June 10, 1889 — The Golden Hearth

"MY BOA MY POOR BOA!" Shrieked a woman mid tears from the women's quarters.

Felicity sighed as she stared up at the ceiling. Why? Why her? Why a boa? What was so damn important about a bunch of feathers strung together anyway? Moments later a pounding came at her door. "Aye?" She called out nearly reluctantly.

"Little Fella, there be a woman screaming about boa, but I can't go in there because they get mad when I open the door." said William.

"Right...Where's Nanny?" Felicity asked as she slipped out of bed and quickly went to dress throwing on some old patchwork robes.

"She's out getting more booze. Griphook has a cold, and Silvertip is in the kitchen getting breakfast for everyone." William replied.

"Right." Said Felicity again. She stepped out of her room and moved back down to the female dorm. "Ms. Connel...Ms. Connel I need you to open up..."

Forty five minutes later and Felicity found herself writing a rather odd owl to a Ms Eavan Mackay, the only person she knew who just might be able to supply her with the creature that would save the show, as everyone knew it had to go on.

Dear Ms. MacKay,

It is in desperation that I write to you in hopes that you will understand my urgency. Our lead star, and opening act for this evening's show, has undergone a rather unfortunate circumstance; her occamy died. She insists that this occamy is pertinent to her performance, and seeing as I have billed her as the highlight for the next three weeks surely you can see why we simply must have another occamy. Please respond post haste if you can help. I've checked with all the locals and none of them possess one!

Your most greatful customer.

Philip Ghallager

A black owl flies off in quite the rush from the Hogsmeade owlery. Phil sighs as he watches it go and then checks his pocket watch. 8 hours to showtime.  

Tag: @"Eavan Mackay"

  

Eva was looking for any kind of distraction these days so when a random letter asking about an occamy came through, she read it quizzically before decided it would be worth investigating, if nothing else. A simple letter may have solved the problem, as her occamies at the aviary were not exactly for sale, she wasn't a black alley black market dealer of magical creatures after all, but could likely get them in touch with a legal breeder if necessary. She was also curious to know what happened the aforementioned occamy in the letter.

Showing up empty-handed probably wasn't the best way to do it, but Eva had never really had an qualms about doing what was best for the creatures in any situation, over the people requesting her help. The theater to which she arrived was not a place she'd even know existed, but then again she didn't often frequent this section of Hogsmeade. As it was, she was rarely in town at all, work keeping her particularly busy these days, thank Merlin.

Approaching the first person she found, Eva asked after a Mr. Gallagher, citing the letter she'd been sent and pulling it from her pocket after receiving a dubious look in response. Even in her bloomer suit, she stood out from the characters she was finding in the theater itself, but it wasn't as if Eva was unfamiliar with the more... unsavory aspects of the slums. She was a working class girl in a rough occupation after all. She was asked to wait a moment near the entrance and so she did just that, humming quietly to herself, swaying lightly in an effort to assuage her need to be in constant motion.

---

  

---

William alerted Griphook who alerted Silvertip who finally got the memo to Felicity that a woman was at the front inquiring after Phil due to a letter. Felicity had just slipped out of her Phil persona so that she could carry on with the inner cogs of the theatre and gave a nod. "Right." She stepped out of her room smoothing her skirts and headed to the front of house and finally to the entrance. The door lurched open with a hefty tug, "You must be here about the light boxes. Phi's out but I'm his sister Felicity come in." She opened the door gaze looking left and right down the street keen of any rift raft that may try and follow and then ushered the woman in.

The performers were in the middle of rehersal all save for the one woman balling her eyes out in the back to which only her sobs could be accounted for. "Don't mind her she's been in hysterics since sunrise, when it rains it pours am I right? Nanny get us some ale and two bowls of soup. So Phil may have told you the light boxes are sparking and I'm not sure which enchantment is causing it. " Felicity hadn't eaten all day, and she moved to sit at one of the many tables gesturing for the woman to sit. It never occured to her that this woman was Eavan because she half expected her to show up with an actual occamy in hand.

  

If the confusion on Eva's face wasn't evident when she walked in, it certainly showed now. For one, she was shown to see some woman, who she assumed was not Mr. Gallagher, though also supposed she had seen stranger things in life. It didn't take long for her brows to furrow even more as food was requested and then the woman started going on about light boxes and other things that Eva really hadn't any idea what she was talking about.

"Ah, terribly sorry, not familiar with light boxes." Eva shrugged. "I did receive a letter from a Mr. Gallagher, but my name is Eavan MacKay, he reached out to me about an occamy?" Perhaps this woman could point her in the right direction. Maybe she was in the wrong place? Though Eva didn't spend a lot of time in Hogsmeade proper, she thought she'd gotten the address right at the very least.

---

  

---

Felicity paused, they morning had been a bit of a blur and ever so busy with issues popping up left and right, "Oh- OH! The occamy right, right. Sorry sometimes my brother gets a step or two ahead of me in the meat brain department." She said with a bit of a laugh, "Yes, so sorry. I'm Felicity Gallagher, Phil's sister, he's currently out and about at the moment, but rest assured I can help you... and you must be uhm, Evan, no uhm Eve...wait don't tell me, Eavan!?" She paused waiting for confirmation.

"Right well, our headliner act Connel's Exquisite Shell a dancer who performs a bit of a exotic routine with an occamy is well, missing an occamy. Well the occamy died you see, sometime around last night, I don't know when all I know is there was screeching and sobbing, and well it took me 45 minutes just to get the damn door open!" She said with a bit of a huff and then with a twirl of the hand moved to carry on with her speech, "So?" Her gaze moved around looking for a box, or anything really, "Where is the feathery serpent and what'll be your price?" Hadn't the woman brought one?

  

Eva quirked an eyebrow a the woman curiously. This was starting to smell a little fishy... "Ah well, I'm afraid there's been some kind of miscommunication then. I don't actually sell rare birds, I'm an avian magizoologist." It was odd to Eva in the first place that they'd even had success with an occamy on stage. Occamies were  choranaptyxic, capable of growing or shrinking to fit the size of the space they were given. An occamy loose on a stage of that size could certainly cause some problems.

"Just how does this woman use the occamy in the show?" She was curious now. "I can put you in touch with a reputable breeder, but only if there's great care taken to ensure the animals' well-being." Eva was no idiot and she was certainly not a fan of most circuses and their treatment of the creatures in their care. Her entire job was to rehabilitate, care for and breed creatures that needed help. It was not to sell her babies to somebody who simply needed one on a whim. If she felt anything off about the need for the bird, she could likely blacklist this establishment from proper purchasing methods if needed. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that however.

---

  

---

Felicity crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair as she listened a frown taking hold of her brows and crinkling the centerfold of her expression. When the woman stopped talking her lips pursed. "Right, great, just my luck. Look lady, I'm not the owner of this occamy, and neither is my brother, we just host a stage for people to perform, and based on the wailing banshee back there our lead act is done for, but don't provide the goods which is just fucking fantastic..." She said with a final sigh. She was stressed, because today of all days was the day that things decided to fall a part.

Nobody sold occamies around here or loaned them or...She scratched her head trying to think, and then finally looked at the woman, "Right you can go, guess she'll just have to do without, because..." Her head tiled back as she yelled to the back of house, "I AM NOT REFUNDING 500 TICKETS FOR YOUR SORRY ASS LADY! SO GET YOU AND YOUR DEAD BOA'S SHIT TOGETHER!" A wail came from the back, no doubt the woman who lost her occamy. Felicity then turned back to the Mazoo-what-agist, "Sorry for your time, thanks for no help. This show will go on." Felicity moved to stand, "Come on people we got a show coming up." A grumble under her breath, "Not a fucking zoo anyway it's a GODDAMN THEATRE! LET'S GO! Griphook why the fuck are my curtains lopsided?"