July seemed to last forever, and when it finally ended Elle found she had four more weeks before she would be boarding the Hogwarts Express.
"I don't see why you're so impatient to go off to school, Ellie," Gran said one day after hearing about the seven moving staircases and how the sorting hat would know exactly which house Elle should be in, for the thirty-seventh time that day, "you spent the entire Christmas holidays there poking about the place while your mum prepared for the spring term. It's a wonder you think there's anything left to explore." And with that she finished directing the magically folded laundry into the proper bedrooms. Elle sighed and picked up her new copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, returning to where she left off in chapter 9.
"Gran," she said closing her book again with a snap, "I'm going to miss you too." Her grandmother looked up, intrigued. "But it has to be about more than just having the house to yourself again. You practically pushed me into the floo when mum said I could spend Christmas at Hogwarts. So why shouldn't I be excited to start school?" Gran paused and thought deeply for a moment.
"The school year is much longer than just a Christmas holiday, Elysia. Besides, I had plans last Christmas." She said finally, starting a new load of laundry with a flick of her wand. Half-truths were always the trickiest things to see through, even for Elysia, and Gran was good at them but it was clear that she was hiding something, however small it might turn out to be.
"Alright. I suppose I'll just have to come back and bother you for the Holidays, then. Maybe I'll even bring friends and we'll run wild in the hills and you can scold us and put us to bed without dessert. How's that?" She said with a wicked smile. Gran shook her head and told her to go outside and enjoy the summer before she ran off to that school.
When August was coming to a close, Gran and Demeter took Elysia back to Diagon Alley. Elysia was practically shaking with nerves. She wanted to pick the perfect companion, but didn't know if that meant an owl or a cat or what. She decided that animals had to be about as good at selecting a human as a wand did, and resolved to simply pay attention and let the animals do the choosing. She didn't expect Eeylop's to have quite so many friendly animals lining the shop. Cats were slinking around corners, some of them winding themselves through Elysia's legs and looking up at her expectantly, one particular Siamese catching her eye more than once. Still, none of the able-winged owls or prowling felines felt right. It was during her third circuit around the shop that Elle bumped, or rather was bumped, roughly against a stack of empty wooden owl cages. Elysia and the cages went down with muffled thumps and thuds. The person who had bumped her gasped and grumbled at themselves, and was soon struggling to help Elle to her feet.
"Urgh," the stranger said lifting two cages at once and stacking them with care near where they'd stood before. Elysia dusted herself off and looked up at the girl beside her. "I'm sorry." The girl said, haphazardly throwing a sheet of fallen hair back out of her face. Her hair was the golden color of champagne with a shocking streak of white framing her face on one side. "I was trying to pet that giant tabby cat and I just got off-balance… it happens a lot." She smiled sheepishly, her dark chocolaty eyes searching Elysia's for anger or forgiveness.
"That's alright." Elle assured the girl. "I wasn't having much luck before that anyway." And she found that she was unable not to smile back at the girl. The stranger stood at least 8 inches taller, but seemed to be about Elle's age so she decided to hazard a guess. "You're about to start at Hogwarts too then?"
"Yea, finally! I'm the last one in my family. My brother will already be a fourth year, My sister's in sixth now and my oldest brother just graduated and ran off to Greenland or something, he's kind of strange. What about you? Any family already at Hogwarts?" They strolled the aisles together, talking as they examined the animals all around them, but they barely glanced at the ornate pond that housed several different kinds of toads. Elysia told the girl about her mother teaching Runes for 3rd year and above, which impressed her new friend to no end. "What about your father? Does he teach at the school?"
"No he died when I was little, three years old I think. Mum started at the school when I was six. That's when I first met the headmaster. He's brilliant."
"Yea, everyone says so. Drayga, that's my sister, she always said he was handsome, even though he is kind of ancient, but I guess he's not THAT ancient. I heard one of the professors is a ghost, so he must hold the record for oldest teacher at Hogwarts." She said all of this smoothly, but it sort of just bubbled out of her as if the more she thought, the more information started to rise up. Elysia thought the girl was as much like champagne as any human could be; golden and bubbly and pouring herself into life with ease, and she decided that she would like very much to be this girl's friend. Someone near the door of the shop called out a name that Elysia didn't quite catch and the girl called back, "Coming, Mum. Hey, I've got to go, but I'll see you on the train, alright?" and she waived cheerfully as she turned and ran towards the voice.
The air was amazingly still in her new friend's absence and Elle was shocked to realize that they'd never exchanged names. It just hadn't seemed important at the time. She continued to wander through the store, feeling a bit hopeless about finding her perfect companion animal, when she stumbled upon a high table she hadn't noticed before. The table was narrow and ornate and housed only one large perch. The owl on the table was enormous with dark orange eyes and a sharp narrow black beak. Its black ear tufts had fine yellow-ish feathers on the backs of them and rose directly above its eyes. The shiny golden plate on the table said, "Eurasian Eagle Owl" and below that a handmade sign warned against getting too close to the bird's perch. Elysia walked to the front of the store and returned with a staff member.
"I want to know more about this owl, please." She said pointing to the bird who was regarding her over his shoulder.
"Oh, the big fella," The bearded man said. "We've had him for years now. Keep expecting some political figure to take him on as a sort of symbol, you know? But he's not what you'd call friendly, usually adopts what they call 'threat posture' when someone gets too close. Goes really puffed up and big looking to let you know he might take your arm if you're not careful. Probably be here for another ten years before some grizzled old coot takes him off so they can live miserably together for the rest of their lives. We've got some nice barn owls off 'dis way if you care to—"
"How much would you take for this owl?" Elysia said pointedly, not letting him steer her away so easily. The owl turned slowly around on his perch to face her, leaning forward slightly to stare intently into her face.
"Wha-… No. No, I don't think you understand. This old boy doesn't like people, he just doesn't. I know he's big and impressive, but you should just-" He stopped short, staring at the odd display he was seeing from the Eagle owl. The bird was slowly switching back and forth between his ridiculously large feet, standing first on his right, then on his left, bobbing his head almost imperceptibly as he went.
"What does that mean?" Elysia asked.
"It mean he's…happy." He stared dumbly between the bird and the little girl. "We've been asking 17 Galleons for him, plus the price of the cage.
"Oh, " Elysia said dejected, "my mum only gave me thirteen; she told me not to spend it all if I could help it.
"Tell you what, " he said stroking his beard, clearly amused by the odd pairing, "I'll take the thirteen for the bird, and throw in the cage for nothing. How's that sit with yeh?" Elysia almost threw her arms around him, but managed to contain her enthusiasm and simply offered her hand. They shook on it.
Demeter was shocked when Elysia met her and Gran at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour struggling to carry a giant bird cage in which a regal, if somewhat stern, owl perched, gazing around stonily. The bird studied each of them as they sat around a small white table, and seemed to decide that he simply wasn't interested in them for the moment. Demeter could hardly be angry, somehow the bird suited the introspective girl in a way a cat simply wouldn't have. Gran was rather excited about receiving letters from Elle carried by this bird. It was a nice surprise all around, and Elle named the owl Rakesh.
When it was time to catch the train, the three women traveled through London in a hired car arriving at Kings Cross with plenty of time. Demeter let Gran walk casually through the barrier to platform nine and three quarters first, followed by Elysia with her trunk and owl, who took it at a brisk walk, before finally stepping through herself. Wizards and witches were milling around the platform, younger children clutching their parents' knees and others running through the crowd, saying their farewells. Gran stood by Rakesh's cage while Demeter helped Elysia get her trunk in the hold of an empty compartment. When they were back on the platform Elysia hugged Gran tight around the middle and promised to write often. Demeter kissed Elysia lightly on her forehead and told her she'd see her that evening at the sorting. Elysia was about the attempt to carry Rakesh onto the train when a familiar voice caught her attention.