It took ages, but the still flaming gargoyle finally made it over to the ladder. The statuette was still cartwheeling, and Alice had to urgently whisper some choice words to it to make it stop. The dragon had landed, too, and she could tell it was doing it's best not to snort anymore fire like she'd asked, little smoke ribbons coming out of his snout. That thing was kind of cute in a devilish, demonic way, maybe she'd keep it after this.

But, anyway, besides Alice's affection for rocks transfigured into pyromaniacal animals.

The gargoyle had reached the top of the ladder now, awaiting more instructions. "Gargoyle, jump into the cup and put your fire out. And be flashy about it." She nodded seriously, and then watched as it stepped onto the wooden block and dove off of it, completing several fancy turns and somersaults and flips before it landed in the water.

What she hadn't been expecting was that huge splash.

"Ummm.." Stage now covered with water. She could FIX IT, though, before Bellaire GOT ANGRIER. "Tergeo. Tergeo, Tergeo, Tergeo." Goodbye water. Hello thirty points, had she gained those back yet? Alice took a dramatic bow for the crowd, then cast a "Finite" and finished up her act, grabbing her materials and bouncing off the stage.

They could applaud now.

Sarah took a ladder out of her bag and placed it next to her. “Draco, fly and land on this ladder” she said. He had to sit still for the time being, as now it was Greg’s chance to shine. Sarah then removed from her satchel (the extension charm was the best) a pole that could stand unaided. She duplicated that and with the flick of her wand sent the second pole a few meters opposite. Then she got out a ball of string and tied it to a pole at each end. Minny had done the same trick, yet it was now too late for Sarah to change her program. Checking that the pole was taut, Sarah picked up Greg and balanced him on the one end of the rope. “Greg will now walk the tightrope, we have been practicing yet one can never be too certain with an act like this...” that was why Sarah would never do the trick herself. She did read up on it though, yet that was in order to know what to think of when directing Greg. “Piertotum Locomotor” she casted and Greg came to life.

“walk the tightrope” she said. Only recently had she moved on to that wording, the training had been gradual. She had to concentrate now, her brow creased in concentration. She did not want Greg to fall. She could see his progress, it was slow, so she began to hurry him up. Balance.. aerodynamics... He had made it to the other side. When at his side, Sarah turned to the audience, “tightrope walking is a parable to the life of anyone. Life is a delicate balance. Yet what if the resbonsibility of students was added to your burden?”

Okay - enough of hiding in the shadows. This was the PERFECT opportunity to show Professor Bellaire what he was made of, especially when she probably thought he was a bit of a slacker in her classes. He wasn't slacking, promise, he was just... slow. Theo emerged into the spotlight, but not quite in the very center, of course. His gargoyle was ready in one hand, and he had a rock in the other, but he didn't feel particularly inspired (or confident enough) to announce himself to the group.

If they happened to see what he was up to, then great.

He placed the gargoyle on the floor in front of him and, "Pierrre..." Pierre? What was this, France? "Piertotum Locomotor." His gargoyle sprung into life and Theo had to think fast about what he wanted it to do. What had he practiced?!!?! It had ALL gone... "Gargoyle..." It did have a name, but Theo had forgotten it since last lesson. "Do some Irish dancing." The Slytherin took a breather whilst the gargoyle did it's thang.

Rock...

Dragon...

UGH, HE COULDN'T DO THIS.

Theo took a step back from his Irish dancing gargoyle until he almost whacked the curtain behind him. He dropped his wand, too, from all the sweating that his palms seemed to be excreting.

Pausing a moment for effect, Sarah continued, “now with the help of Greg and Draco, I will try to demonstrate”. Sarah summoned her copy of “Hogwarts A history” and placed it on Greg’s head. She then added a few more textbooks and other books and piled them on. She steadied them with her hand as she called over to Draco, “Draco, sit on Greg’s shoulder and beat your wings there”. Draco flew over to the Gargoyle, blocking the view of Greg with his wings. Then Sarah turned to Greg, “Please, Greg, will you please walk the tightrope, while balancing the books on your head, and not dropping a book or Draco”. No human of Greg’s build could to that, yet Sarah had practiced with him. She concentrated again, envisioning it all, and when the books tottered to one side, Sarah, who was in control of Greg, had to make Greg balance. When Greg was halfway through the length of the rope, Sarah flicked her wand to her satchel and summoned three balls. She then did a quick charm and they began to circle Greg and his load at a dizzying pace. Sarah turned her attention back to Greg and the walking and balancing continued. At some points it looked like Greg was about to topple off, yet just in the nick of time he regained his balance. The books began to slide occasionally, which required more manueverring. By the time Greg reached the other side, Sarah was exhausted. The whole thing required such concentration. Sarah gave a wan smile and looked towards the audience. “This was hard work for me to control, yet how much more so the load would increase if Greg was a human and had to walk it himself. This is what the staff at Hogwarts goes through often, I I appreciate them for that. Teaching is a labour of love, you know” well, in Lafay’s case, maybe it was a love of future victims that kept her there. Bently had the love, well all the professors had that love except for Lafay, Bellaire and the Headmistress. She did not know about Vinteren, she was too nervous to get close to him. “Before I continue on with the final part, I think we should all stop a moment and give them a round of applause, as education means the future”. That was the unplanned part, yet Sarah thought it was necessary. The headmistress had an ego, so she would not complain about going off track.
In order to add a bit more of a show to it, Sarah commanded Greg to clap his hands and Draco to beat his wings. Well done staff

Marigold was nervous about this next trick, but she had faith in the gargoyle.
"AND NOW MY GARGOYLE WILL JUGGLE WITH ITS HANDS!" Oops, she already said that, right? But anyway, she whispered to her gargoyle to start. Her gargoyle went into a handstand and she picked up two bean bags she had sewn herself with Hufflepuff colors. "Here!" she said to her stone statue, tossing them. Her gargoyle hit them with its feet, and alternated, so the bean bags "juggled." Next, Marigold put a hoola hoop around the gargoyle, who made it rotate around its hands while still juggling with its feet.
"Can my gargoyle have a hand for THAT!" Marigold said. "ALRIGHTY FOLKS, BE PREPARED FOR MY NEXT ACT-THE INCREDIBLE STONE TAP DANCER!"

Alright so Kace was gonna try and do hula hooping with his gargoyle. That could be interesting or maybe an epic failure. He would try it out anyways. He cleared his throat and said not too loudly this time.....

"BLAZE WILL NOW ATTEMPT TO DO HULA HOOPING." he smiled towards Blaze. Then Blaze understood and got the circus ring. He tried to put it around his waist and then he swung it around his hips. Then it fell. Ah well and then he tried again and then he was doing it. It was going around his waist and then on his hands he was twirling with it. Blaze had talent! Kace was even impressed. "Ladies and Gentlemen i think Blaze deserve a round of applause for these hoop tricks." he said clapping along.

Then he put the hoops down and was getting tired. He muttered to Blaze.."If you wanna do some cartwheels that is fine." he smiled to him. He nodded and did some cartwheels and some front handsprings. These seemed to be his favorite. He was glad he was having fun. He didn't wanna push him into anything he didn't wanna do.

Marigold summoned tap shoes with a nifty charm-the only charm her father taught her, with the explanation that she would "learn better stuff at Hogwarts." Anyway, she tossed the shoes to her gargoyle, who swiftly caught them and put them on. She turned to the audience with a smile.
"AND NOW, A VERY IMPRESSIVE ACT! MY GARGOYLE WILL... TAP DANCE! Okay, show your stuff, gargoyle!"

Her gargoyle started by simply tapping one toe, making a metallic noise on the ground, then adding the heels. Then, the stone figure started adding more intricate steps, like shuffles and even wings! Marigold felt proud of the statue, proud enough to even go forward in the part of the plan that she wasn't to sure of.

"Umm, I am going to accompany my gargoyle by singing. If you know the song, why don't you join in?" Marigold took a deep breath, then started singing. "BEEN WORKING. SO HARD. I'M PUNCHING. MY CARD. EIGHT HOURS, FOR WHAT. OH TELL ME WHAT I GOT." Her gargoyle started to dance more energetically, so by the time she got to the last chorus, it was practically doing flips.

"EVERYBODY CUT FOOTLOOSE!" Marigold finished, breathless. "CAN I HAVE APPLAUSE FOR MY GARGOYLE!" She and the gargoyle both bowed.

Okay, so that thing she had said about being excited and NOT nervous? She was still happy and bouncy and still thought Goylie was pretty darn cute, but now that the young slender girl was in front of the whole school basically, she was feeling a bit weak in the knees.

But the show must go on. "Hello ladies and gentlemen, pet rocks and pet crups! I-I'm Eliza Dawnsel and this is my gargoyle, Goylie. He's been training a lot for this, so I-I h-hope you can all enjoy the show!" Doing her best to focus on the act they'd practiced and less and less on the hundreds of eyes watching her, Eliza unpacked Goylie from his box and sat him near her. She then pulled two stands with poles and rope from her extended bag and set up what appeared to be a makeshift tight rope. Packing her four post bed would've been a bit more impressive, but also a lot more impractical, so she'd made the stands instead.

Sarah let the clapping continue for a bit, then she stopped Draco and Greg at the clapping and the audience seemed to follow suit and keep quiet. Sarah flicked her wand around the stage, banishing all the items except for Greg, Draco and what looked like a muggle stereo.

Then she turned to the audience, "this circus was educational for me, as I have never been to a circus before" well, Edwoods was considered a circus, yet in a different way, "in fact I don't plan on attending an actual circus until the preformers start dressing like they had material. Because apparently, nowadays they look like someone ran out of material when making the costumes". Sarah had issues with those performers. Really, was their self esteem not high enough that they had to resort to showing their bodies to prove themselves? Sarah did not want to think that, so she blamed the scanty costumes on lack of material.

“Anyways... all the previous tricks I got from literature. I guess that shows how much one learns from reading. So for the final act, Greg is going to move away from the traditional circus act, by dancing.” She then picked up motionless Greg and placed him in the centre. Sarah got out of the way and tapped the stereo. The music started to play. Meanwhile, Sarah directed Greg.

“....skip five times in a circle, two gallops centre stage, eschappe soute to second, Chassé forward on right foot...” a spew of ballet terms escaped Sarah’s mouth and Greg surprisingly faired well. It still did look quite funny as Greg was no a petite ballerina..um ballerino. Gender undecided he was doing the female version of the steps. Finally he ended in arabesque. Sarah then looked around. This never went as planned. She was so busy with the dancing she forgot to incorporate circus element. Leaving the past in the past, Sarah gave a smile then commanded that Greg bow. He did so and Sarah stopped the music and began to pack up. The show was over

When it was her turn, Orr and her gargoyle, Shadow, nervously took their position on the stage. Actually it was Orr who took the stage as Shadow literally became its namesake and turned into Orr's shadow becoming all all smokey and dark like trying to hide from the audience.

Orr greeted the audience a little nervously not noticing what Shadow had done, "'Ello everyone. ...My gargoyle and I will perform an amazing routine of acrobatics and flame work. And now may I present to you Shadow!!"

She looked to her right where Shadow should have been but saw nothing. "Shadow!"

She turned around quickly and saw the smokey dark shape of Shadow hovering behind her, "Shadow!!" She cried, "Come on, don't do this to me."

She sound like on the verge of tears and fortunately the gargoyle was a softhearted creature and with a huge red flame reappeared and sort of headbutted Orr in apology.

Orr smiled and hugged the gargoyle back whispering, "Thank you! Just imagine that we are still practicing and it is just the two of us, alright?" before turning to the audience and proclaiming, "The Magnificent Shadow!"

Immediately, Shadow started to change into another flaming shape before floating up in the air to do some lazy somersaults before coming to land lightly next to Orr back in its original shape.

Orr smiled at him before continuing to say to the audience who were clapping, "Thank you! Now Shadow will demonstrate some of his flame work!"

Marigold straightened her shoulders and started to speak.

"ALRIGHT, FOR MY LAST ACT, MY GARGOYLE WILL MIME ON A TIGHTROPE! She quickly tossed her ball of wire across the arena and pointed to it. "You can do it," she told her gargoyle. The gargoyle stepped up onto the wire. They had practiced this so much they got it in the bag. The gargoyle wobbled.

Er... perhaps not.

"Come on," she whispered, whether to herself or to the gargoyle she didn't know. The gargoyle took another step and regained confidence. The gargoyle pretended to wobble and fall off, then did a backflip and stuck the landing on the wire! Marigold clapped enthusiastically, all throughout the rest of the miming-which included the standard being-in-a-box, climbing stairs and being a piece of soap washing a dog.

"Well, that is my circus acts! I hope you all ENJOYED IT!!! I SURE DID. THANK YOU AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE OTHER STUDENTS' PERFORMANCES!" Marigold took a bow with her gargoyle, then disenchanted it. She packed up, and waved at the audience one last time. They were a good audience.

Orr took to the middle of the stage twirling a flaming baton. At her cue, Shadow gracefully despite its massive size, its giant wings in flames which soon engulfed Shadow. As a flaming Gargoyle, Shadow did somersaults and flew around Orr as she danced with her flaming baton.

At one point, Shadow flew to Orr's shoulder and sat there still on fire thus causing the flame to go to Orr. The two of them then did a dancing duet while on fire. After the dance was over, Shadow covered both himself and Orr with smoke somehow extinguishing the flame.

Taking another bow to the crowd, Orr said, "Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen. And now for our next act-- Smoke and Mirrors!"

Okay, her stands were up. Now...she had to check their taught...ness. She glimpsed at the crowd quickly as she ran her fingers along the rope and snapped it twice to prove to herself it was safe for Goylie to try.

She picked Goylie up and held him on her hip as she announced, "For his first trick, Goylie will do a balancing act!" She turned her face from the crowd and gently placed Goylie on the rope. She held him still and unmoving with one hand while the other, her left, aimed her wand at him to cast the spell. "Piertotum Locomotor!" Immediately she saw the change in her rocky friend. He wobbled on the line briefly, still settling into his mobile body.

"Aha! Very good, Goylie! Now... balance!" she commanded and removed her hands. She almost couldn't watch, afraid he might fall and break on the ground. But she knew she MUST watch, so that she could save him if he needed her. But, he seemed to be doing okay, a bit shaky but he was still hanging in there. Or, standing in there, on there, rather.

As soon as she finish saying the words "Smoke and Mirrors" Orr waved her wand and different mirrors in all shape and sizes floated out to the stage.

Once the mirrors were in place, Shadow the gargoyle immediately started to alternatively flame or smoke out causing either the flames or the smoke to hit the mirrors. He did it so many times that his body became flame or smoke just bouncing off the mirrors creating the illusion as if the stage was on fire since the mirrors reflected the stage.

After thirty minutes of this elaborate demonstration, Orr came back on the stage smiling, "And that Ladies and Gentlemen, was the Magnificent Shadow and his act of Smoke and Mirrors!"

NEXT, Shadow and I will perform the flaming meteor!"