Viktoria felt uneasy whenever the schools came together. A few years ago, she wouldn't have thought much about it, who was going to target some kids, right? Well, people did, and they killed them. Seeing the empty seats still stung years later. An event like that left a mark and the ghost of the horrors still seemed to linger at her school.

While a repetition of events was what scared her, it was not the only reason that she didn't feel good about returning to Hogwarts. It was seeing the faces of the students. The younger ones, full of careless excitement made her smile. The older ones, clearly torn between excitement to see their friends again and the painful memory of the loss of their friends was heartbreaking.

Going to London for summer camp was always a good alternative. Away from the scene of horrors and to a place where everyone was equally a guest. Maybe someday other schools would be able to host, when some of the headmasters stopped squabbling like children over their hurt egos.

Vika decided to use the opportunity to visit Diagon Alley this time. She hadn't been here in years, besides, there were some things that she needed. One of them- fish food. She hadn't noticed until a few days ago that she was slowly running out and she would not ever allow her baby to starve.
Usually she brought tins and tins of fish food- her dad always made sure to have a whole bag full to take with her for the next school year when she visited home- but this time it seemed she was running out early.

It didn't take her a long time to find the pet shop, already calling her with loud meowing and screeching from afar. As it was summer, she found the shop rather busy with students who weren't attending the camp and also a couple of kids who looked young enough to be future Hogwarts students, picking a companion for school.

A smile crept on her face at the memory of how she found her own pet, at a shop in Kazan, the city she studied Ancient Runes in. She had expected to leave with a cat or maybe an owl, Kazan was pretty far away from home after all, but that had no longer been an option when she saw a table with a couple of fishbowls on it. Right in the tiny black eye of a goldfish.
An hour she had spent in that shop, walking around, looking at different owls and cats and ferrets... only to go back to the fishbowls every time. Was it weird to have a love at first sight experience with a fish?

Whether or not it was, Vika could not bring herself to go through with what she had planned originally and instead left the shop with a fishbowl and a tiny little goldfish- that she could have sworn looked more content than it had in the shop too.
Naming had been difficult. For a few days the fish had remained nameless, referred to as "little lady" and other terms of endearment only.
Returning home for a week and spending time with her grandad and his beloved alpacas was what ended up giving her the perfect idea. He had named the two alpacas gold and silver, after the metals her grandmother preferred to craft with.

By the end of the day, Vika had made her decision, the little lady was now named Alpaca.

With a soft chuckle, Vika grabbed two tins of fish food from a shelf, paid and left the store again.

What animal do you wish to purchase? Golden Veiltail
What do you want to name it? Alpaca
Is this a boy or a girl? Girl
What is your pet's date of birth? July 27th 2019