Chapter 278 Does “unknown” mean trouble?

Lin You knew the director of the Sports Department, and like most readers, he had a very bad impression of him. In a way, Ludo Bagman and Mundungus Fletcher were the same kind of people; they were both enslaved by money and gradually lost their bottom line.

Mundungus made a living by cheating and deceiving others, while Bagman was a gambler and in debt. Although one was a liar who was hated by everyone, and the other was a former sports star and a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic, they both lived like rats. Ever since Bagman used fake gold Galleons to deceive the Weasley brothers, he had completely fallen into the fate of Mundungus.

The only difference is that the two people fell into depravity at different times and had different amounts of accumulation in the first half of their lives, so the pace of their depravity was different.

For such people, it is better to stay away from them and not to show respect to them. So Lin You completely ignored the other party's eager courtesy, said hello lightly, and turned his attention back to Cornelius Fudge.

After all, he is the Minister of Magic, so he can add a little "respect" before "stay away".

After a round of meaningless pleasantries, Minister Fudge got to the point: "Do you know about a grand event to be held in the UK next year?"

"Ok?"

Lin You was indeed stunned for a moment; now he was concentrating on observing the "unknown", thinking about how to use this year's story to create the "unknown". When someone suddenly asked about next year, he really needed a few seconds to process the brain cache. However, with such an obvious hint from Bagman, the answer quickly emerged in his mind.

"Is it the Quidditch World Cup next year?"

"That's right. It's an event held every four years, and this time it's Britain's turn to host it. My colleagues at the Ministry of Magic and I have put a lot of thought into this..." Cornelius Fudge was visibly excited; he regarded the successful bid for the Quidditch World Cup as an important achievement of the Ministry of Magic this term, and every time he talked about it he couldn't help but talk endlessly about his own achievements.

Fortunately, the minister was a qualified politician who was good at observing people's words and expressions. When Lin You showed a slightly annoyed expression, he immediately stopped talking nonsense and got back to the main topic.

"The Ministry of Magic is planning to build a large stadium for the final round of matches - it should accommodate at least 100,000 spectators."

"Oh, there must be such a stadium." Lin You responded indifferently.

"That's exactly what happened. So, we need your help, Your Excellency." Minister Fudge said eagerly, "Such a huge stadium requires a lot of building materials; the Ministry of Magic alone can't get it."

Lin You suddenly realized: "You want me to expand the types and quantities of imported goods?"

"That's right," Minister Fudge responded hastily.

No wonder... No wonder Cornelius Fudge went against all odds and tried to keep things quiet with the Forresters when the Ministry was in turmoil! It turned out that there was something important that he had to ask Lin You for help. This matter could be left unmentioned in the original novel, but it became a real problem in the big world.

I guess the original author, Rowling, had no idea about the construction industry and never thought about how much building materials a Quidditch stadium that can accommodate 100,000 people would need. Magic can violate the manifestation of physical laws, but it cannot violate the deep essence - it cannot create matter out of thin air. For example, the Weasley family's Burrow, no matter how much the exterior structure violates the laws of physics, the building materials used are all real.

Not to mention creating matter out of thin air, even if one used the Magnification Spell or the Expansion Spell to increase the amount of building materials, the magical effect would not be stable and long-lasting, let alone being used in such a sporting event that attracted the attention of the global wizarding community.

Just think about it, if in the middle of a game, a material that had been treated with a magnification spell or an expansion spell suddenly returned to its original state, causing a hundred or eighty seats in a certain stand to collapse, wouldn't that make the British Ministry of Magic look ridiculous in front of wizards all over the world?
Cornelius Fudge would not tolerate such a thing.

The problem is that it is difficult for the Ministry of Magic to raise enough supplies. As the living circle of wizards shrinks, the sources of raw materials they have are also running out; the wood used in a large stadium with a capacity of 100,000 people may require cutting down half of the Forbidden Forest in Hogwarts to gather enough.

If we use other materials instead of wood... considering that the Ministry of Magic's productivity is still based on handicrafts, what other materials can be used as substitutes?
After much thought, Cornelius Fudge could only ask Lin You for help.

All along, the trade between the British wizarding world and Muggles has been based on quotas; if one wanted to suddenly increase the amount of goods imported in a short period of time, or even add many new goods that had never been imported before, they could only rely on the Forresters' connections and channels in Muggle society.

Lin You sorted out the cause and effect and felt more at ease.

This year, I was so focused on Hogwarts, Dementors, Sirius, and even Constantine and Remus Lupin were on the watch list, but I forgot about the Quidditch World Cup next year.

What does the book say? The construction of the stadium took "five hundred wizards a year to work on."

If we calculate back a year, wouldn't they be busy starting now? Maybe they'd already started laying the foundation when the Minister of Magic came to visit.

No wonder the Ministry of Magic was forced to use Dementors to hunt down Sirius Black; five hundred staff were sent to build the stadium, and there were probably only a few people left in the Ministry of Magic except for the Auror Office. Maybe those five hundred people also included a lot of temporary workers!

"You should have told me such a big thing earlier." Lin You complained half-seriously.

"That's what I wanted to do, Your Excellency," said Cornelius Fudge with a bitter face. "I should have come to see you two months ago, but who knew that Sirius would break out of prison? So many things happened at once that I got so busy that I lost my mind."

Seeing the Minister of Magic acting so pretentiously, Lin You couldn't help sneering in his heart; the so-called "many things" were probably not just the Azkaban prison break, but also many other reasons. Cross-border trade brought the Forrest family rich economic benefits and even more valuable political influence, and many people in and outside the magic world were jealous.

There have always been those who want to replace it or find another way. The Ministry of Magic has been slow to respond to this matter, and I am afraid that some people are secretly hindering it. The later Cornelius Fudge comes, the less time Lin You has to prepare the goods; if the Forresters cannot meet the trade needs of the magic world this time, will others have a chance?
As for whether it will affect the holding of the World Cup, that is the responsibility of the Ministry of Magic and the Forrest family. What does it have to do with others?
This kind of thing of holding each other back on major national affairs is common in Muggle society and is also inevitable in the wizarding world. Whether wizards or Muggles, they are all human beings in the end and cannot escape human nature.

Cornelius Fudge's visit this time was something missing from the original novel, and strictly speaking it was also a kind of unexpected "unknown"; but Lin You did not expect that the "unknown" he had always hoped for would appear in this way.

(End of this chapter)