Her rat food wasn't working as well as some of the other students' methods for catching the furry creatures, but as far as low tech solutions went, it had attracted a handful and she hadn't gotten bitten in the process, so that was a plus. "Cou' someone cast one of them cage fings 'ere?" she raised her voice slightly, looking at the older students. One of the prefects, maybe?

And then Kitridge spoke, and her eyes widened. She might be able to keep a Pygmy Puff? That'd be awesome! She glanced round the room for one that was still going spare. "I'd like a bloo or re' or pur'le pygmy poof, if dere's one needin' an'ome," she announced to her housemates and the Professors. She only had puffskeins and ferrets here, and although she thought she'd able to look after them, she wasn't so sure she'd be able to find the food to support them in the holidays. Sometimes she had leave Oliver to fend for himself as it was.

... which was basically the point the Care of Magical Creatures Professor reiterated. Good to know she was ahead of the game on that one then, if this was some weird kind of game. And she'd happily help take some cages down to the barn, as long as there'd still be marshmallows when she came back. They were really too good to be missed.

"You're very welcome." Garreth smiled over at Julia, glad to see she was alright. He wasn't sure if he'd have been able to act so casual after the tongue-attack she got.

Man, did the people at Hogwarts have something against orthodox handshakes? Haddie hadn't settled for anything less than a high-five, at least four people had scoffed at his outreached hand, and now Jace offered a bow instead. Maybe Garreth was just different. Maybe he should adapt? In any case, he wasn't sure what was the proper response. Was he supposed to bow back? Hmm.. Nah, best not to risk it and look a fool. Instead, he awkwardly withdrew his hand. Whoops. So much for the whole 'not looking a fool' thing. "Thank you, Jace. I did my best." at least the boy didn't seem to mind too much.

Grateful that the madness appeared to be over, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that's over." he eyed the crate in Jace's hand and shook his head at the boy's suggestion. "Well, they're cute and all, but.. I don't know, I have Effie.. Might be too much work. Do puffs need a lot of care?" he really wasn't sure. He'd never even thought about owning one before. At least not until Rachel's idea. What an idea! They could own one together! "Well, that might work out! If the two of them shared the responsibility, they could very well manage it, regardless of how much or how little work it took to take care of a puff. A pet and a half would be more manageable than two pets any day.

Not a moment too soon had she asked Garreth the question and he replied that the Care of Magical Creatures Professor arrived. She looked back at her best friend, smiling happily. "Thank you, Garreth!'' She was ecstatic. She knew they could manage the pygmy puff together. "I'll let Mr Kitridge and Professor Draper know.''

She focused back on Draper. Oh, minor scratches. She looked down at her hands. Yes, there were tiny red bruises and scratches where the puff had assaulted her but she was fine and held nothing against it. Never the less, she would follow the group to the barn as the Professor had suggested. "What about you, Garreth, Jace? Do either of you have scratches?'' Haddie? Did she have any as well?

The crazed critters were all corralled into cages, mostly the work of the older students. Looking herself over, Olivia took note of any marks she had gotten, deeming nothing too bad, nothing having completely broken her skin. So no trips to the healer…or the barn on the grounds as the newcomer had mentioned. Their Care of Magical Creatures professor. Certainly a good person to call when the common room was suddenly inundated with said magical creatures.

As for owning one, Olivia wasn’t real sure. Not that she didn’t like them or were afraid of them, they were cute when not attacking. But she did already have a cat and even if she was allowed another pet, especially given how small pygmy puffs were, there was a good chance her familiar wasn’t going to get along with it. Might think it was a mouse or something.

So no creature for her.

And she’d be staying up here in the Common Room thank you.

Jace still has a lot to learn for the next few years. He really should start off by shaking someone’s hand when offered, rather than bow. The half-Japanese, just isn’t comfortable with handshakes really. It was...too formal, and it seemed...disrespectful in a way. What if the other party didn’t want any physical contact, but had no choice but to be polite, correct? In a way, he was doing the other person a favour. “Oh, I’m...I’m sorry about the bow.” He said awkwardly, quickly diverting his eyes on the crate he was holding, like it was the most interesting thing in the room. “You...you see, that’s how we greet friends and strangers in Japan.” He said, stealing a glance at his fellow Raveclaw.

Merlin, this is awkward, isn’t it? The awkwardness didn’t last long, because Rachel came in to check up on them. “Hello, Rachel-san.” He said, looking at her and giving her a bow of greeting too. “And thank you. I think we do make a great team, Garreth-san.” He said, letting the honorific slide this time.

While the two discussed the fate of one of the pygmy puffs, Jace diverted his attention to the girl he and Garreth, sort of, rescued. The 11 year old gave her a nod and grin, and watched her make a beeline for Mr. Kitridge. Nope, Jace won’t offer her a pygmy puff. Not after her interesting encounter with it.

Jace was about to speak up, when another man busted inside their common room; a man who is not to be messed with, definitely. Just look at those shoulders! Jace listened, and didn’t dare miss a word. This man...named James Draper meant business. Jace knew he can’t afford to dilly-dally in that man’s class.

And back to the pygmy puffs! Will he be taking care of one? Jace thinks not. He already got Ichiro, and his cat would still be bored even if it had company. “I don’t think it needs much maintenance...just...make sure you keep it caged when you’re sleeping.” Jace said, and then pointed at his nose. Garreth doesn’t need further explanation for that. Jace was sure he’d get what it meant.

Scratches? Jace shook his head in response to Rachel as he shifted the crate he was holding. “Why don’t you pick your pygmy puff now?” he asked both of his fellow firsties and held up the crate toward them.

Oh, they were going to ask Kitridge. Good. Katherine was sure the man would be able to help. But - of course, they didn't know the spell. Katherine mentally reprimanded herself. She had to be considerate until everyone got used to magic.

"I'm Katherine Moss," she said quickly. She had completely forgotten to introduce herself, hadn't she? Well, being tickled had that effect.



See, it didn't take Mr. Kitridge a second to summon the rat! Katherine smiled at her house mates. You're welcome for the idea.

Ooooooh... this was Haddie's way of thanking, then. Katherine held the creature a bit weirdly. This was the first time she was holding an animal of any sort, so she was a bit uncertain. She knew all about pygmy puffs, of course she might have read the CoMC textbook too even though she wouldn't take that subject. Could she really keep it? Feed it? Love it?

At that moment, Professor Draper entered.

Katherine listened caaaaaarefully. He sounded like someone who knew how to do this and Katherine automatically fell in love with such people. So, from what she understood, if she couldn't keep up with the responsibility of taking care of an animal, she should just not adopt the pet in the first place. Then, her eyes fell on the pet again and... no, she didn't want to spare time for it. Lessons were more important. Besides, what if it tried to tickle her again? Just... no.

"I'm sorry Haddie, but I don't think I can look after a pet right now," she said, and looked apologetic as she walked over to place it in the cage.

And just like that, Garreth was going to co-own a pygmy puff with Rachel. The boy had read about them, but he'd never once even considered the possibility of owning one. If he was perfectly honest, he rather more fancied one of the ferrets, but Rachel seemed so smitten with the pygmy puffs that he didn't want to let her down. Besides, if it weren't for her, he still wouldn't be considering getting another pet at all, ferret, pygmy puff, or anything else for that matter. Effie would be jealous, for sure!

Luckily, Garreth had escaped the chaos with very minor injuries. Barely a scar or bruise, with the exception of a gash on his right knee, caused not by a puff or a ferret, but rather by his own idiocy. During the commotion, he had made an attempt to catch one of the critters by hand, and had managed to hurt his knee on the coffee table. He hadn't even noticed until Rachel asked. "Er, well.. I think my knee is bleeding." he scratched his head awkwardly. He shot an apologetic glance at Mr. Kitridge and Professor Draper, as if his injury inconvenienced them terribly.

Turning back towards Jace, he covered his nose at his comment. He hadn't thought of that. What if the puff got out at night and violated the noses of all their friends? Were such creatures even allowed in the dorm? Supposedly they were. Why would Mr. Kitridge offer to let the students keep them if they weren't? What were the rules? Were they different to regular pets? Could you feed them after midnight without them turning into goblins?

All these questions and more raced through the boy's head as he considered the pros and cons of co-owning a puff. It seemed to be a lot more trouble than it was worth, but one look at Rachel's face convinced him otherwise. She seemed so happy that he'd agreed, and the prospect of paying her back for all the good she'd done for him, even in the short time they'd known each other was too good to pass up. "Ah, yes, that's smart." he said to Jace in reply to his advice. He really didn't want his boogers stolen in the night, but there was no going back now. "I'll let Rachel choose." he glanced down at the crate and then over at Rachel.

"Kate Moss?" She seemed to be considering the other girl's name. "Mossy. I like it." It suited the girl, she was kinda mousey, and kinda not. Mossy worked well for that, Haddie thought. And it was a lot cooler, and more unique than Kate was.

Haddie simply shrugged as Mossy placed her puff back in the cage. "It's cool. Don't worry about it." She was too busying eyeing the ferrets. Sure, they were vicious little hamster demons, but she could train one. She was sure of it. And it could be her vicious little hamster demon. But she didn't want to give up the little indigo pygmy puff, either. They had been though much already in the ten or so minutes they'd been together.

She turned back to Katherine, AKA Mossy. "Here, do me a favor and stand here." Haddie gently took Mossy's shoulders and positioned her so that she was blocking both Professors' view of Haddie. Still, she waited until neither of the adults were watching and pretended to put the pygmy puff back in the cage with the other puffs. And with Mossy shielding her from view, slipped the small puff of fuzzy securely into the pocket of her robes. "Thanks," she whispered to the other girl.

No longer needing Mossy to shield her from sight, Haddie stepped around to look at the ferret cages. She picked up a cage with a white ferret with grey and black markings on it inside. "I'm going to keep this one," she announced, when Rachel's voice caught her attention. She was asking Garreth and another boy if they had any scratches or anything, but looking questioningly at Haddie as she did, obviously extending the question to her. Haddie nodded. "Plenty of small bites, but I'm fine."

James looked around the room, trying to remember faces. He didn’t care for names just yet, but faces may be important. Incase there were any future issues with the creatures. And knowing the kids at there school, there always would be. He expected it. The one thing he wasn’t expect, however, was the sudden enthusiasm from that one kid. And the comment. James shot (Rooney) the kid a pointed look. ”Yes.” He wanted to add an ‘obviously’, but control. Here he had thought the blue bunch were supposed to be bright.

”Good question,” but haven’t completely redeemed yourself, kid. ”Ferrets will be the hardest animals to keep.” Out of the bunch of them, obviously. He nodded his head, returning his gaze back to the general lot of them, eyeing all of those with ferrets. ”It’s much like taking care of an incredibly active kitten. They require undivided attention.” Were they willing to give that? Doubtful. ”Their diets consist mostly of raw meats, but kitten food also works if you have any of that.” Though he was sure they could find meat down in the kitchens. The kids were taking notes, yes? James would only say this stuff once. ”You’ve got to train them to use litter boxes, but they’re smart creatures.” Rest assured, this part would take the most patience. ”You have to keep them in their cages when you aren’t around or don’t have time to look after them. They are nosy and they will run away.” Just the facts. Though James was trying to scare them a bit as well. Couldn’t leave the ferrets with the weak at heart. ”I’m sure your Head of House can point you in the direction of further reading material on the subject if you decide to look after one.” Library Loon wouldn’t mind, surely?

His eyes went back to searching the room, when he heard another question by a smaller kid (Garreth). He was sure the inquiry wasn’t meant for him, but James decided to go ahead and address it anyways. These kids looked like they needed all the help they could get. But before he could answer, another tiny eager one (Jacen) was already taking care of it. ”Smart kid,” he nodded. One of the few. ”Puffskeins and Pygmy Puffs hardly require any maintenance. They’re the easy ones.” Just so that everyone heard.

No more questions? Everything understood?

Good. Great.

There was that kid (Garreth) with the bloody knee though. Sweet Circe, why did Leo think this was a grand idea in the first place? ”That’s an easy fix,” he assured the boy as he reached into his pockets. ”For those of you who plan on keeping your pets, please go talk to your Head of House now. As for the rest of you, follow me and we can head over to the barns.” As he said this, he walked over to the bleeding boy and handed him a disinfectant wipe and a band-aid. Generally he’d go with the magic route but since this wasn’t such a big deal… ”This should do,” it wasn’t an animal scratch either from what it looked like. Good news, the boy would live. Congrats.

He also noticed that strange thing that one girl was doing (Haddie), but did he care to investigate? No. If she proved to be an issue, they'd deal with it. But for now, she could be Leo's problem.

Grabbing an abandoned caged ferret, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor made his way towards the exit where he waited for the group to gather before heading out back towards the grounds.

OOC: You don’t have to take your next post to the barn, however, if you want to we’d love to play!

Rachel nodded at Haddie, pleased that her friend was okay. "You should still get them looked at. I'm not sure if those creatures can be rabid or have any illnesses now.'' The point was, Rachel was concerned for both her best friends. Luckily, Professor Draper would take care of Garreth's knee. "Nice choice,'' she called to Haddie in regards to the ferret.

Garreth was such a young gentleman. Rachel smiled her thanks then turned to Jace and the pygmy puffs. "I like the purple ones so I think we can have one of those.'' Her tone was filled with excitement. A purple pygmy puff! Purple was the colour of royalty! "I'll go inform Mr Kitridge of our choice.''

"Mr Kitridge, Garreth and I will co- own a pygmy puff,'' the girl informed her Head of House still very much excited.

While she waited for Davie's reply Ailsa pondered the ferret in her arms for just a moment as Professor Draper showed up and lectured everyone. Of course, despite his lecturing he still took care to help out any injured students, which made her smile a little.

"You'll be happier with a bunch of other polecats around, I know, you don't need to tell me," she said to the ferret as she knelt down to place it in one of the ferret cages, which she then picked up and carried over towards where the Care of Magical Creatures professor was standing.

"You coming along Davie, or are you worried there might be something more frightening than polecats in the barn?" OK, so it wasn't a Haddie level tease, but it was enough for Ailsa. The girl turned to Professor Draper, "I'll help carry these guys - and two girls, it looks like," she added after a slightly more careful study of the caged mustelids, "down to the barn. Might want separate permanent cages unless you need a lot of ferrets for something."

The thought, all those owls up in the owlery have to eat, after all crossed her mind, but she was blessedly able to keep it from crossing her lips. She was rather certain the CoMC professor wouldn't mind, but she couldn't be nearly as sure about her classmates.

Haddie shrugged at her best friend. "I'll be fine," she repeated as she made her way to Kitridge and held up the ash white ferret in its cage. "I'll be keeping this ferret, Mr. Kitridge."

That out of the way, Haddie walked over to the raffle trunk, and pulled out a stuffed eagle toy. Cool. "Come," she said to the ferret and the eagle, "let's make more smores."

"No I won't," Davie protested to this girl who thought she knew everything about him and stuff. Who was she anyway.... oh, her name was Alisa. "David Truebridge," he answered with a respectful nod. She knew her stuff about rats ferrets and puffs.... that was pretty good for a first year, HE SUPPOSED. Most of them hadn't even read Hogwarts, a History though, so he wasn't impressed yet.

He was about to answer her about teaching the spell when Kitridge made his announcement about everything being cleaned up. Oh! And the new Care of Magical Creatures professor was here. Well that was good. No point in putting his puffskein into the cage now; he would just walk it down to the barn with everyone else. The second year nodded to the professor's point and followed the girl over.

"I'm right behind you," he grumbled petulantly. Ugh. Why was she so happy about ferrets? It was weird. And he wasn't afraid of them, either. He liked ALL creatures - except ferrets - and the bigger and scarier they were, the BETTER, okay?!

Still holding the crate for them, Jace did look down and checked on Garreth’s knee. The surprise did things to them, yeah? Luckily, Jace didn’t endure any gash, bruise, or bites from the ferrets and what have you. The Ravenclaw was more determined to keep himself intact, thank you very much.

Jace nodded in understanding, as Garreth told him that he’d let Rachel choose. While Jace showed Rachel the crate, his attention was diverted back to the man who spoke earlier; the man who will be teaching them Creatures this term. The compliment, if it was a compliment and not a sarcastic remark, made the boy really happy. They haven’t officially met the man yet, and there he was being praised and all. However, instead of smiling back at the professor, the half-Japanese gave him a bow of acknowledgement. Jace was too scared to say thanks to him, because the man looked like he was going to eat him, should something stupid come out of his mouth. Besides, compliments like that meant one thing: high expectations. He’s trained long and hard under one sensei to know what it means.

As soon as the man took his exit, Jace turned his attention back to Rachel. After choosing her new pet, Jace carefully scooped up the sleeping purple pygmy puff and placed it on top of Rachel’s head. “All yours!” he beamed at the girl, and gave the puff one last, gentle pat. “I should go help our professor. I suppose he needs all the help he can get.” He said eyeing the pile of cages with ferrets, puffskeins, and pygmy puffs. “You guys can come along too. Garreth-san, can you walk?” Because if he can’t, then he will have to stay behind too. He’s not going to leave his new friend alone you know.

A Band-aid! How quaint! Garreth graciously accepted the aid from the professor and knelt to apply them to his gash. "Thank you, sir!" He would have expected the professors at Hogwarts of all people to jump at the chance to use magic whenever possible. He knew he certainly would have. Maybe, when you work with magic 24/7, it starts to become as everyday as anything else...

Nah.

Aww, what a sweet looking pygmy puff! Rachel had made a good choice! A Wolfsbane purple Pygmy puff. The boy was glad she hadn't chosen a Puffskein after what he'd seen them do. He wondered if the pygmy puff, on account of being related to the puffskein, was capable of something similar, but shrugged off the thought. There was no way... Was there? Eh, whatever, this pygmy thing was happening! He smiled at the girl as she moved towards their head of house to tell him the good news. She was so sweet, and it genuinely warmed Garreth's heart that he could bring a smile to her face.

"Oh no, don't worry, Jace." he smiled up at the other boy at his question. He had winced a little when he applied the disinfectant, but the professor's band-aid covered the gash nicely. It wasn't even that bad anyway. It was his own fault anyway. He was the one who managed to cut his knee on a coffee table. How does that even happen? "I'm fine, it's just a little cut." he reassured his new friend, tapping his finger to his knee.

Looking over at Abby he smiled "Then that ferret is yours Abby. I'll see if I can't copy some reading material on ferrets and their care and habits for you." She'd probably need some tips since ferrets weren't your average pet.



Smiling over Lex and his rats that was exploring the boys robes Leo said "You're welcome Lex. I think it's cool that you own rats. They are smart. Rats know when to flee for cover." There were many times in history that rats had had an impact and been a warning. They fled when bad weather came for one.



Gaze switching to Haddie he said a small smile pursing his lips. "You'll learn that spell in charms class with Professor Primeaux." Next minute Haddie asked something that had him momentarily baffled. Shaking his he said "No, you can't keep five or fifty pygmy puffs. You can keep one pygmy puff Hadley." End of discussion. This tower was not going to turn into a zoo if he could help it.



That was a relief. The spell was a success. Leo had not busted the girl's nose more. Cece would have had a few choice words for him if that had been the case. "You're welcome Azura." he smiled. "Just try to keep your nose out of more accidents." Easier said than done he imagined if Azura was prone to clumsiness.



Smiling over at Austin and the sleeping bright blue pygmy puff he responded. "You can of course keep that little pygmy puff Austin. He seems to already have become fond of you. I'll make sure to bring up some books and such about caring for pygmy puffs. If you think it could be of interest to you all?"



As one of the first year boys rushed over and presented him with the final pygmy puff Leo smiled. "Good work, Garreth right? Do you want to keep the pygmy puff you are holding for yourself?" Otherwise he could put it down gently into one of the cages already full of pygmy puffs.



James arrived and wasted no time to address the eagles and get his thoughts on the matter of the furry creatures across. Echoing some of what Leo had already said. They could only keep one creature each. He was not amused when James appointed him the go-to-person for taking up a list of who wanted to keep what. He'd deal with it. It was a part of being head of a house.

Leo saw the looks he got from James but he chose to ignore them and pretend like it rained. He had not planned this creature attack regardless of what James might think. "Thanks for coming so swiftly Professor Draper. It's very appreciated. I hope you can find a good home for all these lovely furry creatures. I might take a pygmy puff or puffskein if they go along well with a kneazle?"



The girl who spoke to him next had quite a thick accent so it was hard to tell what she was saying but Leo had a good guess. Smiling he gestured to the pygmy puff cages. "You can definitley take a pygmy puff of any colour you want dear, all the ones in the cages need a good home and owner." And Leo thought it was a good idea to let all the students regardless of the year they were in to care for a pet. It would be good for them and teach them responsibility.



Hearing James comment Leo responded as much to his colleague as to all the eagles. "I can find some reading material for the different creatures and bring it up to the common room if you all are interested to learn more?" He'd probably do it anyway, but it was good if the students wanted to expand on their knowledge of creatures.

Leo watched James fix up Garreth's bleeding leg with some expertise before he made to leave with the cages in tow and the students who wanted to come along to the barn on the grounds. "Thanks for all your help Professor Draper. We can discuss who wanted to keep what pets at a later time."



Turning to Rachel that was bubling with excitement Leo beamed. "Of course you can co-own a pygmy puff with with Garreth. You don't want to care for one pygmy puff each?" There were certainly plenty of pygmy puffs to go around.



The last come up to him wishing to keeping a creature was Haddie. Smiling at her Leo said "Of course you can keep the ferret Hadley. It needs lots of care and attention. I think you can handle that." It remained to be seen though. He'd keep an eye on her given how she had acted at the feast and earlier today in the library.

OOC: I'm so happy everyone has enjoyed this furry part to the event. If you want to play in the Barn with Prof Draper (ArianaBlack) i urge you to do so. This thread will remain open until tuesday evening GMT+1 for those who want to keep rpying in here with their new furry friends, roast food or just hang out and get to know their peers and head of house better.

Haddie gave Kitridge her patented flat stare and stated matter-of-fact, "Yes, I can handle that." She rolled her eyes, and made her way to the fire. She wanted a few more smores before Astronomy class.

But first, she picked up the two way mirror from her Mom and carried it up to her dorm room. She'd drop that off, with her stuffed eagle and the... little birthday present she'd just gotten herself. Once they were secure in her space, she returned, still with her ferret, in its cage and began making herself a smore.

The ferret seemed to be very friendly to her, which was a good sign, but as much as she wanted to take him out of him out of his cage, she didn't. They'd just finished catching them all, and she didn't feel like chasing him around the common room tonight. They'd bond another time.