"Funny," William said, leaving Pete to play with his hair while he went out to see what was going on. His mongoose was back in its favourite place on top of Pete's lion, merrily following behind him. Traitor, he accused silently, and it waved its tail contentedly in response.
He didn't see anyone immediately, but the first thing he heard echoing down the corridor was the trill of a tropical bird of some sort, high and piercing, and then the excited chatter of what he guessed to be a monkey. Interesting.
"I think we can safely say," he hazarded, peering toward the other end of the corner where a flurry of children's voices mixed with the squawking, hooting, honking, bleating, barking, whistling sounds of a traveling menagerie, "that the effect wasn't localised."