This chapter comes from an idea suggested by Kairan1979 in the chapter 87 reviews. That was the chapter where Penelope ditches Percy after she finds out that he didn't have the money to pay a bet he had made with her (though he had won the bet). That chapter is referenced in this story. Now, the suggestion was that someone protect Fred and George from losing their money to the dishonest Bagman. This chapter does show Arthur dissuading Fred and George from betting with Bagman. However, I think there's another reason why Fred and George should NOT have made that bet and I have Harry explain to them what that reason is in this chapter.
"We'll bet thirty seven galleons, fifteen sickles, and three knuts," said Fred as he and George quickly pooled their money, "That Ireland wins but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch-"
"Fred, George, NO!" said Arthur sharply, "You can't trust Mr. Bagman with bets."
Ludo had a very affronted look come across his face the nanosecond this comment was out of Arthur's mouth.
"Why not?" asked Fred seriously, "Does he have a history of not paying up when he loses bets?"
"I've heard it through the grapevine that there are many examples of Bagman failing to pay off his bets," explained Arthur, "I know he never paid Amos off on a ten galleon bet he lost with Amos on the most recent Winborne Wasps vs Appleby Arrows match when the Arrows flat out dominated the wasps in a 300-0 shutout after Wasps Seeker Denise Drop failed to catch the snitch when it was within an inch of her right hand and it was eventually captured by Arrows Seeker Gerald Grab to clinch the shutout."
Ludo's face went red, and he gave Arthur a look that said quite plainly, "Don't spill my secrets."
"So, he plays dirty and doesn't pay on his bets?" George asked Arthur to confirm.
"Regularly," confirmed Arthur, "And the thing is, he's in huge debt with the goblins because of all the bets he's lost with them and never paid off. The goblins he is delinquent on his bets with will be seeking to find him here and take any money he may possess to cover whatever they can of what he owes them so it wouldn't be safe to give him your money in the first place. And he's been known to be very slimy and sneaky."
"Slimy and Sneaky?" chroused Fred and George.
"Arthur's being the slimy and sneaky one," spat Ludo, "He's trying to ruin my reputation by spreading lies about me. He's the next Rita Skeeter."
But everyone present here knew that Arthur did not spread lies, so Ludo had just actually confirmed he was the slimy person Arthur was talking about."
"In some cases," said Arthur bluntly, "Ludo seemingly pays off his bets, but does so disingenuously, "There was a time when he lost a bet to Betha Jorkins about how long Gilderoy Lockhart would retain the Defense Against the Dark Arts job at Hogwarts with Ludo betting that Lockhart would still hold the Defense Against the Dark Arts post when Harry Potter started his third year at Hogwarts and Bertha betting that he would not. It was a five galleon bet. Not the smallest, not the largest, but a five galleon bet. I did see Ludo giving Bertha giving five galleons to seemingly pay off the bet on the first day of the fall 1993 semester at Hogwarts, the day Harry started his third year. However, later that night, Bertha found that the gold Ludo had given him to pay off their bet had disappeared. It turned out that Ludo had paid her in leprechaun gold. "
Fred and George grimaced.
"Which means," realized Fred, "That he intended for Bertha to believe that he was paying up when he really wasn't."
"Wow, Ludo sounds like a right nasty piece of work," snarled George.
"So?" asked Ginny, "Have you two come to your senses and made the wiser decision not to bet with this shady character after what dad has just told you about him?"
"We have!" replied Fred and George together at the exact same nanosecond.
At that, Bagman ran away with the speed of a cheetah chasing its prey and could be heard cussing in the background until he got out of earshot.
"I think," interjected Harry matter of factly, "That there is another reason why you two should NOT make this bet."
Fred and George looked Harry eye to eye and Harry told them point blank, "If you are going to gamble, you need to do so responsibly, and that applies to sports betting as much as any other kind of betting. It is horribly irresponsible to literally bet ALL YOUR SAVINGS on anything. Regardless of the likeliness of any particular outcome of any particular event, there's always the chance it won't go your way. Not every event goes according to the odds. You could be holding a twenty and the dealer's up card could be a six. You'd love your chances there, right? But once you've stood on that twenty, there's always the possibility, however slim, that the dealer's hole card is a ten or face card and that the dealer will hit and a draw a five. In that case, despite the odds being heavily in your favor, you lose that bet. Putting yourself in a position where one bet could literally leave you with no money whatsoever isn't just incredibly stupid, but it's also extremely irresponsible."
"Harry is right, listen to him," agreed Charlie, "I made a few bets here and there on Quidditch matches when I was at Hogwarts but only ever a galleon or at MOST two or three galleons on any particular match. I probably came out very slightly ahead in the long run. I think I won one more of those bets than I lost, but the point is, set limits."
"I'm not into betting and wagering myself, " piped up Bill, "Betting just isn't my thing. "
"Mine neither," agreed Ginny, "The concepts of betting and wagering never appealed to me."
"That's actually A Very Good Thing," smiled Harry, "To be honest about it, I think it could be very easy to become too addicted to betting even if you start out trying to be responsible. One bet becomes two. Two bets become four. Before you know it, a self-created avalanche has hit you and you can't get from under it."
"I agree," nodded Ginny, "This best gambling is no gambling."
"My parents would never let me bet," said Hermione in a crystal clear voice, "They talked to me when I was only five about the dangers of gambling addiction."
Percy now piped up, "If Mr. Crouch ever loses a bet, I guarantee you that Mr. Crouch will immediately pay up in an honest way. There's no doubt that if Mr. Crouch doesn't have the money to pay, he won't bet-"
"Hypocrite!" cried Harry firmly, "I haven't forgotten your dishonesty with Penelope."
"Penelope was right to dump Percy after you informed her of his dishonesty," Arthur told Harry proudly, "I'm glad you made sure she was done right by getting her the truth."
"Penny's by the by now," said Percy dismissively, "As I was saying, Mr. Crouch is a man of honor. Mr. Crouch always obeys the law. Mr. Crouch knows-"
"PERCY, SHUT UP!" yelled Ginny in frustration as she got sick and tired of listening to Percy's Crouch worshipping.
"You know," said Arhtur bluntly, "Molly would not be happy if she found out you had been gambling and what I've told you about Bagman being a cunning slimy dishonest disingenuous bastard is one thousand percent true. But Harry actually provided even more important reasons not to make this bet. Charlie making his small bets on Quidditch matches is fine. But personally, I think Bill, Harry, Ginny and Hermione and her parents have the best approach to gambling, betting, and wagering and that is not doing it."
"Dad," said Fred gratefully, "Thank you for stepping in and protecting us from that scum."
"And thank you to Harry for bringing us to our senses as well," added George.
"In the future," promised Fred, "If we do make any bets, they will be very small bets that we can easily afford to lose."
"Exactly," agreed George, "Regardless of who we were betting against or what we were betting on, we were being too careless with our money to risk losing it all in one swoop. It's a good thing dad and Harry got our heads screwed on right."
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