The gilded bells jingled in the nightti sea breeze, and twelve floating pumpkin lanterns bathed the deck in an orange-red glow.
A werewolf, clad in an elaborate silver-gray costu, stood at the center of the stage, using wolf claws to beat the leather drum beside him. With each muffled thud, colorful jellyfish erged from the deck’s crevices.
Twenty-five werewolves dressed in grass skirts danced joyfully to the music. At this mont, the audience seed to have completely forgotten the usual ferocity of these creatures on stage. They accompanied the song and dance, twisting their bodies recklessly—
Now, it was the turn for those with peripheral tickets to envy them.
"Move aside! You lot—"
For the third ti, Malfoy tried to push through the crowd, but to no avail. He cursed irritably, but the next mont, his voice was drowned out by the sudden blare of an organ. The vibrant jellyfish flooded the crowd, and the bewildered Draco suddenly noticed that his target was heading his way.
Great, now he just needed to bypass this group of werewolves... Malfoy grumbled irritably, carefully skirting around the werewolves’ swinging claws. Even though their claws were coated in a layer of colorful sugar, he couldn’t bring himself to trust them.
After a hard-fought struggle, the boy finally squeezed his way to Daphne Greengrass’s side.
"Did you need sothing?"
Looking at the thoroughly disheveled Malfoy in front of her, Daphne couldn’t help but ask—she had noticed him for a while but hadn’t expected he was coming for her. After all, although their relationship hadn’t exactly soured this term, it wasn’t particularly good either...
After all, given Malfoy’s usual character, he didn’t miss many opportunities in the Slytherin common room to loudly disparage others, which naturally included the often spotlight-stealing Harry... Of course, most of this was directed at Harry Potter.
"Oh, I wanted to say..."
Draco opened his mouth dazedly, his mind too chaotic to find the right words montarily.
But the next mont, the loud noise of fireworks erupted; the green fire snake, circling the cabin since its appearance, suddenly shot into the sky, causing a commotion among the crowd. Malfoy stumbled and awkwardly fell into the girl’s arms.
"Hey, where do you think you’re touching?"
A toy magic wand extended from behind Daphne, and the spiraling confetti sared all over Draco’s face. Astoria, a bit annoyed, crossed her arms as Draco blushed and tugged away the silk strears. He also took the opportunity to whisper in Daphne’s ear, "I heard you joined that person’s fan club?"
"What fan club... oh."
The girl first showed so confusion, then a hint of realization began to appear on her face. Her gaze toward Malfoy softened a bit, as if seeing a fellow participant at an event. She gently patted the boy’s hand, "Well, but it costs two Galleons to join the support club—"
"?"
Where did the capitalist co from?
By this ti, Draco realized the girl probably misunderstood sothing. Before he could explain, an abrupt silence swept over the crowd. The sound of werewolves beating the drum abruptly stopped. Draco, a bit puzzled, looked around. Unlike him, the faces of the two girls were full of excitent—
"Is... Norbert coming out?"
"Probably?"
What Nor...
"Roar—"
As if to answer Draco’s inner confusion, the deck, which had gradually closed, suddenly split open with a giant crack, and a nacing black Fire Dragon erged from beneath. Its sharp claws scraped against the steel, creating piercing noises, while its scorching Dragon Fla shot into the sky.
"Fire Dragon!"
Draco instinctively exclaid, seeing the Fire Dragon’s dramatic entrance. He subconsciously thought it had escaped from the circus, after all, a Fire Dragon escaping the circus wasn’t anything new—last Christmas even...
Wait...
Wasn’t that circus also called the Starry Sky Circus?
"Don’t worry, we know it..."
Daphne’s face brimd with barely concealed excitent, yet she still turned to comfort the terrified Draco. But the next mont, a shadow suddenly enveloped them, and the pitch-black Fire Dragon spread its wings, sweeping up Astoria, who was watching the spectacle from the side—
"... Uh, is this part of the act?"
Draco had cald down now, curiously asking as he looked up at the Fire Dragon taking off.
"...Probably?"
Daphne uncertainly wrinkled her nose; she didn’t know of such a program. That afternoon, they had chatted quite a bit with the staff; the Fire Dragon wasn’t supposed to grab the "blonde wavy-haired" Beast Tar on the edge of the stage before the prince made an entrance...
...
"Did they change the script?"
Lupin moved his gaze from the bewildered Beast Tar in the crowd to the Black Dragon almost blending into the night sky. Seeing the crowd starting to beco restless, he adjusted the crown on his head—he knew he needed to make an appearance now no matter what—
"Let’s go, Silver."
Gripping the sword in his hand, Lupin nudged the Hippogriff beneath him. The next mont, its silver wings unfurled. Accompanied by stirring music, the prince of tonight’s performance made his official entrance. Simultaneously, a sowhat urgent voice suddenly ca through Lupin’s ear.
"Sothing’s... wrong, calm it down—"
"Fletcher?"
Lupin recognized the voice instinctively. He glanced down to see a short man at the ship’s bow, frantically waving at him.
"Remus, quickly calm the Fire Dragon, this wasn’t in the plan—"
Mundungus’s voice was anxious, sweat dripping down his temples. Watching Mr. Greengrass approaching, he helplessly went to et him, "Sir, this is actually a surprise performance. Your daughter will not be hard; everything’s under control..."
True nonsense—
Listening to the voice in his earpiece, Lupin sighed a bit helplessly as he refocused on the sky. There, in the night, the Fire Dragon hovered mid-air flapping its wings, spewing Dragon Fla around, setting half the sky ablaze.
"Neigh—"
At about fifty ters from the Fire Dragon, Silver didn’t want to go any further. After all, Hippogriffs had always been part of Fire Dragon’s diet.
"Alright..."
Lupin sighed helplessly. He knew performing with Fire Dragons was unreliable—even though he’d spent several days with William and knew this Fire Dragon’s intelligence wasn’t lower than that of a five- or six-year-old child, nonetheless, an accident occurred—
Wait a mont.
The man’s gaze sharpened slightly, bypassing the Fire Dragon in the sky and looking into the night sky illuminated by flas behind it—
Was that... a silhouette?
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