A Bite of Hogwarts - chapter 32

A Pet You Can’t Eat

“Still angry?”

Dumbledore lowered his head and asked the sulking Alina.

Although he knew that this was partly because of this girl’s Veela blood, Dumbledore occasionally felt a desire to pamper this girl when faced by her pure obsession and the occasional expression of her desire to protect her ‘family’.

Perhaps this was also a sign of old age? Dumbledore shook his head in derision at himself.

Clack.

The silver-haired girl said nothing, her leather shoes kicking at the uneven cobblestones between the stone slabs of Diagon Alley as she allowed the old wizard to pull her to Ollivanders. Clearly, she was still sulking.

In truth, Alina knew that Dumbledore, with his grown-up and nagging personality, would never just watch as she turned Diagon Alley into a magical food market.

But when she saw so many things that she had never eaten before—especially that white rabbit who seemed to be trying to get her attention as if saying “Eat me! Eat me!”—what could she do?

Of course, she knew that she had to pretend and take things to step by step, but she hadn’t been able to control herself!

Now she was in a pickle. Besides the Magical Menagerie, the only pet store left in Diagon Alley was the nearby Eeylops Owl Emporium, the place where Harry Potter had bought his snowy owl, Hedwig.

Alina was not so naive as to imagine that Dumbledore, who knew the true story behind Hogwarts’ missing owls, would take her on a stroll through an owl store.

But while she understood, being dragged out twice from a store by Dumbledore still left Alina rather unhappy. She had already decided that she would not speak a word to Dumbledore from now on.

As the girl sulked, she suddenly realized that Dumbledore had stopped and was speaking warmly into her ear.

“Wait a moment here for me. Alina, just stand here and don’t run around.”

Dumbledore let his hand go, softly stroked the little girl’s silver hair, and squatted down to look her in the eye.

Alina looked up and saw that they were next to a store with the sign ‘Eeylops Owl Emporium.’

It was pitch-black past the threshold, apparently to suit the nocturnal lives of the owls. Only the rustling of wings and the flashing jewel-like eyes in the darkness would make one realize that the store was packed with owl cages.

As Dumbledore vanished into the darkness of Eeylops Owl Emporium, Alina pursed her lips and grew even unhappier. In her view, the contemptible old headmaster was probably requesting the workers in the store not to sell her any owls, the same as he had done with all the other stores.

But this emotional state didn’t last for long, as Dumbledore soon thrust a birdcage into Alina’s hand.

“This, this…Professor, are you giving this to me?”

Alina raised the cage in shock, stammering out her words.

One had to realize that she had already callously taken the lives of several dozen Scottish Round-Faced Chickens.

Dumbledore pointed at the beautiful dark brown bird inside the cage and smiled.

“I know that this is rather surprising, but after some thought, I decided to give you an owl. Children all love owls. They can send letters and packages for you.”

The dark brown owl in the cage had its head buried in its wings as it soundly slept, unaware of any danger.

Dumbledore paused, his azure eyes gently watching Alina as he continued.

“According to the wizard in the store, this is a rather strange brown owl. Because both its call and appearance are not too much like that of other owls, it hasn’t lived a happy life. I think that you should take good care of it.”

“Not too much like the others?”

Alina examined the sleeping chicken in the cage. It truly was different from the majority of Scottish Round-Faced Chickens.

Compared to other owls, it had a much smaller body, only a little bigger than a fat pigeon. And unlike the vast majority of owls, which had monotone colors, this round-faced chicken was very pretty.

It had a white strap on the back of the neck that extended to its shoulder blades. The edges of the feathers were white, and its wings and tail had light and dark brown stripes. Its feathers also seemed to shift from dark brown to yellow to red.

“Now that you mention it, it really is very pretty…and it seems to be quite plump.”

Alina curiously extended a finger and poked at the sleeping Scottish Round-Faced Chicken, licking her lips.

Guhaha! Guhaha!

The dark brown owl woke up in alarm. Beating its wings in panic, it fell off the perch in the middle of the cage. Strange calls came from its mouth like those of a barking dog, or like someone in the distance laughing for all they were worth.

The bird’s plump face seemed very comical. The area around its eyes and the bottom of its face were both white, gradually turning gray, and brown stripes converged on the center.

“Wait a moment, Professor Dumbledore. What species did you say this was?”

When she heard that strange call, Alina suddenly looked up at Dumbledore.

“A brown owl, but its call and appearance are a little strange. Is there a problem?”

Dumbledore looked in confusion at Alina, not understanding what had her so riled up.

“No, this isn’t a brown owl! It’s not even in the same family as brown owls.”

Alina once more inspected the plump chicken curled up in the corner of the cage and slowly shook her head.

“This is an owl of the True Owl family, the laughing owl, also known as the whekau or white-faced owl. This is a species that has already been considered extinct in the Muggle World. I didn’t think that it was still extant in the Magic World.”

Although this was unexpected, it did not stop Dumbledore from drawing a conclusion from the information the girl had provided.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, a profound and pensive look appearing on his face as he spoke.

“In other words, it might be the last of its kind? But I’m sure, Alina, that you will take good care of it.”

Eh? The silver-haired girl blinked.

The last one in the world? If she ate it, wouldn’t it become extinct?!

Alina immediately sensed that she had been passed a hot potato. Was an owl that couldn’t be eaten still a Scottish Round-Faced Chicken?!

“Wait a moment, Professor Dumbledore! I don’t want a pet! Return it to the store, or maybe give it to Mister Newt Scamander!”

Alina anxiously raised the cage and tried to put it in Dumbledore’s hand. Although she was a foodie, she had always eaten food that could be replanted or reproduced. She wasn’t so crazy that she would eat a species into extinction.

“Of course…not!”

Dumbledore happily shook his head to the struggling girl, swiftly refusing her.

What made him happy was not merely that Alina had suffered a setback. More importantly, he had discovered another one of Alina’s precious traits.

After a moment’s pause, Dumbledore continued in a relaxed tone.

“Let me say it again. I promised that I would buy you a pet, and I’m not someone who goes back on my words. As for Mister Newt Scamander, he’s started off on another one of his world tours. I won’t be able to find him for some time, so you will have to take care of it for now.

“Come on. We only need to go to Ollivanders now.”

Guhaha~Guhaha~

As if sensing that it was now much safer, the owl let out a series of exciting calls.

“Shut your mouth! If you make me angry, I’ll eat you into extinction!”

The half-Veela girl ground her teeth and fiercely glared at the scoundrel in the cage.

Gu~ QAQ