A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 330 The Mysterious Circus (Thanks to the generous donation of 10,000 coins from the esteemed "Deep Sea Turtle" patron)

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, where the Arc de Triomphe is located, is also the entrance to the hidden Parisian location.

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

At night, William and Hermione appeared near Star Square.

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 hidden area.

William and Hermione glanced around warily before entering the statue.

There were many wizards in the hidden place. 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 at it, puzzled. "Is the Niffler acting up again? What's wrong with it? It's been acting up all afternoon."

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

If a sniffling is being noisy and acting up, it's probably just pretending. A good beating will fix it!

Hermione exclaimed in surprise, "Didn't you give it ten glass 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 way!" Hermione immediately retorted, a determined glint in her eyes.

"We can't return the Galonnais; 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!

Sniff is what those two exploit... oops, I mean, charge them!

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

Attendees (animals): Hermione, William, and Niffler.

Hermione chaired the meeting and asked for a vote on whether or not the Galleons 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 known by name or not?

It would be a waste of Hermione's talent if she didn't become Minister of Magic.

Thus, with two votes to one, Hermione confiscated the Niffler's 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 sniffle 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 money comes from the sheep.

Unfortunately, Sniff had already realized that the thing was worthless, and it began a long road of demanding back pay and protecting its rights.

"I have a plan. Wait here for me for a while," William instructed, and ran towards a shop in the hiding place.

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, Sniffle smiled again, quickly put the bag into her belly pouch, and returned to the safety table.

"What is that?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Gold coins," William said smugly, "but not real gold coins, just gold coins made by goblins."

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

It's sold in many places because it will soon disappear, and 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, fire ash snakes emerge from it. A young fire ash snake crawls out of the flames, wanders in the air, leaving a trail of ash.

William and Hermione followed the gray trail, running deeper into the hiding place.

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 giant was displaying his immense strength by holding a club.

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

Like Squibs, Muggle Beasts do not possess magic themselves, but they have magical blood.

The half-elf and half-god hide their horns in their hats and their strange eyes under their hoods as they juggle, do somersaults, and jump through hoops of fire.

William finally understood why the circus was considered illegal.

Besides those rare magical creatures, there are all sorts of hybrid species here... hybrids of wizards and other humanoid beings.

They even have creatures that are half-human and half-giant... Can you believe it!

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

That makes one wonder what disgusting things the circus has done.

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

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

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

The men in the crowd whistled and made a lot of noise.

"This girl is a Muggle who was bitten by a werewolf when she was very young," Skander explained.

"The chances were slim, but she survived and was able to remain sane during the full moon... without the need for wolfsbane."

It is a widely accepted fact that humans who transform into werewolves cannot maintain their rationality unless they take wolfsbane.

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

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

William nodded.

"Tonight is a full moon, let's show it to everyone." Skander waved his wand, opening a skylight in the tent.

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

The girl's head was elongating, as was her body; her shoulders were arching, 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 Skander with hatred, roared, and kept banging on the cage.

The crowd loudly mocked Skander, asking, "Is this what he meant by staying rational?"

Skander 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 hit 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 remain rational.

Skander laughed triumphantly.

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

—Nagini!

Skander'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 toward the exit. Someone knocked over an oil lamp, setting the circus tent ablaze.

The fire frightened and enraged the animals. A winged eagle-headed horse reared up and jumped wildly, and the trainers tried desperately to control it.

A large number of magical creatures escaped in the chaos, and the tamers roared in anger.

"Tear it apart!" William and Hermione simultaneously raised their wands, aimed them at the cage, and blasted a hole in the iron bars that held the werewolf.

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

William and the werewolf exchanged a glance, then William and Hermione appeared in phantom form and left.

The female werewolf stepped out of the cage and came to Skander's side.

Skander was bitten by Nagini and has already lost consciousness.

The girl glared at Skander with hatred, hesitated for a moment, but instead of biting him 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 big shots "Deep Sea Turtle", "Yingmiao", and "Boss One Bone" for their generous donations.)

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(End of this chapter)