The magical circus | Newt x OC story

III

'Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the magical circus!'

The crowd cheered. The entire tent was filled with people coming from all over to see the show. The show started with the first act. There was however one man who was late for the show. He clumsily climbed over people their legs in pursuit of a vacant seat.

'Watch it man!' a grumpy man said as he tripped over the man's feet.

'S-so sorry,' the man stuttered. He continued until he found a vacant seat where he set his behind down. Newt Scamander sighed in relief to have that part of humiliation done with. He had spent so much time wandering around that he forgot to be in time for the show. It was one of his more annoying qualities, if he said so himself. Newt Scamander was a curious-looking man. His auburn hair stood out between the locals, his clothing too cheerful for the crowd, too timid for an circus artist. He had his large, curious eyes fixed on the display on the stage. A couple of small men dressed up as clowns waggled all around the stage, mimicking panic because they 'accidentally' started a fire. Newt could appreciate this kind of entertainment. It was simple. Not cruel but laughable. There were, however, some acts to come he would disapprove of.

The next act featured a lion that had to be tamed by a whip. Newt grimaced as raw pieces of flesh where torn from the poor creature by the whiplash. But the louder the lion roared, the harder the crowd cheered. Newt would have loved to blame the muggles for being barbaric, but he knew quite a few wizards and witches who would cheer just as hard.

Some of the performances were interesting, some were...not Newt's sort of entertainment. He particularly liked the cord dancer. A beautiful, strong-looking woman who didn't seem to sweat over her possible plummet to death. However, this was not the reason Newt Scamander was here.

'And now, for our final act, I ask you all to give a deafening applause for our most rare creature. All the way from Africa this beast comes. It can crush any man under one paw and can throw over an army with its fat body. Ladies and gentlemen: the rhinoceros!'

Newt held his breath when the creature walked in the middle of the ring. A small girl with dark hair and fair skin was leading the creature. She wore black leather clothing, with laced up boots and quite the exposure of cleavage. Dark make-up surrounded her eyes and she was doing her best to smile.

The creature however, was the real showstopper. Newt understood that muggles could mistake it for a rhino, but he knew that it was in fact an Erumpent. A female, looking at its size. The males were a lot smaller. The Erumpent was forced to raise on its hind legs (which is horribly painful for the creature because she can't carry all her body weight that way) and roared loudly. The crowd seemed to love it. Newt's fascination was with the horn of the Erumpent. It was glowing, like there was some hot liquid inside. He drew out his sketchbook and started to draw. The woman sitting next to him groaned in disapproval and shoved her wide bum further away from the weird man.

The show seemed to stretch so long for the poor thing. Just showing her magnificent beauty wasn't enough for these people. No, she needed to be pained and humiliated. She was painted on by the clowns that made a comeback, she had to try to jump over obstacles and she was forced to walk over hot coals. Newt could barely witness the entire thing. Only when the Erumpent seemed to refuse walking the last part of the coals, the girl seemed to give the creature a rest and let her step out. Newt forgot the creature for a moment and just focused on the girl. All he had seen up until now was that she was a showgirl. But if he looked a bit harder it wasn't hard to notice she wasn't really smiling. He had never seen such a fake smile. She murmured something when she touched the Erumpent's legs and quickly covered it by a dramatic bow.

Luckily the show was over now. Newt looked down at his sketchbook and noticed he had forgotten to draw half of the creature. He had been so horrified by the show that he was distracted from his work.

The suitcase that rested next to his leg gave a thump. One of the latches opened and a low growl was heard from inside. Newt quickly closed it, took it by the handle and stood up. Once outside he sneaked around the tent, looking for the Erumpent. Two people walked by and he quickly dived behind a crate. From there he could see the creature being forced into a large tent. There were three men poking her with sticks.

Newt slowly advanced the tent. It was completely dark outside apart from the moonlight and some torches. He wasn't noticed as he slipped in. He closed the flap behind him and turned around. The tent seemed bigger from the outside. Inside it was a hopeless little space with a cage almost filling up the entire tent. The Erumpent was inside, laying down to release the pressure on her burned feet.

When the creature noticed Newt she let out a sound of distress. It sounded so hopeless that Newt instantly felt horrible.

'Hello there. I'm not going to hurt you,' he spoke softly. It seemed like the soft tone was a comfort for the Erumpent, because she quiet down and just looked at him. Newt approached the door to the cage and was ready to open the lock with his wand. 'I'm coming in okay? I can take the pain away. I am not going to hurt you.'

Newt set the suitcase down and had one hand on the lock and the other on his wand, when he heard a noise.

'Who the hell are you?'