Harry blinked and slowly sat upright in his bed, looking sleepily over to his window to see the sunlight coming into his room.

It was morning, though it took him a moment to remember where he was.

Yawning, Harry kicked off his sheets and placed his glasses on his face. He headed to his trunk, since he hadn't unpacked it yet, and shuffled through it for some suitable clothes. He really should thank Ron for a few donations, as Harry dressed in a pair of faded blue pants and a dark grey t-shirt. Yawning again, this time into his hand, Harry walked to the window and peeled back the curtains further, smiling at the sight of the carnival over the sloped hill. He could see a few people wandering around, yet it still had to be early as the sunlight was minimal.

Harry opened the door to his new bedroom and cautiously stuck his head out to look around, wondering if Severus was awake.

Seeing the living room empty, though much more lived-in than before (as was evident by a few more items in place and the entire feel of it being less vacant), Harry quickly rushed to the bathroom and shut the door, gripping his toothbrush in one hand and a comb in the other.

He approached the mirror and spotted some toothpaste sitting there as though it was meant for him, yet it hadn't been there the night before. A pale green cup was placed nearby on the sink, containing another tube of toothpaste and a silver toothbrush.

Harry shuddered at the realisation of who they must belong to.

Exhaling, he brushed his teeth while attempting to comb his hair, staring into his own reflection, his mind occupied with nervousness and excitement for his first day of living at a carnival.

'Aspiring to make an admirable impression upon your new fans?' Severus mocked from the doorway.

Harry was startled and smeared toothpaste on his cheek. Quickly washing it off and rinsing his mouth, the boy turned to glare at his professor-turned-guardian. He bit his lip to prevent himself from saying anything and simply looked around for somewhere to leave his toothbrush, not wanting to place his so close to the silver one already there. He blinked with surprise when a faded red cup materialised and his yellow toothbrush hovered from his hand to rest inside the new object.

He glanced quickly at Severus and saw the man's wand being aimed at the cup.

'Oh. Thanks.' Harry muttered as he reached up to try and comb his hair again, which, as per usual, refused to obey and lie flat.

Hearing an irritated grunt that matched his own huff of defeat, Harry froze when he saw Severus stand behind him in the mirror.

'What-?'

'Remain still.' Severus snapped as he snatched the comb roughly from the boy's hands and placed a charm on it. Handing it back, the man waited to watch as Harry awkwardly re-combed his hair.

'Ah ha!' Harry grinned with success when his hair stopped sticking in every direction, instead becoming more wavy and smooth.

Glaring at his hair, Harry wasn't so sure that he liked it the way it was now. Placing the comb in the same cup as his toothbrush, Harry inched away from Severus and hurried from the bathroom. Severus rolled his eyes at the action and simply waved his wand to clear up any remaining mess, such as smudges on the mirror and spilled toothpaste in the sink.

Severus had been awake and ready to leave since the first signs of dawn, therefore he had no further use for the bathroom and stepped into the main room. He glanced over at Harry, who had lounged himself on the sofa, and looked anxiously bored.

'Can we go to breakfast soon?' Harry asked as Severus crossed the room to conjure a matching armchair, though he made no move to sit in it. The boy glanced at his watch again as he waited for a reply, seeing that it was just after six.

'As you may recall, breakfast does not commence until precisely six thirty, brat.' Severus replied as he flourished his wand and the walls turned a more silver than brown. 'We shall depart no sooner than it is required in which to arrive at the scheduled time.'

'But that's boring.' Harry complained. 'And I'm hungry now.'

'Which does not alter rules, in which are in place for a reason, brat.' Severus glared at the child. 'You are not the exception, despite what you may be led to believe.'

'Can I go outside then?' Harry perked upright in his seat.

'No.' Severus growled.

'But-' Harry crossed his arms and frowned. 'I am bored sitting here.'

'Regardless, you will have to wait.' Severus returned. 'I do believe such an instruction is within your capability?'

'Hardly.' Harry grumbled as he sank further against the blue sofa and watched his new, yet completely “unfair” guardian moving his wand around the room. 'What are you doing? I liked it the way it was. Now you've made it all...snake-like.' He disagreed with the extensive use of silver, greens and blues.

'I care nothing for your limited perceptional interest in my selective choice of decor.' Severus looked sharply at the boy. 'Now cease this annoyance. You are giving me a headache.'

'Let me go outside and then you won't have to put up with me.' Harry said cheekily.

'Go on.' Severus sighed.

'Really?' Harry sat up quickly and stared at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

'No.' Severus smirked and returned to his spell casting.

'Ugh!' Harry whined and pressed his back against the couch, folding his arms over his chest as he glared at the man he thought was being deliberately mean to him.

He remained there, unchanging, for another fifteen minutes before Severus finally turned towards him and nodded.

'It is time.' Severus said and walked to the door.

He pushed the flap open and had to lean out of the way to prevent the over-eager boy from running into him. He almost shouted for the child to slow down, yet found himself watching Harry disappear further up the hill towards the main tent. Severus figured that the boy could only get so far, so he merely continued his calm pace towards the same destination, still frowning about how dearly he would rather avoid the crowd within.

--

Harry burst into the main tent with a grin on his face, which vanished almost instantly as he hunched and felt insecure again.

There weren't many other Carnies there yet, however his quick entrance had caught their attention and made Harry feel shy all over again. Swallowing, and trying to be brave, he marched over to the counter of the kitchen. Ordering some eggs, Harry looked to his assigned table and wondered where the others were, such as Mina and the teenager, because the table was empty.

'Nice to see you here on time, Harry.' Carter spoke as he stood by the table, capturing the boy's instant attention. 'Always a good start. You'll adapt in no time.'

'Thanks.' Harry tried to smile, yet inside he realised that Severus sort of had a point about being on time.

Since there were only a few there already, Harry wondered if he'd have been the first one if Severus had let him leave when he'd wanted to. It could have caused him more embarrassment as he'd probably look silly showing up that early, so Harry was a little thankful for Severus and his intervention.

'Ah, morning greetings to you as well, Severus.' Carter nodded to the man.

Severus had just walked from the kitchen to the table and sat beside Harry, just as he had the previous night. He nodded once to Carter and became distracted by the lack of numbers in the tent at the moment.

'Where is everyone?' Harry asked what Severus had been thinking.

'Often, a Carny will run on a schedule of their own. Some, such as those who are in charge of the attractions, eat at different times than the rest of us. You'll find that there are almost a hundred of us and yet you'll likely only ever seen maybe...forty, at one time.' Carter answered.

'King!' Someone called near the lounge, looking irritated and stressed.

'Excuse me.' Carter sighed at the pair. 'I'll introduce you to your guide for the day once breakfast is over. Just you wait, you'll feel like one of us in no time!'

'Don't believe that.' Mina said as she walked past the boys and sat beside Harry, just as their plates of food appeared.

'I do not.' Severus returned. 'It is a ridiculous notion. We shall be residing and participating for two months, and two months only, then we shall be returning to our lives.'

Mina glanced at him with sympathy, which only confused and annoyed the man as he glanced away to eat his cereal.

Out of the corner of his eye, Severus realised the boy who had been so determined to start his breakfast wasn't moving at all, only staring down at his lap where his hands rested.

'What do you have to whine about now, Harry?' Severus put his spoon down with frustration, though he kept his tone even so not to alert others. 'You wished to eat, so eat!'

'I forgot to tell the elf what I wanted to drink.' Harry sulked. 'So I got that yucky cherry juice again.' He pointed to the “offensive” red liquid in his clear goblet.

'It was you who made the error, therefore it shall be you in which faces the consequences of your lapse of memory.' Severus stared and turned back to his meal. 'Eat your eggs, at least.' He added, thinking the boy was far too thin for his age.

Harry slowly grabbed his fork and nibbled his eggs in small quantities, not wanting to need a drink if he ate too fast. Sighing, he looked around at the others who sipped their goblets and chatted amongst each other as they enjoyed their meal. Feeling a nudge at his left elbow, Harry glanced at Mina to watch as she placed her own goblet in front of him.

'Have mine, Harry.' She smiled at him. 'You will remember next time.'

'What about you?' Harry asked without touching the tempting goblet containing what looked like pumpkin juice.

Mina touched his cheek with the back of her hand, thinking he was adorable and considerate even though he was clearly thirsty. Most other kids would just take the goblet because they needed it and the object was being offered, yet Harry did not move until he was sure that she wasn't giving up something for him.

'I can get another.' Mina said. 'Go ahead, child. Drink up.'

Harry, pausing for only a second longer, reached to grasp the goblet with both hands and drank the entire contents with a relieved smile. He gasped with delight to realise the liquid wasn't pumpkin juice at all, it was actually pineapple juice and he thought it tasted wonderful. Harry placed the goblet back on the table and turned to give the kind woman a wide smile of gratitude.

'Thank you, Mina.'

'It's nothing, Harry.' Mina said. 'Go on, eat up.'

Severus was listening to the entire exchange, a frown on his face even as he remained silent as he slowly ate his own meal. The boy had started on his eggs, shoving the food into his mouth as he had the previous night, and kept glancing fondly at Mina. Severus was used to being the firmer and far less popular adult to children, therefore he focused on the Carnies around them and proceeded to ignore the brat.

Mina looked up from her empty plate when the teenager from the previous night finally sat at the table, looking hungry and tired. He glanced at her and they shared an expression before he turned away and Mina's gaze trailed to watch Carter, who was conversing closely with the others at his table. He paused and stood from his seat, watching as the others turned to leave the tent before Carter approached Harry's table.

'Ready to get started?' Carter asked with a smile.

'Yeah!' Harry nodded eagerly.

Severus said nothing and wondered what was going on with Mina, who had frowned and left her seat without a word the moment she had seen that Carter was heading towards them. The teenager looked warily at Carter with a sideways glance as he quickly finished his porridge, to the point that he almost choked.

'Alright, let's get moving then.' Carter said and walked across the tent, heading outside and venturing along the thin dirt path leading to the carnival itself.

Harry and Severus followed him, not expecting that the teenager would hurry to keep up with them too.

'This is Ryan.' Carter introduced as he couldn't remember if he had done so yet. 'Otherwise known as Gravity. He'll be your guide today, Harry.'

'Oh.' Harry looked over at the teenager. 'Nice to meet you, Ryan.'

'Likewise, Harry.' Ryan nodded. 'Do you have your wand with you?'

'No.' Harry blushed. 'I didn't think I was supposed to. With the rule and all...'

'Hey, that's okay. It's preferable that way. Only a few of us actually keep our wands with us, since we can't even use them during the day at all.' Ryan explained and smirked at Severus as he looked the man up and down. 'You brought your wand though. I can tell.'

'I would consider it foolish otherwise.' Severus said bitterly.

'Yeah, I could tell that too.' Ryan said cheekily while Harry decided he liked the teenager already.

Passing the Smashers ride and Lady Swan's violet tent, Harry's breath caught in his throat when he realised where they were going. Looking up at the Ferris Wheel high above his head, always lit with coloured lights, he could not believe his luck.

'Do you work at the Ferris Wheel?' Harry asked Ryan.

'No, but my space is right next to it, see?' He pointed to the booth with a wooden bench behind it.

Over the booth, to shield the occupant and interested customers from the sunlight or rain, was a lime green awning. On the material was written in black lettering “Gravity”. Across from the booth was a huge, pale blue tent for performances, and on the corner further ahead was a ride that resembled a giant brown/silver spider with blinking red eyes. The riders looked to sit inside the tips of the legs, something which Harry knew Ron would never do, and honestly he wasn't thinking too highly of the ride either, which was labelled the “Spinning Spider”.

'Harry, what are the rules I told you last night?' Carter asked as he stood in front of Gravity's booth.

Severus was busy looking around to absorb the details and Ryan focused on the food carts next to the performance arena tent. A stocky Carny with a greying beard was preparing to set the food up in preparation for the carnival opening in just over an hour.

'Uh...' Harry thought about the rules, though it felt like so long ago that he had briefly heard them. 'No surnames.' He remembered that one easily. 'No wands. You don't have to share stuff, like how old you are or whatever...erm.' Harry looked to Severus for help but the man wasn't even looking in his direction.

'There's four more.' Carter held up three fingers for the ones Harry had correctly mentioned. 'Need help?'

'Sorry.' Harry looked down. 'I don't remember.'

'It's all part of the learning process.' Carter said. 'No need to be sorry, just remember. So...there's also: no fighting amongst family, which is the other Carnies...stay out of the Hall of Mirrors. Don't leave the carnival. And, of course...your duty here is solely to protect and serve the carnival.'

'Got it.' Harry nodded.

He planned to write the rules down on a piece of paper at the first chance he got, so he could carry it around in his pocket because he hated forgetting something important. Harry wanted to prove himself, just as the Sorting Hat always said, even when it had placed him into Gryffindor upon his insisting rather than Slytherin as it had intended.

'Just do as Gravity says and you'll be fine.' Carter nodded. 'Severus, your job as management is to keep an eye on the carnival. We have a few special methods for this, which Stealth will show you. Come on, right this way.' He gestured and took the corner to walk the long way around, passed the Spinning Spider and onwards, doing a loop to the Hall of Mirrors before changing direction to the black tent beside his own office.

Severus did not move. He looked over to Harry and fixed the boy with a stern, merciless glare.

'Do precisely as you are told. Do not exert your foolish determination to cause trouble. And do well to remember that rules are in place for a purpose, not as a challenging in which to break them.' Severus leaned closer to Harry, who frowned back at him as he stood his ground. 'I shall be watching, Harry.' He cautioned in a quiet tone, then pulled back and turned to walk with long strides after Carter.

Ryan whistled once Severus and Carter were entirely out of view. 'Ouch. Well, that's rough. Come on...let's have some fun, kid!' He smirked.

Harry turned to return the expression and walked around to the back of the booth. Ryan held open the flap so he and Harry could step inside. It had looked a bit cramped from the outside, yet the interiors were typically magical to allow much more freedom to move. Harry sat on the wooden seat behind the counter, which he had no trouble looking over, while Ryan seated himself to Harry's left.

'So...what do we do?' Harry asked. 'We still have an hour before the carnival opens, right?'

'Yeah, we do.' Ryan stretched. He pulled a round, blue ball from his pocket and placed it on the bench in front of Harry. It did not roll and remained exactly where it was.

'What is this?'

'A ball?' Harry pulled a face since he wasn't stupid; anyone could see that it was a ball.

'Is it?' Ryan tilted his head as though confused. 'Are you sure. Here, have a closer look.' He lifted his hand and the ball began to spin as it levitated towards Harry's astonished face. Halting, it looked like a ball of coloured modelling clay, which morphed into a cat figurine.

'Wow!' Harry stared at it. 'So that's why you're called “Gravity”, right?'

'Sure is.' Ryan chuckled and snatched the figurine from the air, which was a round ball once again by the time it was shoved inside his pocket. Brushing a hand through his shortened fuzzy dark hair, his grey gaze trailed to the food carts again before he turned and gave Harry his attention.

'You look older than eleven.'

'I'm nearly twelve.' Harry replied. 'How old are you?'

'Seventeen, almost eighteen.' Ryan said. 'I haven't been here as long as it looks like. I graduated Hogwarts a bit over a year ago, which feels like a lifetime away now. Did you go to Hogwarts? It would be the summer now, right?'

'Yeah. I just finished my first year.' Harry was becoming more interested in Ryan with each subject they conversed. 'I'm in Gryffindor. What house were you? Do you miss Hogwarts, now that you're here?'

'Ah, I'd have picked you for a Hufflepuff or Slytherin.' Ryan nodded. 'A Gryffindor, eh? That's cool. I was almost in Gryffindor, but that hat chose Hufflepuff instead.' He paused and looked away, thinking about whether he missed the magical school or not, yet seemed to have trouble recalling it.

'Oh, um...well...' Ryan stuttered. 'I had a crush on a girl in my year who wanted to be an Auror. She got really mad if we called her by her first name, since she didn't like it. Uh, she changed her hair a lot...' He hesitated. 'Well, so much happened so I guess I would miss it if I wasn't so focused on here. It may not seem like it now, but this place gets really busy!' He chuckled.

'What's an Auror?' Harry wondered.

He briefly remembered Mina seeming a bit lost when asked how long she had been at the carnival, and now Ryan wasn't sure if he missed a magical school he spent seven years attending. Maybe things did just get so busy at the carnival that time seems to lose meaning or they became too distracted to think about other stuff?

'A Dark Wizard catcher.' Ryan replied as he placed a deck of cards on the counter carelessly while searching his pockets for various items such as wooden cubes of varied colours, loose buttons and plain pencils.

'Wait. If you went to Hogwarts and just left a year or whatever ago, don't you recognise Professor Snape?' Harry realised. 'I was told he'd been after the Defence Against the Dark Arts job for years, so he'd have been there before I started, right?'

Ryan looked at him and then glanced at the road where Severus and Carter had left along many moments prior. He considered his own thoughts and nodded to Harry.

'Yeah, I remember him.' Ryan shrugged. 'I dunno, he seems different here. He didn't look like he recognised me though, did he?'

'Were you any good in Potions?'

'I...' Ryan paused again. 'Eh, let's not talk about school, okay? We have work to do here. Right, so can you juggle?'

'No.' Harry answered while making a mental note to ask Severus questions later. 'How do you make stuff float without your wand?'

'Practice.' Ryan frowned as he sorted through the objects in front of him, still dismissing the deck of cards, which Harry reached for curiously. 'It's hard, really hard. Because it has to be both wandless and non-verbal magic.'

'Oh.' Harry sighed. 'Can I borrow these?'

'Sure.' Ryan waved his hand. 'I'm terrible with cards anyway.'

'Thanks.' Harry opened the desk and slipped the deck of white/blue cards into his awaiting hand.

He used to have a handful of cards, though not a complete deck, in his cupboard until they'd become too bent to use. In boredom, Harry had spent hours teaching himself to shuffle them and was pleased to notice that he could still do so with his previous skill.

'It's my job today to teach you about what it's like to be a Carny while the carnival is open for business.' Ryan cleared his throat to get Harry's attention once he had shoved his pocket's contents under the counter, where Harry noticed a sort of shelf was positioned, loaded with colourful items like rubber rings and rainbow ribbons or cups.

'Okay.' Harry nodded to show he was listening as he placed the deck of cards back on the counter again.

'There's the obvious, such as getting up early and having breakfast on time.' Ryan continued. 'Then everyone has chores to do, depending on how much time they need to set up for opening. Some who have to prep the rides need plenty of time, whereas those like myself are usually helping out with the animals or cleaning. Youngsters or newcomers also use this time to practice their magic, since they can't have their own show until they can do it wandlessly and wordlessly.' He sighed.

'What will I do?'

'You, Harry, will basically help out anyone in your group, when needed. Your group consists of those at your table or someone you have befriended. So for now that means me, Lady Swan over there-'

He pointed to the violet tent diagonally left to the booth, though Mina wasn't anywhere in sight.

'- Severus, or Carter.'

'So I'll like, be cleaning and stuff?' Harry wondered. 'What animals are here? I haven't seen any.' He tried to look far left, past the Ferris Wheel to the covered cage across from Lady Swan and the corner of Smashers, but he couldn't see from where he sat.

'We have a few.' Ryan said. 'That there is Baxer.' He caught Harry trying to look. 'He's my job.'

'What is he?' Harry asked curiously as he fidgeted in his seat, still attempting to get a better look even if the cage remained covered.

'You'll see.' Ryan smirked and rose from his seat, gesturing Harry to follow. They walked to the covered cage and with a wave of Ryan's hand, the material slipped off to reveal a snarling, awoken tiger with orange and black stripes.

'Whoa!' Harry jumped back with surprise. 'THAT'S Baxer?'

'Sure is.' Ryan nodded as he smacked one of the bars to bring the tiger closer.

The golden eyes of the creature shifted from Ryan to Harry, who wasn't sure if he should back away or dare to move closer.

'C-can I...touch him?' Harry asked. 'I've never been near a tiger before.' He grinned.

'Probably best to leave him alone.' Ryan frowned seriously. 'You're not marked.'

Harry remembered the black tattoo Carter had shown him, which was said to be on the wrist of every Carny, consisting of a crescent moon “C” and a star.

Harry fled away from the cage when Baxer released a loud roar, which had him shaking as the boy tried to hide behind Ryan. The teenager didn't look too bothered as it was clearly normal to him. He led Harry back to the booth with the instruction of leaving the animals alone, though he was welcome to seek them out and have a look.

'How many are there?' Harry wondered.

'Five.' Ryan said. 'Now, listen up. Once the chores are done and preparations are made, the carnival rides and shows will come to life seconds before opening. Remember that our audience is Muggles, so we have to pretend that what we do is tricks and illusions. We also have to be careful with what we say and things like that. Were you raised by muggles or wizards?'

'Muggles.' Harry frowned. 'They didn't like me very much.'

'Mine either.' Ryan said. 'Well, I wasn't raised by them but I'm half and half, so...' He shrugged. 'Anyway, that's good. You would not believe how the difficulty of adjusting is for purebloods.'

'So when the carnival opens, you put on a show?' Harry guessed. 'Is that what you do all day?'

'Not really.' Ryan shrugged. 'We have our set times. Like, I entertain anyone who steps closer to see what my booth is about, otherwise I put on a show in the afternoon. That's part of having your own space, is that you have to put on some sort of show at least once a day. Not every Carny chooses that path. There's only a bunch of us that actually do have our own area of entertainment. Otherwise there's the real performers in the arena tent.' He pointed across from them. 'The rest help out with security, cleaning duties, assisting the others, tending to the animals or helping guests find their way.'

Harry didn't think he'd want to have his own booth, since it sounded like a lot of attention would be on him, which was a part of his life that he'd rather leave behind. Plus, what happened if he made a mistake? Harry was certain it was not a Carny path that Severus would choose either.

'What about the Hall of Mirrors?' Harry remembered.

'What about it?' Ryan avoided Harry's gaze after a moment of pause, looking very reluctant to speak of it.

'Well, why can't we go inside?' Harry didn't understand this important rule. 'Who runs it?'

'Maude, I mean...Dreamless, runs it.' Ryan said in a quiet tone. 'Don't ask about that, Harry. You'll just make Carter mad.'

'Carter isn't here.' Harry said stubbornly.

'He's the King. The leader...some say he knows everything the carnival does.' Ryan said quickly. 'Just...don't talk about the Hall of Mirrors, okay? You're better off not knowing.'

After Harry had mentioned the Hall of Mirrors and Ryan dismissed all conversation of it, the teenager became very quiet until the Ferris Wheel creaked once and the entire carnival seemed to come alive. Voices and footsteps were heard as children and adults began to fill the pathways and easily distracted Ryan from their previous discussions.

Harry watched Ryan levitate rings and balls for a few hours, though it was more boring than he had envisioned. Looking over at the violet tent that was Lady Swan's space, he caught a few glimpses of Mina in her sparkly blue gown, yet otherwise he shuffled the desk of cards Ryan had given him and waited for the time to pass.

'Go get us a burger each, would you? A can of soda too.' Ryan nudged Harry at midday, causing the boy to drop his cards from surprise, since the teenager had hardly uttered a word to him since the morning.

'Don't we have to pay for them?' Harry asked as he looked over to the food carts.

'No, we work here. We're part of the carnival so we eat for free. Ask Carter later if you don't believe me.' Ryan rolled his eyes. 'Go on, kid!' He rose his tone a little when Harry didn't move, clearly quite hungry and also bored with simply sitting in his booth all day.

Sighing, Harry got up from the wooden seat and wondered why his rear wasn't numb from sitting there for hours. He left the booth around the back and crossed the path to the food carts, avoiding a group of school students much younger than he was.

'Er, two hotdogs, please?' Harry requested to the stocky man. 'I'm part of the carnival, for two months.' He added since he had no money and didn't want to anger the man.

'I know.' He grunted through his greying beard. 'I'm Pete. You're Harry, right?'

'Yeah, that's me.' Harry calmed and offered the man a smile, who actually seemed more shy than mean-looking. Though he wasn't nearly as tall as Hagrid, it was who Harry was briefly reminded of.

A minute later he accepted the hotdogs (with the specifications of onion, sauce etc, which was confirmed as Ryan called across the road to Harry, informing him of what he wanted), and took them back to the booth before Harry went back for the sodas.

'Our cooks never let us eat stuff like this at breakfast or dinner.' Ryan said as he bit into his hotdog, clearly savouring the taste. 'They think it's too unhealthy to eat this stuff all the time, every day. They're probably right.'

It took Harry a brief moment to realise that “cooks” referred to the house-elves and nodded, because he thought so too. The hotdog was the best he'd ever tasted, yet Harry did not think he'd want to eat only that all the time. When he was finished eating, Harry sat back down and sighed, not looking forward to another seven or so hours of just sitting there.

'Yeah, the first day sucks.' Ryan looked at him with sympathy. 'Tell you what, why don't you go see if Lady Swan needs a hand with anything?'

'Are you sure?' Harry rose quickly from his seat, still holding his soda, which was nearly empty.

'Yeah, go ahead.' Ryan nodded. 'You've learned all I can teach you for now. Though, she won't like you taking a drink inside, so you might want to have a walk around first.' He winked.

'Thanks, Ry-I mean, Gravity!' Harry remembered in time as he gave Ryan the offered high-five and turned to hurry from the booth, relishing his freedom.

Taking the path that went by the Spinning Spider ride and the Performance Arena tent, Harry sipped his soda as he walked and smiled. This was what he wanted. To be free from expectations or pressure, to just wander around and do what he liked. Turning the corner, he shuddered at the blurring motion of the spider and made the decision never to go on it. He passed a black booth which had the Carny's name on the awning, just like Ryan's. This black one read “Stealth”, though it was vacant. Harry remembered Carter saying that this Carny would be guiding Severus today, so that must be why the booth was closed.

Beside the black booth was another set of food/drink carts, run by a tall woman with too many earrings and a silly pink feathered hat. The pen next to her carts caught Harry's attention as he quickened his pace to have a look. The fence went high above his head and the floor was covered with hay. Inside he saw an elephant, though it was sitting in a far back corner so his view wasn't very good, much to his disappointment.

Across from the pen was a ride that looked like a huge tube painted black with golden stars twinkling in the sunlight, though Harry suspected the sun had little to do with it. It was called the “Space Flier”, yet Harry wasn't sure what it involved exactly, so he continued onwards without further consideration.

Sipping his soda again, he saw the entrance to the carnival and a red/orange booth across from it, for “Wildfire”. Next to the elephant's pen was a group of games and such that Harry would loved to have a go at, yet was more interested in seeing what Wildfire could do. He was an Irish wizard, Harry realised when he heard the man's accent, and had short brown hair streaked with red. He had captured the rapt attention of the crowd who watched his hands burn brightly with harmless fire.

Harry stared and was just in awe of the Carny's show as the crowd was.

Nearly out of soda, Harry moved on, walking by another sideshow before he cringed at the sight of the Hall of Mirrors. Remembering how everyone at the carnival regarded the place, Harry avoided it and took a different road, which would loop around to meet at the Smashers so he didn't have to walk in front of the Hall of Mirrors.

More food carts passed him as well as sideshows and a Bouncy Castle ride that was clearly intended for the younger age levels of customers. Pausing at the rest area, which was a patch of healthy green grass, Harry dumped his empty soda can into the bin there and looked over at the two rectangle tents. As he stared at them, the larger one on his right was indicated to be “Management” and the tent on the left read “King's Office.'

Until then, Harry had wondered where Carter went during the day and what he did.

Up the road and across from an ice cream cart was a large paddock with two horses running around, though one was actually what looked to be a young Zebra with a lot of energy. Harry saw a woman in a cowgirl hat sitting on the top of the wooden fence on the opposite end, away from the crowd, as she watched the two creatures. He wondered who this was, yet turned and bumped into a girl hardly an inch taller than he was.

'Watch it!' She snapped rudely at him.

'Sorry!' Harry said quickly, staring at her black hair that didn't quite match her blue eyes.

It was all he saw, besides her pair of blue jeans and black long-sleeved shirt before the girl had hurried off towards the Smashers ride. She ignored those waiting in queue and simply climbed over the railing to seek out a vibrant red car-inspired carriage. She drove it around and smashed head-on or into the side of the others, which appeared to be the entire point of the ride. Harry thought she was weird, yet returned to his own observations, since he now stood at the corner.

He was surrounded by the beginning of the thin road that led to the private Carny area with the tents they lived in, nearby was the Smashers, and a large golden tent attached to the paddocks for Carnies “Rose & Grace”. He could see the Ferris Wheel and Baxer's cage from where he stood, yet he caught the sight of a tank habitat across from the Smashers.

Curious, he stepped closer and saw a pale yellow and white Python sleeping inside. Remembering the Boa Constrictor he set free before he'd realised it was through magic, Harry smiled and watched the slumbering snake for a moment longer. Turning, he checked his watch and was surprised, yet glad, to see that an entire hour had passed him by.

Harry was confident that he had seen the entire carnival now, as he made his way to Lady Swan's violet tent.

No one was at the entrance to the tent, so he slowly stepped inside and moved the flap aside so he could get a better view within. He halted to the spot a few feet inside and stared around with awe. He could not tell he was inside a tent because the walls were covered with glass. Behind the glass was crystal clear water with fish swimming around inside it. The floor was composed of removable smooth, green/brown marble tiles. At the middle of the tent was a counter and seat just like Ryan had.

Lady Swan was sitting there, staring at a single white swan feather that rested on the counter.

'Wow, this is amazing!' Harry couldn't stop himself as he approached her. He turned on the spot to admire the watered walls and the fish, not noticing the way he had startled Mina from her concentration on the feather.

'Harry?' Mina smiled and left her seat to greet him. 'Did Ryan send you over?'

'Yeah, he said I could help you if you need it.' Harry told her. 'His booth is boring.'

Chuckling at his pout, Mina nodded and gestured for him to sit on her seat while she reached to the counter for the feather. She leaned to tuck it behind his left ear and smiled, admiring the way he looked with it.

'The first day is never a favourite.' Mina said as she sat to his left. 'Did you get to have a walk around?' She wondered. 'I always felt much freer after a walk around the carnival.'

'Oh, I did.' Harry nodded. 'Ryan said you wouldn't like it if I brought my soda in here, so he said I could go for a walk until it was gone.'

'Ryan is correct.' Mina nodded as she lowered her tone to whisper. 'But I would have made an exception for you.'

'Really?' Harry smiled. 'Why?'

'Can I tell you a secret, Harry?' Mina pretended to be serious yet was pleased when he nodded eagerly in return. 'I think you and I are going to be good friends. I don't know why, but I think you're a very special little boy.'

'I'm not little.' Harry said and reached to press his hair over his lightning bolt scar. 'And I don't like being special.' He lowered his gaze, thinking she only liked him because he was the Boy-Who-Lived.

'Oh no, don't mistake what I meant.' Mina said quickly. 'I know who you are. You're not special to me because of that, Harry. No child, you're special because you have a kind heart and you still delight in the wonders of the world. Many of our kind have lost that as it become customary to see it every day.'

Knowing she was talking about magic, Harry nodded and calmed, feeling fond of her again when she liked him only for something that had nothing to do with his fame or background, just regarding himself.

'I think we're going to be good friends too.' Harry beamed at her.

--

The hours slipped by faster with Mina than they had with Ryan, who Harry did not see for the rest of the afternoon. She had no tasks for him to do for her, yet considered keeping her company as “helping”. Harry was more than happy to oblige as they talked away any time that Mina didn't spend entertaining customers with her wonderful tent decorations or magicking her swan feathers into white birds or butterflies.

As the afternoon neared an end and the sky outside began to darken, Harry and Mina stepped out of her tent to watch the carnival go dark as it closed. With the promise to visit her whenever he wanted or needed to, Harry crossed the path to join Ryan again. Baxer was sleeping in his cage as Ryan covered it with the material.

Harry stared longingly upwards at the Ferris Wheel while he waited for Ryan to call him.

Hurrying after the teenager, Harry wondered what Severus had done all day as he walked along the narrow path to the main tent. Feeling exhausted, though he felt he hadn't done very much, Harry was looking forward to his dinner and then going to shower before bed.

Leaving Ryan's side, Harry walked to the kitchen and requested pineapple juice rather than that horrible cheery stuff, yet didn't change his menu from chicken with mashed potato, and carrots, because he had quite enjoyed it the night before.

Sitting between Mina and Severus, Harry quickly ate his meal and waited for the man on his right (who looked to be in a very livid mood), to finish eating so they could return to their tent.

Pushing his plate away, Harry lay his head on the table and closed his eyes, facing Mina as he slowly felt sleep lulling his senses.

Severus glared down at the rudely sleeping child. He made a move to shove the brat awake, but a hand gripped his own before he had the chance. Looking at Mina, who now stood behind Harry, Severus snatched his hand away and got to his feet.

'Allow me.' Mina offered.

Severus said nothing, since she had already carefully lifted Harry into her arms. He followed after her, passing Carter's table as they went, and wondered why the “King” watched them with suspicious interest. Severus had not spent a lot of time with the man, yet from his observations so far...he did not like Carter at all.

'This is ours.' Severus indicated to the tent he unfortunately shared with the boy. Holding the flap open for Mina, he wondered why she didn't simply levitate the child.

Laying Harry in his bed, Mina waved her light hazel wand to remove his shoes and, in a single motion, replaced his attire with his folded, clean pyjamas that had been waiting for him at the end of the bed. Severus did not admit that he was not familiar with the spell, since most other witches or wizards he knew would have simply transfigured the clothes instead.

'He's a special boy, Severus.' Mina straightened and turned to face him, her blue eyes reminding him of sapphires as they met his obsidian gaze without judgement or reluctance, unlike so many.

'Take good care of him.'