Getting accepted into the circus was ridiculously easy. To her luck the first person she managed to talk to did understand english. Sure, Leilani winced heavily at her own voice, that sadly had not turned deeper as she intended but into a screeching high pitch.

She got brought to the circus director and after practically begging them to take her in, they accepted.

In her impulsive idiocy she answered "Skull… Skull de Mort" when they asked for her name. She truly wasn't at fault, her mind still twisted around Voldemort and it was the first thing that came to her mind. She had never been great with coming up with names, as her stunt with the Knight Bus proved when she told them her name was Hermione Granger in her third year.

In the end she did saw the merit in the name. If any wizard would be around her name would maybe attract enough attention or she would see their reaction and know.

In her first week she helped the performers prepar and cleaning. It really wasn't bad and she got food, a bed in a trailer that they had used to transport storage in and the chance to shower.

She actually felt helpful and appreciated for once. Every last one of the staff was great and nice and a few of them even started to teach her their native languages. Every wizard had a natural talent in learning languages. Some, like Crouch for example, learned over 200.

In her free time she still wandered the streets to find out about magic or just studied any visitor of the circus.

It took barely two weeks until she got roped into performing. At first just a small assistant role as a clown but it escalated. The role she had to take on was a boisterous personality that was convinced of their greatness and someone who thought they couldn't fail but did so with every step they took. Theoretically it was only supposed to be a one time thing as the other assistant had been sick but the masses were way too into it and so she got the job permanently. It escalated further and further and the part she did became bigger at every show.

It was weirdly fun to be honest, even while it was embarrassing she got used to it and even got encouraged to practise her character outside of performance to really ingrain it, Earning praises every step she took and it only took a few weeks until she got comfortable.

Her favourite activity was to watch the stunt driver. It was a small show and the man wasn't endlessly skillful but whenever he used his motorcycle to do jumps Skull fell in love with it. It reminded her so much of flying she could only stare at it longingly.

Pietro as the man was called did grin at the sight and called her over. Skull's first lesson in motorcycle riding began that day.

Her birthday passed without her even noticing but it's not like she could celebrate it really, after all she had lied and claimed she was 26.

Her talent for stunt driving showed quickly, she even started to incorporate it in her clown act. While her performance included more of her pulling of spectacular fails on it she still needed the skill to pull it off and her range only grew wider every day.

The crowds ate it up, seeing the boisterous idiotic Skull do reckless things on the motorcycle, every one of his fails carefully studied and practised and it took only two months until she started to perform together with Pietro. She surpassed him even quicker than that and her stuntact got bigger and bigger.

She definitely had to credit it to the years she had spent on her broom. The muscles needed for motorcycles and broom riding were practically identical and she had always played around on her broom. Theoretically she had done stunts since the first moment she had sat on a broom, especially in her last year at Hogwarts as the lack of actual quidditch games had made her spend her free time flying around the grounds and more than just once practised rather dangerous manoeuvres.

Other performers helped her practise and learn other things; saltos, aerial work and she incorporated everything. It got so insane that her act alone was enough to pull in visitors. The circus itself had never seen that much interest and even their advertisement now included a picture of her 'The great immortal Skull de Mort - the man even the grim reaper hates!'

Her title was slightly embarrassing but they kept her stage persona from her clown acts and to be honest quite a few of her stunts were insane. Sure, her falls were planned and practised but it didn't change that it looked like she miraculously managed to survive all of them.

Skull loved every minute of it, it was almost enough to make her forget that she got no Hogwarts letter and that she still hadn't seen any sign of magic.

They did get to England at one point and it was at that time that Leilani had to face reality. There was no leaky cauldron in London, no matter how much she searched for it. Her different magic and everything else had been blaring signs. She should have known but it didn't matter in the end

. Skull cried for hours at the realisation that she somehow had managed to land in a different dimension. She still had no clue how and even less how she would manage to make it back.

The only thing that kept her hope up was the knowledge that her friends and her godfather wouldn't give up. They would find a way! She might not be able to help but she could trust them and she was certain they could achieve it. She just had to wait!

With a more than determined face she wiped her tears away, stood up from her spot on the streets where she had been bawling her eyes out and made her way back to the circus. If she couldn't find a way back then she at least had to make the most of her time here and especially distract herself from her newly won knowledge that she was in a magicless universe.

The show that evening got even more reckless.

Skull really climbed the rank in popularity. She appeared in online articles and newspapers and her circus was even overwhelmed with the traction of visitors. Every last show completely sold out and it barely took any time until she was declared the number one stunt man by the masses.

She wasn't really sure if that was true but at the instance of her colleagues she accepted the compliments and took it up as part of her performance, bragging was one of Skulls specialities after all.

Leilani loved the circus, while Hogwarts was always her first home she had to admit that it had been harsh and stressful to be seen as a celebrity for something she couldn't even remember, same as the ostraction she had to suffer from whenever stuff got blamed on her and well naturally the constant struggle to stay alive.

The circus was magical in its own way and she loved it, she truly did. Every last praise she got was earned by herself and she had worked hard for it and for once she didn't mind the crowds that gave her attention. She had earned it after all and she could hide behind Skulls boisterous character to hide her embarrassment at some point.

Sure she still wanted to get back home, she missed her friends, her godfather and to be honest even the fights with Malfoy were something she longed for. She missed having a wand and actually practising magic but for now? For now she was happy.

She would get back at one point, she was certain. She trusted her friend and Dumbledore to get her back safely even if it took them a while and as long as they hadn't achieved it she would have fun with the circus. Maybe she would even join a circus after she finished her education at Hogwarts. She could join a magical circus maybe or even create one if they didn't exist!

The time went quickly by and she was still happy at least until the man with the iron mask appeared in her trailer.

She almost fell backwards when she saw him "What? Who are you?"

"My name is Checkerface and I'm here to invite you to the i prescelti sette" out of nowhere a letter appeared in front of Skull.

"Are you magic? A wizard?" she almost hopefully asked.

The man laughed but it sounded metallic, harsh "No, no but I guess mist flames can be seen as something magical for a civilian, no witchcraft involved though. I'm gathering the seven strongest and you got chosen to be one of them."

The fifteen year old immediately felt crushed "No interest. Please leave my trailer."

"No can do. Your presence is required."

Leilani really felt no interest in joining something like that. She was still waiting for the wizarding world to get her back and she wanted to spend more time with the circus. Something like the strongest seven just sounded like fighting and that was something she definitely wasn't interested in. "I don't think you're talking about performers so bugger off. I have no interest."

"I'm gonna leave you the letter. I will come back later to hear your positive reply."

The man disappeared without a trace and Skull could only stare at the now empty spot.

She didn't know why but something in her told her the man was bad news.