#19 - Gems & Keys

Saoirse made her way to the beast reserve after breakfast that morning. Normally she went for a swim in the Black Lake around this time, but Madam Pomfrey had made it very clear that she was not to do anything that would risk her healing hand wound. She could imagine that the Black Lake was full of weird germs. Were magical germs a thing? It all made Saoirse's brain hurt.

She had some shiny gems that were very pretty but apparently of no use to anyone. However, she knew the older students exchanged them with the nifflers in the reserve. Saoirse had never seen a niffler before. She had seen platypuses in Australia, and apparently they were very similar in how adorable they were- except that nifflers loved to steal. And, the males weren't venomous.

Saoirse's thoughts on cute monotremes disappeared when she crested a hill and saw the sand pit ahead of her. There was already someone else there- another Gryffindor first-year, as well. Xavier Quinn, whom Saoirse had not interacted much with. Truthfully, after she had befriended Grace and Alice, she had made little attempt to socialize with anyone else. Making friends was difficult, being raised in the Muggle world and outside of the British Isles.

Still, Saoirse was not going to let some shyness stop her from meeting the nifflers. She approached Xavier but kept a wide berth, not wanting to spook the nifflers by making the area too crowded. She sat down on the sand a few meters away from him, and waved hello. She pulled a shiny gem out of her own pocket, and placed it in the palm of her hand. Saoirse placed it in her palm and laid her uninjured hand on the sand, keeping her arm very still.

She did this with birds sometimes- putting food in her palm and then holding it on the ground. It allowed her to pet their soft throats and bellies while they pecked at the food. Saoirse was hoping to sneakily pet the niffler's belly with her fingers when it came forward to take the shiny gem. She wondered if it would prefer Xavier's gem, or if there were multiple nifflers. Either way, she was used to patiently waiting for an animal sighting.

As he was waiting Xavier noticed someone else approaching. He quickly recognized the student as Saoirse, a fellow Gryffindor, who he had seen at breakfast. Honestly he didn't know her that well, she tended to stick with her friends but he still waved to her with a friendly smile. He resisted the urge to talk as he didn't want to startle the nifflers, and she seemed to be doing the same.

They sat together in comfortable silence for awhile until two nifflers approached them. One quicker and slimmer, the other a bit slower and more plump. They were both absolutely adorable and he smiled excitedly.

"Hello there!" He said as the slimmer niffler took his gem. After the other took Saoirse's gem they both turned and began digging in the sand. Xavier curiously and patiently waited hoping they'd both get lucky. He only had one gem on him today and he hoped he'd get a key!

After a bit of digging his niffler brought him back what looked like a bronze-colored key. Yes! Xavier took it gently with a nod of his head to the creature. "Thank you so much little niffler!" His dimpled smile was huge with happiness. 

Glancing over he noticed Saoirse had gotten lucky too. "That's awesome! Looks like we both got one!" He said as he twirled it between his fingers to show her. Not wanting to overstay his welcome and just in case anyone else wanted to come try their luck he stood up and dusted the sand off his pants.

"I'll see you around!" He said as he waved goodbye to Saoirse and made his leave from the sandpit.

[EXIT]