Early Saturday morning...

Fauna and Mysti were ahead of the game. They’d both woken up early in the morning, intending to spend the whole day studying before final exams descended on them. Even though they were a few years apart in age, Fauna liked doing homework with her housemate Mystique because she made everything so much more hilarious and fun. They both took Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, which were the subjects they’d be focusing on today.

During breakfast at the Hufflepuff table, Fauna had told Mysti that she needed to check on her plant in the greenhouses before she did anything else. So the two of them made the trek to the greenhouses, acting silly and hyper for such an early hour on a Saturday morning. Fauna laughed for what felt like the first time in days. They had the whole day to practice spells, read tarot cards, and check up on the animals held outside, so Fauna was confident that taking care of one plant would only take a few minutes.

She reached the glass enclosures and swung open the door, struck by the strong smell of soil and growing, breathing greenery. A few of the plants hooted and grumbled at her entrance, shaking out their leaves and vines to wake up for the day. Fauna paid them no mind, making a beeline for her dittany plant, which needed a bit of pruning. She thought she might also grab some mallowsweet, which she could use later for stargazing, like the centaurs did.

The soil beneath her feet felt bumpy and uneven today. Fauna fully realized this as her toe caught on something in the ground and she fell face forward.

“Ahhh!” She exclaimed, putting both arms in front of her to soften her fall. She wasn’t in here today for a face plant, but she almost got one!

“Oof…” She rose slowly to dust herself off. “I’m okay!” She said weakly, glad that only Mystique had witnessed her fall and wouldn’t make fun of her for it. Still, her clothes had streaks of mud on them now and that didn’t make her happy. At least her silver, floppy hat was still clean. She wiped her hands on her jeans and adjusted it on her head.

Fauna looked behind her to see what she had tripped on, worried that it was a plant. Curiously, it was just a hole in the ground. She knelt down next to the hole and peered into it, finding no greenery of any kind. It seemed to go down for a few feet and then curved suddenly. She took a quick glance at the space around her and spotted another hole, right below the trays of baby plants.

“Hey Mysti…” Fauna glanced up. “Do you know if a new plant came in recently? There are all these holes in the ground… and I don’t recognize-“

Fauna froze and stopped talking. On the contrary, she did recognize those types of tunnels. She’d learned about them in her Care of Magical Creatures class! Only one animal burrowed in the ground in that twisty-turvy fashion. One animal, who loved this type of soft dirt, and who especially loved anything shiny!

Right at that moment, a tiny face appeared in the tunnel, sniffing at the air. Eyes widening, Fauna tried to back up as fast as possible. When the creature saw Fauna’s hat, his eyes bugged out of his head and he darted forward, almost nipping her on the nose. Fauna squealed and scrambled up so quickly she almost tripped again.

“Nifflers!” She cried, as more faces popped up out of the tunnels, eyeing her hat with ravenous hunger. Fauna patted the pockets of her jeans desperately, trying to remember where she’d put her wand, while the little dark creatures scampered up out of the ground faster than she could imagine.

The smart thing to do would have been to hand over the hat.

However, Fauna was not known for her amazing intellect, and she was quite attached to her shiny hat. She was not giving it up without a fight! Or at least, a hearty run for her life. Which is exactly what Fauna decided to do, turning on her heel and sprinting for the doors.

“Run, Mysti! Run!”

---

Plants found in the HP-Lexicon
The Hat! (but floppier)

Mystique loved study time with Fauna, as they always had so much fun.  Early Saturday morning, she and Fauna went to get breakfast and then were going to work on Care of Magical Creatures.  Fauna requested they check on a plant in the greenhouses, and Mysti agreed.  Mysti wasn’t that great at Herbology, so figured that Fauna would be able to also show her some neat plants and whatnot while they were there.

When the girls entered the greenhouse, Mysti sensed that something as off.  It was that kind of feeling she got when she was walking into some plot her older brothers had set up when they were younger.  They were normally up to no good then, and now she figured that something was wrong in the greenhouse.  She couldn’t really see what was wrong, but soon was alerted of something.

“Ahhh!”

Mysti heard her friend, and then saw her fall.  She quickly went to go see if she needed help up, but Fauna was up on her feet again pretty quickly. “Oh! Are you all right?

“Oof…” She rose slowly to dust herself off. “I’m okay!”

“That’s good! What happen-” Mysti was going to ask what happened, but then saw the holes for herself.  She was surprised that she hadn’t also tripped by the amount of holes in the dirt. Mysti probably would have if Fauna hadn’t, as both girls tended to be a bit more on the clumsy side.

“Hey Mysti…” Fauna glanced up.

“Yeah?” Mysti answered, looking from the holes to her friend.

“Do you know if a new plant came in recently? There are all these holes in the ground… and I don’t recognize-“

“I don’t think so... I haven’t heard anything about one anyways...” She silenced when it looked like Fauna might have remembered something about it. Either that or the cause of the holes, which was what she did remember.  Then, Fauna saw something that Mysti didn’t, and was almost attacked by it.  Fauna fell back and Mysti almost did too at the sight of the small furry creature.

“Nifflers!” She cried, as more faces popped up out of the tunnels, eyeing her hat with ravenous hunger.

“Eeep!” Mysti exclaimed as she saw all the little things looking out.  After examining them for a moment, she realized she’d seen them before.  Having the same moment of realization that Fauna did, Mysti then realized that Fauna’s silver hat would cause a bit of a scene.

Watching as Fauna turned and ran towards the greenhouse door, Mysti decided it would be best to follow suit.

“Run, Mysti! Run!”

Mysti didn’t have to be told twice.  She headed towards the door and didn’t look back knowing the Nifflers would most likely be following.  Mysti was running alongside Fauna, not quite sure where to go.  Taking the lead, Mysti ran towards the lake, thinking the might be able to lose them in the water.

“Water! They shouldn’t follow us in there if we get to it, right?” She asked her friend, still running from the animals.  Still sounding like a good idea to her, she kept running towards the lake, hoping Fauna would also think it was a good idea.

Fauna ran after Mysti, legs pumping as fast as they could go. Her hat was in danger of falling off her head several times, so she put her hand on her head to keep it in place and kept going, twisting and turning every so often to see if the Niffler’s were gaining. It looked like she was doing the hanky-panky dance at light speed.

Her friend’s suggestion to run towards the lake was a good one, though Fauna couldn’t remember if Nifflers avoided water or not. She hoped they did! A quick glance behind her let her know that the little buggers were close on her heels and popping out of the ground like daisies! Fauna was unpleasantly reminded of those mummy horror movies, where the beetles swarmed all over the unlucky explorer and gobbled her up.

She liked Nifflers, too! Or at least, she did before they attacked her. She’d always compared them to rats with their gentle and cuddly behavior, but it was as if the sight of silver turned them into rabid monsters.

“We’re… almost… there!” She exclaimed, out of breath. The lake was just ahead! Fauna was completely focused on their destination at this point, unaware if there was anyone else on the grounds or any other solution to their problem.

She stopped abruptly a few feet away from the water’s edge, hesitating before taking the plunge. Fauna looked behind her- in just moments the creatures would be nipping at her ankles. Suddenly afraid, she bit her lip and glanced at Mysti, feeling bad about getting her into this mess. The lake didn’t seem like such a good idea to her anymore.

The fact was, Fauna hated water. She didn’t fear it, exactly, but she wasn’t a strong swimmer and had never actually been in the lake before. For her, the choice between getting eaten by nifflers, giving away her hat, and diving into the water was a difficult one.

Finally, as the high-pitched yips behind them grew louder, she closed her eyes and jumped.

The cool morning air whisked the sweat off the few patches of exposed skin as Sasha leaned over and breathed deeply, trying to catch his breath.  His shoes were damp from the early morning dew that still clung to the long lawn grass.  Sasha rolled up on the balls of his feet and stretched his arms up over his head.  Exams were looming large in the coming weeks and much of the weekend would be spent with his nose buried in books but he was enjoying a few quiet hours. 

After a post-morning-run shower and a light breakfast, he'd be ready to sit down and bury himself in reviews for the day.  He should be able to get through most of his History of Magic notes before a bunch of his fellow housemates got together for some group review.  He should be fine.   As usual, he felt pretty confident about the materials; he wasn't one to procrastinate. 

Once he'd caught his breath, Sasha turned back around and started along the path back up towards the castle.  At the bottom of the hill, he turned to run alongside the edge of the lake, his shoes pounding through the shallows of the lake edge. 

Sasha had fallen into the rhythm of the jog; his focus had turned intently to his progress.  Not expecting anyone else out at that time of the morning, Sasha wasn't on the look out for anyone.  Let alone a pair of girls racing ahead of a pack of eager silver-hungry nifflers.  He was lost in his own world, enjoying the early morning air. 

"Wha-..." Sasha cried in surprise, trying to stop quickly as, without warning, a girl ran in front of him.  While his feet had come to a dead stop, the momentum in his arms and torso caught him off guard and he staggered dangerously as he whirled his arms, trying to regain his balance.  Another girl raced by, catching one of his arms in mid-whirl.  He made several staggering sideways steps but, before he could steady himself, he toppled over with a splash.

Continuing running, Mysti also looked back every so often to make sure that the Nifflers were still behind her and Fauna.  Both girls were pretty good runners, and were keeping a fair distance from the Nifflers.  Keeping her eyes on the lake, she just kept running.  What a sight the two must have been for anyone that might have seen them.  Running and looking behind them, and with the little rat-like creatures behind them.

Like Fauna, Mysti didn’t really dislike the Nifflers.  She also thought they were kind of cute.  Fluffly creatures were always favorites of hers.  But now that she’s been chased by them, there were going to move down on the list of ‘favorite animals.’  She didn’t want to have to deal with this happening again, and was going to avoid Nifflers at all costs.  She’d probably have some type of nightmare about being attacked by Nifflers tonight and her roommates were going to thing she was crazy.

“We’re… almost… there!”

Mysti, too, was out of breath, but kept running, hair whipping in the wind.  Fauna was a bit in front of her, and Mysti saw her hesitate before jumping into the lake.  Taking another look behind her, she saw that the Nifflers were catching up. Looking back in front of her, she focused on the lake again.  Without paying attention to the boy that was about to cross her path, she ran into his arm. She toppled into the water, him right behind her.

“Auuuugh!” Mysti made the sound as she hit the water with a splash.

The water wasn’t too deep, but she was quite soaked now.  She moved her hair out of her face and looked around.  She saw Fauna, and a boy of her year named Sasha, in the water too.  She looked towards the shore and saw the nifflers staying away from the water. Perhaps their plan actually worked?  Mysti was so thankful for that and then turned her attention to her friend and the boy.

“Er, sorry... to get you caught in the Niffler chase.” She said to Sasha.  She gave him a small smile.

Mysti then tried to stand up, but lost her footing and fell over again.  As she fell, she splashed the other two with water again.  Laughing as her head came above the water again.  Why she was laughing, she wasn’t really sure. It probably had something to do with the fact that she was going to be studying Care of Magical Creatures with Fauna, but instead got chased by some magical creatures.  And that they ended up in the lake and now were soaked and probably looked ridiculous.  She just hoped the other two would find it as funny and would laugh too. Otherwise she might just be crazy, which was possible.

The three unfortunate Hogwarts students toppled into the lake like dominos. It reminded Fauna of the Fashion Show that she’d ruined during Remembering Week, though she wasn't sure who frightened her more: the nifflers or Neely.

The water was cold! The temperature wasn’t supposed to be chilly when the weather was so nice out, Fauna thought. Frowning, she held her hat above the water with one hand while treading with her other three limbs. She glanced at the poor boy who had been jogging before she and Mysti had barreled right into him. What was his name? Sidney? Socka? Something that reminded her of socks…

Suddenly she got a splash in the face and sputtered when Mystique tried to find her footing.

“Arrrghhhh,” Fauna groaned, blinking the water away. The nifflers stood close to the water’s edge, watching her soggy hat with beady little eyes. Fauna tried to glance around the grounds to see if anyone else was awake this early and might rescue them, but she couldn’t see out very far from where she was.

“Yeah, I’m sorry…” she told the boy, meaning it, yet distracted by their predicament. “Anyone have a wand? I… don’t know where mine is,” Fauna admitted, sounding more worried than usual. Her arms and legs were getting tired, and she kept imagining seaweed sneaking up from the bottom of the lake to pull her down to a watery death.

“How long are they going to stare at us like that?” Fauna mumbled, tempted to just throw them the hat and climb out of the water. She wondered if the little buggers would be satisfied then, or if they’d forever see her as a source of silver. She gulped and swam closer to Mysti, finding some comfort in her friend’s perpetual cheer.

The sun had only just risen high enough to shine on the surface of the water for only a few minutes, leaving the water with the overnight bitter cold.  Sasha's sweatsuit hung heavily from him as he pushed himself to his feet, the fabric weighted down with water.  Spluttering, slightly, he blew the droplets of water off of his lips as he looked around, trying to regain his senses.

He looked from Mystique, the Hufflepuff in his own year, to the older girl whose name he didn't know, though he recognized her by appearance.  "What ... what in the world..." he started, looking  around still, trying to work out what had prompted their manic race across the grounds and into them. 

Of course, it didn't take long to determine what the cause was.  Looking back towards the shore Sasha watched the group of eager nifflers. 

"Niffler chase?" he repeated, looking at the two girls.  How did anyone get chased by nifflers of all things.  Hippogriffs and skrewts, he understood, but, nifflers?  "I ... yes.  I mean, it's alright.  I'm alright," he said, wading through the water towards the water's edge.  Once he was in reach, the nifflers raced towards him, sniffing at him eagerly.  But, he remained still as they sniffed him and, once they were satisfied he had nothing of interest to them, they turned their attention back to the girls. 

Sasha nodded his head and fished in the pockets of his zippered sweatshirt for his wand but, once it was hand, he stared at the girls, expectantly.  "Why didn't you just drop the hat until they got bored with it?"  He asked, scanning the ground for an appropriate rock. 

Mysti was able to find her wand, but wasn’t exactly sure what spell would work to do anything to the Nifflers.  She didn’t really want to harm them, and didn’t think that the Care of Magical Creatures would appreciate that.  She watched as the boy made his way to the shore and the Nifflers raced to him. The didn’t see anything shiny on him, and let him be.  He then took out his wand but didn’t do anything.

“How long are they going to stare at us like that?” Fauna mumbled.

“Well... I’m not exactly sure... hopefully not too long.” Mysti replied.  Now she looked at them, trying to think of some way to get out of this.  Perhaps they’d eventually get bored and go away.  Looking on her person to see if she had anything shiny she could throw at them, she found nothing. If only there were a way to distract them!

"Why didn't you just drop the hat until they got bored with it?"  He asked.

Mysti stared at him, wondering why they hadn’t thought of that in the first place.  She was sure that the hat was something that Fauna very much liked.  The Nifflers probably wouldn’t take too much care in playing with the shiny hat.  So now she remembered why, because they didn’t want the hat to be damaged!  That seemed logical to her, though Sasha might not find it the same way.

“We wouldn’t want the hat damaged!" Mysti said, not bothering to go through the logic that just went through her head.

Shivering a little, Mysti stood up, this time not falling over.  Feeling her pockets, she noticed a flat, but round object. A coin of some sort! She pulled it out and looked at it.  Shining it up a little, she showed it to Fauna.  Perhaps they could throw it and distract the animals? And they would probably have to hide the hat too.

“You could hide the hat, and I can throw this to them! I’m not sure if it’ll work, but maybe!” She said, smiling excitedly.  She hoped that the plan would work!

Fauna blinked at the boy when he suggested throwing away the hat to the nifflers. It was a perfectly logical action, true, but Fauna was very attached to her silver hat and didn’t want to see it ripped to shreds!

Though, now that she thought about it, she was being awfully selfish, involving two other innocent people like this. Fauna shrugged sheepishly at him, feeling a bit useless since she couldn’t even find her wand. Luckily though, Mysti answered his question for her, acting as if handing the hat to the nifflers was the last option in the world. Fauna wanted to give her a big hug, but thought she’d wait until they made it out of the lake first- if they made it out of the lake!

When Mysti suggested throwing the silver coin, Fauna perked up. That was a good idea! Perhaps they could levitate it using her wand and float the coin up the Whomping Willow. No, that was too cruel. After all the little buggers had put her through, she didn’t want to harm them. It was in their nature to go after anything shiny. So she stood on her tiptoes and shivered, peering over the grounds to try and find the perfect bit of shrubbery for their plan.

“Yeah! Let’s… try that…” Fauna smiled at her, revealing chattering teeth. Without thinking about it she lowered her hand from above her head and let it hover inches above the water. The silver hat nearly grazed the surface of the waves. “I’ll just hide this-“

But then, the unthinkable happened.

Whether it was a fish or devil’s spawn, Fauna couldn’t tell, but some little impish creature leaped out of the water and snatched the hat right out of her hand!

Fauna flinched and her mouth dropped open. She stared at Mysti, tears prickling her eyes. The expression on her face resembled a child’s who had just had her candy taken away very suddenly. Glancing down at the water, she thought about diving into it and chasing the fish, even though it was probably long gone by now (or choking on the hat). She kind of hoped it would choke on her hat, the little fiend!

However, before she could act, she was distracted by a troubling noise in the distance. The nifflers were not happy to see their silvery prey escape. Their growls grew louder and louder, rumbling together like the beginning of a storm. Then, in a moment that would have been comical if Fauna had been watching from inside the safe and dry castle, the nifflers began hopping. Their little feet pushed off the ground and then skittered to the side and back again in a very odd dance.

“Merlin’s moustache… we didn’t study this in Care of Magical Creatures!” she whispered to the other students, horrified.

Sasha's gaze shifted from one girl to the other and, after a few glances, he shook his head.  Why did girls have to make everything so difficult?  It seemed like it was genetic or something.  But, shouldn't this be obvious? 

"They aren't staring at you," Sasha pointed out.  Normally, he was very good at keeping his voice polite and free of any frustration or agitation but the clothes hanging heavily and coldly from his body was making even him slightly susceptible to his annoyance.  "They are staring at the hat.  And, they'll probably stare at it until something distracts them." 

Starting to feel foolish standing there, holding his wand pointlessly, Sasha turned his attention to his dampened attire.  He ran the tip of his wand over his sweatsuit, letting the shot of hot air quickly dry him. 

Again, Sasha shook his head.  Girls.  They'd rather plunge into a cold lake, taking someone with them, then let their hats get a little dirty.  Presumably, as witches, a state that could be easily remedied.  "Um ... Couldn't you have levitated it up in a tree?  Or something?  Until they got bored?" he asked, hoping he sounded more patient then he felt. 

The nifflers were milling around the bank, still, anxious to get at the hat.  It only took a moment, though, for one of them to notice the coin in Mystique's hand and start moving towards her, eagerly. 

"Here, can I see that?" Sasha asked, reaching out a hand just as the group of nifflers turned, en masse, on the girl.  Quickly, Sasha wrapped his fingers around coin, concealing it completely.  Like a school of fish, the nifflers changed paths and started milling around Sasha, but he remained still, letting them clammer at his pant legs. 

He lifted his wand to tap it on the coin when something in the lake seemed to take hold of the notorious hat and had made off with it.   The nifflers, again, as a team, seemed to grow restless and danced madly at the shoreline.  "That bloody hat," Sasha muttered.  He waved the coin around, trying to get the thing's attention again.

Mysti and Fauna hadn’t thought of the alternatives that Sasha suggested.  Of course, they were being chased by Nifflers that were after something they owned. That doesn’t leave much room for thought. Sasha had the advantage of not being directly involved in the chase. Well, at least until he was pulled into the lake with the girls.  But still! He didn’t have to think fast like they did!

"Here, can I see that?"

Mysti nodded and allowed the boy to take the coin from her hand.  Hopefully he would be able to distract the creatures while the girls were escaping.  Mysti wondered why she hadn’t though about the levitation part. That was quite a good idea.  And it probably would have worked, except that now the hat had been stolen.  The Nifflers looked like they were going to focus on the coin, but the movement of the hat distracted them... again.

“Oh no! Not the hat!”  Mysti exclaimed as the hat was dragged away.  Well, that was not cool.  After all that time trying to protect it, it gets snatched away! “Isn’t there a way to get it back? The retrieving spell, or whatever it is? Do you know what it is?”

Mysti remembered hearing of it, but hadn’t learned it yet.  Perhaps since Fauna was older she might know it.  Mysti at least hoped that Fauna would know it, especially since the older girl was looking quite sad at losing the hat!  But both girls were then distracted by the dancing and hopping Nifflers at the shore. 

“Merlin’s moustache… we didn’t study this in Care of Magical Creatures!”

“I haven’t either!” Mysti’s statement was probably obvious, since if the older girl hadn’t, she most likely hadn’t either.

Mysti then started to slowly move over towards the land behind where Sasha stood.  She hoped that since she didn’t have anything shiny they wouldn’t notice her moving.  When the Nifflers didn’t notice her, she smiled and waved for Fauna to move as well.  Since she no longer had the hat, they shouldn’t notice her moving either!  Hopefully the girls would be safe now.  And perhaps Fauna could still get the hat back if she knew the spell!

“They aren’t paying attention to us any more, it seems.” Mysti said as she got closer to the shore, within a foot.  She breathed a sigh of relief and got out and stood behind Sasha and waited for Fauna to get out of the water as well, hopefully without Niffler notice.

The boy seemed to be getting slightly irritated with them and Fauna couldn’t blame him. She and Mysti were lucky he was trying to help, though, instead of making the situation worse like a certain malicious Slytherin might do. He tried to get the niffler’s attention with the silver coin, which worked for a while, until a fish stole Fauna’s hat. Cold, wet, and aggravated now, she decided her hat was a lost cause and followed Mysti’s lead.

Her friend gestured her over towards the edge of the lake where the nifflers calmed somewhat. Fauna approached warily, stiffening as they skittered around her feet and sniffed at the hem of her pants. Luckily, the nifflers let out a collective snort and then gave up. They began scattering around the shore while Fauna stood, soaking wet. She shivered, watched Sasha cast a drying spell on himself, and was reminded to try and find her wand again. She patted down her clothes until she reached her soggy shoes, only to find her wand sticking out of her left sock. How did that get there? Fauna frowned at it in confusion. At least she had her wand now, and set about drying her clothes magically.

Fauna turned to the boy she and Mysti had knocked over.

“Sorry about that,” she told him, more sincere now that the nifflers weren’t after her. “Um… I’m Fauna,” she finally introduced herself, hoping he’d do the same so she wouldn’t have to call him ‘Socka’ in her head anymore.

She glanced around the grounds where the nifflers hopped and frolicked, happy as can be. It was hard to believe that seconds earlier they’d nearly been foaming at the mouth wanting to get at her hat. She shook her head and smiled slightly. Still, the question remained: what to do with the buggers. Fauna felt bad just leaving them to burrow in the lawns, even though she hadn’t been the one to let them out. They’d already gotten into the gardens, and followed her like she was the Pied Piper all the way to the lake!

“What about the nifflers?” She bit her lip, looking between her friend and Sasha. “I don’t know how they tore up the gardens, but they’re not supposed… to be loose out here, either.”

Fauna suspected most of them came from the Care of Magical Creatures bins. Perhaps there was a way they could herd them back until the professors were willing to deal with them.

“How about, uh… we cast a spell to try and guide them?” Fauna suggested, making a shooing gesture with her hands. “Back to the pens, I mean. If all three of us cast something like, um…” Fauna paused, trying to think of a good option. “Er, something that won’t hurt them- I mean, if you guys… want to, you know…” she glanced worriedly at the boy, thinking that she’d put him through enough already!

Sasha found it difficult to share the same sentiment about the loss of the hat as the two girls.  He knew it wasn't the nicest sentiment and he felt slightly guilty for it, but with the hat gone, the situation had been simplified.  "I'm sure it'll float up when whatever it was that got it gets bored with it."  Though, he could try to summon it as Mystique had recommended.  Of course, that'd just rile up the nifflers again. 

He was slightly annoyed, but he tried not to be.  This just wasn't the way his morning jogs usually went.  But, he could hear his sister's voice in his head reassuring him that this was the type of event that would seem amusing after the fact. 

With the coin still clenched in his hand, Sasha gave his wand a wave and called, "Accio hat," he said.  He waited but nothing happened.  The surface of the lake remained choppy but with no signs of flying hats. 

"“They aren’t paying attention to us any more, it seems.”

"Well, we don't have anything interesting, anymore.  Things that move are always more exciting than things that are still."  He watched as the girl stepped behind him, a little confused.  But, she didn't seem to do much more and he looked back to the coin.

That having been unsuccessful, Sasha turned his attention to the coin in his hand and waved his wand over the coin.  Though his hand was still closed, he could feel the light and almost ticklish scratching of the newly transfigured silver and shiny mouse.  The mouse scurried over the palm of his hand, it's motion grabbing the attention of the nifflers. 

Sasha looked up at Fauna when she apologized yet again.  "I ... it's alright," he finally said, finally concluding that this whole things wasn't the end of the world.  "I'm - my name's Sasha."  The nifflers were continuing to circle around him, anxious to get to the shimmering mouse.  They each made their best attempt to jump up on his legs, like a group of eager puppies. 

"Well, we probably should get them back to the pens.  It's a shame we can't train the mouse to go running to the pen."  It'd be the easiest route.  Maybe if they got close enough, they'd get lucky and the nifflers would go in there.  But, then, Fauna's suggestion seemed to offer a solution.  "If we guide the mouse, they should follow?" 

Mysti, still keeping an eye on the nifflers, listened as the other two suggested how to get the creatures back where they belonged.  Her mind drifted back to how the nifflers got out in the first place.  Would Tulojow have accidentally let them out? Or perhaps just forgot to keep the cage closed? Unless they were wild ones from the forest. Did they even live in the forest? All these questions went through Mysti’s head, and she missed most of what the other two were saying.

  "If we guide the mouse, they should follow?" 

“Hmm, what?” Mysti said as she came out of her zoning moment. She looked at Sasha and saw the shiny mouse in his hand.  Noticing that the coin was no longer there, she realized that the mouse had been the coin.  Nice job by Sasha, he was a pretty good thinker like that.  Then again, he is a Ravenclaw so it makes sense.

Putting together the pieces, Mysti got what the plan was.  Using the mouse to lure the nifflers back to their pens.  If only there was a way to guarantee that the mouse would go where they wanted it to.  She supposed that they could just levitate the mouse.  That might keep the attention of the nifflers. It would also let them control the movement of the mouse.

“I’d think they would follow.  We could always try levitating the mouse too to make sure it goes where we want it.  Seems like a pretty good plan either way. I’m not sure how we’d control the mouse though.” Mysti said.

Fauna was impressed by the spell Sasha cast on the coin, turning it into a mouse. Her first attempt probably would have made the coin furry, but that was why she’d dropped Transfiguration a while ago.

She smiled when he introduced himself, but watched worriedly as the nifflers caught sight of the mouse and became excited again. Fauna wasn’t so sure that they should have turned the coin into a live animal because she didn’t want the creature to get hurt. She had a fondness for rodents and fed many of the rats who made their homes within the castle walls. Students were so used to seeing her with her pet rat, Bernie, on her shoulder that they just considered the animal an accessory to her unique outfits.

Thinking about her rat reminded her that she might still have a treat in her pocket. Fauna fished around in the back pocket of her damp jeans, picking out a soggy- what was it? She peered at the round, misshapen stone. Ah, a Bertie Bott bean. With any luck it would be cheese flavored!

She listened to Sasha and Mysit’s suggestions and nodded, showing them the bean. Fauna held it out by the mouse and waited for any kind of reaction. The poor animal huddled in Sasha’s hands, nervous because of the yipping and excitement of the nifflers. However, it turned its face and sniffed at the bean, then tried to bite it. Fauna felt bad moving the bean away from the animal, but made a promise to spoil the mouse silly once this was all done and over. Even if the mouse had once been a coin, she felt protective of it now.

“I’m just going to, um…” Fauna trailed off, raised her wand, and cast a shield charm on the mouse, just in case the nifflers caught it. Then she held up the bean again and cast Wingardium Leviosa, pleased when it floated up into the air.

Fauna flicked her wand so that the bean hovered an inch or so about the ground. The nifflers glanced at it curiously, but ignored it. She motioned for Sasha to put the mouse on the ground, and then quickly started directing the bean towards the direction of the pens.

Trying not to giggle at the situation, Fauna started running alongside the mouse, keeping the bean just out of reach! The nifflers followed the mouse eagerly and- uh oh. They were faster than the poor little mouse with its tiny legs. It wouldn’t be long before they caught their prey.

“Um, Mysti, Sasha, try to distract the nifflers!” Fauna called over her shoulder, hoping they’d be able to keep up the hierarchy they’d established: bean, mouse, nifflers, and students, all making their way towards the pens. Would they make it there? It was too soon to tell!