The trip to Diagon Alley had been utterly disastrous so far. First, she'd lost her brother, then almost wandered into Knockturn Alley, before accidentally overturning a display of books in Flourish and Blotts while looking for her parents. Not the best start - anyone could agree.

Fortunately, everything had more or less worked out in the end, but one person was still missing. Sylvie, her excitable Beauxbatons-attending cousin had gone off alone early on, getting all but forgotten during the chaos. Now Cedar and Father were looking for her, while Miranda went with her mother to pick up school supplies for her second year.

"I think we've got everything," Miranda told her mother as they walked down the street, the list of supplies held in front of her as she tried to read and dodge pedestrians at the same time. "Only Cedar's stuff is left." Her brother would be attending Hogwarts for the first time come fall, so he also needed supplies.

"I'll take care of that," her mother replied with a small frown, delicately taking the page from Miranda's hands with a smooth motion. "You can wait for me over...there." She pointed at a large building with display windows filled with animals.

Miranda's first reaction was to shudder - half of the animals she saw at first glimpse were cats, the others mostly owls. A few pygmy puffs stood out with their brilliantly coloured fur, but her gaze barely focused on them. The felines kept most of her attention.

"Maybe I shouldn't..." she trailed off when, upon turning around, Miranda realized that she was now alone. Her mother had slipped off.

With a sigh, the soon-to-be-second-year headed into the shop, purposely doing her best to ignore any and all cats. They really did creep her out, with their unreadable gazes and aloof auras. Miranda headed further into the shop, eyeing a few owls in the back corner that returned her gaze with an equal wariness.

There were lots of pets in the building, ranging from cats to toads to rats to spiders, but none caught Miranda's gaze in a way other than to elicit a shiver. After a few moments of staring at a particularly dour owl, she whirled around abruptly at the sound of someone approaching from behind.

Standing before her was a smiling man that towered over her, but didn't seem to exude any particular auras of malice. He didn't look the fittest or the neatest in terms of appearance, but Miranda knew better than to judge another from their looks. Even the most raggedy wizards could be more than able spell castors.

"Hello. Can I help you with anything?" he asked. "I'm Ernest Witticker. But you can call me Ernest."

"I'm Miranda Everest," she replied timidly, still unnerved by his almost silent approach. It was rare that anyone managed to sneak anywhere close to the young werewolf. "And...not really. I'm just waiting here until my mother gets back."

"Well then, maybe we can find you a match before she gets here!" Ernest exclaimed, turning at once and clomping off down an aisle before Miranda had any time to protest. With nothing else to do, the Ravenclaw followed him with a confused expression.

"So I noticed you don't seem particularly enthusiastic about cats or owls," the man continued to say as they walked, and Miranda startled at how perceptive he must've been to notice. But perhaps she was only overestimating her ability to hide the natural dislike. "That leaves less choices, but never fear! We still have spiders and lizards. I don't think rats or toads would make a good match for such a charming young witch as yourself." He paused in his speaking for a moment and glanced back at her with an appraising eye, then continued without pause in his steps. "Actually, I think spiders wouldn't be all that suitable. Let's stick with lizards for now, shall we?"

Ernest led her to a corner of the shop filled with scale-coated creatures Miranda immediately recognized as lizards. She wasn't able to recognize individual species, but it seemed like two kinds were dominant on the whole. "What kind of lizards are these?" Miranda asked, drawing a finger across the bars of a cage holding a small golden lizard covered in small bumpy scales.

"That there's a baby bearded dragon," Ernest replied, peering over her shoulder at the cage. "Adorable things, I'd say. Perhaps a lady such as you would appreciate that? If not, we've got the girdled lizards as well, although I call 'em Sungazers."

Miranda moved over to look at the other lizard, and smiled upon seeing the mottled creature that stared back at her with dark eyes. "He looks pretty," she told Ernest without thinking.

"She, actually," the man replied with a knowing grin. "And it seems like you've taken a liking to her."

"She is cute," Miranda said hesitantly, bending down to move her face closer to the lizard, which cocked its head to the side as it stared back. "But I'm not sure if my mother would approve..."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too worried 'bout that." Ernest reached past her and picked the cage up, and Miranda took a step back as she returned to standing at her full height. "As long as you want this Sungazer here, that is."

"...I do."

WC: 918

Pet Granted

Look after Dragonbait well.