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Gus Lissington · November 23, 2022 – 9:24 PM

November 22, 1892 - Front Hall
Mason Skeeter

In hindsight, Gus should have called the niffler Phillip because sometimes he needed a formal name to scold him with when he was being a brat, but there was just something about the name Phil that he liked more. Maybe he'd go with Sir Phil when he was in dire need. It wasn’t like he could even yell at Phil in the middle of the castle without attracting the attention of the few students who were milling about, and the last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to himself.

Instead he stood under one of the candelabra wall sconce that flanked one side of the grand staircase. It was unlucky that most people took it to every location in the castle because Gus had earned quite a few stares already from onlookers - students and staff alike - with his hands cupped together in case the niffler decided to jump. Phil however was busy working his paws against the screws that kept part of the sconce in place against the wall, as he had evert intent on overfilling his belly with shiny and lustrous objects – he had a penchant for pocket watches, although something must have caught his eye for him to have made his way up the wall as he had.

He grit his teeth together. “Phil, you get down here right this instance!” Gus angrily whispered as he nodded toward his hands, although the niffler seemed to ignore him as he made another grab for a screw that was nearly out of the wall. As he did, Phil knocked one of the lit candles from its holder and it tumbled toward the ground, just over one of the hallway entrances. Gus sucked in a breath as another candle was knocked off the holder.

“Phil! Whatever it is you want, I’ll get you something better if you come down, ok?” Phil turned to look at him for a single second before turning back to what he was doing before. What a brat.

Entrance Hall Inspo

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Mason Skeeter · November 27, 2022 – 7:33 PM

While Mason enjoyed Gus' company and was truly thankful for the friendship they had cultivated over the last year, sometimes he just had to wonder what in the name of Merlin's beard the other man was thinking sometimes.

"A niffler at Hogwarts is certainly a lot of work, hmm?" He said as he came strolling down the stairs to the entryway where apparently Phil was trying to kill someone with a chandelier. Mason caught the second falling candle before it hit the floor, or rather his head, which was likely what it would have come into contact first. "I'm missing some cufflinks, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you Phil?" He teased lightly, looking between pesky pet and frantic owner.

Unfortunately at the moment, Mason wasn't sure he had anything shiny on his person to lure the beast down with. "You could just summon him?" Surely that had to work before the niffler had the whole chandelier crashing down.

magic by MJ the magnificent

Gus Lissington · December 7, 2022 – 8:30 PM

Gus turned to see Mason out of the corner of his eye, and he couldn’t help but grin at him. “Wait until you see his face, Mason. You’ll understand why I can’t ever say no to him.” Phil had the sweetest face and his eyes were so large that whenever he turned them on the redhead he just couldn’t say no. Or reprimand him. It was quite terrible, and Gus was well aware if he didn’t train him now as a baby, he’d be a true terror as an adult. The last thing he wanted was for Eugene to think he was an awful niffler parent and regret ever offering to give him one.

“I have an entire drawer full of things that I don’t know who they belong to.” Gus laughed. “I probably should have everyone who’s missing something swing by my office to root through it at some point.” Though that sounded like a lot of work. “Can we look after this? I think I have a few pairs, actually. One is a set that has a raven on it, so I’m going to assume those aren’t yours.” He flicked his gaze back toward Phil who had managed to unscrew it.

The candelabra began to fall sideway before he could summon Phil into his hands.

Sighing quietly, Gus pulled out his wand to cast immobulus before the rest of the candles could hit the floor. Phil was frozen too, clutching the screw he’d worked so hard to get. “I swear I’m going to burn down Hogwarts yet.”

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Mason Skeeter · December 27, 2022 – 2:07 AM

Mason huffed out a laugh. He was very good at saying no to cute things. The first years would get away with murder otherwise. "Cute doesn't work on me." He assured his friend as he too pulled out his wand and started to return the candelabra to its original post.

"I'm not too fussed, but I probably should try and find them as they were a gift." Not that Mason often had cause to wear them either, but his mother would likely be put out if he simply gave up on them and let Phil have them. "They have a fleur de lis on them if that helps." Mason had to wonder if Gus went through everything that Phil managed to philander away, but he supposed that would be a lot of work.

"I certainly wouldn't let Black see him." Mason did not often interact with the Headmaster, but an uncaged, pilfering niffler sounded like surefire trouble with their boss.

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Gus Lissington · January 12, 2023 – 2:10 AM

Gus was pretty sure if he hadn’t met (and befriended) Mason that he’d either have quit after his first week or been miserable at Hogwarts. Instead his friend constantly put up with his antics and never groaned about whatever brilliant idea Gus had, even if sometimes he looked like he wanted to grimace and roll his eyes. (It wasn’t his fault that his ideas were so good they hurt… sometimes literally.) He laughed. “Sure. Whatever you say Masemellow.” He hummed, unsure if he liked that nickname.

Well, he’d come with something. Mason deserved the perfect nickname.

“I don’t want to keep them, and I’ll definitely look.” Phil’s pilfered treasure pile was getting a bit too high and Gus considered dumping the items around the school and seeing what happened, but… he didn’t want someone walking away with something that didn’t belong to them. He raked his fingers through his hair. Whatever the solution to this problem was kept evading him. But, he’d look and find the cufflinks.

He laughed nervously then as he stepped forward to hold his arms out before he unfroze Phil now that the candelabra was back in its place. “Pft. Skeets. Phil stole Black’s pocket watch a few days ago and I still haven’t found a way to sneak it back. I keep it in my pocket so I don’t lose it.” The niffler nuzzled into him and Gus couldn’t help but laugh as he wrapped his arms around him to keep him snug against his chest. “I’m afraid he’ll see me with it and how the heck do I explain that?” Gus grinned at Mason. “Think cuteness works on him?”

Mason Skeeter · February 13, 2023 – 12:47 AM

The headmaster's pocket watch. That was certainly the worst of the worst that Phil could thieve. "I'm surprised the school hasn't been locked down until it was found." How did it even happen? Phil must have been a little too good at stealing things if he got Black's pocket watch. Nifflers should be used for detective work.

Mason noticed Gus' interesting choice of nicknames, but chose not to comment. "Skeets" was something he'd been called before, but he wasn't sure he enjoyed being compared to a marshmallow. "I highly doubt cuteness is worth anything with Black." Mason added as he finished helping to replace the chandalier.

"You could enlist the help of young Sirius, but I'm not sure he would know what to do either." The young Master Black was far more easygoing than his father however and Mason suspected that he knew his father better than the rest.

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Gus Lissington · March 3, 2023 – 1:52 PM

Phil struggled against Gus before he seemed to accept his fate and become dead weight in his arms, much like Seamus had done a few weeks back when he was visiting Fig. He didn’t weigh a ton but damn did his arms start to feel like they were going to fall off just carrying him around, arms and legs flailing everywhere. At least Phil was still small like a stuffed animal. “Maybeee… he hasn’t noticed yet?” The more Mason said the more Gus had a sinking feeling that was going to be fired.

Well, part of missed curse breaking. His decision was probably going to be made for him. (Unless Black killed him. Then he was just going to have to haunt Hogwarts.)

“Well that’s a bloody shame.” Gus was also hoping he could bat his big blue eyes and smile at him, but then again… that was terrible. Black terrified him. Running his fingers through his hair, he shook his head. The less people who knew about this the better, especially one he didn’t know all that well. “No, no. I’ll figure it out. I’m sure there’s some kind of spell out there that I can get in and out without being noticed…” He is (was) a curse breaker — wards weren’t a problem for him.

Mason Skeeter · March 19, 2023 – 6:14 PM

Mason could only shrug. He was pretty sure Gus could figure it out. The cursebreaking background had to be useful for some things. "Maybe you should put a bell on him." Mason chuckled. He wasn't sure if that would be worse or better, but perhaps it might keep the little philanderer out of some trouble.

"Maybe just wait until he's out of the castle for an afternoon or something." That was all the helpful information Mason had; he was not insane enough to try and reason Gus out of this or figure out how to truly get into Black's office to return it.

With the chandelier situation handled, Mason was ready to resume his journey for coffee. "Going to grab a cup of coffee, you interested? We can brainstorm a plan." He motioned toward the hallway that lead to the staff room with a smile.

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