Sophie glanced up and saw one of the professors out of the corner of her eye. It was Fuller, and he was...enlarging the bushes? Mmkay. She had no idea what for, but she guessed they'd learn soon enough. That they did a moment later. She listened carefully as her Creatures professor detailed the next activity.

Well, it seemed easy enough. So now to eat some berries. Well, You would be eating the berries, that is. Sophie still worried about her Puffskein's attitude toward her when this lesson was over. Her mother had said absolutely no more pets, so...what would she do if this thing wanted to come home with her?

"Okay, You. You're probably hungry, huh? Well, let's go then," she said. "We're going to walk this line of bushes and get you a snack or two. Or three or four or five or six or...how many ever you want. I just have to do that little charm on you again."

When both Sander and Odin got closer to the next bush, Sander knew that Odin had spotted the berries on it because he began bouncing ahead of Sander until he was bouncing right next to the bushes.

Flick....out came Odin's tongue, wrapping itself one berry, pulling it off the bush and into his mouth.

Chomp...chomp...chomp....Odin took his time savoring the flavor of the berry, its juices bursting from it. Juices that Odin's tongue flicked up occasionally back into his mouth. Then out came the tongue again, wrapping itself around another berry before pulling it off the bush and into his mouth again.

Sander waited patiently for Odin to eat. Yes it was a race, but Sander didn't care who won. If it wasn't Odin it didn't really matter to him. Odin's comfort was more important than whatever the prize was. So Sander didn't coax Odin away from the bush immediately. He watched as Odin feasted on the berries closest to the ground and smiled.

Flick....chomp...chomp...chomp.....Flick.....chomp ....chomp....chomp....

Seeing another Puffskein and their human friend, headed to their same bush they were currently at, Sander decided to move Odin along to the next berry bush.

Kneeling down on the ground, Sander again placed his hand in front of Odin's line of sight of the berries in front of him, and began speaking to his Puffskein friend, "Come along, Odin. Let's allow your friend to eat from this bush. There's another bush just a few feet away" Sander pointed out the bush to Odin.

Odin bounced around to take a look at the bush Sander was pointing too. Then...

....SQUEAK!! Odin squeaked loudly with excitement and bounced off...now a little more clumsily and slowly, towards the bush.

Sander laughed, even as he struggled to get back on his knees and quickly followed Odin.

They were going to race their Puffskeins?

For someone competitive like Lux, this sounded like a lot of fun. Of course, she would rein it in somewhat, since her cute little fluff ball would not be the quickest - especially when he was getting his fill of berries.

Looking down at Bilbo, she smiled. "Doesn't that sound like fun? Yummy berries for you." Since he was hopping around and humming, Lux was sure that Bilbo agreed that this was going to be fuuuuuuuun.

WHOOO.

Flick of her wand upwards. "Animalis Fidelis."

Watching her Puffskein, she hoped that the spell worked, because the last thing she wanted was Bilbo to get distracted by something else. "Come on little buddy." After an affectionate head pat, Lux slowly moved forward as Bilbo bounced along behind her, still humming away.

Stopping at the first bush, she picked him up and let him have at the delicious looking berries. Yummmy. Watching him eat, Lux started to feel a little hungry herself. Maybe after class, she would stop off at the kitchens and have something to eat.

So now that Sophie had at least given her Puffskein the heads up as to what was going on, she could now cast. She thought the creature may be more willing to not freak out and roll away beforehand if she at least tried to meet him halfway. Him. When had her Puffskein gotten a gender anyway?

Nevermind that.

Sophie raised her wand and flicked it toward the Puffskein. "Animalis Fidelis!" she called out. After the casting, she waited a moment to see what the Puffskein would do. She had her wand out and at the ready in case the casting somehow didn't work. It apparently did, though, because You was just sitting there ready for her directions.

"Okay, You, follow me," she said. "We're supposed to be having a race, but it's okay if we don't win. I know, I know. That's crazy coming from me, right? I can at least not hurry you along in your eating, though, if I'm going to standing here and controlling you." She began walking the line of bushes, and You began rolling after her, following her every command.

It didn't take Alfredo long at all to find the Berry Bush and the little puffskein squeaked as it rolled along, clearly eager to get some berries in the belly. Ella lead the way, slightly out of breath but still determined. The sooner they got to the end of this thing, the sooner she could sit down.

It was amazing how many berries Alfredo could eat and Ella watched with an amused expression as the little guy pretty much attacked the bush, eating any berries in sight. Merlin, he was going to make himself sick if he continued on like this and there were tons more bushes in sight. "Easy now, Alfredo. You'll give yourself a tummy ache." And those were the worst. Had she...just sounded like a mom? Probably. "You almost done, bud? We've got to get going?" The eighteen year old walked around the bush, noting that Alfredo had moved over to the opposite side, working on the berries he found there. He wasn't paying her any mind at this point and so it seemed like it was time for another spell. "Sorry about this but there are more berries to eat, okay? I promise."

"Animalis Fidelis!"

Ella watched for a minute before inching closer and smiling at the puffskein. "Alright, let's get going. On to the next bush, Alfredo. Follow me." The Head Girl then set off for the next bush, glanced over her shoulder after a few steps to make sure Alfredo was following her. He seemed to have gotten the message though and was rolling along at her heels. Good. They could totally do this.

Odin was already feasting on the berries off the bush, when Sander caught up with him. In fact, he was eating a little faster than was desired.

Flick out came his tongue....slurp....the berry was pulled into his mouth....chomp...chomp...chomp..Odin began eating...then Flick out came his tongue again, pulling another berry off the bush. If Sander didn't know better, he could have sworn that Odin was expanding as he ate. How big could a Puffskein get? Sander didn't want to know. He just knew that he didn't want Odin to get too fat.

But even though he was concerned, Sander couldn't help but laugh. He could see that Odin was enjoying himself way too much. The speed it took for Odin's tongue to flick out, wrap itself around a berry, pull it off the bush and into his mouth, was astonishing. Did Puffskeins ever suffer from tongue sprain? Sander chuckled to himself.

Okay it was time to slow Odin down. Slowly getting to his knees, Sander spoke to Odin.

"Whoa!...you have to slow down, Odin, or you're going to get indigestion from eating too fast. You need to chew your food more slowly," Sander advised his Puffskein friend. Did Odin even understand what he was saying?

....well it seemed like he did....either that or he was now getting indigestion, because Odin began to slow down between berries, now taking his time to chew each berry, before going for more.

It was time to move on to the next bush. From where he was kneeling down, Sander could see the white sparkling line floating about waist high above the ground. It was still a distance away, and many berry bushes ahead. Many bushes that Odin could feed off.

"Alright Odin. I'm going onto the next berry bush now. Come along," Sander slowly stood up, his legs tingling from lack of blood circulation. Shaking off the feeling, he began to inch away from the bush they were standing at. Odin squeaked loudly when he noticed that. He took one look at the bush in front of him and then over at the next bush over.

....was he contemplating on staying? Was the spell wearing off? Sander decided to hold off casting the spell again and waited.

"Come along, Odin. There are lots of berries on the next bush," Sander coaxed Odin one more time.

SQUEAK!!....and Odin was slowly bouncing towards him. Yes!!...

....on to the next.

Ohhh! A race! How cool! As much as he would love to give his all for it, Adi wasn't feeling up for it. He was feeling rather tied, though Homer seemed to be up for it as he was bouncing at the boy's feet. Ah well. They'd just have to figure out their pace.

"Ready to get some berries, Homer?'' Adi asked. Hmmm. Eve he could do with some berries right about now. He wondered if he could sneak a few. Hehe. Anyway...back to the task at hand.

"Animalis Fidelis!'' The Puffer grinned down at his puffskein. "Let's get going before the others scarf down all those berries.'' And with that, he set off towards the nearest bush.

Bilbo continued to slowly eat away at the berries until Lux decided that it was time for him to move on. "You have to share with the other Puffskeins." It was only polite since they would be racing as well and needed food.

Setting him back on the ground, she cast the Animalis Fidelis charm once more since the effects from the last time would have already worn off. "Okay, time to go to the next one!" Walking even slower this time, since Bilbo was feeling the berries he had just consumed, they made their way along to the next bush.

Once again picking him up, Lux let Bilbo start eating these berries as well.

NOMMY BERRIES.

Bay was so proud how well Gryff was doing.. after what felt like forever because his little friend was moving so slowly they made it to the second bush..

"look like guy.. more food for you to eat" he said while sitting down himself while Gryff ate berries that were knocked on the ground from previous Puffskeins eating at the bush..

rubbing his knee it was starting to burn.. he wished he had like a magic carpet or something to float him along the paths.. ughhhh… a few minutes went by when Bay had to stop him from eating.. "Gryff your going to get a tummy ache" he said while laughing to himself.. crawling over to him he picked him up and got up himself.

giving Gryff some love pets on the top of his head Bay placed him down and nudged his new friend to the third bush.. about twenty minutes later they arrived……

Bay plopped back down again and watched Gryff munch some more berries.. "if only i could eat like that" he started talking to it again.. "i would be big as a house" he laughed while raising his hands in the air to show just how big..

maybe they would just take a break here for now until they started to carry on… slow and steady wins the race as they say... right..

It definitely took a little bit longer for Odin to arrive at the next bush. Unlike the first two bushes, he was looking more rounded and bigger. Sander wasn't surprised. With the amount of berries he had already eaten, it was amazing he could still move the way he did.

Sander folded his arms and waited patiently for Odin to eat his fair share of the berries on this particular bush. But this time Sander counted the number of berries he was eating,

One...two....three....four....fi...fi...five...thi s one was harder getting off the bush. Was Odin starting to slow down? Nope....six...seven...berries all went down the way down to Odin's tummy.

eight...."Okay its time for you to stop eating now, Odin" Sander whispered to the still eating Puffskein. "It's time to let your food digest and for us to move onto the next bush," Sander told Odin.

....and yes it was just about time to get some more exercise and work off all those berries you just ate, Sander thought to himself as he took out his wand, rolled it in between his fingers and ending with an upward flick at Odin, Sander cast the charm again, "Animalis Fidelis"

Then he turned and began walking away from the bush heading to the next one. Was Odin still eating or was Odin following him? Sander turned to see and was shocked to see that Odin was no longer there. Where had he gone?

Sander quickly walked back to the bush and looked under the bushes branches. Was Odin hiding under there? No. Sander walked all along the bush but there was still no sign of Odin. Where could he have gone?

"Odin where are you?" Sander called out worriedly. He couldn't have lost his Puffskein!. Sander looked frantically around the bush again.

SQUEEEEAAAAK! Sander quickly turned around and the relief he felt almost overwhelmed him. There he was, Odin....waiting for him at the next berry bush!

More eating happened when they made it to the second bush. Ella's eyes widened at the puffskein, still impressed by how much he could eat given his size. It actually shouldn't be that shocking considering she too was small and could put down a sizeable amount herself. Perhaps it was her lack of appetite lately that made it a sight to see. Perhaps. "I'm just gonna take a breather while you eat, okay?" Ella placed her hands on her knees and hunched over slightly, taking slow breaths. Walking was tiring, had she mentioned that? Alfredo seemed more than happy to take advantage of this pause in movement though and kept on nomming cheerfully as his tongue went after berries of various sizes. Must be good.

He'd grown in size, that much Ella could tell when she got ready to move again. Did Alfredo need to relieve himself before they continued? Was that a thing. Ella watched him for a moment trying to figure that out but saw nothing telling. Ah well, he'd do what he had to do when he had to do it. She really shouldn't be worrying about that. At the moment she should be worrying about getting past the last of the bushes so she could finish. "Alright boy, breaks over."

The eighteen year old slowly backed away from the bush, waving at the puffskein in her bright pink clothing to get his attention. When he was focused on her, she trained her wand on him and said clearly, "Animalis Fidelis!" There. Now they could move on. "Follow me, Al."

They'd both slowed down considerably but Alfredo rolled along beside Ella as she navigated them to the next bush. Others were close by but she tried not to get distracted by them since Alfredo seemed to be focused on what she was doing, ready to follow. "Good boy." He was still feeling okay, right? Not too full. She couldn't help but keep glanced over at him just to make sure.

After what Lux thought was a decent amount of time to let Bilbo eat, she placed him down again and patted him on the head a little. "Good, Bilbo. You are going to get so fat." Giggling as she thought it might be hard for her to carry him in the end, they made their way over to the third bush.

Bilbo was going even slower this time, but he was really humming away as he hopped along with her. That was awesome, because it meant that he was happy and loving all the berries that he was getting to eat. Berries were absolutely wonderful, and Lux was starting to want to have some strawberries.

As they reached the third bush, Bilbo started to eat some of the fallen berries before she could lift him up and help make things easier. Less work for her, she supposed. Oh well, smart Puffskein.

After he had at least a few berries, Lux managed to get him hopping along again. "Very good, Bilbo. Keep following me, and you will get even more yummy berries." They were making their way to the fourth bush as she spoke.

Reaching it, she watched as the little fluff ball started eating more of the berries.

Sander quickly walked over to join him. How did a now overweight Puffskein move that fast? Sander didn't pause to question. He picked up Odin, cuddled and stroked him before kneeling down to put him back down on the ground.

"Well done, Odin. Have some berries for being such a good boy," Sander whispered to his Puffskein friend. Sander smiled as Odin obediently did what he was told to do....not that he needed much convincing. This was food. Sander didn't think he'd need any convincing to eat what was freely offered.

Sander sat on the ground next to Odin and kept watch, and count, of the berries Odin was eating. He even took one himself and popped it into his mouth. He figured it had to be safe or Odin wouldn't be eating them.

BURP!!

..Sander laughed. Odin had just burped. Did this mean that the Puffskein had eaten his full? Nope....it just meant that he was releasing some gas, in order to make room for more berries in his tummy.

BURP!!!....another inch of space released.... BURP!!...and another. Yes he had more space in his tummy, but that also meant that Odin was now getting more heavier with food yet to be digested. How did one so small eat so much? Sander now knew what the meaning of a bottomless tummy. Odin definitely possessed one.

But time was passing and they still had a couple more bushes to get to, so Sander slowly got himself back on his feet and once he was standing, he called out to Odin.

"Hey Odin, we have more berries ahead. I'm going over to that bush over there" Sander pointed the bush out to him before heading in that direction. This time, however, he made sure to wait for Odin to follow him. He was sure the spell had worn off by now.

Sander took out his wand, rolled it between his fingers ending with an upward flick of his wand at Odin and said, "Animalis Fidelis" before walking slowly to the next berry bush with Odin moving sluggishly next to him.

Contentedly eating, the Puffskein kept humming with pleasure in between each berry. After a little while, Lux decided that it was time for them to move on again.

"Come on, little Bilbo. We don't want you getting huge well before we reach the last bush." The image of him as big as a house entered her head, and it caused Lux to laugh. He was so cute; she loved the little blue guy already and wanted to keep him.

Hop hop hop along to the next bush.

Bilbo sure was getting his exercise even though he was getting bigger and bigger. It was a good thing that she herself was not like that, because Lux sure loved to eat!

Stopping at the next bush, she petted him as he began to eat even more. "So many berries for you. What a lucky boy you are."

Wait... had he heard the instructions properly? They were going to... race the Puffskeins?

Alec glanced down at the peach-coloured ball of fluff that was Arietty, sizing her up. Was she fast? He didn't know. She had bounced past him when they were going for a walk around the playpen. Maybe there was hope for this team after all. Because Alec certainly couldn't take part in a race. Not in the state he was in.

Race. Yeah. This was a race. And if he didn't get started, all the bushes would be gone, leaving none for his little creature. Bending down slowly, the Hufflepuff reached over and held up the Puffskein, patting her fur as he did so. "So... hey, Ari! We're going to go for a little race, okay? It'll be fun!" The last bit was added in hastily, in case the little creature thought that he was not so enthusiastic about the idea of a race. ... Which he wasn't. But the Puffskein didn't need to know that.

"So... a race. Yeah. You'll get food, too! You see those bushes? They have berries in them. Eat as much as you like all the way until the end, okay?" Bouncing. He was going to take that as a good sign.

Setting the little creature down, Alec whipped out his wand yet again. The two minutes had been up. ... Or would be up soon so... "Animalis Fidelis!" There. Now to test whether it had worked. "Come on, then, Ari!"

As the two walked along, both Sophie and You, Sophie began to hear a slight rustling sound beside her. She looked down and noticed that You had gotten attracted to his first berry. She smiled at the site of the little creature gnawing on that berry. It did look sort of amusing. "The others are ahead of us," she told You, "but that's okay. If we don't win, I'm good with that."

Of course, it would be better to win, but Sophie didn't really see the point in rushing the creature along. It was going to stop and eat regardless, so what was the point in trying to get to the finish line first? Also, she wondered if the creature would get sick if it ate too fast. Who knew, but soon enough, she looke down and You seemed to be done eating. He was just sitting there waiting for her to move along. "Come on then," she said, finishing the walk.

It took awhile longer this time for them to get to the next bush. It was clear to Sander that despite how hungry Odin was, the Puffskein was getting tired from all the bouncing he had to do to get to the next bush. Every time they left one bush and headed for the next, Sander expected Odin to rebel and refuse to. One thing was for sure the charm really worked.

However, at the same time, Sander knew that If Odin refused to move and preferred to stay where he was despite being under the effects of the charm, he, Sander wasn't going to force him to do otherwise. Yes he could see the white finishing line floating a few feet away, but that didn't matter. Odin had followed him obediently when he had asked him too, trusting him enough to do that, and Sander wasn't going to betray his trust.

So eat big fella. Enjoy your berries because we don't know when you're going to get to eat them again, Sander thought to himself as he sat on the ground waiting for Odin. He was still amazed that Odin hadn't tired of eating them. I mean how many berries can one really eat before they no longer enjoy eating it and crave for a different flavor. One thing was for sure, Puffskeins weren't picky. Neither did they get tired of eating the same thing over...and over...and over...and over again.

Wait how many had Odin eaten already? Those weren't tiny berries. Sander had watched Professor Fuller enlarging them....and yet Odin still continued to eat. Where did all those berries go in his little tummy. Sander made a mental note to himself to ask Professor Thompson, how Puffskeins were able to eat so much at one given time. There had to be a breaking point.

"Alright I think it's time to move on to the next bush, Odin. Remember, we must leave enough berries for your other friends to eat too," Sander whispered a reminder to his Puffskein friend as he slowly pushed himself off the ground.

Taking out his wand, Sander cast the charm again and once Odin joined him he headed for the next bush.

Was Homer following him? Adi turned his head to take a look and to his delight, the Puffskein was following him! Awesome! He grinned to himself as he paused in front of the first bush. Homer came bounding up to him.

"Let's eat, Homer,'' Adi said. He plopped him self down on the ground beside Homer because his feet hurt. Homer was already digging in, nomming on berries. Adi reached out, plucked one from the bush and popped it into his mouth. He liked it instantly. He picked another and ate.

OmNomNom!

Walking was happening. Or he was walking and the ball of fluff was bouncing along happily, looking incredibly excited at the idea of this race. ... Or maybe it was the idea of getting fed lots of food. Yeah... yeah, that was probably it. And to think his owl was bad enough in that area.

... Right. He was meant to have some sort of control over this, wasn't he?

Standing up to his fullest height, the boy walked forwards until he wa level with the Puffskein. "So... let's go this way, okay? There's a nice big bush up there for you to gobble on," Higher and higher the little creature bounced. This was definitely a Puffskein that liked to eat. Amused, Alec was.

... And a little surprised when the little creature darted forward and...

... helped herself.

"Hey! I'm meant to be walking you, remember?" Teamwork, you know. He hobbled forwards, puffing a little as he made his way towards the creature. "Enjoy your meal, I guess. And don't... worry about taking long." He had no intention of winning this thing. Maybe just have a walk with a creature he hardly hung out with.

... Pause. "When you're done, we'll move on to the next one, okay?"

Sander could definitely see that Odin was finding it difficult to move as fast as he had earlier. Sander figured it was most likely because his time was full of berries that were weighing him. But even though the body wasn't willing, Odin's mouth sure was. As he sat down on the bush in front of him...yes Odin wasn't bouncing up to get the berries. He was smart. He let his tongue do all the work. Of course having a long tongue helped.

Flick...grab...eat....Flick....grab....eat....Flic k....grab...give to Sander...

Sander blinked in disbelieve. Odin was sharing his food with him. Sander graciously took the berry from Odin's tongue. Slimy or not, he had to eat it. Discreetly rubbing his fingers over the berry to remove as much of Odin's saliva as possible, Sander popped the berry into his mouth.

"Mmmm...it tastes good, Odin. Thank you so much" Sander patted Odin.

Flick...Grab...eat....Flick....grab...share....fli ck....grab...eat..

.... And this is how it went for the next few minutes. Sander savored every minute he shared with Odin. Despite what others thought of Puffskeins, Sander believed they were very intelligent creatures. Looks can be receiving. Puffskeins definitely were that. Sure they could be fluffy and playful and people thought that all they did was laze around and eat, inside that brain of theirs, those gears were turning fast.

Feeling full after having eaten eight berries, Sander decided it was time to move on to the next berry bush. Standing back up, he brushed the grass off his pants, and called out to the Puffskein.

"Come on Odin, onto the next bush" Sander took a small step forward. He brandished his wand, rolled it between his fingers and ending with an upward flick was about to say the incantation when...

....Odin did the most surprising thing...well another surprising thing. He squeaked a couple of times, and began rolling. He rolled once around Sander, squeaked three more times and then rolled up the path, right under over the white finishing line before stopping a few inches past it.

Wait!! Did Odin know what the white line represented or was he tired of eating and just wanted to return to his playpen? Whatever the reason was, they had completed the task.

Sander walked over to join Odin, reached down and picked up Odin. Cuddling him in his arms, Sander whispered . "Well done, Odin...well done. You are definitely one smart Puffskein," as he stroked Odin's fur and patted his head.

With Odin lying comfortably in his arms, Sander stood away from the finishing line and waited to see what they were supposed to do next.

Adi nommed on a berry as he watched Homer devour the bush slowly. Woah! This Puffskein had an appetite! "Er, Homer? I think you've eaten enough from this one. We've still got more bushes up ahead.'' Yep. "So let's got find another one.''

The second year slowly got up from the ground and walked ahead, turning around occasionally to make sure Homer was following him. And he was! Adi purposely passed three bushes, just to make sure the spell was still working. Apparently it was for Homer kept up with him.

As they came upon the next bush, Adi stopped in front of it and said, "How about this one, big fella?'' Homer rushed forward and without hesitation began chowing down.

So now it was time to race. At one point in life Bev would have taken the challenge with a smile on her face. Considering she was dealing with a creature that didn't much trust her and was currently attempting to reach her nose with its tongue AND her old shaking bones, she wasn't all that enthusiastic about it. But this was an opportunity to challenge her skills with creatures.

Setting Wiggin down she wagged her finger at him. "We're going to go from here to there," she pointed in the direction of the finish line. "There's berries on the way, but it's no excuse to stall so much. It's race. So...munch and bounce, 'kay?" Wiggin blinked up at her blankly.

Okay, they needed more work, but for now they needed to get this race started. Hobbling toward the gates, she called after the puffskein. "Come on, Wiggin, come here and get some berries."

The little furry garbage disposal that was Alfredo continued on his feeding frenzy and Ella took the opportunity to sit down. Probably a bad choice given how hard it'd be to get back up but tired Head Girl was tired. Plus this seemed like a good time to observe Alfredo and get to know his habits better. For example, he seemed to squeak extra loud when he ate certain berries and since Ella had noticed he squeaked when he was happy, perhaps he at particular juicy and delicious berries during these loud squeaks. Maybe. And she'd also noticed that as the puffskein moved to the opposite side of the bush, he slowed down a bit. Perhaps he was getting full after all. "It's okay to take your time, Alfredo. There are others in front of us and I'm enjoying the break." Seriously, she was. This was nice.

...Unfortunately for Ella, when the berries were gone, Alfredo's attention was also gone and he began to wander off. The blonde's eyes widened and she moved to get up, wincing a bit because OUCH! Yes, sitting down had definitely been a bad idea. "Alfredo, come back!" She was waving her arms from a kneeling position, still not on her feet yet. The sight must have been pretty comical but Ella was anything but amused. "Alfredo, I-" Sigh. "Animalis Fidelis!" She'd had good aim and was finally on her feet now, holding her lower back with her wandless hand. "C'mere, boy. This way." She wouldn't make the mistake of sitting down again, that was for sure.

Moving even slower now, the Hufflepuff navigated to the next bush, her puffskein companion now following behind her. At least they were back on track now. Yeah. Nearly there.

...and the two were off again.

Sophie could see plenty of people already at the end, but for once, it didn't bother her not to be first. Unusual, yes, but she guessed in her old age, she had learned that you could never be in too big of a hurry. Sophie looked down at You and saw that the creature was still rolling alongside her. She guessed he wasn't hungry right now. Or...not.

Just as she though that, You stopped rolling and came up beside another berry. He began chomping away, and Sophie waited patiently until he was done. When he was, she looked down at him and said, "Okay, we're almost there. If you get hungry, you know what to do," she said.

She started walking in, and so did You. It just kept rolling beside her as they walked the length of the bushes.

Alfredo seemed tired and Ella was tired too. The Hufflepuff continued on, not bothering to stop at the next bush as Alfredo grazed rather quickly and seemed to fill up faster than before. Besides, there was another bush a little further on and Ella waited at this one, knowing the puffskein would head there next. It seemed that even if he was quite full, Alfredo was determined to at least get a small amount of berries from the bushes in sight. Crazy creatures, puffskeins.

"Nearly there, little guy. You're doing so well. Nap time after this, okay? You've earned it." She'd earned it too, just saying. Was the boyfriend person around? Was he down for naps too? Questions, Ella had them. Anyway...

Ella urged Alfredo on past yet another bush and was happy to find that he was still following along obediently. Whether this was because of the charm or because of them forging some kind of bond, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that she wasn't going to question his behavior when he was being so good.

Roll. Roll. SQUEAAAAAK.

Happy Alfredo seemed happy. Seemed a full belly was just what he wanted.