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Bambi Hargroves spent the first 13 years of her life traveling the world with her father, the famous wizard S.L Hargroves, author, travel enthusiast, and researc...
Sebastian Hargroves sat inside the large canvas tent he had set up earlier that Summer. Despite the outside appearing rather small and lackluster, the inside was plenty roomy enough to house 5 wooden tables, all covered with books and parchment, two-floor mattresses, each in their own corner with hanging tapestries for privacy, a majlis couch, some cushions to sit on, and a makeshift cooking set up for meals. Sebastian Hargroves was a well-experienced traveler, having been to over 60 countries in the last 20 years.
Sebastian was known to be a well-studied man, curious, outgoing, and rather skilled with the quill. He spent years of his life dedicated to studying how different cultures taught and used magic, researching new magical flora and fauna, and discovering small magical civilizations that had yet to be identified. Then, when he felt satisfied with what he'd learned about what he set out to, he wrote numerous books on his findings to share these unique experiences with the whole Wizarding world.
This particular summer, his studies had brought him to the Omo Valley in Ethiopia. He had picked up some trace hints of magic a few years prior and was now back to see if he could find the source. He sat hunched over at one of the wooden desks, one hand posed with his fingers in odd positions over a close scale map, and the other hand scribbling coordinates onto a scroll of parchment.
Sebastian Hargroves was a short stocky man of 40 years with wild greying red hair and sparkling green eyes. His skin was rather tanned and red from years of exposure to the hot climates, and wrinkles lined the corners of his eyes from the consistent smile he wore on his face. He was covered with red freckles from his face to his toes, even more so brought out by the hot African sun.
"Bambi, can you let the owl in?" Sebastian asked, his eyes not shifting from his notes.
The young girl who was lying on one of the rugs a few feet away from Sebastian hopped up from where she was comfortably reading and ran over to pull one of the heavy canvas flaps to the side. The owl, a large dark feathered barn owl named Gerald, dropped heavily on Sebastian's desk, panting from the heat, thankful to not have to use any more energy scratching at a thick fabric wall.
"Good boy, Gerald," Sebastian patted the top of the owl's head, who nipped him affectionately in return. He then took the yellow envelope Gerald helped, his eyes hardly taking a moment to scan the intricate wax seal before he set it down again.
"You'd think they'd get the message by now," Sebastian opened the top drawer of the desk and tossed the letter in with two other identical ones.
He pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and began to write,
"Dear..."
He stopped.
His eyes momentarily fell on his daughter Bambi, who had gone back to reading her book about rare and dangerous magical creatures.
"Surely I can keep her here with me for one more year..." He sighed, leaning his head on one hand, still watching his daughter. He knew he was procrastinating this decision more than he had to be.
Bambi Hargroves was thirteen years old. Like her father, she had a head full of long bushy red hair, warm hazel eyes, and lots of freckles. She was pale and skinny, rather short for her age, but had a very vibrant personality to make up for any loss in stature.
Bambi, who started getting the uneasy feeling of being watched, suddenly looked up from her book and stared back at her father who was now lost in thought.
"Bambi, dear," Sebastian began, breaking out of his trance.
"Sebastian!" A voice was suddenly heard outside, and a tall skinny man threw open the entrance to the tent. Hot sunlight poured in from where he held it up over his arm.
"Ejau, what is it?" Sebastian stood up, glad to have some reason to push the conversation he was going to have for a later time.
"I think we've found it!" He spoke in a thick Ugandan accent, "The tribe is across the river, about 5 miles east." He smiled, his dark eyes sparkling with excitement.
Sebastian's face lit up. He grabbed his sun hat and quickly walked to the door, only pausing to give Bambi a quick kiss on the top of her head, "I'll try not to be too late, alright? You be good Bambi!"
Bambi hardly had a chance to respond before the two men left, leaving her alone once again. She sighed, setting the book down and laying her head in her arms.
This trip hadn't been one of the fun adventures they sometimes had.
When Sebastian told Bambi that they were heading to Africa for the summer, initially she was very excited, hoping that she would be spending time with some of the friends she'd made in Uganda or Kenya.
Soon after arriving, it became clear to Bambi that it wasn't going to be an enjoyable trip at all. It was one of the trips where Bambi was confined to a tent most of the time, waiting and sweating until her father returned, hours, sometimes even a day or two later.
She liked traveling with her father when they were discovering some fun animal or plant. Usually on those trips they'd stay in villages or towns they'd been to before. There usually was more time to talk, explore, and relax without Sebastian being stressed out. Bambi enjoyed those trips very much, but it seemed the older she got, the less often those trips became.
The last few "adventures", if you could even call them that anymore, that the two went on were just like the one they were in now. Her father told her it was because "It's very important that every Witch and Wizard be recognized," and his new mission was trying to discover every magic-using community... in the world.
This involved days of Sebastian using tracking spells, flying around with his special "Magic Detector Compass" (As Bambi called it), and spending hours pouring over maps and retracing their steps when they hit dead end after dead end.
Bambi wasn't allowed to come with Sebastian when it came to doing any of those things, but she was inclined to come along with him to the far-off countries where his studies brought him.
It was always the same reasons, "It's too dangerous," or, "You'd get so bored out there, Bambs," or, "We're going to be out for most of the day, you'd do better to stay here and read."
The truth was, these "adventures" were beginning to become very boring to Bambi.
She peeked open her eyes, looking at Gerald who was breathing heavily on the desk.
Gerald slowly opened his eyes, staring his large amber ones back at her. He seemed to be saying "Please don't talk to me, I'm tired."
"Gerald, did you come a far way?" Bambi asked him.
If birds could roll their eyes, he would have.
Bambi got up off the ground and sat in the rolling chair at the desk. She pet one of his wings, "Your feathers are really hot," she said, pulling her hand back, a bit in shock.
Gerald stared at her.
Bambi sighed. She leaned her head back and swung the chair, right to left... left to right... right to left.
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