#8 - Needed Escape

A ginger niffler wriggled out from under a bush, peering curiously at her company. She crawled over, a bit shy, and plopped herself in front of Sebastian. Her eyes stared at the shiny gem, as if in a trance. She squeaked, realising he was offering such a treasure to her. She snatched it, securing it just as greedily, then burrowed into the sand.

She was a slower digger than the past visits he'd made to the sandpit, but it was worth the wait. The niffler emerged with a Silver Key clutched in her paws, which she proudly offered to him. She then tilted her head at him, as if asking "what's wrong?"

She got out the shiny gem he'd given her, marveling over it, as she settled beside him. Was she keeping him company?

The Niffler rubbed at her gem to polish its shine, eyes wide as if still in a trance of awe for its existence and that a student was nice enough to gift it to her. She hugged it, then tucked it away.

Wriggling, she faced Sebastian. He was saying a lot of words in very sad way. She didn't know how to help the kind student, though sniffed around his pockets in case he was harbouring any more shiny gifts. They were in reach, though she detected nothing to value.

He was still sad though. She gave him a silver key and he was still sad. She needed something better! The Niffler searched around in her pouch, pulling out various buttons. No, no those were too precious. She found a Galleon and offered that rather hesitantly.

"You're giving that to me?" he asked, a little confused. Sebastian didn't want to take the money from the Niffler, believing it to be one of its treasures. It was no gem, but it was surely shiny enough to pass as valuable. However, he also didn't want to offend the creature. "Thank you. I'll buy another gem with this," he shared, a genuine smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He slipped the galleon into the same pocket as his key and turned toward the pit.

The sadness was slowly returning and gnawed at his insides. Seb couldn't move past the ache he felt for the Occamies, as pieces of his heart fell into his stomach with each passing moment. Not even the adorable creature and its kind gesture could stop what happened next, as a single tear trickled past his control and down his cheek. Sebastian began to get lost in his thoughts, until a sudden voice brought him back to reality. He slapped at the tear as fast he could in an effort to conceal it, and quickly turned to identify the source. It was a Ravenclaw student.

"No, of course not," he sniffled one last time, before clearing his throat. "I wouldn't want to keep the Nifflers from making more friends," Seb smiled, trying to keep his expression from wavering. It was evident he had been crying, his eyes a little red and puffy. He turned and winked at the ginger creature, reaching to brush a finger over its head in gratitude. Sebastian appreciated the company, but knew he had to make some room for the boy.

"Arlo, right?" he asked, shuffling over on his knees to create a space between him and the creature. "If you have a gem, our friend here will find you a key," he beamed, ignoring the soreness he felt behind his eyes. Sebastian motioned toward the ginger Niffler, hoping it wouldn't be scared off by the newcomer, but instead approach him. Then again, Sebastian didn't know a lot about the Ravenclaw either. Arlo always seemed nice enough, though.

The ginger Niffler was reluctant to let go of the Galleons, but relented in hope of cheering the sad student up. It seemed to work, so she happily settled back beside him to fuss over the gem he'd gifted her.

She eyed the gems Arlo had, but resisted investigating as another Niffler emerged from a bush and saw what was going on. He was rounder and darker, though shyly approached Arlo to sniff at the gem.

Jamie had decided to take a little walk and had heard about the Niffler Sandpit and wanted to check it out. He was still filthy from cleaning the cauldron and now he had dirt all over his hands and robs from gardening. Well, he was a typical boy, so it wasn't hard for him to get dirty. As he started towards the Beast Reserve, he was looking in his bag for something and came across a rather shiny... rock? 

No, maybe it was a Gem, not a rock. It was interesting, but he had never seen it before and he wondered when he had picked it up. It was November, so maybe he had found it months ago? Maybe it fell in his bag? Maybe someone put it in there? He had no idea, but he had it now, so he was going to see what he could use it for. 

At the moment, he was alone, but maybe he could find a friend or two? 

@jess

Although she had been attending classes in a predictably routine fashion, Jess still felt that her learning experience at Hogwarts was altogether different from her last school. Maybe it was just because it was a boarding school type of thing- she was eating here, sleeping here, all that jazz. But either way, she had found herself with a lot less options for certain things and a lot more for others. She couldn't go out to the shops after school and buy pastries with her grandmother. Visiting the museum wasn't an option. None of those day trips and even weekend excursions were a thing.

However, Jess could spend time exploring the castle- and it felt a lot more natural to talk to people. Somehow, it was like they were all in the same boat? Even though some students had this sort of cold air about them, especially the older kids. It was obvious they didn't want to be bothered. So, the girl had taken to mostly keeping to herself. Of course, she did her best to take advantage of the wide variety of secrets the castle had to offer.

Just right now, she had been walking around the grounds when she noticed a couple of students lingering on the edge of the grassy area- where the kind of open field met the darker tree line of the Forbidden Forest. Jess was naturally curious about what they were up to, and she decided to peek around a bit more. There was still enough people around that she didn't look suspicious or out of place. So she casually made her way closer, until she was within hearing range.

"It's supposed to be around here somewhere. She said, kind of hidden, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest," one of the girls complained. "I heard the nifflers are really cute. There might be dangerous monsters in there, but I don't see why they have to hide the nifflers away." Then Jess awkwardly and accidentally made eye contact with the brunette who was listening to her friend sympathetically. The first year hastily turned away, but the damage was already done. The pair whispered to themselves furiously before they hurried away. Shrugging to herself, Jess blinked slowly as she thought about what she had just heard.

Nifflers... Jess scrunched up her nose before she decided that there was no use ruminating on it by herself. Might as well ask someone. If it really was all top secret and stuff, she didn't want to get in trouble though. Glancing around, she thought maybe that boy she could see over there looked relatively harmless? Her lips quirked up into a smile as she waved over to him. Unsure whether he had seen, or even realized she was gesturing to him, she also made her way over while calling out,

"Hi! Um, are you a first year?" He looked kinda her age. He also looked a little bit, um... like he had been playing in the garden all day or something. "I'm Jess, um, hi," she tried to get his attention and introduce herself in a friendly, if awkward way.

@jamie

"Nice to meet you, Jamie!" Jess shot him a bright smile, relieved that he didn't seem to think she was weird. At least, visibly. Come to think of it, that was probably why he looked vaguely familiar- classes. Although, she was sure she would have remembered clearly if he'd been covered in dirt there. Probably would've gotten a stern bit from a teacher. So maybe this appearance was out of the ordinary?

"Yeah, I was! I kind of... don't know where it is though?" She admitted sheepishly, glancing his way. "Just that it's supposed to be around here! Maybe?"