"...I need an explanation."
The man's eyes were filled with unmistakable anger. He lifted the serpentine staff with a red gemstone embedded, and jabbed the serpent's head harshly at the chest of the stout man in front of him. As he spoke, he glanced around, but saw only a faint silver glimmer in the pitch-black night sky.
"Cough cough, Mr. Greengrass, this is all part of the regular performance flow..."
Cold sweat had just formed but was dried by the sea breeze of the night. Mundungus's gaze subconsciously wavered, but his strong psychological resilience and professionalism allowed him to successfully steady his mind and the trembling in his voice as he calmly began to explain.
"You're talking nonsense!"
But the man clearly had his own judgments. He raised the staff, pointing it distantly towards the sky at the invisible Fire Dragon and the 'prince' chasing after it, continuing furiously, "Is this your idea of performance effects?"
"Uh..."
Mundungus's momentum instantly deflated. The other party was correct; what kind of reputable circus would arrange performances that are completely invisible, especially when the subject of the show is a Fire Dragon — after all, in most people's eyes, Fire Dragons are synonymous with destruction and untrainability. If a normal Fire Dragon could cooperate fully with the performance, the Starry Sky Circus wouldn't have needed to tether Norbert so tightly at the time.
He couldn't possibly say, our Fire Dragon is different, it can even solve elementary school math problems, right...
Moreover, an accident had already occurred, and most people had noticed it since neither the werewolves on stage nor the Beast Tamers had made any further move, all just staring gawkily at the dark sky.
Hope Lupin acts swiftly...
Mundungus could only silently pray, recalling William mentioning that with his help, Lupin had managed some brief and effective communication with that Fire Dragon. If lucky, the dragon might just be feeling playful for the moment, and perhaps Lupin could calm it down and end this chaos with just a bit of reassurance...
Tut, somehow it doesn't seem so simple...
"...I want to see your boss, and why haven't you sent anyone to rescue my daughter yet?"
Mr. Greengrass quickly spotted Mundungus's awkwardness, taking a deep breath as he forcibly suppressed his anger, speaking each word distinctly.
"Sir, our trainers..."
"Dad, sister might be fine, we..."
A voice interrupted Mundungus's "excuses," leading Mr. Greengrass to look down in the direction of the voice, where he saw his eldest daughter had somehow squeezed beside him, followed by that kid from the Malfoy Family... seemed like Draco Malfoy?
"What do you mean might be fine? She was just taken by an out-of-control Fire Dragon—"
"But we know Norbert, we just bathed him this afternoon. He is very gentle, perhaps in between—"
"Wait, who is Norbert, who did you bathe?"
"Sir, Norbert is that Fire Dragon..."
"Shut up, I'm asking my daughter now—"
"Dad, that Fire Dragon is named Norbert. We bathed him this afternoon. He has a very mild temperament, just like Ali."
Daphne nodded. Ali was the family's pet dog, already garnering a preconceived notion in her mind that downplayed the situation, especially as Astoria had flown around twice on the Fire Dragon five hours ago... Of course, she herself had flown three times.
"Merlin's booster pads! It's a Fire Dragon, dear, you—"
Madam Greengrass, following behind the man, let out a sudden gasp, rushing over to embrace her daughter, beginning to examine her up and down, seemingly trying to check for any distressing wounds.
"I want to meet your boss."
Mr. Greengrass's face turned completely grim, glaring at the somewhat shaken Mundungus with a cold tone.
"Please, don't—"
"Incarcerous—"
An unexpected change occurred suddenly. Just then, almost everyone was looking skyward at the disappearing Fire Dragon so naturally, the ones who remained looking down were some with ulterior motives. Perhaps having received some signal, dozens of figures sprang from the audience, incessantly waving their Magic Wands. Thick ropes shot from the wand tips, crashing into the crowd at the center of the stage. Almost every werewolf received two ropes tailored for them, and the Chimaera was bound from head to tail like a parcel.
"Incarcerous—"
Feeling a bit insecure, the man once more shot a rope at the struggling Chimaera, finally satisfied, stepping out from the crowd and amidst everyone's bewildered gaze, walked to the center of the stage. He adjusted the hem of his coat with a hand, then smilingly looked at the people in front.
"Well, the situation is now obvious. You have been kidnapped—"
"Funny mud pee—"
"Langlock."
"Mmph mmph—"
Thus, the brave champion shut his mouth under oppression, leaving the man nodding contentedly, gesturing the agitated crowd to relax a bit, "Of course, our objective is unrelated to you all. Even if you might be high-ranking figures from the Magic Realm, kidnapping you all will definitely fetch a huge ransom. This sum might exceed our imaginations... tut, why does becoming more tempted mean talking too much?"
"?"
"Ahem, of course our objective isn't so superficial; our aim is for these 'adorable' beasts..."
As he spoke, the man squatted down, poking at the werewolf beside him constantly trying to bite his heel with his Magic Wand. "And also these freaks rare even to be seen, so kindly hand over your Magic Wands, as there'd definitely be some non-cooperative ones—"
The man raised his chin, whereupon his subordinates pulled out a sack from their pockets, spread it open, and walked to the far left of the audience.
"..."
"...What're you staring at, your Magic Wand."
"Oh..."
Just like during a bank robbery, everyone would squat down with their heads held, as the robber's target has nothing to do with you, so certainly no need to play the hero. Under the threat of these attackers, the wand collection proceeded very smoothly—
Until—
"...Dad, what do we do?"
Daphne finally realized the severity, even a fool could see that the situation was off, and she could surmise that the Fire Dragon was definitely affected by these people. So...
"Hand over the Magic Wand... I'll try to think of a way!"
Mr. Greengrass visibly tightened his face, he paused for a moment, and looking at the approaching robbers, helplessly nodded.
"No, there's no need."
But at that moment, Mundungus suddenly, confidently, shook his head and, under bewildered gazes from a few, slowly pulled a black sphere from his pocket, then forcefully tossed it skyward—
"Kabuda, initiate super transformation—"
The man's shout, exhausting all his strength, drew everyone's attention; moments later, a huge creature nearly two and a half stories high appeared in the air, crushing down at the center of the stage.
"Bang—"
Upon impact, the entire ship seemed to tilt slightly.