“Phil, what are you holding?” Gus sighed at the niffler who stared at him with innocent, brown eyes, clutching something silver and round in his paws. A pocket watch, he realized, as he moved to tug it free from his paws; he had an affinity with showing up with them more than anything else, although he collected anything shiny when Gus wasn’t watching him. Maybe it was the ticking sound he liked, or the fact that it was easy to hold, but lately Gus had been returning the same pocket watch to Basil, while breathlessly apologizing that he’d teach his niffler some manners.

So far he’d been able to return all the returned goods to people, but this one… “Really? Where did you even get this?” He asked, although he couldn’t help but bring Phil up to his face and nuzzle their faces together. (He was so damn cute and already had Gus wrapped around his paws.) “Alright, alright. We have to return it to its owner. You have to stop taking things that aren’t yours, okay?” Phil just blinked at him like he had two heads. It was much easier to take care of a niffler whose job it was to seek out treasures with him – Eugene hadn’t been kidding when he’d said they were exhausting. Gus should owl him to make sure he wasn't dead from having a few more baby ones he was still dealing with.

Hogsmeade was congested, and finding the owner of the pocket watch was going to prove an impossible feat on its own, so instead Gus pocketed the watch as he scooped up Phil  before he turned on his heels to make his way toward Virani Watches & Clocks. Surely he’d be able to help him figure out the owner, so Gus could grovel and apologize for having a thieving niffler.

The bell above the door sounded his arrival, and he stepped up toward the counter. Gus tucked Phil into his pocket, thankful he was still small enough to do so, although he instantly poked his head back out to stare at all the shiny objects around.

---