On one hand, he would be proving a point to Daphne and remaining hidden. He was here only for a mouse, or something for Lutain. Maybe an updated heating charm.
But on the other hand….
A Cockatrice.
Adrian kept full eye contact with Daphne while he elevated his voice, "How much for the Cockatrice?"
The man spluttered, "The- you mean The Grifdor?"
Daphne groaned, "Don't do it, don't do it, it sounds like bloody Gryffindor."
"Master! It is so stupid!"
A Grifdor? The man had a Grifdor?
Adrian was trying to remain anonymous….but there was a Grifdor!
"I want it." Adrian snapped, looking at the man, "How much?"
The man paled, "Eleven galleons but young man, that animal is very dangerous and was given to me by a very experienced reptile tamer-"
Lutain hissed loudly, rearing up and over the cages to look at the man right in the face. Lutain's scales were darkening back to the usual black and slightly blue tint, his belly starkly yellow in the light.
"That's a Taipan." The man stated bluntly, entirely dumbfounded, "That...how did that-"
"That's my familiar," Adrian said pointedly, "And I want the Grifdor."
How the bloody hell was he going to care for a Grifdor? He didn't have any of the requirements or the objects needed to take care of it.
Then, Adrian was struck with a sense of genius.
"Yes!" Lutain cheered excitedly, "I shall name you -" Lutain let out a series of hisses Adrian would only be able to replicate in Parseltongue.
He could gift it to Nagini, explicately saying that it wasn't for consumption. If Lutain loved it, Nagini would love it too. Then Adrian would still have a Grifdor, and better yet, he could visit it over the holidays. The joys of an exotic creature without the work of actually caring for it.
His father couldn't exactly return it, especially with how he was the one hiding.
Daphne groaned and rubbed her eyes tiredly, well past the point of tired with Adrian.
"What's its name?" Adrian asked, the man floundered.
"Er... Walter."
Adrian turned to address Daphne seriously, "His name is Walter."
Daphne glared angrily, "I hate you so much sometimes."
Daphne stormed out with an old caramel coloured Puffskein under one arm, and an advanced cage in the other.
Adrian stayed behind, shushing the anxiously chirping Grifdor which seemed to hop around and flare its trimmed wings angrily. Lutain curled on the table, cooing over his new pet with strange serpentine complements.
"Alright, here's a supply of frozen food, should last Walter a month or so." The man worriedly instructed, placing a decently sized parcel on the countertop, "He gets a bit messy but isn't too bad to handle."
Walter squawked and pecked at his foot.
"It's a pity nobody wanted him," Adrian mentioned, glancing at the creature with utmost fascination, "He's beautiful."
And indeed Walter was. He had the upper body and sharp beak of a partridge, yet from the base of its wings he sprouted cream coloured scales which warped into a long serpentine tail. He had slit pupils and the strange mixture of two short nubby fangs on the inside of its beak.
Adrian doubted that he could properly fly, although perhaps he was similar to a pheasant, able to use the long tail as a rudder or for balance as he ran at high speeds.
His father was going to hate him.
"Oh I know," The man wheezed with a smile, running a finger down Walter's head and neck with the affection of an old friend, "People just throw away magical creatures all the time. Treat them with no respect."
Adrian found himself nodding along with a wistful smile.
"So! How did you tame a Taipan? I'd expect an enthusiast to have an Ashspore or a Dagger-mouth."
"Lutain?" Adrian blinked, glancing at his darkening friend.
The man's expression lit up, "Oh what a lucky boy you are, to have the fabled Fierce Snake." He smiled and hesitantly reached out with his hand.
"Fierce snake!" Lutain crowed, pausing before boasting wildly, "I am fierce."
Adrian smiled as Lutain nuzzled his face against the hand of the man who looked nearly about to pass out from excitement.
"How often do you get rare creatures like this?" Adrian asked, nodding to Walter who had settled to clucking to himself and coiling its tail around his feet, "I could take a few- only the ones that really need it."
Okay, he really couldn't.
Not that he was going to say that to the man, but what if he came across something like a basilisk?
The man smiled, timid yet his eyes shone hope like a single star in a blackened night, "Would you, Mr. Selwyn?"
Adrian felt a smile curl on his mouth against his better judgement. Walter looked around and ducked as Adrian ran a single finger down his head and neck, brushing over his wings and smooth scales.
"Is there an owlry around here? For larger parcels?" Adrian inquired carefully, shushing Walter back towards his carrier container. The man nodded and scrambled to find a scrap of parchment, writing out a company on the top.
"Here, if you use the messenger eagles in a hawthorne box, they deliver faster for the holidays." The man added helpfully, scribbling out instructions and which postal service in particular was best for live animals.
"And, I just need to send a confirmation arrangement to the Headmaster now," The man hummed.
Adrian froze.
"No," He blurted instantly, struggling to think on his feet, "That's, that's really not necessary."
The man's face skewed in concern, "I'm sorry, it's store policy…"
"No no, I mean, I'm not sending him to the castle. So he doesn't need to know." Adrian desperately added, the relaxing aura he had achieved started to crumble.
His arms felt cold as a chill raced down his neck and spine, his breathing was hitched and his hands shook slightly.
"I'm sorry, but it really is store policy." The man apologized, looking genuine.
"No no," Adrian shook his head, blinking three times and swallowing quickly, "I...please?"
Adrian didn't hear anything the man said, he could hear his heart pounding loudly. Dumbledore was going to find out, then he would try and take it because he isn't allowed to have a Grifdor. Then he would ask where it went, he'd ask about Adrian's father and he would…
"Whoa, whoa," The man stumbled, reaching out to try and ease Adrian as the younger boy's legs collapsed. The man lowered, trying to help Adrian to the floor as he panicked, entire body shaking.
"Mr. Selwyn," The man fretted nervously, looking for his wand to possibly call for aid.
"You can't," Adrian choked out, eyes blown with panic, "Don't...don't tell Dumbledore."
"I have to, I'm not sure why you're so worried." The man tried to soothe, "Can you breathe with me? You're breathing too fast."
Adrian couldn't let him tell Dumbledore.
He didn't know how to do this, but his Father had somehow left him the Occlumency shields, he must have heightened the other skills too.
Adrian couldn't breathe as he jerked his head up, staring at the man's worried eyes.
It couldn't be that hard, could it?
He stared, and tried to push…
The man paused, seizing his body as it went tense, a low groaning noise escaping his mouth as Adrian shoved himself in, confused and disoriented and scrambling as much as he could- enough that it would, it would work out.
It was going to be okay, it was going to be okay.
The man's eyes rolled into his head and Adrian gasped in surprise, skittering backwards as the man collapsed. He lay stiff, shuddering twice before resuming a normal breathing pattern.
"Master? What did you do?" Lutain asked quietly, looking at the man in a masked emotion.
"I...I think I scrambled his memory, of us." Adrian swallowed anxiously, "I...we need to go."
Lutain didn't say anything as Adrian quickly scooped the Grifdor, feeling all of the stress he had been working to hide crush downwards on him. His legs wobbled, his bones ached and he just wanted to...he just wanted Bellatrix
Adrian choked on a sob as he made his way outside, stumbling away towards the one postal service the man had recommended, hurriedly ordering the fastest hawthorne package and silencing the upset Grifdor.
He regretted ever venturing into Hogsmeade.
He should have just stayed in bed.
....
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