September 9th, 1889 - Outside CoMC Classroom

Jack wasn't exactly a fan of cages, possibly because of his own natural inclination to wander, or merely the fact that he didn't believe most creatures belonged in them.

Most being the key word.

Nifflers were one of few exceptions in Jack's mind. Curious, dubious, trouble-making little cretins that caused pure chaos wherever they went. Which was the fun part and why they made for interesting classes and a great first project for his OWL level students. There was nothing quite like starting the year off with a bang.

Jack leaned casually on one of the nearby cages, a small black niffler perched contentedly on his shoulder, casually pulling at the chain of the professor's pocket watch. The chain was enchanted, so Jack had no fear the the little gremlin would get anywhere with it, but it was keeping her busy at the very least.

"Gather up, toss your things over there." Jack was a fairly laid back professor and thankfully, as he taught an elective, the students in class wanted to be there. He waited a beat as they crowded around the table of cages. The nifflers were in turn, obviously looking for any shinies they could get their little mitts on, eyeing the kids with just as much interest.

"Can anybody tell me what it is we have here?" He motioned both to the creature on his shoulder and the ones in the cages.

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No post order other than 2 posts/2 days please! There is more to come ;)

  

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Narcissus followed the professors instruction as they were told to toss their things. With his bag set to the side, he eyed the cages curiously. "They're nifflers," Narci answered in awe. He knew of some people that had them as pets but had never really seen one up close and personal before.

  

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To say Calla was excited about finally starting Care of Magical Creatures after nearly fourteen years was an understatement. She was ecstatic. And frankly, when she walked into class, she wondered if to much excitement could actually make someone pass out. There on Professor Collins shoulder was a real, live niffler - and one she might be allowed to pet, unlike the one outside that had stollen some girl's jewelry during their first year - which Tia had talked her into not petting.

Her stuff was all but thrown in the indicated direction from as far away as she could manage without knocking anything over before she staked a spot beside one of the nifflers. Had she known that this is what they were doing she would've brought something shiny.

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Jack always rather enjoyed the look of interest and awe that fell upon his students' faces when he introduced a new creature or project. He thought they would enjoy this one immensely.

"Correct, Mr. Laurent, five points for Slytherin." Jack nodded, a look of amusement still clear across his features. "They are adolescents, and therefore a little more malleable in terms of training, but also a little more adventurous in nature." Oh what an interesting week these students were going to have.

Careful of the niffler on his shoulder, Jack meandered down behind the cages- half the amount of nifflers to students, as he watched the class watch both him and the creatures. "Your first assignment of the year is to pair up and take a niffler home for a week. You are only responsible for them during your free time, caring, feeding, training. They are leashed and the leashes are enchanted so they cannot escape them, but only when you are holding onto them, otherwise it would be unfair." Poor little things weren't dogs after all. "They will remain in my care during your class time and overnight." For the better, he supposed, though if any of the fifth years wanted to try their hand at nannying overnight he could be persuaded.

"You will keep a journal of your efforts between your pair." He couldn't wait to read those. "Additionally, as many of you know, nifflers have an affinity for shiny objects. I have hidden some fake galleons around the school, one per niffler. If you manage to collect one, you will receive extra credit. Please return anything else they happen to get their little mitts on by accident, there will be no thievery." That would be highly frowned upon.

"Questions, comments or concerns?" He eyed the group carefully with a curious quirk of his eyebrow.

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Prepare for trouble...

These little beauties (ty Bree!) have been hidden in OPEN threads set between September 6th-13th (I could use a few more open threads though!) in common areas of the school. Open means intervention with your niffler, so have at it! I will post a "closing" post late this week -please PM me with questions or finished threads for 15 house points!

  

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The already existing smile on the third years face grew exponentially larger as the professor spoke and she immediately knew she would have absolutely no regret in choosing this class. She'd thought, when signing up, that the class would be most lecture based, when a few visits, at least until N.E.W.T. levels.

She glanced down, then, at the niffler before her, realizing now that it was only a baby. She'd get to take care of it for a whole week? Along with her partner - maybe Sloane would want to work together. Or if she'd want to work with Cam? Though Cam might want to work with Maddie. Err Sloane had signed up for the class hadn't she? At least Calla had thought her friend had meant to but she hadn't seen her here yet. Well, regardless of who she ended up working with nothing could spoil this.

At the call for questions, Calla's hand darted up, though in her excitement she spoke her questions before being called. "What do they eat? How often do they eat? Where do we get food for them? Do they have names? Can we name them? How do you get a niffler to give something back? I doubt my friends would like to never see their possessions again. Do you take them on walks like a dog? Or do they use a litterbox like cats?"

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

As the professor gave their assignment, Aleksei looked around, wondering who would partner with them. They didn't really want to be the one to ask so Aleksei figured that they would wait a bit and see if anyone offered. What happened if no one had a partner by days end, though?

  

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aleksei is non-binary. in ooc narrative, aleksei goes by they/them, IC people would percive them as he/him

Alcyone was utterly enraptured by the nifflers in the cages. When they were told that they were to pair up, Alcyone looked around for Maddy, hoping to catch the other girls eye. Looking back at the nifflers, she wondered which one she would be ending up with.

  

Ever a small, light, barely corporeal presence in class, Clue looked from their Care of Magical Creatures professor to the magical creature in question — a niffler. Narcissus, beside whom Clue was standing, identified it in a trice and earned five points for their house.

When Professor Collins paired them up with a most interesting project, the boy decided to assume Narcissus would accept him as his teammate, and dipped gracefully to one knee next to one of the little nifflers. He touched its ebony head.

”I think we should call her Morrígan, destroyer of worlds”, he told Narcissus.

Narcissus Laurent

  

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When they were told to pair up for a project where they would be taking care of nifflers, Narcissus automatically turned to Clue to ask him if he wanted to partner up. But from the sound and look of it, Clue had taken it upon himself to have them be partners which suited Narcissus just fine.

He smiled as Clue knelt down to done of the nifflers and touched its head. "Fine by me," Narcissus said with a light laugh as Clue suggested what they should name their niffler.

Clue Leverett

  

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Maddy's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of the nifflers, but fell as Professor Collins revealed that they wouldn't truly be "taking them home" as he had said. As someone with an excellent track record with taking care of animals (well, Elliot, who was mercifully low-maintenance), the Gryffindor had rather more confidence in her abilities than her instructor plainly did.

Still, the third year thought, a grin blossoming on her face once more as she made eye contact with Alcyone, this would be fun.

  

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— Bree is a graphics genius ♡ —

As she made eye contact with Maddy, Alcyone moved closer to her best friend. This was going to be a fun thing for them - Maddy already took care of a rabbit quite well. To Alcyone's barely teen logic, that said it all to how their success would be. "Do you think the professor will let us keep them overnight if we promise to keep them really good?" She asked Madeline in a whisper.

  

Jack couldn't contain the following chuckle after Miss Potts erupted into a cacophony of questions following his initial explanation. It was always the first year OWL students who were the most enthusiastic with the questions it seemed. Though he could generally tell the crowd was pleased with the assignment. "As to food and bathroom habits, you can consult your text book. They do enjoy a walk on a leash, for the most part, though that is more for their safety and containment than anything else." He'd had some in years past that were behaved enough to be free, but that had taken an immense amount of training on his part. "They have names, which are located on their cages as I have borrowed these from a friend who breeds them." If any got loose Jack could just tell he was going to have a hell of a time collecting them from the depths of the castle.


Partner pairs seemed to be forming naturally as as he noted down who was working with whom, he pointed to the cages to indicate which ones the students should take to start to get to know. This was certainly going to be an assignment they'd not soon forget.

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Apparently they already had names, but Clue cared not. Henceforth their niffler was known as Morrígan, destroyer of worlds.

And she would.

"Perhaps there needs to be a God niffler that sniffles out nifflers", Clue remarked softly as he stroked the creature, wondering how many of these would remain accounted for by the end of the project.

  

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