45 Chapter 45
Professor Sinistra had pursed her lips and nearly scowled over Harry's stubbornness but let the purchase stand since he had paid the twelve galleons for the bag before she could intervene (seven galleons more than he'd have needed to pay for a standard school trunk). The rest of their shopping trip took about three hours (two hours longer than necessary) as Harry carefully inspected and appraised each piece of equipment before he even considered purchasing it. He refused to buy anything that would easily break after a few uses because it could get him seriously injured or it could get him killed since he wasn't certain on whether or not his status as an Immortal Object had carried over to the new game since the Player Classification on his new Stat Page for the current game was listed as unsorted.
There'd been a brief scene in the book store when Harry determinedly stood his ground in the face of the woman's disapproval over the number and types of books he'd decided to purchase that were not on the book list that had been provided for him. He refused to back down though; he needed the information the books could potentially provide if he hoped to beat this latest game and find the others. He didn't see what the big deal was anyway; it was supposedly his own money that he was spending so he should be able to decide how he was to spend that money. She finally threw her arms up in defeat and stomped away to wait for him by the door so she could take him to get his wand next.
"That is everything," Professor Sinistra declared in a tone filled with more than a little relief as Harry placed his wand in his Inventory and paid the man who ran the store (being fitted for said wand had been a rather trying experience that Harry preferred to forget). "Unless, of course, you are interested in purchasing a pet?"
"Is having a pet a requirement or a personal preference? Is there any advantage in having a pet? Are there any specific Skills required in order to obtain or raise a pet?"
"Pets are strictly optional and aside from the sentimental value they represent, most pets do not give a student any advantage over those students that don't have a pet. However, taking an owl as a pet does allow you to send and receive mail without having to depend on whether or not one of the school's owls are available to send out any letters you might wish to write. So, you might say that it is advantageous to own an owl if you intend to send out regular correspondence. The only skills required are common sense and the ability to feed your pet and clean up after it when necessary."
Five minutes later, Harry was drifting up and down the rows of cages and tanks in the Magical Menagerie while Professor Sinistra waited for him outside of the stop. He wasn't certain he really wanted an owl but the idea of having a loyal companion appealed to the lonely boy (since he had no idea how long he'd be trapped in this new game and had no intentions of befriending anyone). He was nearing the back of the store where the birds were kept when his attention was caught by a creature half hidden behind a branch in a large terrarium that was twice Harry's height and as wide as he was tall.
What little he could see of the creature was a bright iridescent scarlet in color and covered in an interesting combination of scales and feathers. As he moved closer to the glass cage, he watched as what looked like an eagle's foot covered with tiny scarlet scales and tipped with sharp silver talons languidly stretched out before disappearing beneath the bulk of the body once more. Curious, Harry leaned to the left in order to get a better look at the creature only for it to suddenly lift its head from where it had been hidden beneath another leafy branch and stare right at Harry with glittering black eyes that were filled with intelligence.
The creature had what looked like the head of an eagle covered with scarlet colored thumbnail sized scales with what looked like soft, downy feathers growing out from underneath them (much like the rest of the body). The creature's head was connected to a long sinuous and serpentine neck that vividly reminded Harry of the three wyverns he'd faced in SAO and topped with a long silver and scarlet feathered crest (similar to a cockatoo's, only much longer).
"Beautiful creature, is she not?" the store clerk declared as he stepped up beside Harry once he'd seen what had caught his attention and in the hopes of steering him towards another animal in an effort to make a sale. "She is a dwarf occamy from southern India; very rare and very difficult to catch."
"This one was hatched from the only surviving egg in a clutch of occamy eggs that had been illegally imported into the country just over a year ago. Legends state that only a powerful wizard can tame an occamy because they are drawn to powerful magic but most believe that is a myth since there have been rumors of a squib hatching out and raising a small colony of the creatures in Japan. Best set your sights on a different critter though, boy; she's a right nasty piece of work and out of your price range I would imagine."
As if to put lie to the man's declaration, the sinuous creature stretched out and slowly walked out from behind the branch that had been blocking the bulk of her body to lean against the glass as she continued to hold Harry's gaze. The little female then began to croon softly as she spread out her wings and tilted her head to the side as if to ask Harry if he liked what he saw. He took the opportunity she provided to note that she was close to two feet in length from the tip of her beak to the tip of her scarlet and silver feathered tail with her body thickening near the center where her legs met her body. Harry smiled at the creature's antics all the while wondering if it would be classified as a bird, a serpent, or a type of wyvern given the blend of body parts and structure.
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