บท 24: Pet Hedwig?

After two months, Loki was overjoyed.

'Finally! Finally! We're going outside today!'

Loki hummed in joy as he got ready with the clothes Walburga had prepared for him. Slipping on his dark shirt with a clean swipe and wearing the dark black robe after to keep himself safe from the cold.

Loki skipped down the stairs and arrived in the living room staring at Walburga who was reading the newspaper as usual.

"What's new in the daily prophet Lady Black?"

"Nothing that will interest you."

"Aww? Did they not continue the story of the magician that turned himself into a pickle!?"

"No. But they did start a new story about Edwina Lily the Homewrecker."

"Eww. Not those soap operas again. I thought the daily prophet stopped those because people didn't like them?"

"It's just you that doesn't like them. Now put on the bow tie I gave you, or I'll punish you to read it too."

"*Gasp* Oh Lady Black! How could you not feel the lampooning of this innocent soul? Have mercy! Have mercy! For you don't know when I might- Ouch! Ouch! Sorry, sorry! No stinging hexes! I swear I'll make a more famous Newspaper someday!"

"Hmpf. And you say you don't like soap operas."

Loki silently put on the bow tie and then stood in attention for Walburga to look at him.

"Good, now you look like a proper member of the black family.", Walburga commented, standing up and ironing out the kinks in her dress.

"Where are we going though?" Loki asked as he held out his hand for Walburga to hold.

"You'll know soon enough.", Walburga said waiving her hand over herself and Loki.

A dreamy mist appeared around the two forming a transparent continuously morphing barrier that distorted their appearance, making it hard for anyone to find out who they were.

"Won't people know that we are from the Black family since this is the ability of the Darkness Pathway?" Loki asked looking up at Walburga who he could somehow see clearly in spite of the mist.

"No. We could very well be using a Beyonder item to achieve the same effect."

"But couldn't you have just transfigured our faces to make us look different?"

"We could but that would cause problems for you down the line. It is best to remain in your original form as much as possible so that you don't have any other identities trying to make you lose control when you drink the advancement potion."

"I see…I think it makes sense?"

"Ready?" Walburga asked and Loki nodded.

*POP*

With a simple twist of space, Walburga and Loki vanished from the hallway and teleported into a narrow alleyway.

Loki steadied his swimming vision and read the sign that was hung above his head.

"Diagon Alley."

Without saying much, Walburga began to walk through the crowd of wizards and shops while Loki turned his head around and admired everything.

"How come so many wizards can gather here at once?" Loki asked as he saw a bunch of child wizards admiring a broomstick that was on display.

"It's a remote location that has been shielded to keep the muggles away. Although the black market in Knockturn Alley is larger and has roots in the muggle world too. But they're mostly just henchmen of evil gods.", Walburga spoke as she came to a stop in front of a store.

"Magical Menagerie.", Loki said, reading the sign on top of the store. "Are we here to get a pet for me?" Loki asked with excitement clearly heard in his tone.

"If it was for just a pet why wouldn't you just get one from a muggle store?" Walburga questioned.

"Because you hate muggles?" Loki stated the obvious.

"Hmpf. Either way, this isn't just a pet store. This is much more." Walburga said and walked inside the store causing the bell on top of the door to release a soft *jingle*.

As they entered the store, Loki couldn't help but glance at all the large and small animals in cages looking eagerly at him and Walburga.

"Welcome." A lady appearing from the back of the store spoke walking in seemingly unaffected by Walburga and Loki's hidden appearance.

"Could you show us the spirit catalogue?" Walburga requested in a demeanour completely unexpected of her, she sounded like an overjoyed schoolgirl, even Loki was surprised by the sudden shift but he quickly suppressed it.

'Does she want to pretend to be someone else?'

"Yes, as you wish Miss." the store owner replied, pulling out a thick bound book from behind the cabinet shelves.

"Pick one.", Walburga said as she looked down at Loki who was swinging excitedly since he heard the words spirit.

"I can!? Are there no restrictions?" Loki said with anticipation.

"Preferably an owl spirit, since they're the fastest and the most reliable spirits while requiring the least amount of maintenance, but if you like something else, don't hesitate.", Walburga said.

"Apart from owls, we have cats, toads and rats too! If you prefer a magical spirit, we have those too!" a short plump woman manning the store spoke out enticing Loki.

"Magical spirits?" Loki asked confused.

"Yes for example a spirit Knezale, they have very high intelligence and can detect untrustworthy people for you."

"Ohhhh!!!" Loki's eyes shined.

Loki instantly began to look through the book, as he studied the images for something to pique his interest.

The images were like the rest in the wizarding world, they moved and were animated giving Loki a sense of their personality which he was picky about.

'That owl. She looks so beautiful.' Loki thought.

"Do you like her?" The lady said pointing to the small white owl.

"Un." Loki nodded.

"Then let us summon her to see if she's compatible with you."

"You can!?"

"Haha, yes we can!"

The lady then set up a short ritual and spoke out the few lines that summoned the owl.

A pure white owl gilded into the store from the spirit world and landed on an empty perch.

The white owl looked at Loki invitingly but when he moved closer to the owl it just turned its head away.

'Hmpf. Fine. If you don't like me, I don't want you either!'

The rejection led to a few embarrassed smiles but the shop owner sent the owl away as Loki went back to turning through the pages of the spirit catalogue.