Lesson Two for Fourth Years on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Fawcett

August 31, 2008 4:29 PM

Lesson Two for Fourth Years by Professor Fawcett

Due to some special preparations he'd had to make for this class, John was still erasing his blackboard - once one of the boxes he used to keep the books that didn't fit on his shelves at home; Transfiguration was a wonderful subject - when the first of the fourth years arrived in the clearing for the lesson. It looked more like Kiva's version than it had at any point since he'd taken over the middle classes, lacking the neat rows of ladder-backed chairs he preferred the students to sit in, which he imagined was causing some surprise, but the seats would've been more in the way than anything today. Two large crates sat on the specimen table in front of the blackboard, with the occasional sound of a claw on wood coming from one or the other.

Finishing with the blackboard, he took out the roster and read over it until the last of the fourth years seemed to have arrived. He had set his mind on learning the student faces before Kiva left - he had left one orange-cushioned chair out for her if she wanted to observe today - and he was pleased to note that he was ninety-eight percent sure he knew who was present before he even called roll. Doing it without the seats, which people were often inclined to fill in the same order each time, seemed quite the proper accomplishment to him. He wasn't very good with faces and names.

"Attention, class," he said when the hands of his watch said it was time to begin. "Attention! Thank you. We're going to do things a bit differently today, but get out something to write with now." John took up his chalk as they did and wrote Nifflers across the board and underlined it with a long stroke of the chalk that, not according to plan, took off the bottom of the second f. After a moment of study, he decided they would still be able to read it and left it as it was.

"Nifflers," he said once everyone seemed settled down. "The goblin's best friend. Anyone heard of 'em before? Let's see hands." He waited a moment for any students who had to lift their hands. "Nifflers come from Great Britain. They burrow into the ground - their lairs can be as much as twenty feet below ground - and have an attraction to anything sparkly." Behind him, the points about nifflers he'd made so far were appearing on the blackboard. He preferred to write himself, but it wasn't always practical during lectures. "That's why goblins are known for keeping them, for treasure."

He paused for a moment to let them get all that down. "Now, everyone take off anything sparkly you have. Your earrings, watches, and so on. Glasses, if they're just readers or you can get by without 'em." He left his own normal glasses on, as he would probably walk into and trip over the table or a student without them. "Nifflers take things that glitter. I doubt any of you want your things brought back to me by one with teeth marks in them, or to lose the game we'll play by taking someone's necklace instead of what they're after."

John smiled as he put a hand on one crate, careful to keep the light from flashing off his glasses. "If everyone will get into pairs and take one niffler per pair, we'll have a little competition." It was, he knew, pointless to do this in pairs, but he didn't have enough nifflers for everyone. Besides, teamwork was good for them. "I've hidden a number of leprechaun coins in different places in the Garden. You will release your niffler to look for it, and the one that brings back the most gold, wins. We will discuss what that will get you later. Carry on."

OOC: Minimum posting rules apply as usual. Part Two will announce the winners and have additional information for you. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Avast ye! We hunt for buried treasure by Eavan Valentine

It's not a badger badger badger by Elly Eriksson

Ready, set, go by Danae Dupree with Paul Tarwater, Danae

0 Professor Fawcett Lesson Two for Fourth Years 0 Professor Fawcett 1 5

Eavan Valentine

September 01, 2008 1:20 AM

Avast ye! We hunt for buried treasure by Eavan Valentine

Eavan loved this class. Not really for the subject; animals were cute and lovable, but she wasn't mesmerized by them. And it wasn't because of the professor, though Professor K was really nice and cool. It was because they got to be outside. Sonora had those lovely charms that kept it warm and sunny, but not hot, through a large portion of the year and Eavan had always felt it wasted when she was sitting in Charms or Potions and not able to lounge out in the sun.

She happily removed her robes and used them as a blanket to sit on when she got to the clearing. She already expected the substitute, bu the blackboard in the middle of a grassy area was a little out of place. She shrugged it off and glanced at the boxes, wondering what could be making the scratching and sniffling noises coming from inside. Surely they were too old to be learning about crups, or kneazles.

A slight breeze picked up a few strands of Eavan's hair as she pondered the boxes and she sighed. Trying at one's appearance had it up sides and down sides. She did look prettier, she had to admit, when she brushed her hair out nicely and put a clips or something in it. It was odd, actually how nice she looked when she tried. It was huge boost of self-esteem, and Eavan frequently found herself wondering if other people had noticed the subtle change.

But today, it was annoying. She had tried, and now she was getting hair in her face, and she had to revert back to her usual of tying it back haphazardly to keep it from getting in her eyes. Luckily she had remembered that Care of Magical Creatures was often rather messy, so instead of wearing one of the new outfits Stevie had insisted she help Eavan buy the previous summer, she stuck with her favorite Smurfette t-shirt (even though it was a little tight now) and a faded pair of jeans.

She glanced up only when the sub called the class to attention. She groaned inwardly and got a pencil and her notebook to write notes with. This didn't sound like the fun class she thought it was going to be. For all she knew, those boxes were filled with oddly active flobberworms or something equally as boring. She looked up and the word 'Nifflers' was written on the blackboard. She grinned and raised her hand along with a portion of the fourth years. She had definitely heard about them. They were mentioned in books all the time. An animal known for finding buried treasure could hardly keep from being mentioned in a large portion of the wizard novels she'd read. She copied everything as best as she could, but her mind was on what they were going to be doing with the nifflers. Her grin grew when she found out it was treasure hunt.

Eavan didn't wear much jewelery. She took off the earrings she usually wore (the ones that came free with the piercing) and checked her head to make sure she wasn't wearing the pretty clips Danae had gotten her. She wasn't, so she pocketed her cheap earrings and began searching for a partner. She hadn't noticed who she had sat down next to in her preoccupation with the sun and the boxes, so she glanced around looking for Danae, and then as an afterthought, checked for Matt too. It was nice having more than one choice for a partner.

She took a step forward, preparing to hunt down a friend, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around.

"Oh, hey!"

0 Eavan Valentine Avast ye! We hunt for buried treasure 86 Eavan Valentine 0 5

Elly Eriksson

September 01, 2008 1:15 PM

It's not a badger badger badger by Elly Eriksson

In some ways Elly felt a bit sorry for the new sub. After the last disaster (well, she had been very unpopular, anyway), it must be daunting to try and impress a whole bunch of teenagers, most of whom probably didn't relish being there in the first place. Elly liked this new guy, though. He had a sort of newbie air to him, which was funny, but at the same time made her want to let him give it his best shot. She could be completely cruel and start vanishing everything he put down, but she was really trying her best to get through school without detention: a feat she had so far, miraculously, managed to accomplish.

Taking her usual spot near the back of the group, Elly waited with some interest to discover what they would do in class today. She liked COMC. For a start it was outdoors: always a bonus. Then there was the fact that her Puffskein, Custard, would never have been hers without Professor K's sheer awesomeness. There was also the plus that this class didn't require Elly to perform practical magic; it was embarrassing how long it still took her to pick up new spells.

Professor Fawcett didn't dawdle, and let them know soon enough their lesson was to do with nifflers. Elly grinned and raised her hand high when required to do so to indicate her knowledge of the fuzzy creatures. She'd never seen one, but Saul had told her about them before, and they'd sounded so cool she hadn't been able to forget them. She didn't know about goblins using nifflers, although she supposed it made sense.

The assignment sounded both easy and fun. Not one to wear jewellery of any sort anyway, Elly nevertheless hastily shrugged off her school robes, and felt much more comfortable in her faded blue jeans and striped green hooded sweater. She headed over to the crates at the fornt of the cleearing where the critters were being held. The student in front of her had already claimed an animal for their own. "Useful and cute," she said with a wide smile.

0 Elly Eriksson It's not a badger badger badger 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Danae Dupree

September 02, 2008 12:48 AM

Ready, set, go by Danae Dupree

Care of Magical Creatures was a class that Danae neither loved nor loathed, but if she had to pick one, it was more of a leaning towards loved rather than loathed since she didn’t dislike the class. And even though, it could be interesting at times, it just wasn’t her favorite class, but if she had to rate it, she would have put it on the same level as her other classes minus History of Magic. That class, she detested. Surprisingly, it wasn’t even a result of the professor, it was simply that she wasn’t interested in the material and even with the debates and other activities, she couldn’t get into it.

At least with this class, her interest could be sparked somewhat, depending on the material and how it was being taught. With the mention of Nifflers, Danae raised her hand along with other members of the class that had heard of them before. Living in the magical world all of her life, it really wasn’t a surprise that she would have heard about them, but it didn’t necessarily mean that she knew anything about them. And given that her parents found magical creatures to be at the bottom of their list of concerns to teach their children, she knew very little about the creatures.

Her parchment and ink ready, she jotted down notes while the professor lectured on them. At the mention of Nifflers being attracted to anything sparkly, she made a mental note not to be near any while wearing such items. Of course, she didn’t think it would be much of an issue since she didn’t really plan on ever being near them. But then, Emeric was from England and she assumed once they were married, they would be living there. Without meaning to, she couldn’t help making a face. She didn’t really want to live in England, not because it wasn’t nice, but she wasn’t looking forward to the winters.

With a small sigh, so as not to be noticed by the professor, she shook her head slightly. It was important that she pay attention, so she didn’t miss any pertinent information, especially if she did end up being somewhere near them in the future. But it did appear that they would be around them today. The lecture over, the substitute was telling them to remove anything that might attract the animal. Carefully, Danae took off her necklace and the couple of rings she wore. She put the rings around the chain of the necklace so as not to loose either before placing them in her bag, hopefully safe in there. She really needed to learn not to wear jewelry to classes where there was any potential of it being ruined, which was like every class.

Once she closed her bag, her notes also in it to keep them safe, Danae glanced around, hoping to find a partner. She never was one to really approach someone else, but thus far, it seemed to work fine for her. She tended to work with someone that she liked most of the time and given that this class was intended only for the fourth years, there was a good chance that that someone would be one of four people – Eavan, Elly, Josh, or Paul, as those tended to be the people she most often worked with. Not that she was complaining, of course. It was just how it was. Though, there was always the possibility of someone else.

Danae was so busy glancing around that she almost missed the fact that someone had come up to her. That was until they started talking. A bit startled, Danae turned and blinked slightly at the person, before smiling. “Partners?” Always a good question to start with, even with someone she knew. After all, they could have just come up to bother a quill, but hopefully that wasn’t so, as she wanted to get a start on the assignment since it sounded like it could be fun.

0 Danae Dupree Ready, set, go 91 Danae Dupree 0 5

Paul Tarwater

September 05, 2008 10:35 PM

And we're off! by Paul Tarwater

Paul stretched awkwardly as he reached the clearing where his classmates stood. His back cracked in a way that made the boy go white in the face (displeasure) and he slumped forward into a regular posture. He was less anxious now, and more… exhausted. Paul couldn’t sleep at night, and he couldn’t even guess at why. Folding his arms so his fingers twitched across, Paul blinked a couple times trying to clear his muddled head. He didn’t really believed he’d actually slept one minute all last night, he remembered Lussni asleep on his chest and a fly buzzing around. He’d watched that fly like it was a dream, and heard the cat’s hoarse breathing as if it were a far away echo.

If that was a dream, Paul determined it should have been more interesting. And if it were a dream, he must have fallen asleep very early because he remembered the blinking clock in his peripherals. If he’d fallen asleep early, then shouldn’t he be well rested and not ready to fall over at any moment? And would time have really passed that slowly if he were dreaming? The answer to all these questions and more was a simple “no”; therefore Paul determined he hadn’t slept in oh, probably four, most likely five days.

It was odd not sleeping, Paul was starting to wear the same clothes straight through again too, and he was determining whether he should even shower anymore. It was like all the days just ran into each other, they weren’t even days anymore because it was just one big long continuous thing. Why shower or change when you could be doing the same thing in another few hours? Paul didn’t get it, and he couldn’t get it and he couldn’t focus anymore. He didn’t even want to go to class; he just wanted to lie in bed all day, in that limbo between sleep and awake that he found himself in every night.

But here he was, listening to a speech by the guy who wasn’t Professor K about Nifflers, and it was very lucky that he wasn’t wearing anything shiny or else he would have forgotten to take it off. The question sounded familiar, like it made sense, but he couldn’t exactly remember what was being asked. Still, he raised his hand because it seemed like the right thing to do. He did know what a niffler was, Paul had grown up around them. They scared him as a child, and his mother’s lullaby came to head. It was something, something like a chant to keep scary things away, from stupid little nifflers, to the creatures that stole children in the middle of the night.

Paul pushed his hair back, (he’d been thinking of cutting it last week should he still?) and pressed his face into his hands. His hands were cold and his face was sore, maybe it would help. He was only vaguely interested in the things around him. No shiny things, nifflers like them, yes. That phase where he threw anything that was remotely shiny out the window passed by. They were friends to gnomes, many gnomes in the place where he lived. The middle of a forest had a healthy amount of magical creatures residing inside. The unicorns being biggies.

As soon as he knew it, the speech was over. Funny how it went by faster than his night had. Paul was now expected to work with someone over nifflers, and competition. Egh! What was with this competitiveness everyone had? Who cared who found the little coin first? But Paul shook his head, the main thing in his head was “good grades make someone stop worrying about Paul”. That someone being Elizabeth Tarwater. Pushing his long hair back once more, Paul noted something familiar about a certain face and found himself suddenly near her. He was so tired he walked without even realizing, though he felt as if he’d been transported magically. Hah, magic. Hey, Danae was there, Paul knew her. A smile brightened his face slightly, and Paul parted his hair so he could see his friend better. Partners?

Paul laughed, it sounded hollow in his ears. “Yeah,” he said, then not knowing what else he should say to her, “Nifflers. Lets get one.” He shook his head and fixed his hair again so he didn’t look like a complete scuzzball. He had to compose himself. “Do you want me to get one for us?” he asked, his voice sounding maybe a little more normal now. Just tired, really tired. He needed to sleep.

0 Paul Tarwater And we're off! 0 Paul Tarwater 0 5

Danae

September 16, 2008 12:35 AM

But not getting very far by Danae

Danae breathed a sigh of relief when Paul agreed to be her partner for Care of Magical Creatures. She was worried that he would say no, which was silly, as the entire point at the moment was to find a partner, but there was always the chance of a no. If he had, though, she supposed that she would have found another partner; it was just a matter whether or not the person would have been a friend or not, but she didn’t think she had any real enemies. She didn’t even consider Caedence to be one regardless of any dorm tension since the most it ever mounted to was a verbal argument.

With the way Paul looked, Danae might have thought he might have been having a war with his roommates, if he had any. He had rather dark circles under the eyes that were mostly hidden by his hair and his body posture suggested that he was extremely tired. Concern drifted over Danae’s features for her friend. Before she could say anything, though, he asked her about getting a niffler. She nodded in agreement. They would need one in order to complete the project. “Yeah, make sure to get a cute one,” she said with a grin. She was merely joking. Any one that they ended up with would be fine, but she hoped to make Paul feel a little at ease since he didn’t seem relaxed at all.

Once Paul came back, Danae petted the niffler’s head, familiarizing herself with the animal. She figured that it couldn’t hurt in helping encourage the creature to find buried coins. Besides, it gave her a chance to think of whether or not she should say anything to Paul about his appearance. She was worried that if she did say something, he might feel uneasy or might get upset with her. Perhaps, it was irrational, but it was how she felt. She didn’t have a lot of friends and she wanted to keep the few that she had. In the end, asking him won out. “Paul, have you been feeling okay? Maybe you need a day of watching the clouds?”

Cloud watching was one of her absolute favorite activities. Danae liked to try and find the shapes within them. She supposed it was a good way to just get lost from it all. She had warned Josh that she wouldn’t be much help with the map if they were outside. Not that she was much help with it usually. He tended to do most of the work while she just hung around as company, but that was all right with her. Hanging around seemed to be one of her talents and she didn’t mind doing it when she got to spend more time with a friend. Maybe that’s what Paul need right now? Maybe he needed a friend, someone to listen? Of course, this was all dependent on him actually talking to her, not that she would try to force him to. She knew that if anyone tried to make her talk, it was the quickest way to get her not to.

0 Danae But not getting very far 0 Danae 0 5

Paul

September 19, 2008 7:07 PM

Well, slow and steady wins the race by Paul

Paul grinned, trying to ignore Danae’s face when she saw him. He probably looked awful. “Yeah, cute, right,” he told her unconvinced. Nifflers sure were cute? Paul headed up to the front, staring into the pit of niffler’s wincing. An old nightmare appeared in his head and he cleared it out, it certainly wasn’t “cute”. How could Danae even consider these things as “cute”? But Paul did his best to reach in and pick one out without wincing, as he would just look stupid. It seemed like everyone else was excited for picking out their nifflers, thinking they were “cute” as well. Did no one else have Paul’s childhood fear of things that stole away shiny items into the night? He felt slightly outcasted, apparently not.

Plopping his fingers in the pit, he came out with a honey-colored niffler, which he held at the collar. Paul grimaced at it, it was trying to sniff around its captor’s fingers, but Paul was careful that its mouth never even touched him. When he reached Danae again, Paul dumped the thing into her hands, and took his seat nest to his friend and partner. She petted it for a second, but then her attention was diverted to him. Even with Danae, that sort of spotlight made him uncomfortable, and the boy shrank underneath, glad only that Danae was one person who would know better than to push a “confession” from him.

He gave her a brief, weak, grin, and rubbed his eyes. “I haven’t been able to sleep well, lately,” he confessed, knowing that she would know that was only a watered down version. He had been even more distant than usual all year, after all. The paranoia, the insomnia, he had been twitchy and frightened. Paul knew none of the students had known what happened over the summer, the whole hospital experience, and he intended to let everyone think he was just nuts. That worked out in the past after all. If Danae asked anymore, he would let her know that he’s been in the hospital (they’d been friends for a while, he wouldn’t let her concern over him very much).

But other than that, “not being able to sleep well” was an understatement to what he had. Not being able to sleep at all sounded better in his mind, but for some reason he doubted that would be helpful to either of them. Knowing he’s been hospitalized for an “accident” was nothing; not sleeping was actually something really bad. Paul felt a little brighter when Danae offered to take him cloud watching, he pushed his matted hair behind his head, laughing. “I probably do need a break, to relax or something,” he told her, “I haven’t had time to practice my cloud watching skills, anyway.” Paul was smiling, a little more awake than before. Touching his hair again to pull it from his face, Paul also wondered if Danae would be okay with cutting it, it had taken to being an annoyance. And it was almost at the back of his neck.

Paul supposed he should pick up a little more on the work now though, now that he had something to actually look forward to in the never-ending day. He was now watching the niffler sniff at a shiny coin in the ground. Paul refused to pick it up, lest the creature tear his fingers off. “It found something,” he told Danae, warily, “I guess ours is already on the prowl.”

0 Paul Well, slow and steady wins the race 0 Paul 0 5

Danae

September 20, 2008 5:11 PM

Hopefully, this is one of those times by Danae

Danae nodded when Paul confirmed that he hadn’t been sleeping well, which didn’t really come as a surprise given his state of being. Otherwise, she remained quiet on the overall subject, because she assumed that if Paul wanted her to know more, he would tell her. Instead, she gave him a smile of reassurance and understanding. Paul tended to be rather reclusive at times and the last thing she wanted to do was to encourage that behavior, because it was unhealthy and could lead to further destructive behaviors.

At the mention of Paul wanting to watch clouds, a smile lit up Danae’s entire face. She was glad that Paul was willing to get out a little more and she didn’t mind spending time with him to share one of her interests. “Cloud watching is an important endeavor,” Danae joked slightly. Actually, she found it to be a great stress relief when everything got to be too much and for Paul, it seemed like he could certainly use the break. A thoughtful expression rested on her features, as she looked at him, before she gently suggested, “You know, star gazing is good too.” Maybe it would help him sleep if he relaxed before curfew?

She petted the niffler again. It really was adorable with its honey colored tones. Noticing Paul’s attitude towards the creature, she frowned slightly. She didn’t understand how he could not be taken an interest in it. “I think we should name him,” she announced. She bit her lip in thought, her head tilted and her hair cascading over her shoulder, as she tried to come up with a name. Danae went through an entire list of names in her mind, but it was a short list since she knew only a few male names. Maybe, she should be trying to think of names outside of the more human names. “What about Butterscotch?”

Getting started, it didn’t take long for Butterscotch to find something. Leaning down, she dug around a little to find the coin. Picking it up, Danae brushed it off to show it to Paul. “Butterscotch,” she emphasized the name, hoping Paul wouldn’t keep calling the niffler it, “really is on the prowl. Look what he already found.” She petted the niffler again and without meaning to, cooed at it, “You did so well, Butterscotch. Can you find more?” As if on cue, Butterscotch started heading in another direction. She gave a grin to Paul before following. They certainly had an intelligent niffler.

0 Danae Hopefully, this is one of those times 0 Danae 0 5

Paul

September 23, 2008 10:52 PM

Its turning that way by Paul

Paul felt thankful when Danae didn't press the idea any further. He was glad he'd made friends and partnered up with someone who didn't pry. She probably loathed it as well, when people tried to get her to talk about things she didn't want. It was a common trait, he supposed. He didn't know anyone who liked when people pryed into them. Though almost everyone did it, sometimes things really didn't make any sense. Paul stared at the niffler's sniffing around. Danae's complete adoration of the thing made him slightly less fearful of it, but Paul wouldn't be stupid, abandon everything, and love the thing now. He was resisting the urge to just poke it and see how it reacted.

Seeing Danae brighten up, Paul felt even better than before. It felt... nice to have someone care about him, and to have her invite him to leisure around. He didn't think that he had a casual relationship with anyone else in this school except Danae. "Hey, don't kid, that's such a truth," he told her with a more cheerful, but still tired-out, face. "That first time we did, I felt totally relaxed." Oh, and star-gazing, he had one of those Astronomy books with the constellations. "We should also go and go star-gazing one night," not that he was sure whether or not it got dark enough before curfew. "I have done that at home before, maybe I could show you some of the star formations if you don't know about them." Because it was fully possible that she was interested in that sort of thing and knew all the formations and myth behind it.

Ah yes, and nto another piece of buisiness. Paul fingered at his dark hair again and frowned, "Uh hey, you know what else might help? Do you think you could chop off the bulk of my hair, just enough so I can see?" Paul shrugged again, feeling stupid for asking. "It doesn't have to be fantastic, I'm just tired of looking like a girl." Adding on automatically, "No offense," when he remembered Danae was a girl. It was weird that he didn't even really see her as that.

His eyes trailed back to the niffler, and Danae started going on about naming the thing. Ugh, did they have to? As long as Paul didn't choose it, he came up with the worst names, especially depending on his mood. Rest was a horrible name for a niffler, and so he didn't contribute. And when she picked a name, Paul started to wish he'd helped. Butterscotch, Paul didn't know whether to gag or to start laughing at the incredibly cutsy name that Danae had picked out for their "lovely" little niffler. He opted on the latter, and began to chuckle, shaking his head, but then Danae emphasized the name for him, showing a full seriousness and Paul clammed up. Danae took up Paul's fears and picked the coin from the ground.

The penny-pincher in him called out to hold the little bit of fake gold beneath his fingers, but Paul kept utterly still when the large part of him echoed an "I don't care" idea through his mind. Besides, it would be gone in a few hours anyway. So they had an intelligent niffler, Paul smiled with pride, "I do know something good when I see it," Paul teased lightly, knowing perfectly well that he chose it--er, Butterscotch--randomly as he couldn't find a "cute" one in the bunch. Paul warily poked at Buterscotch with the feather of his quill, and the niffler began a tiny spasm in return, making Paul jump up, ending with a sheepish laugh. "I suppose this means we're sure to win the competition," he added, unsure of how to phrase it conversationally. Even with Danae his talking skills were starting to fade up.

0 Paul Its turning that way 0 Paul 0 5

Danae

October 11, 2008 8:03 PM

The tides could turn by Danae

A grin touched Danae’s features at Paul’s enthusiasm for stargazing. “That would be fun. I’ve heard of some formations and read about some from taking Divinations, but I’ve never actually seen them,” Danae admitted. She had a bit of viewing stars from astronomy, but it wasn’t the same as actually looking up at the real thing rather than a simulated view of the galaxy, not that it hadn’t been great for the educational experience. “Do you know which ones coordinate to astrological signs? I’m not sure when mine is visible, but I’m a Cancer, the Crab. What about you?”

Danae’s face held an unidentifiable expression when Paul asked her to cut his hair. Besides the fact that she had never actually cut hair before, there was the consideration to whether or not it was actually appropriate to do so since it was getting into an opposite gender’s grooming habits. “Um,” she hesitated, curling some of her hair around a finger, “I’m not sure you want me to. I know you said that you just want to be able to see, but it might end up really awful.” She bit her lip. Maybe she should? They were friends and she would just be helping him as one. It probably wouldn’t be very nice of her to say no. “I mean if you really want me to, I guess I can try.”

She ran a hand over Butterscotch to soothe him after Paul poked him with the feather of his quill. It wasn’t as though it had hurt the niffler, but it seemed to have been a bit startled. “Maybe,” Danae answered noncommittally. There were sure to be quite a few good teams working to find coins, but at least their niffler seemed to be on the ball, as suddenly he was digging at something. On closer inspection, it was another coin. She handed it to Paul. “Here, you can hold onto all of the coins.” She thought it might help to give him something more interactive to do since he didn’t seem fond of the niffler.

A little bit later, a couple more coins were found, which gave Danae a bit of confidence that they actually stood a chance. She cooed a bit more at the niffler, before saying thoughtfully, “It’s a shame that we have to give Butterscotch back.” She knew it was for the best, though. Have a niffler crashing around one’s room and destroying jewelry would not have been a good thing by any means. It did give her some food for thought, however, and she pondered if one day she might get a pet, maybe a small turtle. She really didn’t want anything that would be overly messy. It didn’t really matter right now since there was absolutely no way her mom would allow a pet.

Danae glanced over at Paul and in an attempt to pick the conversation back up asked, “Do you have any pets?” She couldn’t remember if he had ever told her if he did or didn’t. “I don’t, but I want a turtle,” she announced, so it was more than a maybe. She definitely wanted a turtle. She wondered if Emeric would mind a turtle. For some reason, she thought he might. She gave a small sigh. She was never going to be able to have a turtle.

0 Danae The tides could turn 0 Danae 0 5

Paul

October 12, 2008 10:18 PM

To being more in our direction! by Paul

Paul blushed a little when he was asked about the coordnations and astrology. Yes, he knew about this kind of thing, he read enough about it having nothing more to do in school (plus it was very interesting). But he really should have nothing to be embarrassed about with Danae, his friend. "Well, I know I'm a Taurus," he told her, feeling that his sign was so different from him. He didn't believe he was a bull, though he supposed he was sensible enough to be considered as such. "And, the signs, they're supposed to be visible around your birthday, thats why they're matched up with that few weeks. Its when it shows up." Paul shrugged and smiled.

Paul frowned a little when Danae's own face fell, and he wondered if it was stupid to ask that of her. Paul touched his dark, thick hair, and wondered if it was getting longer. "Well I'm not going to ask for a full styling, I'll get that... when I get home." He opted away from telling her his mother did his styling. It didn't seem to important. "I just need it enough to see, but if you have just as shakey of hands as me, you probably shouldn't." Paul laughed lightly, and wondered self-conciously if he could look into a mirror, just to see if it really looked like such a mess as he believed.

Paul wrinkled his nose at Butterscotch, totally okay with just holding the coins. Despite his aversion to the creature, Paul puffed up with pride when their niffler found even more coins. He picked out the best niffler, and Paul felt like his luck was refreashing itself. But Danae seemed to feel more proud of the niffler, understandable enough. Though, of course, Paul still had that childish fear of the thing. He wrinkled his nose a little, like he was smelling something bad, when she told him how it was a shame they would have to give him back. "I've never been good with nifflers," he told Danae, "We had a bunch by my house, the gnomes used them. My mom used to make us take off anything that was even remotely glitterish when we went outside, I was afraid of getting mauled over by a bunch of these little things." They were so small and fuzzy alone, but Paul thought that if they teamed up they could have easily taken down a small boy about his size.

Danae began talking about pets, and Paul found himself surprised that she had none. He raised a brow. "You have none?" he asked, not really believing her. "You've never had one? But..." he was about to say she probably had more than enough money, he expected her to be the proud owner of dogs, cats, birds, even horses. Or something.

"I have a cat," Paul didn't even realize he'd never told Danae that before, he always automatically assumed that people thought he had a pet. Why, it was likely only the people in Aladren ever really knew he had Lussni. The cat happily stayed in that house, never wanting to go out anyway. Paul brought him his food, and their walks consisted in night raids of the library. "Lussni, he's been with me since the beginning, I'm surprised I've never showed him to you. He's definately unique," he'd been cursed, hexed, and jinxed enough to look like a circus freak but still living healthy enough. "I can't believe you don't have any pets." He couldn't think of life without Lussni.

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