7: Chapter 7 The Unexpected Gain at the Pet Shop

After buying the robes, Hagrid took the two of them to finish gathering the cauldrons, brass scales, glass vials, and Potion ingredients.

Harry held a pile of things, not daring to take big steps as he walked. The cauldron hung from his arm, swaying back and forth, clanking against his robes.

Allen was empty-handed.

Hagrid looked at him several times, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Allen, where are your things?"

"In a safe place."

"But I clearly saw you buy a cauldron just now."

"You saw it, which means it existed."

Hagrid was silent for two seconds, then turned to Harry and said: "Don't learn from him."

Harry hugged the cauldron tighter and nodded very seriously.

Allen's eyelids were heavy with sleep. He had no interest in pets. Owls could deliver mail, but he had money, so he could just find a public owl to send letters. Toads had no clear use; aside from scaring the orphanage caretaker, they probably just took up space. Cats could catch mice, but Hogwarts didn't lack House-elfs.

Hagrid, however, was in high spirits.

"Harry, I haven't bought your birthday present yet." He patted Harry on the shoulder. "Your aunt and uncle definitely haven't celebrated your birthday properly all these years. I'll pick out a good one for you."

Harry froze: "For me?"

"Of course. Eleventh birthday, entering Hogwarts, how can you not have a gift?"

Harry lowered his head to look at his toes, his ears turning red.

Allen leaned against a street lamp, yawning.

He didn't participate in these kinds of sentimental scenes.

It would affect his sleep.

The three entered the owl shop. The smell inside was pungent, feathers flew everywhere, and rows of owls on the shelves stared at them. As soon as Harry walked in, he stopped, his eyes glued to a snowy owl on the top shelf.

That snowy owl was snow-white all over and stood very quietly, not like the noisy owls next to it.

Hagrid followed his gaze and smiled: "Do you like this one?"

Harry didn't speak, but the answer was already written on his face.

When the shopkeeper took the snowy owl down, Harry reached out and took it very gently, as if afraid of breaking it.

"Give her a name," Hagrid said.

Harry thought for a moment: "Hedwig. I saw it in a book."

"Good name." Hagrid grinned.

Allen stood at the door, watching Harry holding the cage.

A child who had been locked in a cupboard since he was little, possessing his own messenger for the first time.

In a sense, an owl was more like freedom than a wand.

However, things like freedom were usually very expensive.

Allen looked away.

Harry turned and asked: "Allen, aren't you going to buy one?"

"No."

"Owls are very useful for sending letters."

"I don't have that many people to write to."

Harry opened his mouth but didn't know how to respond.

Hagrid scratched his beard, wanting to say something, but felt it wasn't appropriate. Finally, he just patted Harry's cage: "Let's go, we still need to check if you missed buying anything."

Leaving the owl shop, Allen had originally planned to find a shady corner to catch up on sleep.

But passing by the Magical Menagerie next door, his steps paused.

Not because of the sign.

Nor because of the Puffskein in the window gnawing on its cage.

At the edge of the Portable Space, the Thestral tail-hair wand vibrated slightly.

The movement was tiny.

But Allen was too familiar with spatial fluctuations.

He looked up into the shop.

The Magical Menagerie was much more chaotic than the owl shop. In the cages were lizards that sparked fire, rodents with their tails tied in knots, and a few toads sitting in water basins, looking like they had seen through the Wizard educational system.

Hagrid noticed him stop: "What's wrong?"

"Going in to take a look."

Harry was a bit surprised: "Didn't you say you weren't buying a pet?"

"Changing my mind isn't against the law."

Hagrid chuckled and pushed the door open to enter.

The shopkeeper was a Witch wearing thick glasses, currently using tongs to pull a jumping slug from under the counter. She looked up: "Hogwarts freshmen? Owls, cats, and toads are on the left. Don't touch the third row on the right; that one bites."

Allen didn't go to the left.

He walked straight to the very back.

There were several small reptiles, all in locked cages. In the corner was an inconspicuous glass tank, filled with fine sand and a few stone slabs.

A snake's head poked out from under a stone slab.

The little snake wasn't long, completely black, with fine scales and silver pupils. It didn't hide back like a normal snake, but instead stared at Allen, flicking its tongue.

"Hiss—"

Harry took half a step back.

Hagrid leaned in to look: "Oh, the little guy is quite spirited."

The shopkeeper quickly put down the tongs: "Don't get too close. It's not a rare breed, but it's very difficult to deal with; it has bitten three customers who wanted to buy it. It's very strange; other snakes eat mice, but it's picky and only eats when it's starving."

Allen looked at the little snake.

He couldn't understand Parseltongue.

This was very important.

If he could understand it, then there would be a big problem. Parseltongue had significant political implications at Hogwarts, especially with Harry nearby. A collateral branch of the Potter Family suddenly revealing a talent for Parseltongue before school started—Dumbledore would likely put him on an observation list overnight.

The little snake flicked its tongue again.

This time, the spatial laws within Allen responded.

It wasn't language.

It was closer to a sense of direction.

In a cage on the left, a mouse suddenly hit the cage wall. Before Allen even turned his head, the little snake had already tilted its head, its silver pupils shrinking into thin lines.

It had captured the tiny disturbance in space.

Allen raised his hand, his fingertips swiping gently under his cuff.

A knut vanished from his palm and appeared on the sand on the other side of the glass tank.

The little snake's head turned to follow it.

Without hesitation.

Harry didn't understand: "What is it looking at?"

"Looking at money."

Hagrid laughed heartily: "Snakes don't spend money."

Allen ignored him and tried again.

The knut was taken into the Portable Space and then spat out from another spot. The movement was very subtle, and the shopkeeper just thought she was seeing things. But the little snake turned its head in advance every time, and on the third time, it even crawled to the landing spot to wait.

Allen finally became interested.

Creatures that could perceive spatial fluctuations were not common.

What was even rarer was that it was small enough, quiet enough, and didn't need to come and go openly like an owl.

As a pet?

No.

It was more suitable as an early warning device.

Hagrid noticed Allen's intention and stroked his beard: "You want to buy a snake? Hogwarts allows students to bring cats, owls, or toads."

The shopkeeper chimed in: "That's what the rules say, but as long as small pets don't cause trouble, most Professors turn a blind eye. The premise is not to let it crawl into someone else's bed."

Harry's expression changed: "It won't crawl out, will it?"

Allen looked at him: "You sleep in Gryffindor; it hasn't been decided where I'll sleep yet. You're worrying too early."

Harry shut his mouth.

Hagrid stared at the little snake, looking a bit troubled: "Allen, snakes aren't very likable. Especially at school, many people will have wild thoughts."

"People aren't very likable either, yet Hogwarts accepts them all the same."

The shopkeeper couldn't help but laugh and quickly covered it up with a cough.

Allen asked: "How much?"

The shopkeeper pushed up her glasses: "This one? Five Galleons. Cages are extra. Feed is extra. If you get bitten, the antidote is extra."

"You're not selling a pet; you're itemizing a bill."

"Raising special pets is always like this, dear."

Allen took out the gold coins and placed them on the counter: "No cage. Prepare a month's worth of feed for me."

The shopkeeper took the money quickly: "No cage? Are you planning to hold it in your hands?"

Allen reached out and touched the edge of the glass tank.

The little snake didn't attack.

Instead, it crawled up along the side of the tank and stopped half an inch from his finger. The Spatial Displacement didn't repel it. More accurately, it actively avoided the repulsion point of the displacement layer before getting close.

Very smart.

Allen opened the tank lid.

Hagrid hurriedly raised his hand to shield Harry: "Slowly, don't let it run away."

The little snake crawled into Allen's cuff and wrapped around his wrist. Its scales pressed against his skin, bringing a cool sensation.

Harry watched with his scalp tingling: "It really won't bite you?"

Allen looked down.

The little snake raised its head and hissed.

"It doesn't dare."

Harry felt that this statement was even scarier than the snake.

Allen gently pressed the snake's head with his thumb to prevent it from crawling into his collar. The little snake struggled, didn't break free, and then settled quietly around his wrist.

"What about a name?" Hagrid asked.

Allen thought for two seconds.

"Void."

Hagrid blinked: "That name doesn't sound much like a pet."

"It doesn't look like one either."

The shopkeeper wrapped up the feed and handed it over, instructing: "Don't feed it too much, don't let it get cold, don't let it bite classmates. If something happens, don't say I sold it to you."

Allen took the feed bag, and using his cuff as cover, put the bag into his Portable Space.

The next moment, the little snake also disappeared from his wrist.

Harry's eyes widened: "Where did it go?"

"Sleeping."

Hagrid looked down at Allen's empty cuff, then at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper leaned on the counter, pretending she hadn't seen anything.

Inside Allen's Portable Space, the little snake landed in a newly designated corner. There was a water dish, stone slab, and feed there. It didn't crawl around, just coiled on the stone slab, its silver pupils staring at the boundary of the space.

Subsequently, it flicked its tongue in a certain direction.

That was exactly where the cracked pocket watch and the Thestral tail-hair wand were located.

Allen stopped in his tracks.

This snake didn't just perceive spatial fluctuations.

It could distinguish the anomalies of different items in the space.

Interesting.

Very useful.

Hagrid called out from outside the door: "Let's go, lads! Things are all bought, time to head back."

Harry held Hedwig, unable to help but glance at Allen's cuff again.

He had a snowy owl.

Allen had a black snake named Void.

Harry suddenly felt that this suited the two of them very well.

Allen walked out of the Magical Menagerie, sunlight falling on the cobblestone road of Diagon Alley. He was still sleepy, but his mind was clearer than before.

Wand, cracked pocket watch, books, Spatial Perception snake.

The bargaining chips before entering school were more than expected.

That chessboard of Hogwarts was no longer so unfamiliar.