Waking up to find herself underneath the silvery coils of a large serpent was an interesting experience, to say the least. It almost felt nice to have some form of company with which she could actually speak. "Missstresss," her snake whispered, groaning when she decided to get up and deprive the snake of the warm body he had been happily lazing upon like a heated rock—which reminded her that she actually needed to get pet supplies.

A tapping at her window had her blearily stumbling out of bed, a reminder of what had woken her up at an ungodly hour given she hadn't gotten to bed the night before until the wee early hours of the morning, and she tripped on the red blankets with a muffled thump and a curse.

"There'sss a feathery-ssssoft-prey at the window," her snake hissed. "Can I eatsss it?" he asked, and Harriet shook her head.

"No," she declared. "That feathery-soft-prey is an owl, and its bringing me my clothes. No eating it," she warned, eyeing the great long serpent and wondering what she could really do to stop her snake from eating the owl if he really wanted to. Probably not much, Harriet mused to herself miserably, but as her odd luck would have it she didn't have to contemplate that for long.

"But it wakesss usss," her snake grumbled almost petulantly, and she rolled her eyes and pulled the window open. A large, paper-wrapped package assaulted her, and she fell back with a loud oof, blinking when the package suddenly expanded. Scowling, she pushed the large package off her chest, sitting up then, blinking when a hard book slammed into her face.

"Merlin dammit!" she muttered, somehow knowing that it was just going to set a precedent for the rest of the day. The kind of precedent that she did not want. There was enough on her plate as it was, ill omens aside. Huh. Harriet blinked, the thought occurring to her then. At least she wouldn't have to suffer through a year of Divination ever again.

"Can I eatss it now?" her snake asked.

"No!" she called, rubbing at her throbbing temples as the book slid down onto her lap. Madam Twilfitt's Owl Order Catalogue, it read in neat silvery script, and Harriet risked a glance up at the owl who stared at her with wide, amber eyes before leaving in a flurry of feathers and talons. Though that was probably a wise move on its part, and Harriet felt her eyes tear up when she thought of white feathers and amber eyes. She missed her owl, though the school had owls didn't it? Harriet tilted her head, swallowing thickly, because as her letter had reminded her, she was allowed a pet.

Her newfound snake – which she still needed to name, she absently reminded herself – was not counting as a pet, mostly because no one would be knowing that her snake was coming along to Hogwarts with her. It wasn't like she thought she would be able to ditch the silvery-scaled serpent anytime soon.

She reached for the book the owl had dropped off, staring at the Owl Order Catalogue before flicking open the page to see what all the fuss was about. 'Perfect for if you've forgotten to grab an item of clothing and won't have time to pop to the shops again, and can be used at Hogwarts too to pick out gifts for your friends or perhaps a special someone,' the cursive script read, apparently selling the use of the Owl Order Catalogue. Yet to use the owl order, she would need the aforementioned owl.

"A shame they don't have Owl Order Catalogues for owls," she muttered absentmindedly.

"Sssnackss?" came the familiar rasping hiss, heavy coils winding up and around her, a silvery head coming to peer over her shoulder.

"Owls aren't snacks," she argued, going over to where her package lay, unopened, and starting to peel back the brown paper. A mountain of clothes was revealed, each set of clothing separated by string, and Harriet only blinked at the array of it. She had ordered all the necessities that a girl of her age needed. "Damn…" Harriet whistled softly, holding up a pair of impressive granny panties, as she had heard Lavender term them. She only hoped they were comfortable to wear, and thanked her lucky stars when they were. All of her new clothing surprisingly enough was, and Harriet savoured the existence of magic and magical fabrics in that instant. Even if that magic was probably the reason she was stranded in the past. "Well, are you ready for your first adventure in Diagon Alley?" she asked, peering at her snake as he curled himself around her body comfortably.

Dimly, Harriet wondered when it had become the new normal for her to have a snake of all things wrapped around her like a heavy, expensive scarf, before she reminded her that it probably wasn't the snake, so much as the time travel which had given a new perspective of what was weird.

There was a slight spring to her step as she wandered out of the Gryphon's Roost and onto Diagon from Horizont Alley. Her feet took her towards the nearest owl emporium, not bothering to read the name of the store before she walked into the dark store. Cages decorated the room, each of them a different size and holding a different bird within, and Harriet felt her heart ache at the sight of a snowy white owl there in a silvery cage.

That wasn't Hedwig though, and it never would be.

Harriet stuck away from that cage, feeling a prick of tears in her eyes as she thought of white feathers, green light, and the sensation of falling. So that was a no on the snowy owl front. She needed a different owl. Her eyes darted about, eyeing up each of the owls as they either screeched or simply stared at her with large unblinking eyes.

"Sssnackss," a familiar hiss sounded in her ear.

Harriet glanced to the side, feeling the eyes of the shopkeeper on her. "Not. Snacks," she hissed as quietly as she could, relaxing when they were no sudden accusations of her being a dark, evil witch who could speak with snakes, blinking in alarm at the screeching the owls closest to her let out – well, all aside from one. A large bird with a dark grey and tawny plumage, two prominent ear tufts, and bright amber eyes stared at her rather calmly in the grand scheme of things.

"She's a Eurasian Eagle Owl, that one," the man's voice startled her, and Harriet glanced over at the shopkeeper. "And a vicious one at that."

Green met amber, and Harriet tilted her head and stared at the owl. She could remember how calm and non-fussy Hedwig had been. She remembered that Hedwig didn't look or seem a thing like the bird before her which eyed her sharply, as if examining her for weakness. She remember how Hedwig, sweet and somehow soft, had died. "You don't look vicious," she murmured, staring at the owl before her, because there was a difference between viciousness for the sake of viciousness and the look of something which was vicious to survive. She wondered if she'd been a bit more vicious, then more people and her precious owl would have lived. "You look like a survivor."

The owl tilted her head, as if understanding her words, and Harriet remembered how very intelligent Hedwig had seemed – how her bird had always seemed to understand her. Like recognised like, and Harriet didn't want to lose another bird.

"I'll take her," she declared.

The man behind the till shook his head, before glancing at her once more. His eyes lingered on her robes, and he shook his head again. "Ridiculous, idiot heiresses with too much money and not enough common sense," he muttered, either not realising she had sharper ears than most, or perhaps he simply didn't care, bustling about where he stood even as he wrote up the cost and retrieved something from within the counter. "Don't blame me if she claws your eyes out." He came out from behind the counter, walking hurriedly over towards the large silvery cage which held the owl she had chosen. "You'll need this," he continued, throwing something towards her which she caught with her seeker reflexes. It turned out to be a thick leather gauntlet padded around where her new owl would undoubtedly grip. "She has sharp claws and a strong grip." His eyes met hers, even as he opened the cage, letting the Eurasian Eagle Owl she had chosen flutter out and onto his similarly padded arm. "You sure you even want to try handling her?"

Her eyes narrowed, and she lifted her arm up. Slytherin or not now, she wasn't going to back away from a challenge. Large, powerful wings beat, and then her chosen owl was flying towards her, landing on her arm almost carefully. She could feel the talons digging in, those amber eyes staring at her, weighing and measuring her. Harriet lifted her hand, smiling even as she let the bird nip at her fingers and draw blood. It was barely a scratch, perhaps a greeting of sorts. Birds raised around magic were more prone to do something of the like, if only to be able to ensure their witch's location in some odd way.

"Well, well. Looks like you still have both eyes," the shopkeeper said. "You want the full setup for her?"

Amber eyes stared wide and unblinking at her shoulder where her invisible snake waited.

Harriet smiled. "Of course," she said, staring at her newest companion and hissing very quietly to her snake that he was to never touch her unless he wanted to upset her. Intelligent amber eyes watched her all the while, and all Harriet could do was smile, memories of white feathers falling and green light flushed out of her mind as she stared at her vicious bird companion. "Why wouldn't I?"