Off to the Circus, I hope. Any opinions on how things are going? I will try to inject a bit of humour here, but this chapter also contains some implied abuse of minors.

Off to the Circus

No one sent word to Tina Goldstein about her sister. Firstly, only Nimue and Galahad knew where she was lodging. Nimue was busy dancing and did not know about Queenie. Galahad was still reeling from his run-in with Grindelwald. Secondly, Galahad was in no state to give any instructions. Lastly, Bedivere – who swore his snake-kin could ferret out anyone – was busy tending to Galahad to think about contacting Tina. No message awaited Tina at her pension.

A Circus. Being the youngest members of the crew in Paris, Tristan and Iseult were still children enough to adore a good circus. They had ended a successful season with the Savannah Rougarous Quidditch team and were now seeking a new contract with the Colorado Thunderbirds. However, the twins acknowledged that their professional career was quickly ending and were looking for alternatives. One option they bandied about was running a magical zoo. On their summer vacations from Ilvermorny, Galahad had roped them in to help with feeding the rougarous and harvesting the hair for wands. They had honed their flying skills over the pens, avoiding the deadly beasts' jaws and stunning those set for harvesting. Now the pair were perched on the bleachers, watching the show and munching on popcorn.

"They got an oni and kappa!" Tristan pointed excitedly at the sad-looking beasts.

The pair had little interest in watching anyone change into a snake, regardless of the ringmaster's spiel. Back in Wampus House, they had known hereditary animagi who could change into bobcats, cougars, and hawks at will. For a time, they played Quidditch alongside an Anglo-Indian witch who was a cobra animagus. The team got suspended once when Tristan played Seeker with the witch coiled about his broom in her snake form as a second pair of eyes to look out for the snitch.

"Poor things look so sad."

"No, they aren't… their faces are made that way. Just like in my book by Newt Scamander."

"Salamander who?"

"The magizoologist, Izzy. The one who wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them! I got him to autograph my copy after our last match in London." Tristan leaned over to fish out his copy of the book from his knapsack.

"Tris, is that a firedrake that flew by?" Iseult tugged at her brother's scarf and pointed the other way, almost choking him.

"You can't tell a pixie from a firedrake, Izzy… wait, that is a firedrake…" There was a loud roar and screams from below.

"Let's get out of here." Professional Quidditch players, both slung their knapsacks on their backs, hopped on their broomsticks in one slick move and zipped out before a Zouwu leapt onto the stands, scattering the audience in all directions.

Somewhere in the French Ministry of Magic, the Auror teams cursed soundly at the latest alarm in a series of many ever since those rumours of Grindelwald's return to Europe as a free man started up. Half the Aurors considered if it was time for a career-switch while the other half weighed their chances at calling in sick or knocking off early before their shift ended. On the memorial wall, five portrait-Aurors frowned disapprovingly at their former colleagues before deciding to quit their posts and hang out with the cancan girls on posters of the club next door.

Melusine the archivist frowned at the discordant alarm echoing from the levels overhead. It did not concern her. What did was the article in the Le Gazette Magie. It announced the memorial service of one Madame Josephine Carolina Lestrange who passed at the ripe old age of 200 in Geneva, a week before she strode in with a niece to check on the family's box. She gave a low whistle and a meowing black cat hopped onto her desk. More black cats peered out from behind the pillars. It would do no harm to have the Matagots on standby until this Grindelwald character was gone.

She had been so close…

Tina felt like screaming from frustration. Credence had been there, and then he was not. She was certain he had Disapparated. At least he was gone before the French Aurors descended on the place. Some magical beasts had gotten loose from the Circus and had to be captured or driven off from the city. Healers were called in and ambulances to take the injured to hospital. Skender had nothing useful to offer, and he was keener on quitting the place before the French Aurors got back from corralling firedrakes and driving off the giant monkey-cat creature that Newt would know the name of.

Yusuf watched as the slimy circus-owner fled the scene. He had overheard the conversation between him and Tina. She was getting too close. He needed to act. A temporary measure – to get her safely out of the way and keep from pissing one possible necromancer off. If he had known Galahad Graves was lying near comatose in a crypt, perhaps he would have gone with a Pertificus Totalus and stashed the Auror in his hideout until his business with Credence, or Corvus, was completed. As things stood, she needed a gentle touch to be led.

Now, where in the city would a Maledictus and an Obscurial hide?

In the crypt of Notre Dame…

"Moggy's gone missing with her fiancé, the Great Don Zabini. Galahad's lying there out cold. The twins ran off to see a circus. Kay has robbed the local apothecary. Pelly blew up a fireplace… Only then does someone think of informing moi?" Madame Nimue fluttered, literally. The hundreds of magically entranced butterflies flittered as they clung to her in the form of a colourful dress. "Sure you did not leave out anything, Bee? Where's Jenny?"

"I sent her to fetch what I need from the store, legally," Bedivere groaned. "Oh, Tina Goldstein's sister is in Paris and staying under the same roof as Dark Wizard Grindelwald. You can go tell Tina that."

At those words, Nimue let loose a string of curses. Freed by her lapse in concentration, the mass of butterflies made their break for freedom. Bedivere pointedly turned to face the wall away from Nimue. Galahad opened his eyes just a crack at the commotion and quickly covered them with his hand. As the last butterfly fluttered off, Galahad croaked.

"Nimue, please get some proper clothes on before you leave…"

As it turned out, Grindelwald did not even need to wait until nightfall for his memories to catch up with him. He had considered removing them entirely, but he never trusted anyone to do it for him. Or worse, it could affect his magic, his will. It was his years in Durmstrang had forged him into what he is, pain and humiliation included. The master bedroom rug had literally yanked itself out from under his feet when he stepped on it. A little present from his half-brother no doubt. Vinda had not got round to refurnishing the room yet. A wave of his wand to remove all those sickeningly happy family photos. Vanish that teddy bear on the pillows and turn the bedspread and curtains from a tacky bright red to a deep green. A final cleansing spell on the linens before he threw himself across the bed. Weak. Useless. Good for only one thing, pretty boy… The taunts came ringing back across the years. Perhaps his father had hoped his alum mater would help rid him of his unwanted freak of a son. He had declined lunch and then grudgingly allowed Vinda to prepare him a tray for dinner.

Durmstrang almost went under like a sinking ship after the Night of Crimson Snows when three masters were killed. There was an inquiry held but between bribes and secret agreements between the pureblood clans, school board, and the ICW, the university retained this certification and the abuse that went on within its halls continued to a lesser degree. After he was expelled, the school board finally took action. A new headmaster was appointed to repair the damage left by his predecessors. The school was still known for its strict discipline and its Dark Arts curriculum, but there was no more talk about seniors or masters preying on the junior students, or they went about it more discreetly now. He wondered if any student since had to literally offer their asses to the head librarian in exchange for a pass into the restricted shelves. Or perhaps someone had drowned him in the lake by now. Merlin knew he fantasized about that often enough when pinned against the bookshelves.

If Mutti had gotten her way, would he have been sent to Beauxbatons, Hogwarts, or even Ilvermorny? Perhaps not Ilvermorny. It would be too far for Mutti. It was too far away for him to get home quickly if she took a turn for the worse, not that he was informed of her passing in time for the funeral. Vater had waited until he returned home for summer to tell him the news, two months later. For all its failings, Hogwarts did produce a student like Dumbledore. Beauxbatons produced stellar potioneers and alchemists in her heyday, but it seemed to be little more than a fancy advanced charms school now.

They say Paris is a city for love.

Somewhere in the Parisian sewers, two lovers meet in a less-than-romantic setting. Some misunderstandings were cleared up. And maybe, just maybe, a magizoologist and an Auror took one more step towards their eventual destiny. Still, they had little time for romance with an ill captor to attend to, a runaway Zouwu to capture, and a missing Obscurial to locate before he ends up in further trouble. There was also that tricky business of Kama's Unbreakable Vow, but that was a matter to be resolved another day. There was also that Muggle baker who was missing his beloved but let us leave him aside for now.

In the streets above, more lovers dined al fresco. Theseus' laughter was a bit forced, Leta noticed. Their conversation strained. He was on edge, and she could guess why. Newt has gone missing, again. He was here in his capacity as an Auror of the British Ministry. She was in Paris to tidy up her late grandaunt's affairs. That made her fiancé nervous too. There was trouble expected in the wind in Paris. A joint operation between various European ministries to take down Grindelwald – she had heard the whispers in the Ministry. Theseus knew the risks.

At the next table, the minor Italian noble Don Luca Zabini presented his fiancée with a diamond necklace, to Morgause's delight. He loved her despite her halfblood status and his pureblood family's disapproval. Grindelwald's vision promised them so much more than the rigid laws they had now. What did it matter who her parents or grandparents were, so long as she was magical? Morgause smiled at him over her wineglass. She was done with her mixed-up family of misfits – the Black Creek Graves. As Morgause Zabini, she would finally be respectable. No more embarrassment about having to bail Kay from prison. Or fighting the duppies back home on the estate when they get angsty.

In a cabaret, the Encantos strutted their stuff across the stage. Amadeo had been worried when his wife did not appear on time. The audience and management were starting to get hostile. Thank goodness Nimue appeared onstage in a puff of silver confetti – fashionably late and in a new dress. Amadeo thought it looked like it had been altered from a nun's habit but there would be time for explanations and apologies after the show, preferably in bed.

On the rooftops, a pair of young lovebirds found a little nestling. Ugly thing. No idea what species it was, but still a baby needing care. Under the moon, they savoured their first taste of true love in a shared kiss. They were finally freed of their chains to the past, just for that moment in time.

Author's Notes:

Tina never got that heads-up about Queenie is in town and hanging out with Grindelwald from Galahad's crew. Tina and Newt's infiltration mission was likely doomed from the get-go as Melusine has already been tipped off something is up. After Grindelwald's speech in the mausoleum, sure more than a few Aurors decided to switch sides.