Maddie was still in the whole first year exploring stage and was finally making her way outside the castle. The grounds were huge! Maddie kind of got the feeling you could lose an entire erumpent on them if you weren't careful. This excited her, and she was just in the mood to find something brand new as she picked up her pace. She might have even skipped a time or two as she passed by a few of the areas that had actually become familiar to her. Naturally, she found herself venturing over toward the creatures area, because why not?! It made her miss all the pets she'd had to leave at home, but at least Pepper was able to come to school with her.

She passed up the hut and looked up ahead of her, stopping right in her tracks when she noticed a little barn that she was pretty sure wasn't the main barn. This one was smaller and suddenly had all of Maddie's attention. Once she saw a Hufflepuff boy venture inside, she didn't think twice about doing that very same thing herself. She gave the doors of the barn a gentle push and made her way inside.

*GASSSSSSSPPPPPP*

It was...it was...a little NURSERY?! FOR BABY ANIMALS!!! Maddie dashed to the left of her and peered into the little kneazle area. Would they mind if she scooped them all up at once and rocked them in a basket?! She smiled at them...all of them...then turned on her heels. "Nifflers!" she said, her voice in a half-whisper. Yes...she'd seen them before, but these were babies! And she could take care of them! She went from area to area, checking out everything from crups to puffskein. Once she reached the back of the nursery, she came upon the Hufflepuff boy from earlier, clicking and chirping at a bowtruckle like he did this sort of thing all the time.

What was his name again? She didn't think she'd formally met him. "HEY!" she said, coming up to a stop beside him. "This is only the coolest thing ever! EVERRR." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other in excitement. "Do you have a pet bowtruckle? What's its name? Are you talking to him with all those clicks and chirps? Does it understand what you're saying?!" Maddie launched into her usual stream of questions, firing them off one right after the other as they came to her.