Chapter 237: Magic Park
July 14, Marne Valley.
Today is France’s national day. Two hundred years ago today, French Muggles stormed the Bastille, then established the new French regime. The Eiffel Tower and the banks of the Seine River are all hung with streamers and flags, the festival atmosphere is intense, and there is a fireworks show performance in the evening.
But none of this has anything to do with wizards.
Ministry of Magic Aurors have increased patrols to prevent wizards from mixing into the parade and causing trouble. Mr. Graves has also been temporarily conscripted and even plans to take Melvin to patrol Rue Montorgueil, but Melvin has other things to do.
Right in the middle of the holiday, the park is crowded with bustling crowds. Tourists are dragging their families, with partners and children weaving through the park, collecting stamps according to the rules of the special celebration activities. It’s extremely lively.
Only a few people noticed that this year’s activity rules are somewhat special, seemingly deliberately guiding tourists to avoid a certain area, which seems temporarily closed to the public. Even the original play projects have been moved elsewhere.
Wizards hired by the Rocher family are mixed in with the security staff. Whenever curious tourists approach, these special security guards will come over and whisper persuasions to them.
These Muggles will then show bewildered expressions at the right time, scratch their heads, suddenly remember their real destination, and return the way they came.
“What was I just trying to do?”
“Oh, sneak into the closed area and have a look.”
“Closed area, closed area… right, it’s the fairy tale theater!”
Amid the bustling special celebration activities, a reconstruction known only to a few people is quietly underway. Alchemists hired by the Rocher family are working intensively, waving wands and engraving runes. The park on the parchment design drawings is turning into reality, with gratifying progress.
At ten in the morning, Melvin, wearing a Disney staff badge, tours the reconstruction work of the magical park accompanied by Claire and Kristin.
There’s actually nothing much to see; a magical architecture construction site is still a construction site.
The theme creativity for the magical park was proposed by Melvin, who gave a few general plans for the play projects. But it is Claire and Kristin who have turned these ideas into specific facility devices and feasible construction plans.
Melvin hadn’t expected their cooperation to be so tacit.
“Muggles still spend in francs, so what about wizard tourists?”
Just like the wizarding community in Britain, the wizarding bank in the French wizarding world is also monopolized by goblins. According to Gringotts regulations, ordinary wizard families have a limited amount of Muggle currency they can exchange each year, and the quota is not generous.
Even for relatively affluent wizard families like the Delacours, they can’t exchange much Muggle currency in a year. Used for eating, drinking, and playing during holidays, occasionally watching a ballet, the quota runs out.
Considering the expensive spending at Disneyland, most wizards probably wouldn’t want to spend their limited Muggle currency quota at the magical park, especially since it’s something they’ve never heard of before.
If the park can only earn Muggle money, it’s like being crippled with one leg.
Kristin explained, “The Rocher family is responsible for wizard ticketing, collecting Galleons, and settling accounts with gold.”
Melvin nodded; that makes sense.
One is Disneyland’s Creative Director, the other is the Rocher family heir. In comparison, Melvin is the non-professional. They also know Melvin doesn’t care about the details of operations and profits, so the explanations focus on creativity and effects.
For example, the trolley cars in the park were originally gasoline-powered and could only patrol fixed routes. Kristin plans to replace them with Thestrals, disguised with armor on the outside, and they can even glide for a distance when passing through thick fog or woods.
“Wouldn’t this violate the Secrecy Law and scientific common sense? Have you figured out how to explain it to the Ministry of Magic and Muggles?”
After all, the Secrecy Law hasn’t been abolished yet, and his own headmaster is still the President of the International Confederation of Wizards. Melvin doesn’t want to be reported to the Confederation, though he’s confident he could win the argument, it wouldn’t look good.
“…”
Caring about the Secrecy Law and scientific common sense now.
Claire silently grumbled in her heart and explained, “We explain it externally as roller coaster and cable car technology. Anyway, no experts will pursue it in depth; as long as it can get by. Kristin said that as long as no one on the Muggle side suspects, the Ministry of Magic won’t pursue it.”
This has the same flair he had at the Gershwin Theatre. The assistant learned a lot during that time.
Walking and stopping along the way, the prototype of a magical park is built in the mind.
Unlike the original fairy tale-like magical park, the new magical theme includes not only Thestral-pulled gliding carriages, fairy-like doll models, realistic unicorns on the carousel—content that fits the beautiful impression of magic in fairy tales—but also some thrilling, exciting, even bizarre things.
Kristin also added weird flavored candy as per Melvin’s request. In copper cauldrons are bubbling potions, mainly gray-green, with vibrant colorful halos when bubbling, clearly not anything good.
At opening, it’s declared to be witch-brewed potions.
What witch?
Of course, the witch from the little mermaid princess who poisons people to mute them, the witch who makes poisoned apples to kill Snow White, the witch who curses Sleeping Beauty…
Using the image of witches from fairy tales to showcase the real wizarding world, subtly letting tourists recognize magic. It may have no short-term effect, but as Muggles gradually accept these settings, a fixed impression will form in their minds. Whenever magic is mentioned, they’ll think of these magical creatures, bubbling cauldrons, and weird flavored candy.
And wizard children will also learn about Muggle fairy tales during play.
A bridge across races and civilizations; Melvin has long had the idea.
Walking through the construction area, Claire suddenly turned and asked, “By the way, how is that child who came to the park last time?”
“The condition has improved somewhat; it won’t flare up in the short term, and there’s a direction for long-term treatment. I thought of a peculiar creature that might become a specific medicine for treating Bastien, but it will have to wait until returning to London to verify.” Melvin said with a light smile.
“Sounds like treating a cold or fever.” Claire muttered. Wizards’ diseases are so strange; it clearly seemed like a terminal illness last time.
“Taking Bastien back to London, will the Ministry of Magic there agree?” Kristin asked thoughtfully.
Melvin put away his smile and nodded thoughtfully: “Thinking carefully, we really can’t let Fudge and Umbridge know Bastien’s identity. Perhaps we should use an unregistered Portkey to return, but treating Bastien also requires Azkaban’s Dementors… we must make plans in advance.”
“The Rocher family can forge a legal identity and also provide a safe Portkey.”
“…”
The assistant nearby opened her mouth; though she couldn’t fully understand, she could tell these two were casually discussing illegal and criminal matters.
…
Mr. Delacour has been a bit anxious these days, not only because his balding problem is getting worse, but also because the holiday is about to end, and he still hasn’t been able to spend a world of two with his wife Apolline or have a romantic date.
Most couples with children have similar troubles.
Reserved a candlelight dinner, shaved in the evening, sprayed cologne, put on a handsome suit ready to go out, the little daughter smells something unusual and starts clinging to him, clamoring to go together.
Reserved a ballet, the tickets accidentally discovered by the daughter, and the world of two becomes a world of four.
The anticipated romantic kiss turns to bubbles; not even a chance to hold hands. The two daughters occupy his wife one on each side, and the annoyed husband can only flip through the newspaper to pass the time.
The damn newspaper even has promotional advertisements, accidentally seen by Gabrielle, who clamors to buy it home.
Is the projection mirror that easy to buy?
After all, it’s a new type of furniture, an alchemical creation, a trendy new product popular recently. The black-hearted Rocher family plans to make a killing, pricing it neither high nor low—just affordable for most wizard families, but they’ll still feel the pinch for a while.
The Delacour family’s vault is like that too.
Mr. Delacour plans to delay until Christmas, when allowances and year-end bonuses are paid out, and the projection mirror will likely be on sale by then. At that time, the Delacour family’s vault won’t suffer too much loss.
For some reason, since having this idea, he’s become particularly concerned with projection mirror-related news, always flipping through relevant reports, staring at price changes, even scrutinizing the promotional ads in the page margins several times.
He hopes to see some negative news about the Magic Mirror Club or the Rocher family to make the projection mirror drop price early, but unfortunately, it never comes.
Not only no price drop, but now there’s also a magical park.
「The true face of unicorns, stories of witches and potions, and mysterious 5X-level dangerous creatures… all in the magical park.」
「Tickets on sale starting Friday, buy now while supplies last.」
The ticket price is exorbitantly like robbery. The photo above doesn’t know who took it, like smeared with a layer of faint colored light, making the unicorn outline somewhat blurry, yet more dreamlike.
As a pre-school semi-illiterate child, Gabrielle can’t read the ad copy, but she can read the fairy tale filtered photos above. Her two eyes become sparkly, not clamoring for daddy to take her, but just holding the newspaper and studying it.
Only weakly mentioning at the dining table: “Mom and dad’s holiday is about to end, sister starts school soon, next family reunion is All Saints’ Day, it’ll be winter by then. Before summer ends, let’s go to the magical park.”
Apolline and Fleur don’t speak, just smiling at him.
Mr. Delacour really wants to refuse his daughter; he wants to date his wife alone and enjoy a world of two, but looking at his daughter’s sparkling eyes, he can’t bear to, thinking a world of four is more precious, and the next reunion really is months later.
Thus, a chunk is emptied from the Delacour family’s vault.
…
Saturday morning.
The Delacour family assembles and, following the guidebook map, Apparates to Marne Valley, then walks following the signs to Disneyland.
Fleur and Apolline look around, their beautiful delicate faces drawing many turn heads. Mr. Delacour holds his little daughter; Gabrielle waves her little hands in his arms. Standing at the park entrance, the whole family can’t help but widen their eyes.
“So many people…”
“It’s actually mixed operations.”
Long lines at the ticket gates, at least a hundred people, and not just wizards, but also Muggles.
You can tell from their clothing; some are dressed particularly awkwardly, buttons mismatched, styles mixed, sizes chaotic—clearly wizards unfamiliar with Muggle clothes, just grabbing something to wear.
And yet those Muggles don’t mind.
“Probably some club or cross-dressing enthusiasts; nothing’s strange in Disneyland.” A passing young Muggle says casually. They are also a family of three, the daughter looks a year younger than Gabrielle, timidly hiding behind the man.
After entering the park, staff soon come out to divert. Mr. Delacour notices Muggles go for normal play, destinations varied, scattering in all directions, while wizard families are guided in a single fixed direction.
The play projects inside have no anticipated magic; instead, they’re indescribably Muggle.
The carousel is made in unicorn shape, realistic, with text introductions, but the base is electrically powered, with cheerful background music when spinning.
Those potion products look quite intimidating. The introduction says potions that make people lose their voice, poisonous red apples, and sleep-inducing spinning wheels… The liquid in the witch’s cauldron is the strangest, vibrant colors, gray-green with purple, but smells faintly sweet.
Gabrielle sniffed, unconsciously swallowing saliva. She looks around, and when no one notices, dips a bit with her finger and puts it in her mouth, smacking her lips.
“Is it tasty?” a light voice asks.
Turning back, it’s the Muggle family from the ticket gate. That girl stares straight at Gabrielle, her eyes full of curiosity about the potion taste and admiration for Gabrielle.
This expression satisfies Gabrielle greatly, feeling like she’s become the girl’s big sister: “Yeah! Sweet!”
“Wow~”
This exclamation makes Gabrielle even more elated.
The two girls of similar age naturally get together. Gabrielle tells her about the magic of brewing potions in cauldrons; the girl introduces to Gabrielle the stories of those poisoned apples and spinning wheels.
“It’s just an ordinary children’s park.”
Mr. Delacour complains to his wife; with such expensive tickets, the Rocher family is practically robbing.
After browsing the strange candy store, the group comes to the street outside.
Accompanied by a rustling sound, the ground trembles slightly, as if some huge thing is approaching, its tail sweeping and hitting the pillars on both sides, even the stone pillars start shaking.
The Delacour family stands there, holding their breath, tensely looking toward the corner.
Mr. Delacour rubs his eyes, letting out the same exclamation as others: “I must be dreaming!”
A massive giant snake pokes its head out, waist thick— the whole family holding hands couldn’t encircle it—at least thirty feet. Muscles wriggle, scales sliding along, realistic as if alive.
From the slit in its mouth protrudes a forked tongue; yellow-orange eyes glow eerily. It twists its body to the street center, the Basilisk slightly lowers its head, neck clicks open, revealing the empty cavity inside.
The scene is thrilling and bizarre.
“This is… the Basilisk train!”
