The O'Heidin Carnival bustled with business all summer long.

Aileen O'Heidin, a twelve-year-old witch who was the daughter of the carnival's owner, laid face-first in her pillow. It was the end of July, and she'd spent most of the summer practicing her fire spells alone outside or sulking in her bed. During her first school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Aileen had come face to face with a mysterious entity named Xyler, a notorious dark wizard who was rapidly making a name for himself throughout the wizarding community. Amidst the letters she would receive from her friends, Aileen would get a copy of the Daily Prophet from Maxwell. Maxwell, her childhood friend who lived in Scotland, would always be given newspapers by his family, and he always sent them to Aileen when he was finished with them. Today, as she lay bored on her bed, her head was crushing one of the pages of the Daily Prophet, which was flashing a headline that read; VALEFOR LIVES: CONFIRMED

Yes, Aileen knew that Valefor - a Death Eater who once followed Lord Voldemort - was alive. Valefor was a Xyler supporter, and he was the uncle of Aileen's rival, Erika Sayre. He was also a ruthless raving lunatic on the run from Azkaban.

Aileen began to sit up, skimming over the pile of papers on her pillow. She grabbed her most recent letter from Maxwell and reread it.

Aileen, my dad is bringing me to the carnival tomorrow before we leave for school. Albus

and the Potters are coming too, and so are the Weasleys. You're gonna have to help me show

them around! Also, my dad offered to take your dad back home to the carnival if he wants to

join us at Diagon Alley. Wizards can't apparate from one country to another unless they're a high

ranking auror, so my dad would have to take him home. How's your dad doing? And how are you

doing? How come you're hardly ever writing me back? If you're sad about your mom, you can talk

to me. See ya tomorrow.

Max

Aileen frowned.

All summer, her friends had been writing her, asking her if they could visit her carnival, but each time, she told them that she'd rather be alone. Her mother died from Dragon Pox last year, and she still hadn't gotten over it - and, she was certain that Xyler was involved with her mother's death somehow. When she met Xyler, the Dark Lord mentioned Aileen's mother's death to her. Xyler knew of her demise before Aileen herself did. That was too suspicious for Aileen to ignore.

But now, she'd spent the summer hiding away from everyone and pouting by herself, and she had run out of time to mourn. It was almost time for the new year at Hogwarts to begin, and she wouldn't be able to hide from her friends any longer.

The music from the carnival was much louder than usual. If Aileen was able to feel it shaking her house, then it was too loud. Her one-room home sat on a hill overlooking the O'Heidin Carnival. Usually the music from the carnival sounded like a distant, dull humming whenever she was inside. It sounded like quite a party was going on down there.

"Dad..." Aileen uttered, standing from her bed and walking out the front door.

Ever since her mother's death, her father had been acting strange. He wasn't acting angry or depressed... at least, not obviously so. He spent most of his time out of the house, working on the carnival or tending to his wife's garden... or, on numerous occasions during the summer, partying in the carnival and trying his damndest to forget about his problems. Aileen usually felt safe under his wing, but for the past couple of weeks, she felt more like she was there simply to look after him. He wasn't handling the loss well at all.

It was nighttime, and the lights of the carnival brightened the atmosphere beautifully. As Aileen marched down the grassy hill, the music became deafening.

"Can you dance like a Hippogriff, ma ma ma, ma ma ma, ma ma ma..."

All around, muggles and wizards alike were dancing and partying like mad. Aileen wasn't used to seeing wizards in the carnival. They must have been some of her father's friends. The only way she was able to tell them apart from the muggles was their attire; the wizards weren't wearing muggle disguises. They were wearing their usual wizardly getup, the clothes she would see on everyone in Diagon Alley; many differently colored wizard's robes and numerous variations of pointy hats. The muggles didn't even seem to notice how different they looked. Perhaps they simply looked like circus attractions to the muggles. Accounting for the funny paint on many of the carnival performers' faces and the goofy clothes they wore, the wizards were hardly noticeable.

"Flyin' off, from a cliff, ma ma ma, ma ma ma, ma ma ma... swoopin' down, to the ground, ma ma ma, ma ma ma, ma ma ma..."

Aileen weaved through the crowd, carefully dodging the feet and elbows of the maniacs who were lost to the rhythm.

Her eyes drifted up to the stage. It was the stage where her father would always perform his magic tricks for the entertainment of the muggles. He was up there now, dancing, headbanging, and kicking in a wild dance. Aileen had never seen him dance before.

"Wheel around, and around, and around, and around, ma ma ma, ma ma ma, ma ma ma..."

Samuel O'Heidin spun in a perfect circle atop the stage, spreading out his fingers and creating a small whirlwind of fire from them as he moved. The crowd cheered him on.

He leaped from the stage and stuck a smooth landing in the crowd. He then snatched a bottle of rum from a nearby wizard and upturned it. He ingested about half the bottle when he stopped, reared back, and spat out a massive wave of fire; the flames protruded from his mouth and swirled into the sky, taking the shape of a fiery hippogriff before dissipating into the air.

The crowd went wild.

"Dad!" Aileen tried to shout over them. "Oy! Dad!"

Samuel stumbled to a stop, ceasing his dancing and noticing that Aileen was just feet away from him. He had a glazed look about him, his black overcoat twisted crookedly over his pinstriped vest, his slicked-back hairs wilder and messier than usual.

"Hothead!" he beamed, spreading his arms open and trapping her in a hug. "Make a fire show, kiddo. C'mon, give these people somethin' to cheer for!"

The crowd roared even louder, seeming to like the idea.

Aileen's head was squished into her father's chest, and she was able to smell something acidic on him. He'd been drinking again.

"C'mon... fire it up!" Samuel egged her on. "C'mon, kiddo, c'mon..."

"Stop it, Dad, please." Aileen gazed up at him. "Will you come home? Haven't you partied enough?"

"Enough?" Samuel murmured.

Aileen gave him a pleading look.

Samuel sighed. "Alright, kiddo, alright..."

He began to escort her up the hill, his hand on her shoulder - or, perhaps it would have been more appropriate to say that she was escorting him. He was hardly able to walk straight, and he kept a firm hold on Aileen's sweater as they walked, using her as a guide. The crowd moaned in protest, many of them hollering and asking Samuel to stay, but he ignored them.

When they entered their home, Samuel closed the door and leaned on it for several minutes, looking like he might fall asleep standing up. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes, meeting his daughter's gaze and noticing the visage of disappointment she wore.

"M'sorry," Samuel said.

"I miss her too," Aileen told him. "But I feel like I'm losing both of my parents."

Samuel frowned.

"I just needed to take my mind off it for a bit," he said, rubbing his temples. "I'm all done now, okay? I promise. I didn't want to make you feel like that... that wasn't..."

He stepped forward and tried to embrace her, and he nearly lost his balance. Aileen wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight.

"I wish you'd listen to me," Aileen mumbled into his vest. "If you worked with Ross and Harry, I bet you could help them find Xyler..."

"I can't run off and play auror. I'm not qualified," Samuel told her. "And in any case... I've told you before, hothead. Xyler had nothing to do with your mother dying."

"He did," Aileen grouched. "I know he did. Xyler knew that she was dead. He knew before I did. He had something to do with it, I know it."

"No, he didn't," Samuel said. "I know it's hard to accept, kiddo... but... your mother just got sick. It happens. I tended to her until she passed. I was there. I know how she passed, and I know it had nothing to do with Xyler."

"How do you know for sure?" Aileen asked. "How do you know that Xyler didn't make her sick?"

Samuel looked down at her sadly. "Kiddo..."

"What?"

"I think you're trying too hard to find someone to blame for her death. But... there is no one to blame. Sometimes, these things just happen..."

"I don't believe that," Aileen said straightly. "No... the way Xyler talked about it... he had to have something to do with it. He had to."

Samuel let out a cloud of breath.

"You need to get packed up for school..." he said. "The train will be in London the day after tomorrow. Go ahead and get packed."

Aileen huffed and stormed over to her trunk, thrusting her clothes and supplies into it carelessly. Ziggy watched her from her bed, flicking his forked tongue at her.

Samuel sank onto his bed. He picked up a small rock from his nightstand - a rock that had a strangely yellowish shine to it - and he slowly waved his hand over it, muttering an incantation to himself repeatedly.

After Aileen had sloppily packed her trunk, she turned to her father. "What are you doing?"

"Aureus... Aureus..." Samuel muttered, focusing very intently on the rock. "It's a new trick, kiddo. I've been working on this ever since January. You know how our family has an aptitude for elemental manipulation, right?"

Aileen nodded.

"Well..." Samuel said, holding up the shiny rock. "I figured I'd be able to buy you something nice for school if I could work on my earth spells."

Aileen blinked. "Are you trying to turn that rock into gold?"

"I'm not trying. I'm succeeding," Samuel grinned. "This is tricky magic. This rock is about three-fourths gold now. Took it long enough to get that far... I wanted to transform the entire thing before we did your school shopping, but I guess this will have to do."

"Why don't you use your wand?" Aileen asked. "You might be able to do more if you used more than just your hands."

Samuel studied the rock very intently.

Aileen took her Sycamore wand from her bed and handed it to him. "Try doing it with a wand."

Samuel hesitantly took the wand, taking a moment to adjust himself to its hold. He then waved it over the rock in a smooth swish-and-flick. "Aureus."

At once, the entire rock hardened into pure gold.

Samuel and Aileen both beamed.

"Well, I'll be," Samuel said. "That's certainly something. Do you know how many wizards would kill for a gold-creating spell? I guess this one works better with a wand. Pain in the ass. But, well, at least we perfected it. Good thinking, kiddo."

"What do you mean?" Aileen wondered. "You mean no other wizards know that spell?"

"Probably not, considering I just made it up last year," Samuel told her. "I doubted it would even work, but I spent half a year trying to perfect it. Your wand did the trick. That must be some wand you've got there. What kind is it, again?"

"A Sycamore with dragon heartstring," Aileen informed. "It's got the heartstring of a Leviathan."

Samuel looked to her, his expression fading into one of disbelief.

"Leviathan?" he said.

Aileen nodded. "That's what Ollivander told me. He told me that I got the last known wand of Leviathan. It cost a lot."

Samuel stared at her wordlessly.

Aileen narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just..." Samuel muttered. "Wow. My daughter has a legendary wand. You really are something special, ya' know that?"

"Yeah, right," Aileen brushed him off. "You're the one inventing spells that turn rocks into gold."

Samuel laughed.

"Don't get too dependent on that wand," he told her. "I still wanna teach you some more wandless magic once you're old enough."

"Yeah, but I have to perfect regular magic before I can do that," Aileen said, thinking of her Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Crowley. "Oh, and Ross and the Potters are coming to the carnival tomorrow. I'm supposed to go with them to shop in Diagon Alley after they spend some time in the carnival. Ross offered to bring you with us."

"Sounds good," Samuel replied, turning the golden rock around and smiling at it. "I've been wanting to buy you something for a long time, and I've never had the money for it until now. I want to be there to pick it out myself."

"What is it?" Aileen asked excitedly.

Samuel shook his head. "It's a surprise. You'll find out tomorrow."

Aileen went to the kitchenette, preparing to cook one of her mother's famous Shepherd's Pies for dinner. Samuel laid back on his bed, yawning and trying not to fall asleep. The two of them stayed awake late, eating and talking about different racing broomsticks. They fell asleep around midnight, and they slept until about ten in the morning. Ross Connelly, Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione Weasley, and all of their children had arrived at the carnival at nine, and they wandered around aimlessly until Samuel and Aileen finally rolled out of bed and went to greet them.

"Finally woke up, didja?" Ross said to Samuel. "About time."

"Yeah, yeah," Samuel replied.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, George, and Ginny were giving their children instructions and handing out Sickles and Knuts for them to spend. Afterwards, Maxwell, Albus, James, Fred, and Rose all darted up to Aileen.

"This place is amazing!" Rose exclaimed. "You actually live here, Aileen?"

"Wow, you're lucky," Albus commented.

"My dad brings me here whenever he has to go on a long trip," Maxwell told them. "I can show you where everything is. Let's go to the candy stand!"

"Yeah, this place is okay," James shrugged. "I've seen better."

"No you haven't," Fred replied. "Come on. I'm hungry. I'm with Max - let's have candy for lunch."

And without warning, Aileen found herself giving the Potters and Weasleys the grand tour of the O'Heidin Carnival. She and Maxwell took turns showing off the attractions before they finally reached the candy stand, and James was disappointed to see that there were no Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans or Chocolate Frogs. Instead, they got to choose from cotton candies, popcorn, and various kinds of muggle chocolates.

"M&M's?" Fred questioned, staring at his cup of multicolored chocolate circles. "What in the bloody hell..."

Aileen took everyone to ride the ferris wheel - and she was delighted to see that James was afraid of heights. She and Fred continued to poke fun at him until they stepped off of the ride. They shook the cart around as much as they could, and James had gone so pale they halfway expected him to fall victim to a heart attack.

The adults watched their children from a distance. Samuel and Ross stood side by side, like they often did. Ross' gigantic body wasn't covered in an overcoat or a robe like usual; today, he wore only a tank top and a pair of baggy muggle pants. He looked completely different from the Potters and Weasleys, and standing beside Samuel, one would have never guessed that the two of them were long-time friends. Ross had easily twice as much body mass as Samuel, and he looked like he couldn't care less what he was wearing, while Samuel wore his clean-cut overcoat and his pinstriped suit, looking far too stylish for the profession he had. His nails had segments of black nail polish on them, most of which had chipped off, and one of his ears flashed a silvery Deathly Hallows earring.

"So, how're you doing?" Ross asked him.

Samuel didn't reply for nearly a full minute.

"Same old. Getting by," he told Ross. "And you?"

"Aye. Pretty much the same," Ross said. "Been working with Harry a lot, trying to find that Xyler fella. And Valefor, too. His niece, Erika... she's not giving up any information on her uncle, so... the search is slow-going."

"As long as my daughter doesn't end up in danger again, I couldn't care less about those tossers," Samuel replied. "Just make sure that nobody can get into Hogwarts again. That's all I ask. The kids need to be safe when they're off at school."

"You don't have to worry about that. Zander and Trocar have been refortifying the school," Ross told him. "No more animagus invasions, and no more boggarts."

"Good," Samuel said.

The children darted up to their parents, and James was complaining that everyone was picking on him, to which Harry replied; "I expect you know how it feels when you do it to other people now, don't you?" This made Fred and Aileen laugh even harder.

It wasn't long before their short vacation in the O'Heidin Carnival ended, and the adults decided it was time to leave for Diagon Alley.

Before they apparated off to London, Samuel kelt beside Aileen and whispered into her ear.

"Don't tell anyone about this," Samuel said faintly, flashing the gold rock and pocketing it. "These kind of spells are illegal."

Aileen giggled. "I won't."

Ross grabbed Samuel by the arm, and Samuel took his daughter's hand. The Potters and Weasleys joined hands and prepared for the apparation, and off they went.

Crack.