"Chris! Chriiiiiiis! Come on, open up, it's time to go!" Dacia pounded on Christina's door, excitement bubbling in her stomach.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming, wait! Hold on, I have to grab my bag!" Christina came bursting out of her door, looking ruffled and holding a beaten up backpack over her shoulder with one hand. She exhaled, looking thoroughly upbeat.
"Let's go!"
The drive was long, because they had to go all the way up from London, which took a good two hours. Once they arrived, Dacia's mother took them, following her map, to a pub on the side of a block. Christina looked at it doubtfully... "The Leaky Cauldron? Dace, are you sure about this?"
"Yeah, just give me a second," Said Dacia, peering over her mother's shoulder at the map. She took a deep breath, and before her mother could say "Wait!", she had disappeared into the pub. Christina and her mother quickly followed suit, and Dacia pushed through the crowd to an alleyway through the back door. It was deserted, and the sound of barking dogs echoed loudly. She shivered, and took the map from her mother, looking at it. There was a drawing, a drawing of the wall that was identical, except that some of the bricks on the drawing were dark. She pushed them with her hand, and the bricks slid smoothly apart, as everyone jumped back in surprise. They all walked slowly through the brick archway, and into Diagon Alley.
The sight was breathtaking, with witches and wizards in bright robes of all colors, hustling and bustling about their business. Birds soared overhead, and people had set up pop up stands along the length of the street.
"There!" Pointed Christina, who was staring at one shop, "There, Ollivanders! The wand shop!" They all made their way towards Ollivander's, stumbling through the mass of students shopping for their supplies. They eventually came to the door of the shop, which, at the moment, was empty.
After they had bought their wands, cherry and veela hair for Christina, and holly and unicorn hair for Dacia, they went to the pet store, to buy owls. This did not go as planned, because the moment that they entered the store, Christina shrieked with delight and ran over to caress a mewing calico cat. Dacia watched her, snorting, and walked over to the owl section. There were barn owls, tawny owls, snowy owls, and all sorts of different varieties. Her attention, however, was drawn to the very back of the shop, where a small tawny owl sat. It didn't look too well, it had ruffled feathers and was making a strange huffing noise. She took it down from its perch, and stroked its feathers. It cooed at her appreciatively, but then coughed violently and shuddered. She looked around, and brought him to the counter.
"Excuse me, how much does this one cost?" She asked, holding it out on her arm.
"That one? Oh, six galleons, four knuts. He's sick, got illegally imported a few days ago, smuggled, and we're trying to get a healer to see him."
"Can I.. Can I have him?"
"Yeah, sure. Like I said, six galleons, four knuts."
Dacia handed the money to the saleswoman, and took the small owl into a brass cage. She poked a few owl nuts into the bars, and he ate them gratefully. Christina joined her outside the store, with the calico cat perched on her shoulders.
"Isn't she cute!" Said Christina, stroking her cat behind the ears, "She's the most adorable thing ever! I love her so so much!"
"Yeah," Said Dacia, laughing and reaching a finger into her own cage. The owl nipped her finger affectionately, and she giggled, showing him to Christina.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you, her name is Adelaide! Do you like it?" Christina said, gesturing towards her cat, and scratching her ears.
"Awww, that's adorable! What should I name this little guy?" Dacia asked, nudging his beak with her finger. He nuzzled her hand, and tweeted.
"Hmm... Ooh, what about Will?"
"Will?"
"Yeah, I just finished this book, and my favorite character, his name was Will!"
Dacia sighed, and laughed. Trust to Christina to name her owl after her favorite character. Of course, she knew who Christina was talking about. She'd been obsessing over the fictional Herondale boy for months, ever since she started reading the series.
"Yeah," She laughed, " Yeah, I like Will. My own owl, wow! That's something new! Do you think the people will stare?"
"Oh, Dace, stop worrying about what other people will think!" Said Christina,"You are you, and that's perfectly fine. Just make sure the mundanes don't get you down, m'kay?"
"M'kay" Agreed Dacia, giggling.
