"Aww Marley is a sweet name," Niamh replied as River began a conversation with the little budgie, "he seems really taken with you. Tell you what, seeing as I haven't got you a Christmas present yet, how about I get you the budgie starter kit - that says you get the cage as well, so he'd have somewhere safe away from the other pets in the dorm."

Niamh could hear Jona's laughter from the other end of the gift shop, and turned to see him playing with a niffler inside one of the pens. As she turned back towards River, she spotted the most gorgeous looking kitten she had ever seen. "I wonder if Thumper would get on with a new cat," she thought out loud just as one of the kittens' fur changed colour from white to brown. "Did you see that?" she asked, although she had a feeling River was too engrossed in the budgies to notice.

Paddy stared at Magnus, "seriously, you've got an elephant?!" she wasn't too sure he was winding her up or not. "In that case, go and look at the Fwoopers, as I can't imagine you'll be coming back any time soon and the Hogsmeade pet shop didn't stock any last year." Irwin returned with the dummy, and the Crup puppy started growling at it. Paddy took a deep breath, and tried to distract the pup, whistling and calling him to catch his attention. The pup started growling louder which wasn't quite the reaction Paddy had in mind. A sudden flash of inspiration hit her, and she pulled out her shoe lace from her trainers, and wiggled it in front of the puppy's nose. "Shoe laces" she said, as the Crup puppy turned away from the dummy slightly, "if you come closer, I'll let you have a treat," she said, thankful that she'd found a little of the Crup food in her pocket from earlier.

"Thanks," River said, "I thought it fit her well." The little bird had a lot of her attention so when Nimah said she'd get it as a Christmas present, River was very excited. "Aww you're the best. Thank you!" She was in the middle of setting the starter kit up when Nimah spotted he kitties. She had to finish quickly and put the bird inside so she could go over and look. "Woah, it did change colours. We can put them in the play pen and see how they get along together?"

"Yeah, Mum and Dad went over the top. We had to give Freddy to a farm earlier this year. Apparently llamas like groups and he was getting very sad. So that and he baby, I guess they decided to spoil me. I named her Molly. I love watching her eat with her trunk. Okay, I'll go look at fwoopers and take me test."

Irwin smiled. "Not bad. considering you just met the puppy. Not bad at all. Yes, I think you can handle them. Now, couple of questions..." he said spelling the area. Five minutes later he handed Paddy a copy of her license. "Congratulations, its yours. We'll file the licence with the Ministry. There shouldn't ever be a home inspection except if you get complaints. I'd recommend a leash in muggle areas anyway though or simply leaving it behind. Free toy comes with purchase."

"Oooohh! If yours is Lewis, I should name my Clark - like the American explorers. Lewis and Clark, our lil' nifflers, could have so much fun exploring together!" Jona was ecstatic, playing with Clark, but hadn't quite set his heart on the little niffler yet; there were still plenty more animals to entertain.

Niamh grinned, "you're welcome - I wasn't too sure what to get you up to today. And that's a great idea! That kitten has proved he'd be perfect for me, given that he changed colour, so I hope they get on ok." Carefully lifting the kitten out, she made her way one of the play pens and set both Thumper and the kitten down, to see how they get on together.

Paddy smiled with relief that the puppy hadn't behaved too badly. "I think Muggle laws say that dogs have to be on a leash around where I live anyway, so that'd definitely be something I'd do. Thank you!" She was beaming from ear to ear now, as she picked up her Crup puppy and is started licking her furry face. She made her way over to where Magnus was looking at the Fwoopers, "I passed!" she said, "I just need to pick a name, and a toy - Irwin said there's a free toy with the purchase, so I thought I'd let the pup pick one." "I'm sorry to hear that Freddy wasn't happy being on his own, but at least you know he's got plenty of company now" she added.

Zoe laughed. "I was thinking more along the lines of C.S. Lewis a muggle author. But explores are good too." They had a good time playing with the animals. "Are ye getting Clark then? I'd like to have a look at the other animals too and the books and the everything else." She giggled. "I also needa get a cage for Lewis when I'm nee around to keep an eye on him."

"To be honest, I don't really know what to get you, but it'll be something here, I'm sure." 'Like maybe the kitty,' she added in her head. She followed to see how Thumper and the little one got on. "You could name it Sortie, for Allsorts, or Toffee..."

"Anytime," Irwin said, "enjoy."

Magnus beamed happy for PAddy. "Congrats," he said, "picking toys is brilliant. I get one for Vincent too. Its okay, 'e's appy now so that's the most important thing."

(and everyone else!)

When the announcement was made, Drew slowly stood and folded the sketchbook closed. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t as horrible as some things he’d drawn. Whispering a goodbye to the mooncalf, he left the building with Poppy.

Once outside, Drew headed to the gift shop as soon as his eyes adjusted again. He didn’t make it far inside the door before stopping in amazement. Animals, souvenirs, and books!! Where was he going to start?! “Oh…Merlin’s beard!” he breathed. It seemed as though all the other students had gravitated to the pet section first and Drew debated waiting until later to look. But then what if they sold out of something really cool that he’d hoped for…even though he didn’t really know what they had at the moment. Deciding to brave the masses, the dark haired boy entered the pet section of the giftshop and grinned as the assorted sounds of both pets and squeals of glee from students.

Having decided earlier that he’d like a Fwooper, Drew headed in that direction first since most people seemed to be with the crups and cats. No way was he leaving without a crup but he would wait his turn. As he reached the fwoopers, he spotted Magnus and grinned. “I brought back your Drew Wilder original,” he told his friend, handing over the sketch book. “So have you decided on a fwooper yet?”

He smiled at Paddy and said, “Already found a new friend, I see.” He extended his hand for the crup to smell.

((got a lot to try to catch up on!!))

Drew Wilder original

Not really a sketch but it was fun trying to do this lol Hope Mags likes it :D

((its freaking adorbs :o)

"'Ey Drew." Magnus took his sketch book back and grinned. Opening the book he saw the mooncalf drawing and laughed. "Oh it's adorable Drew, too cute for words. I love it. Thanks mate!" Just then his new albino ferret popped his head out of Magnus' bag. "Oh Vincent likes it too. Ain't he cute? Paddy got 'im for me." When asked about a fwooper, Magnus nodded. "Yes, I like this cute orange one." He pointed. "I'm a bit scared to take the test, he admitted.

((aww thanks 😊 ))

Drew smiled at Magnus’ reaction. He was glad his talented friend liked his attempt. “You’re welcome. Glad you like it. Vincent huh?” Drew smiled at the little ferret. “Well hello there, Vincent. Are you an art connoisseur, sir? You’ve got the right name,” he chuckled. “Aww, that was sweet of Paddy,” he smiled at the girl who was with them.

“Yeah the test worries me too,” Drew admitted to Magnus. “And I have to pass two to get the animals I want…one for the fwooper and one for the crup. I hope I can do it. But if not, at least there are a lot of other animals who can come home with me.” He gave a little smile. Looking at the fwoopers, he gently stroked the orange one Magnus was looking at and lifted him off the perch. “He is a nice one,” he said, placing the bird on Magnus’ shoulder. Stepping back, he pretended to regard the picture they made critically. “Hmm…yep…coloring blends…fwooper seems happy…uh huh. This one goes home with you as soon as you past the test. Happy Christmas, Mags,” he told his friend with a grin. “It’s my late gift to you since we didn’t get to spend time together during the holidays.”

Jona shifted his head as if he were shaking his thoughts into place."I don't know... I did just get Duncan..." He put Clark the niffler back from where he pulled him. "I think I'll keep looking around and find something for Duncan instead. She might end up feeling a bit unwanted if I bring back another new pet."

Magnus giggled. “Yeah ‘e likes impressionism.” He nodded. “Of course you can you’re a slytherclaw. Are they the only ones you’re getting?” Magnus snickered as Drew made it sound like the fwooper was an art piece. “What? Aww thank you Drew. And since you said you wanted a crup, I’ll get you that. Happy Christmas.”

“I know,” Zoe nodded. “I totally get it…it’s hard to pass ‘em down I’m gonna make sure to spend plenty of time with Reggie and Eorm too. Let’s go look at the other animals. What do ye wanna look at?”

Snickering at the comment about Vincent’s love of impressionism, Drew nodded and said, “You’re welcome, Mags.” Then his eyes widened as his friend went on to say he’d purchase Drew a crup. “Oh, Mags! Thank you! And I’m sure Dodge will thank you too. He’s going to love a new friend to get into trouble with. And no, you know me...I'll probably get at least one more...maybe five." He grinned. "Not to mention I haven't looked at supplies and the whole other room!"

Drew looked over the fwoopers and considered several of the pink ones…though there was a yellow one and a green one that were also nice. Still when a bright pink one stared at him for a moment before hopping onto his wrist, Drew knew he’d found his new feathered friend. Smoothing a finger over the feathers, he looked at Magnus. “Should we find Irwin and ask about the test now?” He was nervous but wanted to at least try.

"No problem," Magnus said smiling, "i knew you'd want one of those crups... so you." He nodded. "Yeah I guess." They found Irwin. And Magnus was very nervous. "So er, we both wanna get a license for the fwooper and buy 'em and Drew also wants a crup."

Irwin smiled. "Can't say I didn't see that coming. Alright so who's first?"

"Drew's going first with 'is fwooper," Magnus said.

"Alright, first, you'll have to cast a silencing charm," he said. "You can try it on one of the ravens." He went and got a raven who was cawing loudly. "Go ahead and give it a try."

Drew grinned at Magnus’ comment and went along with him. “I’m going to pay for both licenses and both fwoopers too, Irwin,” he told the guide. “Um…provided I can master the charm.” He bit his lip as Magnus volunteered him to go first.

Swallowing hard, Drew looked at the squawking raven. He was well aware that it was harder to make the charm work on ravens and required a powerful charm. Then again this was a fwooper he wanted to purchase and that would be even worse than a raven’s annoyance if he couldn’t do it properly.

Taking a deep breath, Drew took out his wand, focused and said firmly, “Silencio!” as he waved his wand in a reverse u direction. For a moment Drew worried that it hadn’t worked, but then the raven stared at him and suddenly flapped its wings, its beak snapping open and closed soundlessly.

"And I'm paying for the crup and licence," Magnus added.

Irwin grinned. "Well done. Alright, Magnus you try the silencing charm." He waved his wand and the raven was making a louder racket this time. Magnus took three turns before finally managing. "Excellent. Dedra, please take the raven back to the quiet room and remove the charm." He looked to the boys. "We let them have a bit of time to sulk. Alright," he said waving his wand around Drew and himself, "Magnus can't hear the replies now. So, how often do they need silencing charms? What happens if you don't reapply it?"

Drew was grinning at his success, but watched Magnus nervously. He was thrilled when his friend managed the charm. He had to laugh at Irwin’s comment about letting the ravens sulk. Then before he knew it, it was just him and Irwin and the test has started. Thank goodness Drew loved both reading and animals. He answered, “You have to reinforce the charm every month. And without the charm on them their song can drive you insane because of the constant high pitch of the twitters.”

Zoe and Jona were wandering when she suddenly stopped and gasped as she attempted to walk past the Harlequin toads. There, siting quietly was the most stunning toad she'd ever seen. She knew she shouldn't since she'd only seen a few animals, but she picked the black and purple/pink toad up and petted her. "She's stunning and marched over to the habitats and picked a large set up. "In you go, gotta think of a good name for ye. Okay, Jona don't let me find anymore pets." She giggled.

"Well done," Irwin said. He took out a form. "Fill this out with your information and we'll file it with the ministry. Hope you have a long and happy friendship with your new mate." He removed the spell and looked at Magnus. "Alright your turn." With in a few moments he handed Magnus the form as well. "Don't forget to keep up with the silencing charms. Alright now, Mr Wilder, pick the crup you like the best. Then spend a little time with it and when you're ready we'll begin that test."

“Thanks, Irwin!” Drew said with a happy smile. “I won’t forget.” He filled out the form while Magnus was taking his test. Then seeing that Magnus had his paperwork as well, he high-fived his friend. “Let me go pay for Suess and…whatever you decide to name Orangey…and then you can help me pick a crup if you want.”

Magnus highfived him and giggled. "Seuss eh? I like it. I'm thinking Rene, after René Magritte. He' was an artist that did clever things, figured it fit Suess and all. Plus you ad her sounding like a painting earlier." Magnus was beaming. He filled out his forms really quick. "Sounds good, then we'll need a buy some supplys and got to the other part of the gift shop, before we buy all their animals." He laughed but they'd both gotten two animals already.

Zoe was at the register paying for her new toad, its habitat and her niffler's cage and supplies as she saw Drew approach. "Hey Drew. What a lovely bird. I've not seen fwoopers for sale in most places..." she petted it. "Sooo cute..." She was highly highly tempted to go look at them.

“Yep, this was one time I didn’t have to think forever for a name,” Drew laughed as they went to the register. “I knew the minute Irwin told us we could buy ‘em what I wanted to name mine. I like Rene too,” he smiled at Magnus. “It’s a classy name and she looks like a Rene.” When Magnus mentioned buying all the animals, Drew grinned. “What’s wrong with that?” he asked. “I’ll look around a bit more while we get supplies but who knows what I’ll find.”

When Zoe spoke to him, Drew smiled at the girl. “Hi Zoe,” he greeted. “Thanks. His name is Suess because like I told Mags earlier, fwoopers remind me of something Dr. Suess would draw.” Seeing the toad he was about to comment but spotted the cage too. “Oh cool! You’re getting a niffler?!” Drew asked. “I’ll have to look at them after I see the crups. There are just so many animals to tempt me!”

"Its a great name," Magnus said, "glad it didn't take you too long. It took me ages to name my wee elephant I got for Christmas. I went with Molly in the end. She paints and draws! Nothin, we'll just 'ave to get another castle built for em all." Magnus laughed.

Zoe giggled. "Yes I think it does remind me of a something I'd see in his books. Yer tempting me. Aye, wee lil' un here. I named him Lewis cos I loved the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe. Oh I used to sit in my wardrobe and which I was Lucy or Susan and could go to Narnia. When I got my letter and the staff member came to my house and told me I was a witch I felt like I'd gotten my dream. And my first trip to Diagon Alley was like walking into Narina." She suddenly blushed. "Anyway, Nimah bought my the niffler..."