Everyone screamed in alarm as the fire dragon circled once overhead. Its flaming body twisted through the air, scales of light rippling across its enormous wings, and then it suddenly lowered its head toward the stands. A torrent of flame rushed at the audience, hot enough to make several young wizards throw themselves backward.
The flames died just before reaching the seats. When the light cleared, a wizard in a sequined silver robe stood where the dragon's head had been, his body sparkling brilliantly under the glow of the braziers. He wore an iris-shaped mask, and the thin veil hanging from it made him look even more mysterious.
He drew his wand and pointed it skyward. Dozens of white doves appeared at once, bursting out of the air like scattered snowflakes before neatly forming ranks above the stage. They dipped, turned, and arranged themselves into patterns, earning fresh applause from the crowd.
"How about an arithmetic contest?" the silver-robed wizard asked the audience.
A lucky young wizard was chosen from the stands to compete against the doves. The silver-robed wizard wrote questions in midair with fire, all of them simple sums involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The young wizard and the flock of white doves answered back and forth, evenly matched at first, though in the end the doves fell slightly behind and lost to the child.
"Congratulations!" the silver-robed wizard declared.
He raised the young wizard's hand, and the white doves circled around the boy in a graceful spiral. Before everyone's eyes, their feathers gathered in the air and transformed into a delicate white crown that settled gently onto the young wizard's head.
"Amazing!" Alexander exclaimed.
He had already thought the doves were impressive because they could do arithmetic, but he had not expected them to perform magic as well. Roger clapped too, because if he was being honest, the wizarding circus had truly opened his eyes. He took back his earlier judgment; this was indeed a spectacle worth seeing.
"Ladies and gentlemen, for our next segment on monsters and extraordinary beings, allow me to introduce a Maledictus," Barnum announced solemnly from the stage.
He waved his cane, and a large cage rolled into the centre of the tent. It was covered with a black cloth, and everyone leaned forward, whispering and guessing what might be inside. The kappas appeared in the corner at just the right moment, playing a chaotic yet suspenseful melody that made the crowd even more restless.
"What could it be?" Barnum asked, deliberately drawing the tension higher.
Then he slowly pulled away the black cloth and revealed the creature beneath it.
Under the crowd's expectant gaze, a twelve-foot-long viper appeared inside the cage. It was entirely black, with a clear triangular mark on its head. The snake flicked its tongue, raised the front half of its body, and swept its cold vertical pupils across the wizards in the stands.
The young wizards screamed in fright. They had expected a strange magical creature, perhaps something silly or colourful, but none of them had expected such a terrifying serpent.
"Do not be afraid, my friends!" Barnum called quickly, lifting his cane to reassure the audience. "This is Nagini, a Maledictus. She was once a member of our circus and has now returned to us. Although she has lost the ability to transform back into a human, please believe me—she will not harm anyone."
With that, Barnum waved his cane and opened the cage.
"Nagini?" Alexander leaned forward in surprise as the viper slipped out. "Where did the circus find her?"
"What is it, Uncle Alexander?" Roger asked.
He remembered very clearly that this viper would one day become one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, but he was more curious about why she was not in Albania. If Nagini had already returned to the circus, then something in this world's timeline had shifted.
"My father told me about this circus when I was about your age," Alexander said. "He was travelling in France and saw this viper with his own eyes."
Below them, Nagini moved under Barnum's direction toward the centre of the stage. The kappas began playing a cheerful but eerie tune, and the serpent started swaying to the rhythm. Her movements were fluid and precise, sometimes spinning, sometimes circling, both beautiful and dangerously unsettling.
"The ringmaster then was Skender," Alexander continued. "He captured her from the jungles of Indonesia."
"And then?" Roger asked.
"Later, Nagini escaped. I heard it was connected to the chaos in Paris and Dumbledore's people, though I do not know the details." Alexander's eyes remained fixed on the serpent below, full of doubt and fascination. "My father said she had once been human."
"Wow…"
The surrounding wizards gasped in surprise, all of them captivated by Nagini. She seemed to understand the music perfectly, dancing in time with every rise and fall of the melody. Even the children who had been frightened at first began cheering for her performance.
Soon, rings of fire appeared across the arena. Nagini leapt through them without hesitation, her black scales gleaming seductively in the firelight. The audience applauded even harder, enchanted by the sight of danger turned into art.
At the climax of the music, Nagini coiled herself tightly and sprang high into the air. Her long body passed through the rings above, then curled around them while suspended overhead. She moved through the flames with supple elegance, every twist beautiful, thrilling, and terrifying enough to draw gasps from the entire tent.
Nagini had once been a witch, and even in serpent form, some trace of that grace remained. She had possessed stunning beauty and a remarkable figure as a woman, so perhaps it was no surprise that her dance as a viper could still seize the audience's breath.
"Uncle Alexander, what a terrifying and captivating dance," Roger said softly. "Even if Nagini escaped a hundred times, the circus would never give up on her easily."
He could not help feeling his heart tremble as he watched. His blood seemed to run faster, not from fear alone, but from the strange beauty of a creature caught between humanity and monstrosity.
The kappas' music came to a final pause, and Nagini descended gracefully from the air. Her performance had captivated the whole audience, and for a moment, everything seemed perfectly normal. She slithered before Barnum, and he gestured for her to bow with him to the crowd.
Just as Barnum bent at the waist, Nagini attacked.
The giant snake's blood-red mouth opened wide, revealing venomous fangs that flashed under the stage lights. She lunged wildly for Barnum's neck, so fast that the audience barely had time to react.
"Watch out!" someone screamed.
Some spectators shouted warnings, while others covered their mouths or squeezed their eyes shut. Barnum stiffened, but terror had already slowed him, and his cane was not rising fast enough.
At that critical moment, a red spell shot from the stands.
Nagini's attack stopped abruptly. Her body twisted in midair, then crashed heavily onto the stage. Roger had drawn his wand at once and hit her with a Stunning Spell, interrupting that fierce and sudden serpent's kiss.
"Thank you, child," Barnum gasped.
He had smelled death for one icy instant, and his face was slick with cold sweat. His legs trembled as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead, his polished showman's smile gone completely.
But Roger's spell had not fully subdued Nagini. The viper began moving again on the ground, slow at first, then with growing strength, as if she might wake at any moment. The audience screamed in renewed fear, and many wizards hurriedly led their children toward the exits, terrified that the serpent would break free and start biting at random.
"Bind her," Roger said sharply.
He was very interested in this beautiful snake-woman and had no intention of killing her unless absolutely necessary. It was not for any strange reason; he was interested in the blood curse itself. As one of the unresolved mysteries of the wizarding world, the Maledictus curse reminded him of the Animagus transformation. Both involved a human becoming an animal, so was there a connection between them?
A green spell shot from Roger's wand and split into two beams in the air. They intertwined like ropes and wrapped tightly around Nagini, pinning her body in place. The serpent hissed furiously, frightening Barnum so badly that he collapsed onto the stage, but no matter how violently she struggled, Roger's binding spell held firm.
"Quick, put her in the cage!" Barnum shouted, apparently not realising that Roger was not acting for his benefit.
The other circus members remained frozen where they stood. None of them dared approach the giant viper, even with the binding spell holding her down.
"Mr. Barnum, it seems Circus Arcanus has no reliable way to control Nagini's power," Roger said calmly.
He had already seen through Barnum's tricks. The man's magic was dazzling and theatrical, but it was not practical in battle. Against a real threat, all that showmanship had nearly gotten him killed.
"No, it was only an accident!" Barnum retorted quickly. "An accident. Of course I could have controlled her."
"This is Director Smaug from the Moscow Ministry of Magic," Roger said, pointing to Alexander. "I believe he is more qualified to speak on this matter."
Since they were both named Smaug anyway, it hardly mattered which director Alexander technically was. Alexander immediately understood Roger's intention and stepped forward with a cold sneer.
"Mr. Barnum, I suggest you first consider how to appease your audience," Alexander said. "After all, you would not want to be investigated by the Ministry of Magic, would you?"
Barnum's expression stiffened.
"I heard she escaped before," Alexander continued. "Does that mean you forcibly imprisoned this Maledictus again? This is not sixty years ago. A Maledictus has legal rights, which means imprisoning her may be illegal."
"No, absolutely not!" Barnum denied it at once. "Director Smaug, she has already become a mindless beast. She cannot transform back. She is a real snake now."
He clearly did not want to be thrown into Goblinak, which was full of strange and dangerous wizards. His face had gone pale, and the hand clutching his cane was no longer steady.
"Twenty years ago, when we were performing in Hogsmeade, Ringmaster Skender found her again," Barnum said quickly. "By then, she was already a viper. Everyone in the circus can vouch for that."
"Oh?" Alexander pressed. "Then where is Skender? Did you kill him?"
.....
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