Ford tensed as the lion leaned its face into him, but the teeth he was expecting never came. There weren't any claws, either. The fall had knocked the breath out of his chest, and he was sure to have bruises where the lion's paws had hit him and where the chains wrapped around his back, but so far he didn't have any cuts or scratches. This... was not the way lions mauled people.

This wasn't a normal lion, then. Maybe it was a person, but Ford doubted it — why would a person pounce on him and then nuzzle him like an affectionate housecat? The other, more likely option was that this was a lion who had been specially trained to do circus performances. Raised by humans from a young age, maybe, so it only did things like roar on command?

"Um, okay," Ford said, trying unsuccessfully to wriggle away from the lion's head — he was getting hair in his mouth. If only he hadn't dropped his wand, he could get rid of these chains and assess the situation with a little more space. "Okay. Good kitty. Um — hell," he muttered, as he groped for his wand and felt only cobblestones beneath his fingers. He couldn't even see where it might be, with a lion on top of him and chains making it difficult to move. "Accio wand," he attempted, on the off chance that it was close enough to still respond.

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