Just then, the sound of glass shattering suddenly rang out behind them.
It turned out that when Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge himself arrived, Percy had bowed a little too low, causing his glasses to fall to the ground and shatter into pieces.
He was terribly embarrassed. He hurriedly repaired his glasses with his wand, then sat stiffly in his seat.
Gianna immediately stepped forward. Fudge greeted her like an old friend, then warmly greeted Lewis and Shirella as well.
Like a kindly father, Fudge affectionately shook Lewis and Shirella's hands, asking after them and chatting with them warmly. He even introduced them to the wizard sitting beside him, as though they had known each other for years.
"Lewis Green, and Shirella Raylen. You know them."
He loudly introduced them to the Bulgarian Minister for Magic, who was dressed in an exquisite black velvet robe trimmed with gold and looked as though he couldn't understand a single word of English.
"The two youngest Chasers in the history of the Quidditch World Cup, and the best partnership. Besides Quidditch, they've accomplished quite a few things together as well. You must know who he is, right—"
The Bulgarian wizard carefully examined the two of them before immediately becoming excited and loudly rattling off a string of words in Bulgarian.
"Thank you for the compliment. My Animagus form really is a Chimera."
Lewis suddenly began speaking in Bulgarian as well.
"And you're right. Shiri really does have Eastern European blood."
Shirella soon joined the conversation, though unlike Lewis, her speech was clearly more halting.
Shirella's original home, the world of Witchers, had a language that was almost identical to the Slavic languages of Eastern Europe, so she could barely understand Bulgarian as well.
"Excellent! You can even speak our Bulgarian language. You and Krum are both young prodigies!"
The Bulgarian wizard looked at Lewis with admiration.
The two of them were still young, yet they conducted themselves with composure, neither servile nor arrogant. This won them the favor of almost everyone present.
"Wonderful! You can speak Bulgarian. Communicating with him has been such a struggle. Merlin knows how I've made it through this entire day. Crouch does understand Bulgarian, but—"
Fudge frowned, then instantly broke into an extremely benevolent smile.
"Unfortunately, you still have to participate in the match. This is Mr. Oberonsk—Mr. Obalonsk—he's the Minister for Magic of Bulgaria. But never mind. After all, he doesn't even—"
Lewis and Shirella bowed politely to the Bulgarian Minister once again.
The Bulgarian Minister had an excellent impression of the two of them and began chatting with them about the customs and traditions of their two countries, as well as the Quidditch match.
Nearby, Ludo Bagman seemed to have figured something out and regained his spirits.
"Is everyone ready?" he asked, his round face gleaming like a huge spherical cheese. "Minister—can we begin?"
"You say when to begin, and we'll begin," Fudge readily agreed.
Seeing this, Lewis quickly bid them farewell and pulled Shirella away from the box.
They needed to meet up with the team.
The atmosphere outside in the stadium was already incredibly heated and lively. Lewis teleported to the changing room, changed into his team uniform, and joined his teammates, preparing to welcome the final and most highly anticipated match of the season.
They had all changed into their uniforms and were sitting together in the changing room. Their coach, Hamish, was about to give them a motivational speech.
His eyes were as sharp as those of a hawk.
"Before the match begins, I have a few things I want to say to you."
Everyone listened attentively, whether they were staring intently at their coach or sitting there with their hands clasped behind their heads.
"But don't worry. My speech won't be any longer than your flight training."
Hamish's words drew a burst of laughter, instantly relaxing the atmosphere.
"We're standing here today to prepare for the upcoming World Cup final. I want to say that if you're nervous, that's exactly how it should be, because I'm nervous too!"
"Because even I have never made it this far, whether as a player or as a coach..."
"You've made it this far, and that's enough to make me proud. At the very least, you're all much stronger than I was back then."
Everyone straightened their chests.
They had rarely heard such praise from this iron-blooded coach.
"But are you satisfied with merely stepping into the final?"
He paused before continuing.
"No. At least, I wasn't."
"We've made it this far by shedding sweat, tears, and blood."
"What was it all for? For the glory of that final moment. What is our goal? The championship! Nothing else. The championship!"
"Someone once asked me why I have so much confidence in you. I told him it's because I've seen you practice a single pass, a single movement, hundreds of times until you perfected it. I've seen that when you're injured, what flashes through your eyes isn't pain, but determination."
"I know that kind of spirit is tougher than even a Graphorn!"
"You know something? Right now, children all over the world are imitating us. They're putting on miniature England uniforms and carrying the same dreams we do."
"Think about it. If we go astray, we could ruin an entire generation of children's childhoods!"
The players erupted into cheers, and some even began clapping.
Hamish raised his hand to stop them and continued.
"All right, players, I know you can't wait any longer! Then, for those children, for those who are waiting for us, for those fans who are already preparing to celebrate, and for me, the man who is about to become a World Cup-winning coach—charge!"
He raised his right hand as though he were reaching out to seize victory.
The players' eyes remained fixed on Hamish as they shouted and cheered.
Hamish loudly asked, "Is everyone ready?"
The players shouted in unison, "Ready!"
"Then follow me and charge toward the highest honor! For England! For ourselves!"
The players stood one after another, roaring with excitement and overflowing with fighting spirit. Determination filled their faces as they followed Hamish, ready to step onto their field, their stage.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to—the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! Let me introduce—Dimitrov!"
Bagman's booming voice rang out.
The Bulgarian players, who had been waiting at the entrance, flew into the stadium, earning thunderous cheers from the Bulgarian supporters.
"Lewis, what is your relationship with Hermi..."
Krum, who was standing at the very back, furrowed his thick black eyebrows and looked toward Lewis.
"She's a very close good friend of mine."
Lewis raised one eyebrow and met Krum's gaze.
"Then... what about her?"
Krum glanced at Shirella beside Lewis. At this moment, their hands were tightly clasped together, and their public display of affection on the field made many of the players retreat several steps.
"Of course, she's also a very close good friend of mine."
Lewis raised his other eyebrow, his expression becoming even more smug.
Krum opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.
Unfortunately, it was his turn to enter the field.
"Zograf! Lefsky! Vokanov! Volkov! And now—Krum!"
Bagman practically used every ounce of his strength to shout Krum's name.
"You... scumbag. I will prove to Her... Hermione that I'm the best Quidditch player."
Krum left those words behind before shooting out onto the field.
Lewis paid no attention to his words and simply laughed.
When it came to matters of love, he had never cared about other people's provocations.
In his eyes, that kind of thing simply wasn't worth taking seriously.
"Now, please welcome—the England National Quidditch Team..."
Bagman's loud voice rang out.
The moment he heard his name, Lewis quickly flew out.
He was going to conquer the entire stadium with his own strength.
The audience erupted into thunderous cheers and applause. Thousands upon thousands of flags waved simultaneously, accompanied by all kinds of chaotic shouts of encouragement. The scene was incredibly lively.
Shirella soon followed him onto the field.
The cheers grew even more intense.
Lewis even saw someone holding up a sign that read "Lewis & Shirella," loudly shouting for the two of them to get together.
What the...
Following a Quidditch star was one thing, but there were actually people shipping them as a couple too?
It was no wonder.
After the three knockout matches, Lewis and Shirella's outstanding performances as Chasers had made their names resound throughout the world.
As the two became famous, everything from their past also appeared before fans across the globe.
Including, but not limited to, defeating a Chimera together, killing a Basilisk together, and participating in dragon slaying together.
Every time Lewis accomplished something major, Shirella was always standing beside him.
Combined with their perfect teamwork on the Quidditch field...
Lewis's fans and Shirella's fans quickly merged into one.
Naturally, among them were some overly obsessed fans who had already started urging the two of them to get married.
After the two of them came the rest of their teammates.
"And today's referee is none other than the President of the International Quidditch Association, Mustafa! He has traveled all the way from the vast deserts of Egypt, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers, and is beloved by Quidditch fans throughout the world!"
The esteemed president was a short, thin wizard.
The top of his head was completely bald, while he sported a thick, dense beard, making him resemble an ancient sage, mysterious and dignified.
A gleaming silver whistle playfully poked its way out from beneath his thick beard, looking almost like the conductor's baton of the Quidditch world.
He wore a dazzling pure-gold robe whose color complemented the tones of the stadium.
A large wooden chest was tucked beneath one arm, while his flying broomstick was tucked beneath the other. He strode confidently into the stadium.
Mustafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the wooden chest open.
Four balls immediately shot into the air.
The scarlet Quaffle burned like a blazing fire, the two black Bludgers resembled ghosts in the dead of night, and the tiny, winged Golden Snitch streaked across the sky like lightning.
Lewis only had time to catch a glimpse of the Golden Snitch before it had already disappeared into the vast sky.
Mustafa blew the silver whistle in his mouth and immediately followed the balls into the air.
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