Staring contest pet

It had been quite a long day for Nicholas, not only had he endured a almost two hours long lecture from his father about taking great care of his school supplies, as his own words "No respectable Ravenclaw has their items misplaced or destroyed!" And that same phrase had been repeated about four or five times through his whole speech.

It could have been six in fact... Nicholas wasn't sure, since he tuned him right out after the first "Nicholas listen to me." he has said a hour or so ago.

He was nodding along and staring into his father's eyes like he had learned how to do, while still holding on to the brand new cauldron he had just gotten from a store just a couple of doors back from where they stood in the Diagon Alley.

"Oh enough yapping!" Magdalene, his mother said, waving a hand to her disgruntled husband who did not like being interrupted in the middle of one of his endless speeches. "I have something that is going to make this trip so much more fun!"

Nick had only a moment to open his mouth before his mother took his cauldron, placed it on her husband's hands alongside the many books she herself had carried for a good part of the trip, then grabbed her son's hand and speed off down the stone path.

"Where are we going?" Nick finally asked when his father was no longer breathing down his neck and in fact, quite a few stores away.

"We are going to get you a new friend!" His mother said excitedly, smiling ear to ear as she stopped in front of a rather interesting looking store.
Nick was always the one for staring at every detail he could find, so this store was itself a treasure to behold. The windows were full of wooden and metal cages, some with small animals, some empty. And the odd scent of different animals hit him like a punch as soon as they entered the store.

Despite the loud and full street outside, the store was rather calm only a couple of younger people petting each cat they could find.

"Well hello deary." A older man with a brimmed hat quickly made his way over, a gentle smile on his face. Nick lifted his gaze at his words but noticed that the man had directly talked to his mother and not him. "What can I interest you today?

"We are looking for that special little friend for Nicky's first year in Hogwarts, and I was completely sure we could find them here!' Magdalene said with that same shiny smile, painted nails carefully placed on her son's shoulders as she spoke.

The man looked down at the young boy and gave a soft chuckle of his own. "Well you two came to the right place, my wife and I have all types of creatures who are itching to find their forever families. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt that there is one here for you."

Nick was skeptical for a moment, there was no way a store could have a pet for everyone right? that made no sense.
Yet his mother gave his back a soft push, inching him closer to the middle of the shop.

"Go on now, look around, see if anything catches your eye." She urged him along.

Nick wasn't completely sure how long he spent in that store, longer than he did most others that's for truly sure. It wasn't the case of no animals catching his eyes, but the case of most of them seeming uninterested on his presence. The cats all seemed to move along and lazily sleep in any surface, not even once lifting their heads to stare at him for more than a couple of seconds.

The frogs, as charming as they were, also didn't seemed very interested on Nick, although he was sure that was the case for anyone who came along. And the fishes seemed the same.

But what caught his eyes truly, was the birds.

What beautiful creatures were the owls, his Godmother owned a small one, and he had pet the creature a couple of times, always quiet and always so stoic.
One could think a creature like that didn't fit with a boy like Nicholas, he was louder than most when comfortable, moved too much, made too much of a mess. A creature so calm and so serene didn't exactly seemed a perfect match.

But all of them seemed curious about him, all shapes and sizes, all colors and all big eyes looking directly at him as he walked past most of them.

Then he stopped in front of one particular cage, it was a old rusty cage, probably not that comfortable but well taken care of. And inside, it was a owl like all the others, big eyes staring at him with curiosity and just a tad bit of defiance, like the cage was to protect Nicholas from it, than it from him.

"Hi?" Nick tried shyly, not that he expected the bird to answer back, but to see if it would react at all to him. And it did, the owl fluttered its feathers and stared. Without knowing what to do, Nick stared back.

"Nicky dear, have you found anything- Oh." Magdalene said as she approached, noticing her son's staring eyes fixed on the owl's and the owl's did the same. "I think you found someone to match your staring problems."

"Oh what a great choice!" The old man smiled so happily when he approached. "This one is a Great Horned owl! Beautiful creatures, and surprisingly friendly despite the angry face."

"I like this one! Can I have it?" Nick finally asked, breaking the staring to look at his mother with pleading eyes. "Please?"

She only nodded her head a knowing smile on her face as she turned to the old man. "How much I owe you for that one?"

Nick could barely contain his excitement as he made his way out of the store with his brand new friend, who didn't seemed any more amused than it was just a minute ago. Perhaps it knew his new owner was but a loud little boy, or perhaps it just seemed pleased with being out of that store for once.

"Ah. I see now." His father said the moment he saw his boy with a owl cage in his hands. "I'm glad you picked a owl. Marvelously intelligent creatures they are."

"His eyes are big like mine!" Nick squealed, way too excited for his own good. "His name is Echo!"

His father only sighed resisting the urge to ask his son to name his pet anything else at all, and for only a second he seemed to get the faintest smiles in his face. "Yes... And it's eyes are big like yours."