bioinnovel Chapter 240 Feeling Frustrated and Annoyed
Chapter 240 Feeling Frustrated and Annoyed
Chapter 240 Feeling Frustrated and Annoyed
The brotherly and sisterly affection that took place at 12 Grimaud Place was one of the few happy times in Belvina's life.
For the next period of time, Belvina's life became dull and tedious, with endless meetings taking up her entire schedule.
Belvina Black, the deputy director of the International Department of Magical Cooperation, is either in a meeting or on her way to one.
She needed to finalize many details about the Triwizard Tournament with representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, such as their arrival times at Hogwarts.
Safety measures, reception procedures, etc.
Besides these, there are many other small and trivial matters that need to be discussed.
On these issues, big and small, Igor Karkarov was unusually manly, making almost no demands.
His ease in talking to people is surprisingly surprising.
On the contrary, Mrs. Maxim was very difficult to deal with, nitpicking in every way, and even listing a whole bunch of seemingly unreasonable but actually very reasonable details.
The enormous Mrs. Maxim, abandoning her previous graceful demeanor, strongly demanded that the organizers (Hogwarts) fulfill all her requests.
Belvina has reason to suspect that Mrs. Maxime is retaliating for losing the right to host the Triwizard Tournament.
At a tripartite meeting, Mrs. Maxime raised the issue of food, expressing utter contempt for British cuisine and demanding that Hogwarts provide the Beauxbatons delegation with authentic French food.
To this, the sharp-tongued Belvina was speechless, unable to express her frustration. After all, British cookbooks are among the thinnest books in the world. Helpless, Belvina could only repeatedly emphasize that all the meals at Hogwarts were provided by house-elves, and there was no need to worry about their abilities.
Following that, at another tripartite meeting, Mrs. Maxim raised her concerns about student safety and privacy.
Mrs. Maxim said that the Beauxbatons delegation during the Triwizard Tournament consisted entirely of the best of the best, with outstanding magical talent and excellent appearance and temperament.
Therefore, Hogwarts must ensure their safety while protecting them from unnecessary disturbances.
This includes, but is not limited to: harassment of girls by boys, harassment of boys by girls, or harassment of boys by boys.
Upon hearing this, Belvina's blood pressure soared, and she even broke her quill pen.
Can you stop a lip-to-lip friendship between a man and a woman?
The more something is forbidden, the more likely it is to provoke a rebellious attitude. What if someone accidentally crosses moral boundaries, goes beyond the forbidden zones of love, and ends up causing a death?
Besides, when it comes to love, it takes two to tango!
Belvina could only scratch her head, utterly helpless.
After all, my country has its own unique national circumstances.
During the tripartite meeting, Belvina was furious and frustrated in the face of Mrs. Maxim's constant harassment, just like a new bride encountering a wicked mother-in-law.
It's fair to say that Belvina was in a terrible state in July, completely worn down by work.
After finally getting rid of the troublesome Mrs. Maxim and the cowardly Death Eater Karkarov, Belvina still couldn't get a break; her ordeal had only just begun.
The tripartite meeting between Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang has ended, but a joint meeting between the Department of International Magical Cooperation and the Department of Physical Education and Sports has begun.
As the organizer of the Triwizard Tournament, Belvina bears a heavy responsibility, including developing the schedule, preparing the competition events, and perfecting the event procedures. The task is arduous and the road ahead is long.
Although the subordinates of both departments could provide many solutions, the final decision could not be made without Belvina, and only Belvina, because the director of the sports department could not be relied upon at all.
Ludovic Bagman, or Ludo Bagman, a former professional Quidditch player and current Director of Sport, is one of the worst directors in the history of the Ministry of Magic!
During the joint meeting between the two departments, Director Bagman was absent from most of the meetings.
He was either commentating on the Quidditch World Cup, watching the Quidditch World Cup match, or idly wandering around, occasionally attending meetings on a whim. Ludo Bagman just sat there grinning foolishly, offering no emotional value whatsoever.
On the few meetings attended by the Director of the Sports Department, the following scene invariably occurred: Belvina asked, "Ludo, what are your thoughts?"
Ludo Bagman replied, "Very good, excellent, why not! We have the Wells vs. Uganda match to discuss today!"
Belvina then asked, "Mr. Bagman, what do you think of this plan?"
Ludobagman replied again, "Great, that's settled then. I'm going to watch England play Transylvania!"
Belvina asked three questions: "Bagman, did you get hit in the head by a running ball?"
Ludo Bagman answered three times: "Belvina, which team do you think will win today's match between Scotland and Luxembourg?"
All of these factors caused Belvina's blood pressure to spike, and she even suffered a bout of aversion to stupidity.
The swear words accumulated over two lifetimes kept churning inside him, but he couldn't put them out loud. Bagman, whose brain circuits were different from ordinary people, probably wouldn't understand them, and might even take them as a compliment.
From that day on, a sign was hung at the entrance of the International Magical Cooperation Bureau that read: Ludo Bagman Not Allowed Inside. Everyone knew that Ludo Bagman was a complete idiot, and his mind had never been very sharp, a fact that Belvina was well aware of.
However, Belvina never imagined that people could be this stupid. Ludo Bagman was the kind of stupid idiot who could end up in a museum!
Besides being mentally challenged, Ludo Bagman was also a compulsive gambler, as evidenced by the three Quidditch World Cup matches he mentioned at the meeting.
He bet heavily on everything.
In the match between Wells and Uganda, he bet on Wells to win, but Wells lost.
He bet on Scotland against Luxembourg, and Scotland lost.
He bet on England against Transylvania, and unsurprisingly, England suffered a humiliating 10-390 defeat.
Having lived to Ludo Bagman's age, Belvina couldn't say anything more and could only treat Ludo as a fool, just like everyone else.
As a result, Belvina had no choice but to shoulder the burden, managing the normal operation of two departments all by herself.
Fortunately, the staff of the Sports and Recreation Department were quite competent, unlike their director, and most of them were able to perform their duties well.
In this way, Belvina single-handedly took on the responsibilities of two, leading the Cooperation Department and the Sports Department to improve the procedures for the Triwizard Tournament and solve all the problems.
To ensure the smooth running of the first event of the Triwizard Tournament, Belvina also personally led a team to Wales and the Hebrides.
Dragon sanctuaries in Sweden and Romania, among others.
Finally, after a month of grueling preparations, the preliminary work for the Triwizard Tournament was finally over, and Belvina could finally catch her breath.
That evening, Belvina, exhausted to the point of collapse, returned to number twelve Grimoire Place.
As soon as she stepped into the Black family home, Belvina immediately shed her strong woman image, lowering her head, her long hair disheveled, her shoulders drooping, and her hands hanging limply at her sides.
She drifted numbly toward the underground kitchen, as if she were a ghost, not even in the mood to argue with Mrs. Black's portrait.
Forcing herself to walk into the dark underground kitchen, Belvina suddenly lost all her strength, slumped into a chair, and then collapsed onto the dining table with a thud.
Sirius Black, who had witnessed everything, came over. He had been in the kitchen, giving the house-elves various instructions.
He kept taking out his pocket watch to check the time.
Sirius looked at Belvina, who was lying there in a disheveled state, her head resting on her outstretched arm, her long, messy hair covering her face, looking half-dead.
"What's wrong with you? You look like you're about to die!" Sirius exclaimed in surprise, as it was the first time he had ever seen Belvina in such a state.
As he spoke, Sirius reached out and pinched one of Belvina's fingers, shaking it vigorously a few times.
However, Belvina showed no reaction; she neither shook off her hand nor got angry or cursed, just like a broken rag doll.
"Don't scare me!" Sirius said. "You look like a ghost right now, even scarier than Mom."
As Sirius spoke, he reached out to check Belvina's breath.
"You bastard, you hit my nose—" Belvina said weakly, her voice sounding different, probably because her nose was sore from the hit.
"You scared me to death! I thought you were going to die!" Sirius said, turning around and starting to rummage through the cupboard.
Belvina grumbled, "Don't worry, a menace like me will surely live to be a hundred."
"So you know you're a menace!" Sirius said, relieved to see that Belvina still had the energy to laugh and joke.
After a while, Sirius opened a bottle of butterbeer, handed it to Belvina, and said, "Have a beer to cheer yourself up, and tell me how you ended up like this, so I can have a good laugh."
Belvina slowly raised her head, her long, smooth hair covering her face, making her look no different from a female ghost in a horror movie.
She said, "Do you want to die, Sirius?"
Sirius shook Belvina's arm vigorously, like a child throwing a tantrum, and said excitedly, "Come on, tell me, has something happened at the department again?"
"No, nothing happened."
In an instant, Sirius's interest vanished by more than half.
"Ludo Bagman!" Belvina said through gritted teeth, "One day I'll kick him out of the Ministry of Magic!"
"Bagman? You mean that former hitter for the Wimbledon Hornets?" Sirius said. "He's commentated on several World Cup matches. Oh, and he was also the director of the sports department."
Belvina tilted her head back, her Adam's apple bobbing, and downed a whole bottle of butterbeer in one gulp, her long hair, which had been covering her face, slid down to either side.
She said menacingly, "That's right, it's Ludo Bagman from the Sports Department. That bastard's only purpose in life is to cause trouble for others."
With that, Belvina slammed down the empty wine bottle.
"Ludo Bagman, I swear I'll kick him out of the Ministry of Magic!"