"Have you ever met one?" Q asks. "Not counting the one I let loose?"
Q looks at the floor. "It's hard to break the habits of a lifetime Severus," he says in a small voice.
"So a serpent can act like a snake if need be, but a snake can't act like a serpent. I'd never thought of it that way." He flushes. "Er, well, no. But I didn't want to be mawkish about it."
"That will help," Q agrees, wondering if people still do letters of introduction. He looks up. "Exotic? They have peacocks and toucans and such as well as owls?" How very odd.