Professor Lupo's wand glowed again, but this time, instead of a beam of light coming out of it, a few blue sparkles dusted over Julie's head. She felt a warmth surround her for a second before a cold chill made her shiver. Then everything felt fine as if nothing had happened.
He slipped his wand into a pocket inside his coat and withdrew a deck of cards. He fanned them out and showed them to the audience, stepping up to the edge of the stage to keep the girls from seeing their fronts. Then he turned them down to the floor so the backs were facing up. "Pick a card, Julie, but don't look at it yet."
Julie plucked one out and covered it with both hands. Lupo pocketed the rest.
"Do you know your sign, ladies?"
"Our what?" Joy asked.
"Your star sign. The zodiac."
"It's Capricorn," Julie said flatly.
"No, it's the tiger," Joy responded.
"That's the Chinese zodiac."
"I'm still right." Joy stuck out her tongue.
Lupo held up his hand to interrupt them. "Capricorn, hmm? The water goat. Excellent emotional control. Calm and reasoned." He walked between the sisters and glanced at Julie with a sly smirk. "However, goats can also be quite stubborn." He saw Julie's eyes narrow. Undaunted, Lupo put his arm around her shoulder. "Would you look at your card and show the audience, please?"
Julie slowly lowered her gaze to the card in her hands. Turning it over, she saw the weird scribble that represented her sign, printed in sharp black ink. She blinked in surprise, glanced sideways at Joy, and then showed the audience, who all gasped and clapped.
"Good to see you all know your astrological symbols," Lupo chuckled at everyone. He took back the card but didn't put it away. Instead, he held it facing the audience directly atop Julie's head. "The belief is that the sign one is born under shapes the person they are...inside." He emphasized the last word as he pushed the card down into Julie's hair. She felt a weird chill in her skull. His palm landed flat on the top of her head and quickly lifted again, showing the card had vanished.
As the audience clapped again, Julie felt her hair. She ran her hands through the locks. No sign of the card. Watching from a few feet away, Joy folded her arms and gave Professor Lupo an impressed glance. He'd done that trick so quickly she couldn't tell if he had slipped it into his sleeve or his glove.
"What I aim to do is to reveal that inner being to the outer world. For that, I need your help, Joy." His head snapped around toward her and Joy jumped slightly.
"Oookay?"
"What do you know about goats?"
"Uh, they're dumb and ugly?"
A couple members of the audience chortled, but Lupo tsked, walking slowly toward her. Joy smirked defiantly at him.
"You shouldn't judge them so harshly. That's your sister you're talking about."
"She's not a goat."
"She just said you both were Capricorns."
"-I- said tiger." Joy raised her chin haughtily.
Lupo chuckled. "That you did, but one animal at a time. Can you name one feature that goats have, Joy?" His eyebrows raised expectantly as he stopped right beside her. Julie stood nearby, frozen in place out of nervousness, wondering where this was all heading.
Joy looked up at him and offered an answer.