The Mysterious Circus

If you look down from the air, you'll see that the heart of Paris is the Arc de Triomphe.

Starting from the Arc de Triomphe, twelve avenues radiate outwards, creating a magnificent spectacle.

This wonderful design shares a similar aesthetic with Beijing's longest urban central axis in the world; both are exemplary models of urban design!

Not far from the Place de l'Étoile Arc de Triomphe is located, is another entrance to a Place Cachée Paris.

Place Cachée is France's most famous wizarding street, comparable in status to Diagon Alley in London.

At night, William and Hermione appeared near Place de l'Étoile.

Both were wearing sunglasses and identical baseball caps, looking like an ordinary couple on vacation.

After crossing the square, we arrived at a secluded corner where a magical bronze statue stood.

This is the entrance to the Place Cachée.

William and Hermione glanced warily around before entering the statue.

There were many wizards in the Place Cachée. A magnificent fire dragon circled endlessly in the sky before finally exploding into a dazzling firework.

William's Safety Watch suddenly started beeping.

Hermione glanced down, puzzled. "Niffler up again? What's wrong with it? It's been acting up all afternoon."

"Didn't we steal all the Galleon from the bar?" William said helplessly. "I'm still sulking."

If Niffler is being noisy, it's probably just faking it; a good beating will fix it!

Hermione exclaimed in surprise, "Didn't you give it ten marbles in exchange?"

"They've been giving out too much lately, and it seems to have realized that that stuff... isn't worth much."

"What should we do?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Otherwise..."

"No!" Hermione immediately retorted, a determined glint in her eyes.

"Galleon can't be returned to it; that's our legitimate income!"

Even Hermione, with her strong sense of justice, felt that helping Newt travel all over Paris, and being wanted by the French Ministry of Magic... deserved a small fee.

Reasonable and legal!

Niffler is what those two exploit... ugh, charge them!

This was not Hermione's unilateral decision; she was very democratic and even convened an emergency expanded meeting.

Attendees (animals): Hermione, William, Niffler.

Hermione chaired the meeting and asked for a vote on whether or not the Galleon should be confiscated.

Before the vote, the girl claimed that it was a secret ballot and told William not to feel pressured to vote according to his own wishes.

What could William possibly be thinking...? What could he possibly be thinking?

It's just two people; does it make a difference whether they're listed anonymously or not?

It would be a waste of Hermione's talent not to become Minister for Magic, given her democratic nature.

Thus, with two votes to one, Hermione 'Niffler Galleon, making it her and William's first piece of common property.

And it is legal income.

Therefore, Hermione resolutely refused to take it out; she wanted to keep it in Gringotts.

The Niffler was clearly unhappy and made a fuss for a long time. In desperation, William gave it ten glass marbles in exchange.

In any case, the cost is ultimately borne by the consumer.

Unfortunately, Niffler had already realized that the thing was worthless, and it began a long and arduous journey of demanding unpaid wages and protecting its rights.

"I have an idea. Wait here for me for a moment," William instructed, and ran towards a Place Cachée shop.

Three minutes later, William returned, carrying a large bag.

Hermione pulled the Niffler out of the watch, and William handed it the bag.

After counting the number, Niffler smiled again, quickly stuffed the bag into her belly pouch, and returned to the Safety Watch.

"What's that?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Gold coins," William chuckled smugly, "But not real gold coins, just gold coins made by Leprechaun."

The Leprechaun can produce a kind of "gold coin" that looks a lot like Galleon, but this substance disappears a few hours after it is produced.

It's sold in many places, and because it will soon disappear, the price is very cheap.

But that's none of William's business. He gave the gold coins to the Niffler, and if it gets lost, that's its own responsibility!

After dealing with Niffler's problem, the two continued their search for the Mysterious Circus.

William took out a flyer, which floated in mid-air and suddenly burst into purple light.

When the demonic fire burns uncontrollably, Ashwinder will emerge from it. A young Ashwinder crawls out of the flames, wanders in the air, and leaves a trail of ash.

William and Hermione followed the gray trail deeper into the Place Cachée.

After walking for about ten minutes, the two arrived at an open area with several tents and a large circus tent in the middle.

A banner read: Mysterious Circus - Monsters and Deformed Children!

In the open space outside the tent, a half-human Troll was displaying his immense strength by holding a club.

Several strangely shaped Muggle Beast, dragging chains, walked around begging for money from people.

Like Muggle Beast, Squib Beasts do not possess magic themselves, but they have magical lineage.

The Half-blood- elf and half- Goblin hid their horns in their hats and their strange eyes under their hoods as they juggled, somersaulted, and jumped through hoops of fire.

William finally understood why the circus was considered illegal.

Besides those rare Fantastic Beasts, there are all sorts of hybrid species here... Half-blood of wizards and other humanoid beings.

They even have creatures that are half-human, half- Troll... Can you believe it!

Having only one or two would be understandable, but in the circus, William saw seven or eight in just a short time.

This inevitably raises suspicions that the circus has done something disgusting.

The circus ringmaster, Skender, was a very old man who stood beside the circular performance stage in the center of the crowd.

"In our little show of monsters and oddities, I'm going to introduce you to— the Werewolf!" Skender shouted.

He abruptly pulled back the curtain. A girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in tattered clothes, stood there.

The men in the crowd whistled and cheered loudly.

"This girl is a Muggle; she was bitten by Werewolf when she was very young," Skender explained.

"The chances were slim, but she survived with remarkable resilience and remained sane even during the full moon... without the need for Wolfsbane Potion."

It is a widely accepted fact that humans who transform into Werewolf cannot maintain their rationality unless they take Wolfsbane Potion.

Werewolf who can maintain his sanity is truly rare. The wizards in the crowd were eager to see one.

"It's so pitiful, isn't it!" Hermione gripped William's hand tightly.

William nodded.

"Tonight is a full moon, let's all see it." Skender waved his wand, opening a skylight in the tent.

Bathed in the moonlight, the girl froze, and her limbs began to tremble.

The girl's head was elongating, as was her body; her shoulders arched, and hair was clearly visible sprouting from her face and hands, which were curling into claws.

A huge wolf appeared in the cage. She lowered her head, stared at Skender with hatred, roared, and kept pounding on the cage.

The crowd roared with mockery at Skender. Was this what he meant by staying rational?

Skender pulled out a whip and lashed it repeatedly against the iron bars, striking the Werewolf in the face.

She seemed unable to bear the pain any longer; after being beaten for a while, she stopped roaring and cowered in a corner in fear.

Rather than maintaining rationality, it's more accurate to say that the long-term abuse forced this Werewolf to retain its sanity.

Skender laughed smugly.

Suddenly, a giant python appeared without warning. It leaped out of the crowd and bit Skender's arm.

--Nagini!

Skender's arm was ripped open, and he collapsed to the ground. The beast tamers rushed over to help.

The crowd panicked, screaming and trampling each other as they rushed towards the exit. Someone knocked over an oil lamp, setting the circus tent ablaze.

The fire frightened and enraged the animals. A Hippogriff reared up and jumped wildly, and the trainers tried desperately to control it.

A large number of Fantastic Beasts escaped in the chaos, and the tamers roared in anger.

"Diffindo!" William and Hermione simultaneously raised their wands, aimed them at the cage, and blasted a hole in the iron bars holding the Werewolf.

"Nagini is going to run away," Hermione said.

William and the Werewolf exchanged a glance, then Hermione Apparition and left.

The female Werewolf stepped out of the cage and came to Skender's side.

Skender was bitten by Nagini and has already lost consciousness.

The girl glared at Skender with hatred, hesitated for a moment, but instead of biting Skender to death, she left a tooth mark on his arm.

She glanced at the spot where William and Hermione had disappeared, then turned and left.

(Thanks to the three generous donors "Deep Sea Turtle", "Yingmiao", and "Boss One Bone" for their generous donations.)

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