A Time for Slime Pet

Reducio

Location: Magical Menagerie
Time: 23 August 2022
Word Count: 805

Another year, another trip over to Diagon Alley for school supplies. It wasn't going to be as overwhelming of a trip, considering it's more of a refill trip than buying everything required by Hogwarts. It's not like Colina needed a new wand or cauldron. She just needs some new quills, ink, and some potion ingredients. Even though the school supplies the ingredients needed for Potions class, she just felt like she needed to be prepared.

Despite the fact that Colina needed far less money for her trip this year, her dad still absent-mindedly gave her the same exact number of galleons that he gave her the year before, as he left for work. She would have piped up and said something, but he was already out the door when she realized. Knowing the rest of the week would be too busy to go out on her own, she sighed, grabbed her bag, and hopped into their fireplace with a handful of floo powder.

Colina frowned as she watched other kids around the alley shop for school supplies. Only they were accompanied by their families, giggling and chatting amongst themselves. She knew that they needed the money to afford their house, especially when her dad had to buy a bunch of random muggle items and then sell them to one of those muggle artefact shops so they could obtain some money they could actually use to pay for Colina's school supplies.

Holly's not an option for a shopping buddy either. Whenever they go out shopping, Holly always insists that she pays for everything Colina's buying plus a ton of gifts. She didn't want Holly to waste so much money on her, especially considering she was retired. So, she keeps quiet about her ventures over here to Holly.

Colina just wished she could have someone that could keep her company on lonely adventures like this. Or even just someone at home that had the time or attention to interact with her. That's when she spotted the homey little shop nestled in between all the other stores, Magical Menagerie. She looked down at the extra galleons she was holding and thought why not?

Colina opened the door to the shop which was accompanied by the soft ringing of a bell. The sounds of owls hooting, frogs ribbiting, and cats meowing filled her ears as she looked around the quaint shop. The walls and most of the floor were lined with cages that held animals ranging greatly in size and uniqueness. The wooden floors, the smell and sound of all the animals, and the warm light coming from the windows all reminded Colina of a pleasant barn.

A tall old man with a warm smile on his face greets Colina as she enters, asking if she's looking for anything in particular. Colina just shrugs, she's never owned a pet, so she has no idea what she'd even look for in one.

The man nodded and brought her attention to the reptile section of the menagerie, filled with all sorts of creatures. There were snakes, Colina had always hated snakes so definitely not. The lizards looked cool, but she didn't really want to hold their scaly bodies.

Then there were the toads. Tiny slimy amphibians with legs for days. Normally she'd find them as weird as the lizards and snakes, but they were actually quite cute in person. They didn't do much except eat, croak, and lay around, unconcerned with the world around them for the most part.

One of the toads, a particularly rotund one with greenish-black dots covering his yellowish-brown body, was clearly the most unconcerned out of all of them. He was peacefully sleeping on a heated rock in the middle of the tank's little pond as most of the other toads croaked and hopped around him.

Colina pointed at him, asking if she could hold the toad. The old man nodded and lifted the toad out of the tank, much to the dismay of the now ribbiting toad, cranky from an interrupted nap. As the man placed the toad in Colina's hands, it slowly subsided its grouchy croaks and fell back asleep in Colina's palms. She looked up at the shopkeeper, "How much?"

The man smiled and gestured her over to the register, offering her some essentials in food and shelter for taking care of a frog before ringing her out. Colina also made sure to purchase a heated rock for the little guy since he seemed to like his old one so much.

As she gave the shopkeeper the needed money and started walking out of the menagerie, the toad in her hand woke up and looked up at her curiously. She smiled and pet its head with her other hand, causing him to ribbit. Colina smiled as she thought of a name, "Hello, Ribert."

What animal do you wish to purchase? Natterjack Toad
What do you want to name it? Ribert
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? 14 July 2020