Dogdan

Eli ran into the Hall couple, who were empty-handed.

Professor McGonagall suddenly received word of an urgent matter and took her leave first.

The Hall couple did not think Professor McGonagall had been rude, because she had given them a bag.

"Undetectable Extension Charm!"

Eli stared at the small bag in his hands in surprise.

When he opened it, he found an entirely different world inside.

The bag was only palm-sized, yet the space within was at least as large as several wardrobes!

"We have no idea what sort of spell this is, but it really is amazing. It's like... spatial technology!"

Watching his father grow faintly excited, Eli could not help grumbling inwardly.

Sure enough, men were boys until the day they died.

Who could refuse a bag that seemed like some kind of high-tech spatial folding device?

Still, Professor McGonagall had truly been generous.

According to Voldemort's memories in his mind, items enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm were usually extremely expensive.

Not to mention an Undetectable Extension Charm that expanded a palm-sized bag into a space as large as several wardrobes.

Eli silently remembered Professor McGonagall's kindness.

"What else do we need? A messenger owl, and... a pet."

Mrs. Hall looked over the list, and the family of three headed for the owl shop.

Eeylops Owl Emporium was packed with cages of all kinds of owls.

Their chattering cries could be heard from far away.

There were many young Wizards inside, most of them brought by their parents to buy owls.

This was something of a British Wizarding World specialty. British Wizards favored using owls to deliver messages.

Naturally, owls in the Wizarding World differed from ordinary breeds.

They possessed magical bloodlines and were born with name magic, allowing them to find the destination of a letter based on a name.

Thus, owls were standard equipment for every British Wizard, much like mobile phones.

Without much deliberation, he picked a lively-looking little fellow: a black owl.

He named it Chevrolet.

"Eli, do you need a pet?"

Mrs. Hall asked.

At the mention of pets, Eli thought of Ron Weasley's rat Scabbers and Hermione Granger's big cat Crookshanks.

Having a pet did sound rather enjoyable.

The group then went to the Magical Menagerie, a shop specializing in all sorts of pets.

The moment they entered, the mixed stench of all kinds of droppings hit them in the face.

"Oh! They really ought to clean this place!"

Mrs. Hall covered his nose and mouth.

Eli looked around with great interest at the various pets beside him.

By the entrance, a short-limbed pug sat in its cage, blankly watching those who entered.

Eli looked at it with disgust. Seeing how stupid the dog looked, he was reminded of a foolish dog that followed a certain gamekeeper around.

As they went farther inside, even more bizarre-looking pets drew the customers' attention.

Girls crowded around the Puffskein counter.

These fluffy, gentle little creatures were the girls' favorites.

Soon, they reached the reptile section.

It was filled with lizards and snakes. Some people probably would not even come near this area.

"Hungry... hungry... hungry..."

A repeated voice reached Eli's ears.

He looked around in surprise.

It was not any language he recognized. It sounded more like the hissing of a snake, yet he could understand its meaning perfectly.

He did not make a fuss, merely searched for the source of the sound without giving anything away.

After all, even in the magical world, hearing voices no one else could hear was not a good omen.

He stopped before a small black snake.

It was the one making the sound.

"Are you talking?"

Eli tried to communicate with it, but when he opened his mouth, only snake-like hissing came out.

That made him shut his mouth at once.

This was not something worth showing off.

Those who could communicate with snakes were called Parselmouths by Wizards.

The earliest Parselmouth was known as Herpo the Foul, an extremely famous and highly dangerous Dark Wizard of ancient times.

Later, another famous Parselmouth appeared. He was one of Hogwarts' four founders, the first Head of Slytherin House—Salazar Slytherin.

Likewise, he was a powerful Dark Wizard. Along with Hogwarts' other three founders, he became one of the four strongest Wizards of that era.

And the most recent Parselmouth was someone everyone knew, though people generally avoided saying his name.

Because his name was Voldemort!

As Slytherin's last descendant, Voldemort had inherited his gift for Parseltongue.

Eli had also become a Parselmouth for a simple reason—he had fused with a fragment of Voldemort's soul. While gaining his memories, he had also gained Parseltongue.

Harry also had a fragment of Voldemort's soul inside him, so he too was a Parselmouth.

Eli had no intention of revealing this, because it would bring him a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

The little black snake understood Eli's words, nodded at him, and then continued repeating, "Hungry... hungry... hungry..."

Eli immediately wanted to take it home.

Although the Hall couple found it somewhat difficult to accept Eli keeping a snake as a pet, they had always respected his choices.

They also hoped that when Eli lived alone at Hogwarts, he would have a companion he liked.

The clerk took out the cage containing the little black snake for him.

Then he enthusiastically introduced it.

"It's been here for some time. It's always more active than the other little snakes."

Eli asked, "Have you fed it?"

The clerk declared solemnly, "Oh! Of course. We treat every pet well."

Eli looked at the little black snake.

"Hungry... hungry... hungry..."

Eli: "..."

He could not be bothered arguing with the clerk over whether it had been fed and asked, "What's its name?"

The clerk thought for a moment, then said, "Rex. We call it Rex."

The moment Eli heard that, he said, "Dogdan? Oh, all right. Then Dogdan it is!"

The clerk froze for a moment and tried to explain, "No, it's actually called Re—"

"Dogdan! I know. Come on, little Dogdan, go home with your big brother!"

The clerk sighed helplessly. "Ten Galleons. Thank you for your patronage!"

The shop included some dry food, things like dried mice.

On the way back, Eli kept quietly drilling his little pet on its name.

"Little guy, your name is Dogdan, understand? Come on, tell me, what's your name?"

"Hungry... hungry... hungry..."

Eli: "..."

After feeding it a piece of dried mouse, he heard it again.

"Dogdan, Dogdan, Dogdan..."