Pick a Puff Pet

July 12, 2022

Haven couldn't believe that the day had finally come. Her parents were letting her get her very own pet.

Sure, she had Merlin at home, but he was a house cat, not a castle cat. That would be ridiculous. Plus her parents had said something about not coddling the cat too much or something about how she'd feed him too many treats and then he'd get fat. The notion seemed quite silly. Of course, she wouldn't do that! She would, however, keep him looking extra spiffy with his own closet, complete with his own array of mismatched socks. Merlin (and her parents) did not seem too thrilled at that idea.

She raced into the store at supersonic speed, dragging her poor mother along by the hand, whom, beforehand, had been carefully examining a somewhat slimy toad with a look of disgust. Haven thought the little toad was quite cute, but apparently, her mother was not in agreement. She had never much liked amphibians, which was why Hazel worked with the zebras.

"Look, look, look how cute and fuzzy he is," Haven said, dragging her mother over to look at a creature. Inside was the cutest, tiniest, hairiest little- spider.

"No, absolutely not, Haven, you cannot have a spider for a pet."

"Why not? He looks so cute... and so lonely. I can't just leave him there!"

"Yes, yes you can. Come on, let's go over here... look at the cats! You could have your own fuzzy little kitty!"

Sadly, Haven moved away from the spiders and went over to the cats, immediately forgetting about her crushing disappointment when she picked up one of them. She nuzzled her face into their soft backs. She wouldn't mind having a little kitty purring at her feet on the cold winter nights at Hogwarts. On the other hand, though...

"I can't just ABANDON Merlin and replace him! That'd be too mean." She gave the kitty a pat on the head before finding more creatures her mother was not fond of.

"Awww, it's a little lizard!" She pointed at the bearded dragon. "I wonder if he can breathe fire?"

Her father chuckled. "Haven, you have an affinity for the oddest of creatures. Next thing we know, you'll be asking for a pet Thestral."

"What's a Thestral?" she asked. Hayden did not elaborate, and of course, Hazel knew nothing on the subject. She shrugged before skipping along.

"Maybe a nice fish?" her mum offered.

Haven simply stopped for a moment, glanced at it, and then skipped along. "Nah!"

It wasn't much later that Haven stopped in her tracks, her jaw dropping in wonder. "Look, LOOK!" she called her parents along. She was nearly pressing her face against the glass, looking at a creature much like a puffball- a pygmy puff.

"That's it, that's the one I want!"

Her parents took a moment to look through the glass to see what she was looking at and immediately grimaced.

"Are you sure you want that one? There's a lovely pink one over here, she looks much nicer..."

"Haven, that one looks sick..."

"So we have to take him home!" she protested. "Look at him! Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?!" And what a sight he was. The poor pygmy puff was quite scraggly looking, unlike his other well-groomed littermates. The purple creature could use a bath and was much less pleasing to look at than the others. But that was the one Haven had her heart set on.

Hayden motioned for the shopkeeper to get that one out while Haven jumped around, beaming and hugging her parents. Finally, the little fluffball was placed in her awaiting hands (that she could hardly keep still) and instantly started purring. She hugged him close, and he crawled up and found a little perch on top of her head. She giggled before getting him off and holding him.

"I'm going to name him Marcus and he shall be mine. Okay, Marcus? We're going to take you home, and I'll give you a nice bath, and we can do your hair! I'll put it up in a nice little bow. Oh! And I'll have to introduce you to Merlin... and make you some socks! Yes, Marcus, do you want some cute little socks? Yes you do, yes you do!"

Hayden quickly paid the shopkeeper before following his daughter out the door. Her parents giggled at her antics, but Haven was happy to give the little guy a new home and gain a new friend. Marcus would be the perfect companion for the young Hufflepuff. It was almost as if the two puffs had picked each other.

Word Count: 779
What animal do you wish to purchase? Purple Pygmy Puff
What do you want to name it? Marcus
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? November 16, 2019