Chapter One: Envelopes
She was perched on a stool in the kitchen, her eyes scanning the British countryside outside.
What if my letter doesn't arrive?
Her stomach churned in anxiety. What if? What if? A curtain of black hair fell over her shoulder, and she brushed it back, drumming her fingers on the granite counters.
The tapping of nails against tiles alerted Aria, and she turned around, her seat wobbling a little.
"Snookie?" Aria hopped off, and looked around for the black boarhound. "Was that you?"
A loud bark resonated around the kitchen, and a drooling black dog appeared, bits of slobber trickling onto the tiled floor and around the boarhound's wrinkly snout.
Aria sighed. "Snookie!" she hopped off, and grabbed a small sky-blue rag with 'Snookie' embroidered onto it. "Mum said she enchanted the towel to float under your mouth." The black-haired child wiped most of the drool off of Snookie's chin, and the floor. She continued talking to the large dog, whose shoulder was up to her neck.
Aria scratched Snookie's neck. "Good boy." The boarhound shook himself, and his collar jingled. He barked, before trotting off. Aria decided to follow him; he was still drooling.
"MUM!" She shouted.
"What is it, Aria?"
"I need you to do the spell for Snookie's slobber!"
"Alright. I'm coming, dear!"
Aria smiled, before placing the towel under Snookie's jaws. He was sitting at the foot of the old sofa, large brown eyes staring innocently into Aria's.
"Stop it! You're too old for that! Mum said you can't sit on the sofa, so don't!"
Light footsteps came from the stairs, followed by a loud bang on the windows. "Aria, was that you?"
"No, I don't know where that came from!"
Aaron -Aria's da came running down the stairs after her mum. "Who did what?" Her little brother –Link- stumbled into the living room, grabbing Snookie and hugging him.
"Qiaohui, was that you or Link?"
"I don't know, Aaron. I need to do the spell for Snookie's thing again." Qiaohui replied, walking over towards Link and Snookie. "Sweetie, I need you to step away for a moment." Aria watched, and then looked at her da.
"Let's go see what that noise was. I think it came from the backyard." He said, grinning slyly. Her mum shot a disapproving noise at him.
"You better be careful, you dimwit." She clucked like a mother hen, while the towel levitated, catching Snookie's slobber.
Link beamed, looking at Qiaohui. "What's a dimwit?" Aaron burst into laughter, and quickly led Aria out the house before his spouse could reprimand him. His daughter looked at him quizzically, confused.
"I'll tell you later, dear. First, let's go see what that noise was."
"That sounds fine!"
Aaron drew his wand, creeping alongside the house, while Aria followed behind, her obsidian-black eyes wide. A hoot sounded, and amber eyes pierced Aria's. "Would ya look at that, it is your owl, Ari!"
A gleeful smile swept across her face, as she approached the owl. It squawked, the letter in its beak. The screech owl flew off, dropping the envelope in Aaron's brown hair.
"Ungrateful pen-iss!" He corrected himself hastily and they went back inside, Aaron with her letter.
"MUM, WE GOT MY LETTER!" Aria shouted, grabbing it out of her da's hand as he swung the door open. Qiaohui peeked around the corner, while Snookie came barking, followed by Melanie, the Shetland-sheepdog
"Try and be quieter, Ari. Let me see it." She shot a glare at Aaron, and smiled at Aria, who handed her the letter. "We'll go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, dear. Aaron, don't forget."
Aria's da shot a sheepish look at Qiaohui, scratching the back of his neck. "Err- I may or may not have already bought all of the supplies?"
"You really are a dimwitted jellyfish, Aaron!" she glared exasperatedly at her husband, "Tell me you didn't buy an owl or something?"
"That I didn't do." He grinned, "We could go to Diagon Alley right now to look for an animal. It's only 11 AM." Qiaohui nodded reluctantly, looking at Aria, who beamed brightly with a nod.
"You're staying home with Link, Aria and I will go."
Aaron's smile faded. His cloak was in his hand. "Why?"
"You've already bought all of Aria's supplies except for an owl, so you're staying home with Link!" Qiaohui snapped, head held high. "Aria, let's go. Don't go on any 'adventures' with Link!"Shaking her head, she donned her cloak, making sure Aria did the same. "It's not far, so we'll walk."
Soon enough, they were at the Leaky Cauldron, squished between two muggle-shops. "Mum, is this a… pub?"
Qiaohui nodded. "Just an entrance, but it's also an inn." Aria nodded, as they passed through the entrance while Muggles turned away at the sight of it.
"Do they see it?" she asked, staring at a Muggle child licking a lollipop, shivering at the Leaky Cauldron.
Her mum nodded. "To them it's a broken-down shop, and no one needs to go there." Qiaohui nodded at various wizards, crossing into the courtyard. They were faced with a brick wall.
"Mum? It's just a-" Aria watched her mum tap a few bricks, and an entrance appeared. "Woaaah…"
Qiaohui smiled, "Come on. This is Diagon Alley." They stepped through, and the air was filled with loud and various sounds. Aria looked around, holding her mum's hand; not wanting to get lost. "So we need to get you an owl or something…"
She looked around, accidentally whipping Aria's face with her hair. "Mum!"
"Sorry dear-but I've found the Magical Menagerie!" Qiaohui led Aria in, "Oh and you might want to hold your breath." Aria frowned, and was met with the stench of many kinds of animals.
Oh God this smells bad! I should've listened to mum… She coughed, and breathed through her mouth, looking around. But Aria eventually got used to it, and began breathing naturally, while Qiaohui scanned the cages, tapping her wand against her thigh.
"Do you want an owl, cat, or-?" Qiaohui followed Aria, who immediately ran over to the ravens. "I guess that'll work too." She heard her mum murmur quietly.
They're all so pretty… Aria looked at one, who cocked their head at her, cawing harshly. She stuck her finger through the wire, and a different one attempted to peck it. "Mum?" she looked around, removing her hand and wiping it on her leggings. "Can I get that one?" Aria pointed at the one who had cocked it's head.
"I'll get a clerk, you stay here." Her mum drifted off, and Aria was left with the raven.
"Hey pretty bird, how ya doing?" she cooed as it hopped up, squawking and adding to the raucous noises. "Can I pet you?" Aria hesitantly stuck her finger through; while the raven tried it's best to watch the finger. She laughed, withdrawing as her mum approached and it almost fell off the perch.
Qiaohui walked forward with a witch. She seemed kindly, a smile upon her face. Blue eyes glistened like the ocean in the sunlight. "Hello dear, you want that one right?" The witch pointed at the raven that Aria had been interacting with moments ago.
"Yes please, ma'am."
She nodded, murmuring an incantation and taking the raven out, shooting a stern look at the others that tried to hop towards freedom.
"Do you want his supplies and a cage?" The brown-haired witch asked, the raven upon her arm. Qiaohui nodded. "Then I'll be right back!"
Aria grinned at the bird, "The lady said his name was Glastinore, so should I keep that name?"
"Probably, because he's used to that name. Anything else would most likely confuse him." Aaron said, watching the bird hop around the living room, while Snookie and Melanie watched coolly.
Qiaohui was reading the Daily Prophet, legs crossed next to her, while the bird pecked her newspaper, soon giving up and flying across the room at Aria, who lay on her stomach.
"Caw-caw!" he crowed loudly.
Aria looked at her da. "Should I give him a raspberry?" He nodded. Link moved towards the bowl, and threw one across the hardwood floor and crawled over to Qiaohui, curling up next to her and staring at the moving images in the newspaper.
Glastinore pecked at it curiously, before devouring it and staring at Aria's brother, wanting another. Aaron shrugged, picking up the bowl and eating them, tauntingly. The raven glared at him, soaring over and nosing his beak into the bowl, gobbling up raspberries before flapping away.
"He ate all of them!" Aaron's mouth was agape. "The little –"
"Watch your damn language-"Qiaohui bit her lip, realizing her mistake, putting the newspaper down. Aaron burst into laughter.
"Look who's talking!"
"Shut up, you dimwit!" she threw a pillow at him, which he easily deflected.
"Calm the bloody hell down, Qiaohui! There are young children here!" he smirked. Aria put Glastinore back into his rather-large cage, a towel on her arm to prevent scratches. The raven cawed, flapping his wings, and settled down.
Aria walked over to Snookie and lay on his back, watching her mum hurl pillows at her da. He blocked them easily, until one caught him in his face.
Then Link began to cry, and her da had pillow fluff in his nose.