Chapter 4: Harry's Birthday
Friday, July 31st turned out to be a perfect day for a trip to the Magical Animal Park. It opened at 8am, so, to avoid the opening crowds, they decided to arrive at 9am. As such, Luna, Vince, and Greg had arrived by 8:45. Bella Apparated to the Granger household and returned with Hermione a few minutes later.
They had all arrived with gifts, which embarrassed Harry to no end. He felt it was more than he deserved just to have a celebration. Bella and Narcissa shrunk down all of the gifts and put them in their purses. As soon as they were ready to go, they clamored into the fireplace, one after the other, destined for Britain's Magical Animal Park.
The public floo bank at the Animal Park let out directly in front of the entrance. Once they all made it through, they followed Bella up to the front gate.
"Mum? Don't we need tickets?"
"Yes, dear, but I've already purchased them. Come along, you lot. It's going to be a busy day." Their first stop was the café near the entrance for a quick breakfast. As they ate, Bella answered all of Hermione's many questions regarding the park: no, muggles couldn't come here; yes, it has anti-apparition wards; yes, the animals are magically kept in their enclosures; no, there were no fences; and so on.
As breakfast wound down, they looked over the park map to decide what animals to go see. Hermione wanted to visit the equine portion of the park, Vince wanted to see the magical reptile house, Luna desperately wanted to visit the fairy and fairy-like creatures, Draco was interested in the domesticable animals, Greg didn't have a preference, and Harry's main interest was the dragon enclosure.
They planned their route for the day in the most efficient way possible, making sure to include easy access to eateries for lunch and dinner. They started at the back of the park first and worked their way forward, meaning the dragons were first. The enclosures all had many layers of wards, including flame barriers, visitor barriers, and heat retardants, among others. The enclosures were magically expanded to span several square miles each. There was a gate at each enclosure that signified the beginning to the magically expanded area. Once you entered the gate, you were able to see the full enclosure. Binoculars were available to be able to see to the farthest corner of the enclosure. The mated dragons were allowed their own enclosures, as they tended to get territorial, while the "single" dragons were separated by breed. Harry was especially interested in a particularly vicious looking breed, the Hungarian Horntail.
When their "dragon-viewing" time was up, they continued on to the magical reptile house. Hermione didn't quite agree with the name, as the exhibit housed more than just reptiles. There were firecrabs, flobberworms, salamanders, spiders, magical insects, and many other odd creatures. There were, of course, the requisite snakes, tortoises, frogs and toads, etc. Harry and Tom especially enjoyed the experience.
"Dad, look at this one! It's really cute." Tom walked over to where Harry was staring at a small black snake with green stripes. Tom, who had always had an affinity for snakes, smiled indulgently. To Harry's surprise, the small snake uncoiled itself and sat up. Not knowing what else to do, Harry spoke to it.
"Hello, there. You're a lovely snake." He heard gasps behind him that almost drowned out the snake's reply.
"Thanksssss!"
Harry shot back up, surprised. "That snake just spoke to me!"
Tom hugged his son in glee. "Oh course he did, Harry. It seems you've inherited my gift. You're a Parselmouth!"
"A what?"
Bella answered this time. "A Parselmouth, dear. It means you can speak to snakes."
"Wow!" Harry turned back to the snake. "What is your name?"
