Pet A Friend for Now and Owlways

"DAD!" George called across the length of the shop, summoning his father from the counter in a hurry. The owl George had selected was already waiting on the counter, the kind old woman staffing the shop waiting for the man to come back and complete his purchase. She was still smiling, though it had become more forced, now - she was patient, but George's volume was starting to disturb some of the animals, and his father hadn't even asked the boy to keep it down. "Dad- can I have my galleons? I want to pay for it myself. Er, for him. For Cadmus!"

"Cadmus?" replied George's father, giving him an incredulous look. George nodded up at his father, hands on his own hips in a confident pose. He held his nose high, sticking his chin out at his father in a posture that was intended to be prideful, but looked a bit painful. His father was unconvinced by it, but still drew the galleons out of his pocket, counting out fifteen of them and handing them off to the young man. "Who taught you that name? Cadmus? Are you sure that's what you want to call it? You know, when you were younger, you used to love owls. You had a stuffed-

George went wide eyed, jumping up to punch his father in the ribs to silence him. He looked over both shoulders to make sure nobody had heard that. He swiped the galleons out of his dad's hand while he was still wincing from the pain of having his son punch him in the chest. The kind lady at the counter furrowed her brow with concern at the sight of the father apparently being mugged by the son.

"Shh! Dad, stop! Someone's going to hear..." hissed George, clutching the galleons in his hand. He reached up to tug on his father's sleeve, pulling him along as his father used his other hand to rub his sore side. The kid was getting a little old to be doing that, as cute as it had been when he was younger. The lady was waiting at the counter, and Cadmus the owl was sitting in his cage there, staring down at George. "This one, please."

He threw his handful of galleons across the counter, letting them slide where they may. The kind old lady was able to swipe them all up quickly, putting them away before handing the owl's cage off to George's father. George bounced in place as he watched the exchange take place. He felt like a real wizard, and now he had a little helper to keep him in contact with the other wizards, too. No more getting stuck talking to muggles all day over summer vacation!

What animal do you wish to purchase? Arctic Owl
What do you want to name it? Cadmus
Is this a boy or a girl? Boy
What is your pet's date of birth? January 1st, 2019