Ludovic Bagman

**Bagman**: "*... if I can help at all... a prod in the right direction... I've taken a liking to you... the way you got past that dragon!... Well just say the word.*"
**Harry**: "*We're supposed to work out the clues alone, aren't we?*"
— Ludo Bagman and Harry Potter[src]

**Ludovic "Ludo" Bagman** (fl. 1981-2014) was an English wizard and Ministry of Magic employee. During his career at the Ministry, Ludo rose to the post of Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. His career at the Ministry ended in mid-1995, when he had to go on the run from goblins, against whom he had lost several bets.

Before working at the Ministry, he was a Beater for both the Wimbourne Wasps and the English National Quidditch team. He had a brother named Otto. He also tended to play dirty when gambling and betting as he tried to find loopholes or even pay in fake money/gold.

## Biography

### First Wizarding War

After Lord Voldemort fell from power, Ludovic Bagman was put on trial before the Council of Magical Law for giving information about the Ministry to the Death Eater Augustus Rookwood. According to Ludo, he did not know that Rookwood was a Death Eater. Rookwood had been a friend of Ludo's father and had persuaded Ludo into giving him the information by talking about getting Ludo a job at the Ministry.

Barty Crouch attempted to place Bagman in Azkaban for this exchange of information for a certain amount of time, but to Crouch's extreme annoyance, Ludo was cleared of all charges. This was partly due to him being a popular Quidditch player. One witch within the jury stood up and congratulated Bagman for his rather impressive play in the previous Quidditch match, with the others cheering him. Ludo was never accused of allegiance with the Death Eaters again.

### Quidditch World Cup

Despite Mr Crouch's low opinion of Ludo, Ludo soon got a job at the Ministry as head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

Ludo took part in organising the1994 Quidditch World Cup. He was quite reckless in terms of security, and did not bother dressing in Muggle clothing for the event, and even discussed Quidditch in their presence. Ludo's position with the Ministry only fuelled his serious addiction to gambling — he took bets, for instance, before the cup started with Fred and George for the result of the final, in the amount of thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, and three Knuts plus a joke wand.

Ludo also came to owe some money to Mr Jordan. He was bankrupt after the World Cup and tried to trick his creditors by paying them with leprechaun gold. The twins therefore stalked Bagman for the entire school year, trying to get their money, and later realised their attempts were unsuccessful. Ludo commentated during the World Cup using the Amplifying Charm.

After the Cup ended, Ludo was cornered by a group of goblins in the forest near the stadium. Ludo had borrowed a large amount of gold from the goblins but never paid them back. The goblins stripped Ludo of all the money he had on him and left, not yet realising that the money was not enough to pay the debt. Ludo wandered around the forest, completely unaware that the camp was being terrorised by a group of Death Eaters.

### The Triwizard Tournament

His position as head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports meant that, in 1994, Ludo, along with Barty Crouch Snr, organised and judged the Triwizard Tournament. Together, they worked hard to ensure that none of the Champions would find themselves in "mortal danger".

When at Hogwarts, the Goblins tracked Ludo down to get the rest of the gold he owed them, but he could not pay them, as he had lost most of his money gambling.

Meanwhile, Fred and George thought that Bagman gave them the Leprechaun gold by mistake and tried gently prodding him throughout the year but Bagman ignored their letters and made up excuses. Eventually, Bagman "turned nasty" (according to the Weasley twins) and told the Weasley twins that they were too young to gamble and that they would not get anything back. Fred and George found out about Bagman's debts through Lee Jordan, whose father had also been swindled considerably. Fred considered informing the Ministry of Bagman's activities, whereas George argued that it was blackmail.

When Harry Potter's name was drawn out of the Goblet of Fire, Ludo Bagman appeared delighted, and he was the first person to inform the other three champions that Harry was now a participant. Ludo planned to pay the goblins by betting that Harry would win the Triwizard Tournament.

Just before the first task, Bagman took Harry aside and asked him if he wanted "a few pointers" for getting past the Hungarian Horntail; however, Harry refused this information, as he thought taking advice from Ludo amounted to cheating. During the task, Bagman took the role of commentator, and was very impressed at Harry's flying skills around the Dragon. He gave Harry full ten points despite the champion being injured, and was furious at Karkaroff for being biased against Harry.

Later, in January of 1995 Bagman was again cornered by the goblins, who looked "rather menacing", in Hogsmeade at The Three Broomsticks. When he saw Harry there, he offered him his help in the Triwizard Tournament, but Harry declined and asked Ludo what the goblins were up to. Ludo fabricated a story about the goblins searching for Barty Crouch Snr.

For the final task, Bagman had the sole responsibility of showing the champions the maze which had been constructed on the school Quidditch pitch (since Mr Crouch was apparently "sick"). He attempted to offer Harry help for the third time, but was interrupted by Viktor Krum.

The Triwizard Tournament ended with Harry winning, but being tied with Cedric Diggory, who was killed. The goblins refused to admit Ludo won the bet, saying that Harry did not win, but was tied with Cedric. Ludo went on the run shortly after the third task.

### Life on the run

What happened to Bagman after that is unknown, but during Harry's hearing for using magic outside of school in the subsequent year, his name came up in reference. When Harry told them that he used magic to drive away Dementors that were attacking him at Magnolia Crescent, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge stated that "even Bagman wouldn't bet...". Also, due to Bagman cheating the goblins out of his debt and running away, the Order of the Phoenix had difficulty earning their trust.

Though it is likely that he lost both his credibility in the eyes of the wizarding world, and his post at the Ministry, he was suspected by a great number of wizards to be coming out of retirement to play in the 2014 Quidditch World Cup. This, however, proved untrue, as it was the Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum who returned to the pitch, not Bagman. However, Bagman did produce a Daily Prophet article rating the semi-finalist teams of the Cup.

## Physical appearance

Ludo was a blue-eyed, blond man with a rosy skin. Around 1982, during his Quidditch career, he had an athletic build, although he had "gone to seed" by 1994.

## Etymology

* Ludovic was a Latinised of the French royal name, Louis. Ludovic is from Gaelic for "devotee of the Lord." "Ludo" is Latin for "I play", part of the verb *ludere*.
* Ludo is also a Serbian word meaning "Crazy". Ludović can also be a Serbian last name meaning "Son of Crazy"
* In British slang, a bagman is a travelling salesman. Ludo was a secret gambler who threw away his money.
* In American criminal slang, a bagman is a go-between who picks up or delivers money, usually bribes given by a crime family to the police. Ludo, of course, is constantly handling money as he makes his bets, and tries to fix the outcome of the Triwizard tournament with little offers of "help" in the right direction. This could also reflect his role as a (perhaps unknowing) go-between for the Death Eaters, passing information to Augustus Rookwood during the First Wizarding War.