"Salary?"
Since entering the venue, Audrey, who had remained calm throughout, suddenly burst into laughter.
She didn't care about the head coach's lack of trust.
She was even less affected by Caris's trash talk.
But that sentence—"Whatever salary you need, just name it"—shattered her composure completely.
It was like an ant saying to an elephant:
"I'm quite wealthy; I'll take care of you from now on!"
Feeling playful, and knowing her identity wouldn't remain a secret for long anyway, Audrey leaned in and whispered into Lucas Bagshott's ear:
"Does Mr. Bagshott happen to know who the owner of the Heaven and Earth Bank is?"
Bagshott shook his head. "I don't know, but I've heard it's a very mysterious lady."
"I wouldn't call her mysterious," Audrey chuckled. "Did you know she's still just a student at Hogwarts?"
"A student?"
"Yes, a genius student who earned twelve 'O's in her O.W.L. exams."
Audrey watched as Bagshott's pupils contracted, his mouth dropped open, his nostrils flared rapidly, and his face turned a shade of red visible to the naked eye, like a boiled crab.
"Ah... ah..."
Lucas Bagshott was at a loss for words. Even if he didn't pay much attention to Hogwarts news, he often heard the Ministry officials bragging about their children's school performance. Among those stories, the two most famous super-achievers with twelve straight 'O's in recent years were always mentioned.
One was the third son of the Weasleys, and the other was the Audrey Astley standing right in front of him. Coincidentally, he had learned all this from Arthur Weasley.
—For some reason, when Arthur spoke of Audrey, his pride and satisfaction seemed even greater than when he spoke of his own biological sons.
Right, the owner of the Heaven and Earth Bank is a lady...
Good grief.
It couldn't be more obvious.
Lucas wished he could bury his head in the dirt. This was so embarrassing!
He was trying to show off his axe skills in front of the master carpenter.
He was trying to teach a fish how to swim!
His family had survived on Quidditch for centuries, so they were comfortable, but to call them wealthy would be a stretch.
The reason the family had struck it rich overnight was largely thanks to the young lady standing before him...
Good heavens!
How awkward!
...
...
December 3, 1993.
Every citizen of Ukraine, whether Muggle or wizard, received a personal gift from the great leader, Audrey Astley—600 gold Galleons.
The entire nation celebrated!
Not only did the purchasing power of the common people skyrocket, bringing prosperity to Ukraine,
But the power they provided to Audrey was enough to make her wake up laughing in the middle of the night!
In less than half a month, the emotions provided by the Ukrainian populace had given Audrey several units of combat power—equivalent to one Snape!
Meanwhile, the first stop of the Astley siblings' world tour was set to be held in London on Christmas Day.
As for now, on December 18, the group stage of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup was officially kicking off with the English National Team's first match!
The venue was the home ground of the Appleby Arrows, a team founded in 1612.
The fans of this team had a long-standing tradition: whenever a Chaser scored, they would shoot silver arrows from their wands into the air. However, this custom was banned by the Ministry of Magic in 1894 after a silver arrow pierced through the nose of the referee, Nugent Potts.
In the original timeline, England hadn't even made it to the finals, losing to the team recognized as the weakest, the Chad National Quidditch Team.
And the Chad National Quidditch Team was precisely the opponent they faced today.
"Can we win?" a question rose from the spectators in the stands.
"I don't know. Aki Spilla is dead, and there are no star players in this squad... I really don't know."
"Sigh, let's just see. Hopefully, they'll overperform."
"It's tough! Look at who our Seeker is. Audrey Astley? Isn't that the singer?"
"Yeah, I quite like her songs. I also heard she was brilliant in the Quidditch matches at Hogwarts..."
"That's just amateur school games! Look at her small frame! If she can catch the Golden Snitch, I'll call her Grandma!"
"Exactly. Even if the other players overperform, we can't win without catching the Golden Snitch!"
"Heh, overperform? What are you thinking? Chad is famous for playing dirty. They go onto the pitch with the sole purpose of knocking the entire opposing team out! If we don't catch the Snitch early, we're bound to lose!"
Chapter 177: Refund, Refund!! (2 / 2)
"According to you, we're doomed! What was Coach Bagshott thinking? Why would he let such an inexperienced young girl be the starting Seeker?"
"Did something happen to the previous Seeker, Caris? Was he living too dangerously like Aki?"
"Are you blind? Caris is sitting right over there on the substitutes' bench!"
...
The match began on time, and the members of both teams started to emerge one by one.
Audrey hovered in the air, wearing her red and white robes. She watched as the Chad team members filed out—wow, they were really dark... Not to be discriminatory, but these Chadian wizards were truly black, so black they practically glistened.
The Chad team was dark, but they were also weak.
Look at them!
The Chad players were still riding Cleansweep Fours! They weren't even as good as the brooms used by the Weasley twins!
Then look at the England team: a full set of Firebolts. Of course, this was because they had a "generous" head coach.
In the original timeline, even without such high-end equipment, England should have been able to crush Chad.
So why did they lose?
As soon as the match began, Audrey understood the reason.
Star players on other teams were usually Chasers or Seekers, but the Chad team was different; their Beaters were the absolute core!
The Chadian Beaters hit with both precision and brutality. The English players on the pitch were nothing more than prey in their eyes!
John Nestor, an English Chaser, was hit square in the face by a Bludger just one second into the game—an honorable exit!
A roar of outrage erupted from the spectators in the stands.
Almost all the spectators were English. Adhering to the tradition that English fans must be hooligans, they began to shout abuse. Jeers and profanity echoed throughout the stadium.
However, before John Nestor's body even hit the ground, the fans began to cheer!
Because Audrey Astley—the Seeker who had never played a single professional match and was widely doubted by the fans—
Had caught the Golden Snitch!
The whistle blew. England took their first group stage victory with a score of 150:0!
The cheers of the crowd grew louder and louder.
The magic screens around the stadium repeatedly replayed the footage of Audrey catching the Snitch.
In the footage, Audrey moved at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye, turning into a red and white blur. By the time she stopped, the Golden Snitch was already tightly clenched in her hand.
However, once the audience had admired Audrey's prowess enough,
And the excitement of victory began to fade,
They suddenly realized they had been short-changed!
They had come expecting an exciting, thrilling, and exhilarating match, but instead, it was over in two seconds!
This was way too fast!
World Cup qualifier tickets weren't cheap; they cost five gold Galleons!
"I think we got ripped off. Five Galleons for only two seconds of match?"
One person's doubt immediately triggered the surrounding crowd. It spread from ten to a hundred, and in mere seconds, a synchronized roar thundered across the stadium.
"Refund! Refund!"
"Refund! Refund!"
The Chad National Team had already retreated in frustration after their loss.
Currently, the English National Team members were flying a victory lap around the pitch—a tradition to acknowledge the fans after a win!
But the deafening cries for refunds startled them.
Even Audrey, who had already returned to the locker room, was a bit confused. As the primary financier for the head coach, she felt no need to stay outside and be watched like a circus animal with the other players.
"Coach Bagshott, what's going on out there?"
Audrey asked.
Lucas Bagshott was also dazed.
Neither during his time as a player nor as a coach had anything like this ever happened.
"I don't know,"
The coach answered honestly.
"I'll go see what the situation is and let you know when I get back."
Audrey watched the coach's retreating figure. She subconsciously rested her chin in her hand, adopting a thinking pose reminiscent of a famous detective—musing that finishing the match so quickly didn't seem to generate much emotion...
"Should I have acted a bit? Maybe created some 'hero saving the day' drama?"
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