The literal second that Cy walked into the store, all maxi skirt, leather jacket and red scarf, she was ambushed by one very excited Anita Witticker.

"Cypresse! I haven't seen you in years! And is that Diogenes? Come, have a biscuit; you've grown so much!"

The woman said this all in one breath, in the way that old grandmothers often did, taking her hand and guiding her through the store, fawning over her height and her new scarf and her new job at Hogwarts. Anita was a sweet woman, and Cy smiled under all the attention, willing to munch on a biscuit as she progressed slowly through the store.

A vibrantly feathered creature peered out at the store disdainfully from its secure perch on her shoulder. Less weird owls would have chosen to perch on her wrist, or at least her forearm, either of which would have made much more comfortable footholds, but Diogenes was stubborn, and he never did what he didn't want to. Like... never never. Ever. It was problematic sometimes.

Diogenes sported the bold patterns of a Morepork Owl, feathers bright and golden with spots of white and dark smudges lining the edges. His round eyes carried an amber sheen to them, a little less yellow than those of a usual Ruru, more gold, and the curvature of the feathers of the feathers above them made him look as if he was always in deep thought, but also judging you at the same time. Judging you very harshly, with eyes made of molten galleons.

"You practically raised the chick, didn't you?" another voice queried, emerging from somewhere to their left. "It's good to see you, Cy."

"Great to see you again too, Mr. Witticker," the young witch smiled, turning in the direction of his voice to address him. "Diogenes is happy to be back here too, aren't you?" She felt the claws gripping her shoulder shift and a slightly miffed noise of disagreement, the flutter of feather indicating his trademark rearranging of his wings—like rolling his eyes, except his wings because he couldn't actually move his eyes. And because she couldn't hear rolling eyes, she suspected. Cy sighed. "It's nothing personal, he just doesn't want to be here because I need a cage."

"A cage?" Mrs. Witticker asked, and she could hear the frown of confusion in her voice. "What's wrong with the one you've got? Maybe we could fix it for you, or get something similar so that he won't have to adjust."

"Oh, it's not that," Cy chuckled. "I... actually don't have a cage. Sometimes for travel that needs it, yes, but even then it's not a very good one. I've pretty much been letting him fly around randomly since birth, and if I need to take him somewhere he usually just goes on my shoulder. Aoi said that I might have to be traveling more, though, to see my mother, so I wanted to get a better quality cage, maybe one that gave him more room to stretch his wings." She craned her neck to the side so she could reach to pet his back gently, and he nipped at the side of her scarf affectionately—knowing that she didn't like being taken unaware.

"He's certainly very well bonded to you," Mr. Witticker observed, and Cy beamed in response. "You could probably get away with him on your shoulder most of the time, but maybe not with long-term travels. Let's see what we can do."

She still remembered the first time she'd found his egg hatching in the Magical Menagerie, lingered to listen to him emerge, wide-eyes behind the thin layer of silk over her eyes that did less to disguise than to decorate. It had been maybe an hour before she'd heard the scrabbling of claws, less like the pitter-patter of feet of the domesticated rats in the Menagerie, more aggressive, scraping against metal.

It wasn't long before she realized she'd basically saved the little chick from a potential predator, and barely longer before the chick realized the same thing. Well, she'd carried enough galleons for the little one, had enough time over the summer to come back and check up with the Wittickers to make sure everything was going all right—and besides, the chick was pretty much unwilling to leave her side. She named him Diogenes, after her favorite philosopher, and he'd been her companion ever since.

As they approached what she assumed was the cage section, Mrs. Witticker paused in her steps, and Cy followed suit, confusion clouding her features. It disappeared in understanding as soon as the elderly woman cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Shall I let you... feel them, or..."

A smile graced her features as she shook her head, rolling her shoulder to signal Diogenes to hop down her arm. "No need. He'll choose."

So they moved along the line of cages, Diogenes finally on her wrist like a sensible owl, steps slow to allow time for the owl's consideration. Cy took Mrs. Witticker's left arm with her right and held out her left hand toward the cages, letting the ruru lean forward and criticize every unit with his bright eyes. Mostly he stayed silent or made noises of rejection, signaling them to move on, and it wasn't until they'd passed at least three rows of cages that a chirp of approval sounded in her ears.

Cy stopped in her tracks immediately, and the shopkeeper did the same to avoid yanking her forward. "This one, 甜心?" she asked, and was met with another affirmation. Turning so that she faced the aisle again instead of ahead, the woman reached out, running her hands over the cage that her owl had selected. Mr. Witticker barked out a laugh behind her, and she grinned with him. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing much," he chuckled, "just that your owl has very expensive taste. Makes us wonder when magical owls became so much more sentient than nonmagical ones, you know, and to what degree, when we see things like this. What do you think?"

Cy tilted her head to the side in consideration as her fingers left the smooth surface. It had been quite a large cage, as expected, not so much rounded in the bottom as cut octogonally. Stair-like steps decorated the base, followed by whirling patterns in the barred metal. As her fingers had traveled upwards, she found a tier shaped by a balcony, and a segment above that a sloping roof, much like those found in Chinese pagodas. If she'd been able to see she would've noticed its antique bronze color, but she didn't need sight to tell that it was a beautiful piece of work.

"I think that I know why Diogenes chose this one," she declared. "It's a piece of art. I'll take it. How much?"

"Well," Mrs. Witticker began thoughtfully, "It's forty-five galleons, but you know, when you were in here to buy your little Morepork—don't look at me like that, Diogenes, you're ten inches long, I know you have a large spiritual wingspan—you paid full price for him even though he'd just hatched. Usually we charge full price for owls that we've spent money on raising already, so how about I give you a—"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," Cy interrupted, already digging out her coin purse. "You're not discounting me! Remember, you still took care of the chick. I brought him down here every few days or so, and if I recall correctly, which I do, I didn't pay for any of the supplies or the time you spent taking care of him—"

"Well, maybe, but between those few days it was you who—"

"No-pe," the young woman stated firmly, popping the p obnoxiously.

"What if I refuse to take your money?"

A pause. "Well, then, I'll have to give you my money forcefully, won't I?"

And with that, she tossed a handful of coins to the ground, clinking against one another and thunking against the wooden floor, and dashed out the door, the flutter of wings following behind her.

What animal do you wish to purchase? Morepork Owl
What do you want to name it? Diogenes of Sinope
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? July 8th, 2014
WC? 1347

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Congratulations on your new pet!