Just then, his elbow was jostled by several children running out of a shop behind him, one of them with shockingly red hair and yelling something about a rat. Turning around to look at where they had come from, he saw a wooden sign that read "Magical Creatures." Interested, Ryouga entered the darkened store.
"Welcome, muggle. Can I help you find something today?" The woman behind the counter smiled politely at him. He frowned slightly, his eyes adjusting. "It's Ryouga." he said absently, misunderstanding her. "Why's it so dark in here?"
"For the owls."
"Owls?"
"Yes, we carry several animals here. Owls, cats, rats and toads are our most popular, but we do have others in the back. Would you like to see something?" She kept smiling, hoping a sale was coming, but thinking it somewhat unlikely, as her customer had this look of dazed confusion on his face that she rather thought was permanent.
At last! This was a gift that would beat Ranmas for sure! A pet all her own. And if the sign on the door was accurate, it was magical too. "Um, sure. What have you got?"
The proprietress tapped her wand on the counter and three white rats, who had previously been sitting in a cage now jumped up and began to tapdance. Occasionally one would do a backflip. "These are our rats." Ryouga watched, amazed. "Follow me." She led him to a tank where some toads were and tapped her wand on the glass. "The toads." They croaked and changed color with each ribbit. Ryouga shook his head. She nodded and they headed over to a section of baskets, there were some cats. "Do any of these do anything?" Ryouga asked.
"No, they are just supposed to be companions. The smaller animals are the trick animals. Wouldn't a cat be nice?" she pressed.
Ryouga thought about Ranma and the joy of the torture it would inflict upon him, but shook his head. "No. I've got a fr- er, acquaintance who doesn't like cats. What else?"
The witch sighed. We was a tough nut to crack, but she'd get him. "Ok, well, what about an owl? They're great companions and they're useful for carrying messages to other wizards. You are getting this animal for a wizard or witch, right? I couldn't sell it to you otherwise." She gave the startled boy the eagle eye, peering at him.
"Uh, of course! Otherwise I wouldn't be here, right? Um, so what about these owls?" he asked, all flustered.
She leaned back, all smiles now at the thought of a sale. "Certainly! We've got barn owls, eagle owls, snowy owls, screech owls," she paused, adding "I don't think you want Whitney, though. She gets a little loud at times." She led him over to the perches. "How much do you want to spend?"
Ryouga looked at the yen in his pocket. It wasn't much. "Um, what can I get with this?" he asked, thrusting his hand out.
"Oh my, that's muggle money, isn't it? We don't take that. You'll have to exchange it at Gringott's. Do that and then come back. We'll still be here!" She laughed at her own joke.
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(Posted Tue, 20 May 2003 00:49)
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