Wandering/Looking for Food: Zacharias and Open
After he'd failed to RSVP to Gregory Goyle's birthday party in a timely manner -- or at all, actually -- Zacharias found he couldn't get out of spending time with his parents at the winged horses ride. He'd tried to tell his father the week before that he'd misread the invitation's respond by date and had even procured the note he'd intended to send to Mrs Goyle about whether or not he could attend. His father, however, didn't care what he intended to do because he hadn't done it. He could intend to do a lot of things, his father had said, but that wasn't the same as actually doing them. Zacharias knew that were true, but it'd been an honest mistake, one his father hadn't taken well. To make up for it, his father informed him that he would be spending at least half of his time at the Victis Honor FĂȘte helping out with the horses in one way or another.
For the most part, Zacharias liked the horses. Although he enjoyed the freedom a broom afforded him, he liked animals, and he liked his family's horses. The Abraxans were left at home as they were too big for simple horse rides, but the Aethonans were in abundance today. Zacharias suspected the Granians were left with the Abraxans back at the stables becuase of their speed. He doubted any parents would want their children on exceptionally fast horses, and he knew no one from his family wanted charges pressed against them for any accidents on a Granian. He was a little surprised, however, that no one thought to bring an Abraxan or Granian for show, though he suspected some of the pictures of various riders and horses around the front of the paddock helped show them off. They were, after all, not just offering a nice, leisurely ride around Hogsmeade for anyone who wanted but also selling riding lessons for anyone who wanted to learn. It was, he admitted, a smart system; offer up rides here and now, get people hooked, and then entice them with the prospect of learning how to properly ride a winged horse. He suspected this was one reason why his mother's family had survived so long in this business.
Several hours after helping customers -- they may have been there to celebrate Victis Honor Day, but they were also customers -- on and off the horses -- becuase no one wanted Zacharias to be the face of the horse rides -- he finally got a break. He didn't know what he wanted to do except get as far away from the paddock as possible before someone realised they wanted him around after all and that he should take a break nearby so he could jump right back into work. He hurried off before anyone could stop him, making himself get briefly lost and turned around in the crowd. It took him a few moments to get his bearings, and, once he did, his first thoughts were about food and drink. He hadn't eaten that morning, and now, according to his watch, it was nearly noon.
He headed toward the Three Broomsticks, pausing every so often to look at various booths selling different items or offering up different treats. He wanted something a bit more substantial than a few of them offered, though if he were honest, he didn't know what that would be. He just knew that he didn't want cake at that moment but something that would constitute a proper meal, something more than just a snack. Despite his stomach growling a bit, Zacharias wasn't in a hurry to reach the pub or find a stall with something appetising. He wanted to savour his time away from his family, even if it were only for an hour, which was why he stopped at several stalls selling goods other than food, making notes of a few items that caught his eye with the intent to turn over whether or not he wanted to purchase anything