December 27, 1 PM | The Magical Menagerie

It was a few days after Christmas and 11-year-old Starlee could barely contain her excitement. They were getting ready to head over to America to visit her muggle grandfather, whom she loved dearly. Her father had needed to make a quick jaunt into Diagon Alley to buy some more potions supplies for their travels to America. It never hurt to be prepared, in his eyes. He had offered Starlee to come with him, which wasn't unusual. She loved going on these little shopping excursions with her dad. She wanted to be just like him, after all, and the best way to do that was to do everything he did. She was in charge of holding all the items, and she would study them closely as her father handed her item after item to put into the sack.

Unbeknownst to Starlee, this trip would be different. Her father had picked out the last of the necessary items and was paying while Starlee was checking out a large plant kept in some sort of cage. 'What on earth could that thing be?!' she wondered. She was shaken from her staring and she turned to see her father's hand placed on her shoulder. She looked up at him and said, "That's it then, right? Can we... Stop and get some candies before we go?" A huge grin spread across her face.

"I've got a better idea... Follow me," he said with a smile and a wink. Where on earth were they going? Starlee could only guess. They pushed open the doors of the little shop and headed back up the alley.

They stopped directly in front of a shop, a shop that Starlee had ogled at many a time: The Magical Menagerie. Her dad walked in front of her, opening the door, as Starlee stood there in shock. No, there's no way this was happening.

"What are you waiting for? Come on in!" His smile was so kind as he held the door open for her until she snapped out of her shock. Another family passed through the opening, a small girl holding a little rat in her palms. "Oh Starlee, come on, its Christmas! And cold... get your butt in here and pick yourself out a pet!" "I-WHAT???" She quickly dashed inside, away from the cold weather... into the place where she would finally get a pet.

She could barely contain her excitement as she ran around the shop looking at the various animals. It was time for the real questions now. What animal should she get? A ? A Rat? A Lizard? A Toad? An Owl?

Wait... an Owl?

She quickly turned around and began running to where she saw a group of owls perched happily. An old woman quickly halted her, in the hopes of stopping her from running into anything in her excitement. "Now, now, young lady, don't run in here! We have very special animals here you see!" She gestured to the shelves around her. "Can't have you students toppling them over and hurting them, now can we?" Starlee mumbled a short "Sorry..." to the woman and continued walking over to the group of owls.

She surveyed over them but was stopped by a particular bird. It's beautiful amber coloring and white markings were just so captivating, and it had these cute little feather horns above its eyes. She slowly walked closer to it, admiring it. The older woman came up behind her and said "Ah... now that's quite the Great Horned Owl that you've picked out. It's a boy, and he's a little over two years old now."

Starlee smiled at the bird and reached her hand out to give him a scratch. He nuzzled her back sweetly and Starlee knew in that moment that he was the one. "So, what do you think there Star? Is he the one?" Her father had come up behind her and smiled at the owl, reaching his hand out to shower the owl with even more affection. "Mhm! He's definitely the one!" She said, happy to have found the best companion in the whole world.

She followed her father as he went to pay for the owl and the small woman asked her a question that she hadn't yet considered. "So, what are you going to name him?

Name him... Name him?!? Oh no... this would definitely be a difficult decision. One she would ponder over for hours and hours and hou- No wait. She knew exactly what to name him. She had been studying up on Celtic Mythology and was really interested in how muggles managed to come up with this stuff. Borvo was the God of healing, specifically medicinal springwater, and that certainly seemed like the perfect fit for her little bird. Plus, she could call him Bo for short! She smiled back up at the old woman and said brightly, "I think I'll name him Borvo!" The old woman gave her a smile and Starlee went back to focusing all her attention on Borvo. Her father continued to talk to the woman about what foods Borvo would need and the proper bird care.

Starlee was too enveloped in watching her bird to notice any of that, however. She had a new best friend and she couldn't wait to watch him fly.

What animal do you wish to purchase? Great Horned Owl
What do you want to name it? Borvo
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? June 18, 2018

WC: 874/400