us if you'd like."
"I'd love to, but unfortunately, I've agreed to have lunch with Volkov,"
Bagman said with a smile, "That young Bulgarian Beater is probably trying to learn a trick or two from me. Crafty guy, but I do admire him."
Mr. Weasley chuckled along.
At this moment, Percy hurried a step forward, eagerly extending his hand to make a good impression on the head of the Ministry's Department of Magical Games and Sports.
"Ah, almost forgot to introduce you," Mr. Weasley said with a smile. "This is my son Percy, who's just started working at the Ministry, and there's Bill and Charlie, who've been working abroad and just came back... Over there is Kael, and Cedric..."
Mr. Weasley introduced everyone one by one, but Bagman didn't seem very interested, only glancing up briefly upon hearing Kael's name.
When Mr. Weasley introduced Harry, Bagman immediately shifted his gaze to the scar on Harry's forehead.
"Let me introduce everyone," said Hermione, looking puzzled, as he continued, "This is Ludo Bagman, the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had, who once represented England in the World Cup.
And we owe our great tickets to him."
Bagman waved jovially as if to say it was nothing.
"Fancy placing a bet on the match, Arthur?"
After the greetings, he revealed the purpose of his visit. "I've just convinced Roddy Pontner to bet with me; he said Bulgaria will score the first goal... Little Agatha Timms has bet half her farm, saying the match will last a week."
"Oh, alright then," Mr. Weasley said, "I'll put down one Galleon on Ireland to win, okay?"
He hadn't planned on participating, but given that Bagman helped them get such good tickets, he decided to play along.
"One Galleon?" Bagman seemed a bit disappointed but soon regained his interest. "Great... anyone else want to join in?"
"We... ouch!"
Fred started to speak but immediately cried out, bending over in pain.
Kael removed his shoe from Fred's foot, calmly saying, "Sorry, Mr. Bagman, he was just about to say we spent quite a bit on mementos and have no pocket money left... How about five Copper Knuts?"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to take all your pocket money," Bagman laughed politely, politely turning down the offer.
Then he turned to Mr. Weasley again, "Can you do me a favor? I've been trying to find Barty Crouch; the Bulgarian Ministry officials are giving us a hard time, and I can't understand a word they're saying. Barty can handle it; he speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."
"Mr. Crouch?" Percy got all excited and fidgety upon hearing the name.
He was now acting just like Ron did when Krum was mentioned.
"Mr. Crouch speaks two hundred languages, you know, including Merpeople, turkey, and Troll..."
"Oh!" Kael exclaimed in admiration.
If it were just Merpeople and Troll, he could manage too, but turkey... that was beyond him.
But then again, who on earth would want to talk to turkeys?
"Yeah, you're right," Bagman said lazily, "Barty is indeed impressive in that regard... oh, speaking of him, there he is, Barty!"
A wizard suddenly Apparated beside them.
Seeing who it was, Percy was so excited he could hardly breathe, shaking like a Mandrake pulled out of a pot.
"Ludo, I've been looking for you," Crouch quickly fixed his gaze on Bagman and said, "The Bulgarians insist we add twelve more seats in the top boxes. You'd best negotiate this before the match starts."