The Sideshow Act(ing)
The Sideshow tent was the second largest on the field, cut in half by a long hallway and a series of small curtains. Beyond the curtains was a small clearing with an elevated platform where the Sideshows performed, separated by the audience by a length of yellow rope.
“Be quiet,” Scar whispered, putting a gloved finger to her lips. Harry mimed zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key, silently giggling as the group sat down on the grass. “This is Joyce,” Scar muttered. “She’s Kitty older sister and also the Ringmaster’s daughter,”
Harry turned around and pretended to shush her silently, giggling as Scar threw him a dirty look, before everyone’s attention was diverted back to the stage, as Joyce threw the hoops, catching one on her mouth and using magic to flip the unicycle right side up, tilting her head up to perfectly catch the other two on the one in her mouth, balancing them for a split second before letting all three drop into her hands. “Wicked,” Ron muttered, staring in amazement as Joyce continued to cycle along the wire, alternating between throwing the hoops behind her and balancing one of them on her chin, like a performing seal.
The group continued to watch her act until it was done, in which she jumped off the unicycle, still on the wire, and bowed before the audience, staying there for a few minutes until she ran lightly across the balancing wire with her things and climbed down. “C’mon, we gotta get to the back,” Liam said, trying his best to speak louder over the chattering crowd. He dragged Ani and Kyle behind him as he started to cut through the crowd, the rest of them following behind.
“Joyce! Hey!” Scar dipped under the curtain at the back, revealing a small room where the other girl was standing, folding up the unicycle and storing the hoops in a small box.”Oh hey guys!” Joyce waved. “Give me a second and let me change, I’ll meet you out by the second stage,”
Mrs. Weasely looked around as they walked along the Sideshow tent, amazed at everything going around her while also trying to keep Ginny in check.
Joyce and Kitty were matching in their striped black and white skirts and white tank tops, with Joyce also wearing a black scarf over it and sporting a pair of black combat boots not unlike Bill’s. The two of them seemed to disappear in and out of the shadows as they walked beside Harry, with Kitty burbling in her older sister’s arms.
Scar and Will also seemed to have the same effect, stepping into the sidelines to get a better view of the Sideshow acrobats only to reappear somewhere else, the rest of the group acting like it was entirely normal for them to do that, with Liam not even blinking as the pair reappeared nearly right in front of him, only rolling his eyes and slowing down to avoid stepping on them.
Around them, the darkened tent was bustling with life as people sat down on the grass to watch the sideshows nearly everywhere in the tent, forcing the group to navigate in a snake-like wind around the crowd before they reached the other side.
“Finally, fresh air,” Joyce muttered, tossing her blonde hair out of her face. “Are we going to our caravans first or food?”
“I want food,” Harry immediately piped up, raising a hand. “You always want food,” Ani rolled her eyes. “I vote we go see the games booths. I wanna see if I can get three in a row,” “No, we should go to the caravans! We can get food from there,” Kyle protested. “Guys this is our only chance to see Diagon alley. Are we really going to pass up the chance to see that place?” Scar pressed. “Ok, ok. We’ll go to the caravans first and get food, and then we’ll go to Diagon,” Liam interjected. “You can go to the game booths tomorrow, Ani,” he added just as the youngest Rakkar started to complain. “C’mon, let’s head out back,”