August 13th, 1888 - High Street

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This was ridiculous. Who thought keeping and breeding nifflers illegally was a good idea? They were wily little creatures, sneaky and stubborn.  Of course the call had come in just as he'd been about to sit down for lunch and off to high street he went. Upon arrival he was told there were four of the little buggers, juveniles naturally, loose on High Street causing a ruckus.

Fortunately he didn't have to wait long, wandering down the street to hear a shriek. "Grab it if you can!" He hollered as he tried to find the source.

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Vivienne was beyond grateful that the damned fog had finally lifted and with a day off from work, she'd decided to spend a bit of time on High Street and simply perusing about. She didn't exactly need anything in particular but a bit of fresh air was always a welcome distraction.

Having wandered from the house on her own, she'd just left a shop and planned on heading into another when suddenly there was something grabbing at her wrist. She shrieked, loudly, at the creature pulling at the shiny buttons of her sleeves. What in the world was going on?!

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Rhoda would have much rather been at work when the nifflers struck, but she considered herself a helpful sort of woman and was unable to compel herself to clear the way for more experienced, more athletic individuals when the call to action rung out on High Street. Eyes wide, Rhoda hiked up the hem of her dress and took after a small, dark blur that seemed to scatter under the feet of unsuspecting passersby, all the while cursing under her breath.

Her eyes caught on someone nearby, and, brows furrowing, she called: "You heard the man! Come be of use!"

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☙ Post Log ❧

Lou hadn't yet struck upon a solid idea for his future. He wanted to do something meaningful, something that used the investigative skills he'd developed as an auror. Nifflers on High Street were not the glamorous sign he'd been looking for.

A woman yelled for him to help, when he would much rather have kept walking. He recognized a man from his expedition group, however, and thought ducking out might be too conspicuous at that point. "Oh, all right," he said with some resignation, but unlike the woman, reached for his wand rather than chasing the thing down.

  

This was what Rose got for trying to avoid Ustinya. This was exactly the punishment she deserved, she thought, as she listened to the much younger woman screech for no good reason. (To some, maybe nifflers were a good reason to screech, but Rose was a former professional duelist, and had found her husband's corpse. She was made of sterner stuff.)

"Don't scream at it," scolded Rose. Rather than chase after the niffler, or pull out her wand, she took a glance at the scurrying little creature and walloped at it with her handbag. That'd show it.

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What were those things? Billie stared in fascination as the little nifflers scampered about the street, trying to steal any shiny object they laid their eyes on. She let loose a fit of giggles as she watched one of the poor creatures pummeled by a handbag.

Hearing a man shouting for someone to grab them, she finally snapped out of it and started dashing toward the nearest black blur. Chasing was her specialty. She had new boots, too, and she was convinced they helped her run faster. "Here little beastie!" She crooned to it as if it were a cat.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

In the flurry of following activity, Eugene didn't know where to turn. He moved to the young blonde with one accosting her buttons, drawing his wand, just to stun the little bugger. It saw him coming though, yanked a button free and took off.

Eugene muttered an oath under his breath. "I'll get it back!" He promised, or so he hoped. Watching the wee devil go after another woman's coin purse, Eugene sighed and moved off again, trying to keep an eye on one and the chaos the other ones were causing. This was going to be a wild afternoon.

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If Marlena could’ve frozen in time the image of her brother solemnly promising to retrieve a button then she would have done, but instead she could only commit it to her considerable memory while she sat on a wall and watched the developing kerfuffle with amusement. Honestly, it was hardly as though they were being attacked by dragons!

She finished her currant bun and hopped off the wall in her own good time, retrieving her wand from her pocket. And did precisely nothing with it when a niffler came at her rather suddenly and she reacted with a drop kick.

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MJ: still raising the graphics bar as of 2022

Vivienne couldn't help but to turn a glare at the woman scolding her for shrieking at the creature. It wasn't like she was accustomed to working with magical creatures so having one lunge at her with its beady little eyes to steal a button from her sleeve was hardly something to remain calm about. Unfortunately, she reacted far too late and the gentleman's drawn wand coming in her direction seemed to startle it enough to tear the button from her dress and be off.

Spurred into action, she pulled her own wand out and gave chase after the same niffler.

  

Things seemed to be developing quickly. Lou couldn't even keep track of how many of the creatures were loose, as another had just run by his feet clutching a button. Scamander was apparently after it, so Lou deftly moved out of the way and instead focused his attention on a second niffler who had started climbing up the door-post of a shop across the street. He shot a stunning spell at the creature — but failed to realize that someone else was running by and stepped directly into the path of his spell.

"Er! Sorry!" he called, hoping they ducked.

  

This was absolutely ridiculous. It became apparent soon after that the creatures they were chasing were nifflers - and if she remembered anything from her casual studies, is that that the beasts, while definitely pests, were not dangerous. Why then, would the man be hollering down High Street? Nifflers might be nasty little thieves, but they didn't have the mind to go selling them at the local pawn store!

"Don't you think we might be better off letting them scurry? They're going to get lost in this madness!" she screamed to no one in particular, though hoped hope they might listen.

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☙ Post Log ❧

The fact that nifflers enjoyed shiny objects had flown right over Billie's head for she now flailed about with a crust of bread that had been living in her pocket. She had hoped it would distract the creature, but, so far, it had not worked. However, she was swift.

With outstretched hands near the beast's tail, Billie caught sight of the spell from Lou and let out a startled squeak, "Damn." The child tumbled face-first, her body headed straight for the poor niffler. Hopefully, she wouldn't squash it. It was unclear if the stunner had found her or not.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Merlin, the person who had run in the way of his spell was a child. Lou felt an immediate wash of guilt and hurriedly pocketed his wand, cautious of doing anything more damaging. Perhaps he'd do better to just walk off and leave the people here to their own devices. Wasn't this the sort of thing Scamander did for a career, anyway? Aside from the other man, however, most of the people currently engaged seemed just as clueless as Lou, and since most of them were jewel-decked women, they were in more danger from the creatures' greed.

  

Lena glanced towards where the niffler she had kicked had landed and scurried away, fearful but not especially injured thankfully, and as she did she spotted the tell-tale flare of red. It was with a considerable degree of disdain Marlena looked from where a stunner had shot - entirely unnecessary in her estimation given that nifflers were hardly deadly predators - to the child it appeared to have hit and rendered entirely still. Well fuck.

“They’ll probably tire themselves out eventually,” she said distractedly to a pretty woman she vaguely recognised from the Ministry, eyes entirely fixed on the child.

  

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MJ: still raising the graphics bar as of 2022

"They're juveniles, Lena!" He made a face at his younger sister who seemed to be enjoying his chaos. Having young nifflers parading up and down High Street, while not dangerous, was problematic. Once they got their paws on something shiny there was no way to tell who it belonged to and that ended up being a logistical nightmare. Plus they were babes bred in captivity, there weren't going to survive on their own.

Then he noticed the likely stunned child and the niffler and doubled back, snagging the wee devil before checking on the kid. "One down, three to go."

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Rose would have been more concerned about chasing the nifflers, but then she saw the child topple over. Slipping out her own wand, she knelt next to the stunned youth. "Rennervate," she said, frowning faintly. It figured that a kid would get caught up in this Ministerial bullshit, just as it figured that seemingly no one would know what they were doing. (Never mind that she wasn't helping; it wasn't her bloody job!)

"Are you alright?" she asked the kid, offering a hand. Thankfully Archie wasn't here; if he was caught in crossfire she'd be livid.