There were many megacities around the world.
New York in the United States, Delhi in India, Tokyo in Japan, São Paulo in Brazil, and so on.
Several months earlier, the leaders of these major cities had received notices, one after another, from senior officials in their national governments.
They were to spare no expense in preparing performance venues on a scale rivaling the opening ceremony of the Quidditch World Cup, each capable of holding at least 200,000 people.
Before long, however, some smaller major cities received similar notices, ordering them to build venues that could accommodate at least 100,000 spectators.
The number of cities involved soon exceeded fifty.
When summer vacation arrived, a news story spread rapidly across the world through the efforts of various media moguls, with publicity flooding practically every street and alley.
"Genius magician Shawn Black, after two years of painstaking preparation in seclusion, is about to take the world by storm with his magic troupe! Experience a visual feast that feels like real magic!"
Delhi, India, had a population of twenty-six million and was renowned for its traditional handicrafts.
Although densely populated and bustling, Delhi was quite backward. With certain local customs, open-air toilets, and cows roaming every street, its sanitary conditions were easy enough to imagine.
New Delhi was tolerable, but Old Delhi was almost too dreadful to describe.
Whatever else might be said about it, the place had plenty of people! And so it became one of the stops on Shawn's Magic Tour.
Connaught Place, the largest square in New Delhi, had begun undergoing extensive renovations two months earlier. More land around its perimeter had been cleared to expand the already spacious square.
As for how many wealthy residents' homes and commercial districts were affected, someone would naturally take care of that.
A lavish