Lesson 2: Nifflers (All Years)

Elyah did not know where to go. She was lost? Yes, probably! But she knew she had to get to class one way. Though the situation was stressful and it was killing her from the inside out. She eventually -and thankfully- found some first years. She didn't know them personally, but she knew they were heading to class.

Silently, she followed them, trying to act cool and not seem like an utter stalker, and it didn't take long for them to cross the Grounds and arrive at the place the lesson was held.

There were several people there, but Elyah knew no one. It felt weird being alone somewhere where so many people were, but she was used to that. She had always been alone her whole life. It wasn't so different now.

She hoped that Care of Magical Creatures would take her mind off of those things. She wasn't ready yet. She was scared. So she stayed away from everyone, wanting to be alone, until the lesson started.

She greeted her students one by one as they trudged in through the snow, the falling snow not helping the fact of the grounded snow already being thick. The area she'd cleared prior to class had still been clear of snow as well, do to a charm acting upon it, causing it to stay clear. She looked around at all the faces that had shown up. Some of them were familiar, others new, but in total, she seemed to have the same amount of students as last time. "Good morning class," she smiled cheerfully as she began her introduction into a very brief lesson.

"As I'm sure most of you have gathered from the owl I sent your way, today's class, will be over Nifflers." She let out a puff of air, trying to keep herself warm from the biting chill. It wasn't extremely cold, but she had precious cargo of which she did not want anything to happen to. Too bad Care of Magical Creatures didn't have a classroom. "Nifflers are gentle creatures, that tend to be affectionate towards their owners. However, they also will destroy belongings and property in order to look for things that sparkle." She paused, picking up a Niffler out of her basket of Nifflers. "They live twenty feet below the ground in lairs, and can produce six to eight young in a single litter."

She held up the creature and allowed the students to see it. "Nifflers have a long, narrow snout which aids them in their treasure hunting. As mentioned before, they are attracted to shiny things, which can be helpful, however, they can also bite if a person is wearing jewelry." She put the Niffler back into the basket. "Does anyone know what Nifflers are used for the most?" She wasn't sure if anyone knew, but she was looking for an answer that had to do with the goblins of Gringotts.

Naomi listened attentively to the lecture. Everything the professor was saying sounded familiar, but she took notes anyway. It wouldn't do to forget the details later. Besides, she hadn't been able to remember how far underground Nifflers lived anyway, so she obviously needed to study that more.

When Professor Valentine asked about the main use of Nifflers, Naomi raised her hand to answer. "Nifflers are commonly used by the goblins at Gringotts to hunt for buried treasure, since they're so good at finding it."

Lowering her hand, Naomi moved on to studying the creatures. She'd never seen one in real life before, only read descriptions in books. They were far uglier than she'd been imagining, though she supposed that didn't really matter in the long run. They were underground for most of their lives anyway, and they made terrible pets, so it's not like she'd have one around the house, despite how incredibly useful they were.

Nilla liked to think herself fairly well versed in the more common animals of the magical community, and she wasn't totally ignorant of nifflers, thank you very much. However, most of when she knew came from textbooks and the little first-hand experience she'd managed to obtain in her journeys to Diagon Alley. She knew about nifflers, but this lesson was the first time she'd actually seen one. They were kind of cute, if a little strange, and Nilla briefly wondered how much responsibility it would take to actually keep one as a pet. Given their apparent obsession with shiny and sparkly things, she doubted they were the best sort of house-pets.

Still, she rather liked the idea of keeping an eclectic array of animals when she was older, and wasn't about to completely dismiss nifflers from that list without properly considering things.

The fact that the goblins of used them was hardly surprising, and actually fairly logical. If one wanted to find treasure, it stood to reason that using a treasure-finding animal would yield positive results. Another Gryffindor sounded a bit afraid for them, and Nilla rolled her eyes. It was unlikely they were mistreated horribly, given their preference for dark caves so deep. The vaults at Gringotts were rather far underground, so it wasn't much of a stretch to assume they kept a cozy cave for the nifflers down there as well. If the girl would just think for two seconds, she'd probably realize the same thing.

"Five points to Ravenclaw," Aimee announced, smiling at the young Ravenclaw who answered her question. Not feeling the need to elaborate on the young girl's answer, due to the fact that it was a simple answer, she was ready to move on with the lesson. However, a young girl spoke up with a worried question. She tried to reassure the young girl, but it was hard when there wasn't actually an answer because no one had bothered to look into the issue. "The last results of the Ministry's look into things showed that Nifflers were a perfectly stable species," she smiled, " they are more so protected by Goblins because of the job they hold in Gringott's." She'd be sure to talk to Dylan later.

She hoped she had made the young Gryffindor feel better, but she wasn't entirely sure. "For today's lesson, I want you each to grab your very own Niffler," she pointed to the basket that held them," and on this piece of Earth uncovered by the snow, there's treasure found. This exercise will show you just how destructive, yet handy, Nifflers can be." She picked up the basket so they could grab the Niffler that had their name on it's collar.

Christmas was nearing and the air was getting colder and Aimee was getting bigger. Mackenzie seemed to kick less and less which gave Aimee the realisation that she'd be making her entrance into the world soon and she was nowhere near prepared.  She also, hadn't even begun to think about her next lesson due to the fact she knew she'd be a mom by then. She watched as the students began the lesson and smiled. She loved teaching and she loved being the Head of Slytherin. "Be sure to study everything you've learned this year, there may or may not be a assessment next lesson" She announced that possibility of a test for next lesson before once again watching them perform the lesson. After all the treasure had been found, class was dismissed.

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House Points
Bennett Fox = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Elyah Croft = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Victoria Newbury = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Alberi Woodston = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Ellie Brennham = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Felix Soulsby = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Nirek Kapoor = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Vanilla Thompson = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Finley Allen = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points
Naomi O'Hare = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation + 5 points for answer = 25 points
Jacques Clement = 10 points for attendance + 10 points for participation = 20 points

TOTAL:
Hufflepuff: 60
Gyffindor: 100
Ravenclaw: 45
Slytherin: 20