Meeting at the Menagerie ((Alexa Lee))

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser Salah woke up that day in a bad mood. This was unusual for him as Nasser had a pleasant disposition, and looked at life optimistically, and he liked to think that the best time of day was morning. In the morning you could tell yourself you had the whole day to do as many things as you like; to take all chances life presented, there was no rush, everything was just beginning. Today however, this was not the case. Nasser got out of bed groggily, tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, and looked at his alarm clock. Some of the sleep disappeared when he realized how late it was. Nasser got out of bed and went over to the basin, then splashed some water into his eyes. There were black rings under his eyes and his eyelids were puffy. "Well I won't be meeting anyone," he thought to himself. "I look like someone with a hangover."

Nasser in fact had spent his night downstairs with some of the other people who were staying over at the Leaky Cauldron. He didn't know any of them too well but the bartender Tom told him that the Leaky Cauldron's Owner was throwing a small party because he had just become a grandfather, and everybody's drinks were on the house. The "small party" had actually ended at three o'clock in the morning, which was much later than Nasser usually went to bed. Naturally he was not feeling too well and the last thing he wanted to do was leave the comfort of his bedroom, but Nasser had something to do. His owl Rosewig wasn't looking too good, and he wanted to take her over to the Magical Menagerie for a check-up.

Nasser pulled on some casual robes, ran a comb through his black hair and put on his glasses. He felt slightly better but still felt that a different person was looking back at him when he looked at the mirror. Nasser went over to Rosewig's cage and looked at his owl, who was looking sorry for herself. "Poor old girl," said Nasser, stroking her feathers. Her amber eyes looked dull and she didn't make the affectionate hooting noise she usually made when Nasser stroked her. Nasser carried her cage and made his way to the Magical Menagerie, hoping they would find an effective cure for Rosewig.

Nasser arrived at the Magical Menagerie in a slightly better mood. Nasser loved animals, muggle and magical, and one of his favourite classes was Care of Magical Creatures though Hagrid sometimes brought creatures that were a bit too interesting. Nasser put his hand inside a cage with some young puppies and patted the head of a young puupy which looked up at Nasser and licked his hand. "Just six weeks those puppies," said the worker who had just noticed Nasser and came to see what he wanted. "How can I help you?" she asked. "It's my owl," said Nasser, putting Rosewig's cage on the counter at the back of the shop. "I'm not too sure what's wrong with her, but her eyes aren’t as shiny as they usually are and she isn't eating very much," he said worriedly.

[angeleyes]

Alexa Lee rose with the sun, her grandmother had a few things she wanted her to do that day and she wanted to get an early start. She took a shower and dressed in a pair of white and blue sneakers, blue jeans and a white Weird Sisters T-shirt. She grabbed a quick breakfast; a tuna sandwich and some camomile tea with a splash of honey, Alexa didn’t use sugar, and then went to check on her owl Mae-Li. For the past three days Mae- Li had been looking poorly, and Alexa was afraid something was seriously wrong with her, though her grandmother assured her otherwise. None the less Alexa was taking her to have a check-up at the Magical Menagerie. “Grandma?” she called, “In here,” came a voice from an upstairs room. Alexa’s grandmother was in the library with Mae-Li, that was her special room, the owl liked none other, except for Alexa’s room, but she never slept there when she was ill, they never understood why.

Alexa ran upstairs, taking two and sometimes three at a time and ran into the library, where her grandmother stood stroking Mae-Li’s feathers. “Is she any better grandma?” she asked with deep concern. “I’m afraid not darling. Look,” she said holding up a few feathers, “they started falling out.” Alexa looked at the feathers in horror, “Why? Grandma?” the look in Alexa’s eyes was desperate. Her grandmother hugged her, “There, there, I’m sure there is nothing that the fine workers at the Menagerie will know what to do. Now you better get going. Send me an owl and tell me what they say. You can get those few things for me afterwards.” Alexa nodded and went over to Mae-Li, she whispered to her in Chinese and then picked her up and put her in her cage. “What time do you think you’ll get back?” her grandmother asked as she was walking out the door. “Not sure. Before dinner though,” she said with a very weak smile.

Alexa would usually have used the Floo System, but with Mae-Li she was taking the Night Bus. She stepped out her door and waited and almost a minute later the bus appeared before her, she got on and took a seat near the front. The bus sped off, buildings and people whizzed by, barely visible to those on the bus. Finally it came to a very abrupt stop in front of the Leaky Cauldron. Alexa got off and went inside, she didn’t even stop to talk to anyone, she just walked briskly to the back of the bar. She tapped the wall in a very hurried manner and walked into Diagon Alley, she didn’t look at the people on the street, she didn’t care, she just wanted to get help for Mae-Li as quickly as possible. Alexa was terrified that Mae-Li was going to die, she loved her more than anything else, she couldn’t bare it if she lost her. Alexa reached the Menagerie and walked in, she went right to the desk, “I’m here about my owl, she’s really sick,” Alexa said hurriedly, she didn’t even remember to say good morning.

The clerk looked at the owl, “She does look bad. You take a seat over there and I’ll take her in back, when they are ready for her I will call you.” Alexa did as she was told and took a seat in a corner, she was very worried, even the clerk thought Mae-Li looked terrible, that couldn’t be good. Alexa was so filled with worry that she didn’t see one of her fellow Hogwarts students, Nasser Salah enter with his owl.

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser left Rosewig to the clerk who took her inside to the veterinarian. He leaned his head on his hands for a minute; this was definitely not a good day for him. He closed his eyes for a minute and then was afraid he might accidentally fall asleep. A minute later Nasser was startled by someone rushing into the shop. Nasser could see it was a girl because her black hair was flying around her face as she rushed in and put her owl's cage on the counter. She plunged right into a description of what was wrong with her owl, without even greeting the clerk or a look at Nasser. Nasser looked at the owl who really didn't look well at all, though Nasser thought she was probably a fine pet when she was in good health.

The owner of the pet turned around and left to take a seat at the back of the shop. Nasser still hadn't seen her face, but she was about his height. She walked to the back of the shop and took a seat at the back. Nasser was suddenly curious who the girl might be, and thought she might be a student at Hogwarts. He also thought her voice had sounded very worried and he wondered if he could perhaps comfort her. Nasser walked to the back of the shop and sat down beside the girl. Just before he sat down he looked at her face. Nasser realised that it was Alexa Lee, a fellow student and fifth-year-to-be at Hogwarts. Nasser couldn't remember when he had seen her last, she had left somewhere in the middle of their fourth year and he had never really known why. Being in different houses they only saw each other in classes, and though the Ravenclaws probably knew why she had had to leave so abruptly Nasser never knew.

Nasser felt sorry for Alexa. He knew how he would feel if anything happened to Rosewig, and he said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice "Don't worry too much. Mr. Herbert is a really good vet, and I'm sure your owl will be OK." Alexa wasn't looking in Nasser's direction and Nasser wondered how she was going to respond. He hoped she might feel a bit better after hearing his opinion on Mr. Herbert, who Nasser knew to be an expert veterinarian with a lot of experience with magical creatures and animals.

[angeleyes]

Alexa sat waiting, she was so worried about Mae-Li, she didn’t want to lose her pet. Alexa had experienced enough grief, starting with her brother, she didn’t want anymore. Alexa was fiddling with her fingers uncontrollably, it was out of worry and nervousness, usually she never had nervous traits but today was a different day. Alexa closed her eyes, in her head she was saying a prayer that everything would be okay. Alexa didn’t look over when someone sat next to her, not at first that at least, she was too worried to pay much attention. Alexa looked up slowly as the persons words penetrated her thoughts, she realised she knew that voice and the face that went with it.

Alexa looked at Nasser Salah, a boy she knew from school. Nasser was a fifth year, like herself, but they were in different houses; Nasser was a Gryffindor while Alexa was a Ravenclaw. “Thanks,” she said softly, “I’m sure he is a great vet. I’m just really worried about my owl, she looks terrible.” She looked from Nasser to the clerk’s desk and back to him, “Have you had to use him before? I haven’t. Mae-Li only gets a cold at the worse, and that goes away on its own.” Alexa looked around Nasser, she realised how insensitive she was being, if he was here that meant there was something wrong with his pet. “I’m sorry,” she said, “you must think I was so rude how I came in here? I was so upset I forgot my manners. Why are you here? Is it your owl? You have an owl right?” Alexa was pretty sure that Nasser had an owl, she had seen it once or twice at school, but she wanted to be sure.

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser's thick eyebrows had come very close together as he frowned looking worriedly at Alexa. He wasn't too sure she had heard anything he said and her fiddling with her fingers showed the state of worry and tension she was in. Just as Nasser was thinking it would have been better to say nothing Alexa turned around and looked at Nasser. His brow cleared as he realised she had heard all he said, and answered her question. "Well actually my best friend Sethia is fascinated by all magical creatures and animals, and she has her own your farm you see, and she wants to grow all sorts of creatures on it, so she had a few talks with Mr. Herbert, and he sounded like he really knew about animals, and suggested some really interesting books I know Sethia liked. Hey wait a minute, you know Sethia right, she's in our year, but in Hufflepuff?" asked Nasser. He was glad they had started a conversation, maybe Alexa wouldn't concentrate on thinking about her owl. "I've never seen him work with owls," admitted Nasser, "but I've seen him cure other animals and he's really gentle and prescribes effective cures," said Nasser reassuringly.

As he talked to her Nasser was aware of how different Alexa looked from last year, last year she had seemed very thin, she had filled out a bit and looked healthier than the last time Nasser had seen her. Nasser was suddenly conscious of how quickly he had dressed that morning, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, pushing his glasses in an attempt to hide how his eyes looked. Although Alexa's nose was a bit red Nasser thought she looked very pretty and hoped he would manage to keep up their conversation before the clerk called them. "Oh no, I quite understand, I don't mind at all," he said. "Yes, its Rosewig, I'm not too sure what's wrong with her really, but her eyes aren't as shiny as they usually are, and she's lost her appetite," said Nasser. "I'd show her to Hagrid if we were at school or maybe Grubbly-Plank, but I really didn't want to wait. I'm going to need her to owl my parents once I get to school, plus I don’t want her to get any worse," said Nasser. In an attempt to steer the conversation to a more cheerful topic he asked Alexa another question. "Got your books and all ready for school?" he asked.

[angeleyes]

Alexa looked at Nasser, “Sethia? You are her best friend? I know her, I started a little study group for Care of Magical Creatures a while ago, she was a part of it. She is very nice, a bit shy, but you are right, she is remarkable with creatures. I did not know that she has a farm.” Alexa knew Sethia, but not personally, and now that she was aware that they shared a deep interest in animals, perhaps she should get to know her better, perhaps become friends. “If she thinks Mr. Herbert is good, then I will trust her opinion. Sethia would never praise someone who was not worth it. I may not know her as well as you, but of what I know, I know she is not one to take kindly to those who would harm an animal.” Alexa looked at Nasser, her concern still in her eyes, she turned sharply as a hoot from within got her attention. She sighed slightly, the hoot was not that of Mae-Li. “If you have not seen him work with owls, then how can you be sure?” she asked Nasser, turning back to him. Nasser’s assurance was well enough, but she was still nervous.

Alexa looked at Nasser, is eyes were red, bloodshot and puffy; he looked tired. Nasser’s clothes were a bit dishevelled, he had obvious had a rough night, like she had. She was aware that she looked a bit out of sorts, but that was to be expected after the night she had had. She was a little cheered to find that he did not find her a boorish pig by her behaviour earlier. “I hope your owl, Rosewig recovers and they can find out what is wrong with her quickly. I think Hagrid would be a great person to have a magical creatures clinic. He has such a passion for animals. I am looking forward to his class this year.” Alexa’s face softened a little, “I wouldn’t wait if I were you either, especially if your owl is dear to you, as Mae- Li is to me.

Alexa looked at Nasser as he asked her about her books for school, “I have already gotten them. I started to read a few of them already, but when Mae-Li got sick I put them away to care for her. My grandmother, offered to do it and let me study, but I refused. I wanted to care for her myself. Did you get your things for school yet?” she asked Nasser, in as pleasant tone as she could muster.

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser knew Sethia had joined a study group last year for Care of Magical Creatures. Nasser had been too busy with Quidditch and studying and practising piano to join it, and had just ended up asking Sethia about it and taking tips from her that way. For a moment he wished he had joined; maybe he could have got to know Alexa under better circumstances. Nasser smiled at the praise of his best friend and could see that Alexa had managed to understand a lot about Sethia in there few meetings. "Actually Sethia lives on a farm in Yorkshire," he explained. Nasser noticed Alexa's little sigh at the sound of the hooting, but it could hardly have been Rosewig or Alex's owl as they had only been sitting down for a few minutes. He avoided answering Alexa's question about how he could be so sure that Dr. Herbert was good with owls, it was just a gut feeling, and Nasser had felt it when he had seen Dr. Herbert answer Sethia's questions and work with the other animals at the menagerie. You had to see him to feel the same way and it wasn't something he could explain to Alexa.

"Thanks,'' said Nasser touched by Alexa's hoping Rosewig a quick recovery. The conversation moved on to Hagrid. "A magical clinic?" said Nasser, "yeah, I'm quite sure he would. Me too, I bet Hagrid has one or two interesting creatures in store for us this year for our OWLs. I know I would have felt the same way," he continued when Alexa said she wanted to care for her owl by herself. Nasser smiled a little when he heard Alexa had already started reading her schoolbooks. It was so typical of a Ravenclaw. Not that Nasser himself hadn't looked at his books already, only he knew Ravenclaws didn't just "look" at the textbooks, they read them thoroughly before going to school. "Yeah, actually I've been here for four days, I'm Muggle-born you see and my parents left me here so I get could my stuff before school. I met Sethia here and we did our shopping together. I'm going to Kings Cross Station on Sunday from here. Are you doing any other electives except Care of Magical Creatures this year?" he asked, pleased to see that Alexa sounded a little better. It was not like Nasser to talk a lot with someone he didn't know, both he and Sethia were shy and the only person they talked a lot to was each other and their friend Perseus, but Nasser was happy to see he had cheered up Alexa a bit, and maybe Dr. Herbert would call them soon with some good news about their owls.

[angeleyes]

“In Yorkshire? That is a lovely place, a bit wet at times, but nice all the same. My grandmother took me there once, I don’t even remember why,” Alexa said with a snigger. “I only remember the weather there.” Alexa noticed how Nasser avoided answering her question, but she didn’t bother to ask again. “You’re welcomed,” Alexa responded to Nasser’s thanks. “Really? You are looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures?” Alexa was a little surprised because she had gotten used to people not sharing her faith in Hagrid’s teaching skills. “You really are a friend of Sethia. She thinks very highly of him, so do I. I am sure he has some fantastic creatures for us to study this year. I wish we could study dragons. That is one animal I would like to get some more experience with,” Alexa said, a glint in her eye at the mention of dragons.

Alexa half smiled as Nasser said he would have done like she did, and take of his owl himself. Alexa listened as Nasser talked, she had no idea he was muggle-born, “Oh. You have been here for four days? I had no idea you were a muggle-born, I…I just always presumed you were a pureblood. I guess you can never tell. Either way is fine with me.” She smiled, a small one, but still a smile. She shifted in her seat and got a little more comfortable; “I have also chosen Arithmancy & Ancient Runes, Astronomy and Muggle Studies, this year. How about you? What did you chose?” she asked, genuinely curious. Alexa was never a shy person, she was always friendly and upfront with people, and she enjoyed meeting new people and having good conversation with her friends. Alexa had been through too much not to understand how precious moments like those were. She never took anything for granted.

[Nasser Salah G6]

Alexa told Nasser about her one trip to Yorkshire, which Nasser had never been to himself but naturally had heard about from Sethia. Alexa asked if Nasser was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures and Nasser replied to her question enthusiastically. “Yes, very much. Care of Magical Creatures is one of my favourite classes, along with Potions and Transfiguration.” Nasser noticed the slight surprise on Alexa’s face, and surmised correctly that it was probably due to the fact that Nasser liked the class although Hagrid was the professor. “Yes, like Sethia, I like Hagrid despite his tendency to introduce us to rather dangerous animals – but anyway they are always interesting, don’t you agree? At least we know we don’t have to care for the Skrewt’s this year,” said Nasser with a smile.

It was Nasser’s turn to look surprised though when he heard what Alexa would have liked to study that year. “Dragons? Wow!” said Nasser, his astonishment showing in his voice. A glint entered Alexa’s eyes as she said this, and Nasser who had judged Alexa to be probably a little delicate and frail from her appearance could see he was quite wrong. Nasser had never meant someone who wanted to work with dragons before, and he would never have imagined that Alexa might be interested in them. “Well, one should never build their opinions on first impressions,” thought Nasser. Aloud he said “Well I’m not surprised you like Hagrid. He always says he wishes he had one to take care of. Have you ever seen one? Up close I mean, we all saw the dragons in the Triwizard Tournament the year before last.” Nasser wondered were possibly Alexa might have had previous experience with dragons; this was definitely going to be interesting to hear about.

Nasser raised his eyebrows a little when Alexa said she had presumed he was a pureblood. Obviously she wasn’t like some purebloods that knew all the wizarding family trees around and only interacted with people they considered worthy of their notice. Not that Nasser worried himself whether purebloods deemed him worthy of conversation with them, he was proud that he was a Muggle-born, and he was lucky enough to have friends who liked him and Nasser thought the world of. Nevertheless he was glad Alexa didn’t care whether he was a pureblood or not, as Nasser was beginning to feel that she was a really nice person to sit with. He had initially sat down just to comfort her, and now here he was, telling her about himself and listening to her talk about herself, despite their meeting conditions not being the best. “Well yeah I’m as Muggle-born as it is possible to be. The only magical ancestor I have is my great-grandfather, but I never knew that till I became part of the magical world. He left a diary behind, but it needed a Revealing Charm to read what was inside, and I didn’t learn that until the end of my first year.” The conversation moved on to electives. “Oh good I’ll be seeing you in Vector’s class then. I don’t take Muggle Studies, for obvious reasons, but I do take History of Magic and Mythology,” said Nasser, smiling a little to himself as he remembered Sethia’s reaction when he told her that. Nasser could detect a slight change in Alexa, she appeared a bit happier than when he had first seen her, and felt glad about this. He hoped they would receive good news about their owls soon; he didn’t want their meeting to end sadly.

[angeleyes]

“You like Hagrid? That is great to hear. So many people have something against him. I’ve never minded what creatures he brought. My parents work with dragons, and they are extremely dangerous. I have been to Romania to visit them and see them at work, they even let me help out in small ways.” She looked at the counter, there still was no one there, “Yes, they are always interesting, he makes class exciting.” Alexa half smiled as Nasser brought up skrewts. Alexa’s smile brightened, “Yes dragons. I adore them. You have to be so very careful around them or you will lose a limb or something, but to see one being born is amazing. I saw it once, I think that was when I fell in love with them.”<br>
“You aren’t surprised? Wow, that is good,” she said, pleasantly surprised to see that Nasser liked Hagrid as much as she did. “I spend most of every summer in Romania with my parents. I stay with them at the dragon colony. You can call it my summer job; I work preparing meals and cleaning up; I once got to watch them wrangling a few of them, but as I said watching that Swedish Short Snout being born was the highlight of any of my summers there.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a picture; it was her about three years ago, holding a small dragon I her arms; she was smiling, while the dragon seemed to be asleep, “That is Felix. That’s what I named him. He is huge now. I know it’s strange to walk around with a picture of a dragon in your pocket, but I miss there sometimes.”

“So I’ll be seeing you in class then. That’ll be nice. I like Vector’s class don’t you?” she smiled, “well I suppose you taking Muggle Studies is a bit of a waste of time.” Just then there was a hoot from inside, and this time it was definitely her owl. Alexa stood as the clerk came back to the counter, “You can see your owls now,” she said looking at Alexa and Nasser. Alexa gave Nasser a slightly concerned look, “Coming?” she asked and began to walk behind the counter to the inner room.

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser was rendered speechless by Alexa's words. He couldn't imagine what it was like to see the birth of dragon. He could the glint in Alexa's eyes as he finally opened his mouth. He only one said one word. "Wow!" he said very softly, his eyes looking into Alexa's for a minute as he listened to her intently. When she took out the picture Nasser looked at it interestedly, and then turned to the girl beside him. He had never met anybody quite like Alexa, her outward appearance had deceived him at first; there was something so delicate about her appearance that hid the person Nasser was just beginning to learn about now, the person who actually loved dragons. Nasser was quite sure he had never met a girl who liked dragons before. He gazed intently at Alexa for a second before commenting on her last sentence. "I don't think that's strange at all… just completely unexpected," he said with a quick smile.

The conversation had moved to classes but Nasser was stopped from replýying to Alexa's questions by the advent of the clerk. "Yes," said Nasser, who was out of his seat before he had even finished talking. He followed Alexa to the clerk's desk, the smile on the clerk's face filling him with infinite relief. "She's fine now; you'll just have to give her some of this potion every night. Must have eaten some bad mice or something, it gave her a little indigestion. But she's as right as rain now, you don’t need to worry at all," he said, fluffing the dark feathers on the owl's head that were the reason why Nasser had called her Rosewig. Nasser turned to Alexa, wishing their meeting did not have to end so quickly. He watched her stroke her owl and suddenly had an idea. He wondered if he would be able to act upon it though, he felt he might be too shy to do so. Then suddenly she turned to him with a smile, and Nasser could not help but smile back. "Alexa? I was wondering if you had some time perhaps we could get some ice-cream or something, Sethia and I heard about a new special at Fortescue's and we wanted to try it but didn’t have time the last time, I saw her so maybe you could come with me. I'm pretty much on my own today and tomorrow, so, what do you think?" he asked, some of the shyness evident in his voice. He immediately regretted asking her, why would she want to eat something with him right now, she had just come to Diagon Alley because her owl was sick. She probably had other things to do other than sit with someone she had just met. Oh well, the words had been said.

[angeleyes]

Alexa was pleased that Nasser did not think her strange because of her basic obsession with dragons, but all her life that was what she wanted to do, I suppose it was expected when both of your parents wrangle and care for dragons. Alexa listened as the clerk gave Nasser the good news about his owl, it seemed it was something like food poisoning that had plagued her.

Alexa looked at Mae-Li, she still wasn’t a hundred percent, but she did look quite better then when she had brought her there. “Oh Mae,” she said and stroked her feathers; none came out this time which was a great relief to Alexa “What was wrong with her?” she asked the clerk. “Oh it’s a virus that some owls get, Alabicius avaris, some get it some don’t, she probably got it from another owl. Give her these pills and this potion everyday for the next two weeks, she’ll be right as rain after, and the potion will prevent her from picking it up again. Well, that’s it; I have to get in the back. Glad we could help you. Have a good day,” the clerk said and disappeared. “What about the bill?” Alexa asked, “Oh first visits are free dear,” the clerk told her.

Alexa looked at Nasser and gave him a smile, it had been nice meeting him, too bad it had to end now. She was about to say her goodbyes when Nasser made an interesting suggestion, “Yes, I have some time,” she told him, “ice-cream sounds good. I could use something to pick me up now that Mae-Li’s better. Where is it?”