3. Harpy Eagle
By the end of their shopping trip, Sypriana had decided that Mr. Wong wasn't just a Buddha — he was Santa Claus! Hugging a large cage containing her brand-new harpy eagle, she couldn't keep a smile off of her face.
"A very belated birthday gift," Mr. Wong had said when he purchased the harpy eagle for her after no other owl had caught her attention. "Owls — well, I guess harpy eagles too — are very useful for wizarding folk. They carry all your mail and packages and whatnot."
Elixyvette had shared a conspiratorial grin with Sypriana, already imagining the shock Sypriana's menacing harpy eagle would impose on any mail recipient expecting an owl instead. Elixyvette herself had chosen an owl the exact opposite of Sypriana's daunting harpy eagle, a small little speckled boobook she named Winnie after the silly old bear she and her sisters like to watch on the Saturday telly. Sypriana had no idea how that small twenty-centimeter tall owl was going to carry any package — a large letter might even be too much for the poor thing.
"Have you thought of a name for her?" Elixyvette asked Sypriana, her own cage empty as her little speckled boobook rested on her shoulder.
"Mm…" Truthfully, Sypriana hadn't thought of a name yet. Their shopping spree in Diagon Alley, though just for school supplies, had been so much fun and so mind-boggling that her brain hadn't yet settled down from everything. She had gotten measured for her school robes, gotten a wand (hazel wood with a dragon heartstring core, twelve and three-quarters inches), gotten her books — she was looking forward to getting some light reading done before the school year, especially on The Standard Book of Spells — and even gotten a new set of wizarding paint that was supposed animate a completed painting.
The only thing Sypriana had not gotten was a broomstick — first-years were not allowed to have them, so Mr. Wong had not permitted Sypriana to get one, especially because a newer model was supposed to come out later in the year. Sypriana would have loved one — she wondered what it would be like to fly in the sky with the wind blowing through her dark-chocolate curls, what it would be like to touch the sun…
"Icaria," she answered as soon as the name came to her.
Elixyvette tilted her head in curiosity. "Like Icarus?"
Sypriana nodded her head. "I seek to touch the sun," she grinned.
Elixyvette's brow furrowed. "But didn't he burn when he got too close to the sun?"
"It's always good to have ambitions," Mr. Wong told the girls with a wagging finger, "but one must always take care not to get burned." And then he ushered the girls towards a small shop with a bunch of tables and chairs outside of it. "And on a scorching day like today, one must get ice cream to keep the sweltering heat away. I hear Fortescue's has a new white chocolate matcha flavor…"
And as Sypriana took bites out of her earl grey and lavender ice cream cone, she decided that the wizarding world was much, much better than the dull world she was leaving behind.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of JK Rowling. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
So, I am posting pretty frequently for this story, but I'm probably going to slow down soon since finals are coming up in December.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! See you next time!