The sky gradually darkened.
At some point, quite a few people had gathered on the lawn outside the castle.
The afterglow of the setting sun outlined the castle towers and cast a warm light across every young face.
The Cupids were the first to fly out.
They streamed from the various windows of the castle like a flock of white doves suddenly released, flapping their wings as they gathered above the lawn.
The Cupids carrying flower baskets were the first to begin. With a wave of their small hands, pink, red, and golden petals scattered from the baskets, swirling through the twilight like an endless shower.
The other Cupids carried small instruments, harps, trumpets, and tambourines, playing a soft melody.
The music was steady and unhurried, as though the evening breeze itself were humming, or like a fairy tale drifting in from somewhere far away.
The young witches and wizards arrived in twos and threes. Some held hands, some walked side by side, while others deliberately kept a little distance even as their eyes constantly wandered toward each other.
The Cupids immediately flew over to greet them, tugging at their robes and gesturing for them to stand in place.
"Come on, give us a smile..."
One little Cupid raised a magical camera and aimed it at a couple.
The Hufflepuff boy looked a little nervous, while the Gryffindor girl calmly leaned against his shoulder.
Click.
The photograph slid out from the bottom of the camera.
The girl took it and covered her mouth in surprise.
In the picture, the sunset, the castle, their figures leaning together, their windblown hair, and their smiles had all been captured at the most beautiful moment.
"It's so beautiful!"
Before long, more people began asking the Cupids to take photographs for them.
Some couples stood in the middle of the lawn with the glow of the setting sun behind them. Some posed before the silhouette of the castle, using its ancient outline as a backdrop. Others simply lay down on the grass and let the petals fall around them.
The Cupids were kept extremely busy, yet they took every photograph with great care, as though they instinctively knew which angles looked best.
...
The sky finally grew completely dark.
The crowd on the lawn raised their heads almost at the same time, sensing something.
A strange, warm aura had begun to spread through the night sky.
Lucien and Lumen appeared high above them together.
Pure Fire ignited around Lumen, the golden-red flames resembling a melting sunset or flowing amber as they illuminated the night sky.
However, the Pure Fire did not spread to its full extent. It served more like a signal flare meant to draw everyone's attention, as if announcing: Look here. The show is about to begin.
At the same time, Lucien raised his wand.
A flame blending red, white, and purple suddenly ignited at its tip.
"Gubraithian Fire."
This was magic he had learned from Dumbledore, a flame combining Charms and Alchemy.
The Flame Runes on Lucien's fingertips lit up, and in an instant, magic and the surrounding elements seemed to respond with joyful excitement.
"Firestorm."
As the rhythmic incantation left his lips, Lucien felt his control over the flames deepen once more.
It became more refined and flexible, as though the flames had turned into extensions of his fingers, truly becoming part of his will.
Under the guidance of his wand, the flames began to dance through the air.
The Gubraithian Fire no longer burned quietly. It surged, rolled, and transformed, as though it had been given life, as though a soul had been breathed into it.
A dragon burst from the flames.
It spread its wings and let out a long roar toward the sky.
The dragon's roar was deafening, yet carried a strange rhythm.
It circled through the night sky, every scale clearly visible, each one wreathed in flame.
Sparks rained down toward the crowd, only to vanish without a trace just before touching anyone's hair.
"A Norwegian Ridgeback..." one of the young wizards murmured. "It looks so real..."
The flames contracted, then exploded outward.
A gigantic bird soared through the firelight.
It was smaller than the dragon, but every beat of its wings was accompanied by a thunderous boom, with lightning flickering around it and illuminating the night sky as brightly as day.
Its feathers were made of flowing fire, each one distinct.
"Merlin's beard... it's turned into a Thunderbird!" a sixth-year boy exclaimed, staring upward with his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
The flames gradually softened.
An elegant unicorn took shape.
Its mane and tail were made of flowing fire, and a long spiralling horn rose from its forehead.
It ran across the night sky, its hooves leaving trails of light behind as though it were galloping along a river of stars above the clouds.
"I never thought..." a Ravenclaw girl murmured, "that fire could be so beautiful..."
Immediately afterward, herds of flaming steeds came charging from the horizon, their manes and tails burning as their hooves trampled across flowing flames.
They raced through the night sky, circling the grounds once before charging higher, as though galloping toward the stars.
Thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the crowd.
But just then... WOOSH!
The fireworks suddenly intensified, briefly filling the entire night sky.
The light became so brilliant that it stung the eyes, making it impossible to keep them open.
Some people instinctively raised their hands to shield their faces, while others squinted, trying to see what was happening.
More than a dozen pillars of light descended from the fireworks above, like trees of flame growing downward, landing one after another in the open spaces across the lawn.
The flames spread and danced.
Then they gradually began to fade.
As the fireworks thinned and the light finally ceased to be blinding...
A chorus of cries and roars rang out at once.
The lawn fell silent in an instant.
Everyone stared with wide eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.
The magical creatures that had just been formed from flames, rare beings normally seen only in books, were now standing right before them, slowly stepping out from the fading sparks.
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