Song Jaemin was officially twelve. He'd waited all day, bouncing more than normal as he went through his classes as patiently as possible, and now it was time. He was going to the kitchen and he was gonna ask the house elves for a cupcake made SPECIALLY for him for his birthday, since this was his first one away from home. He didn't need a whole cake... just one little chocolate cupcake with sugary strawberry icing and a cherry on top.

The racket, however, was audible from the hall, and the small boy frowned deeply. What was going on... were the house elves having a fight? He was suddenly a bit apprehensive about going in, but... his birthday... he haaaaad to. The small boy stepped inside, and froze where he stood. All of the colour drained from his face, and he stared at the small creatures rushing around the kitchen in absolute awe.

"NIFFLERS!" he screamed suddenly, pointing at them as they ran amok. "OH MY MERLIN."

This was so much better than a cupcake. The small boy immediately started running around the kitchen, hands out as he tried to catch one. THIS WAS HIS CHANCE.

She wanted some cookies pretty badly. Badly enough to walk all the way to the kitchen from the Ravenclaw first year girl's dorm. So that should tell you how much she was craving cookies. Oh, and she needed more meat for Asher, her ferret. That too. Totally didn't forget about that. Nope.

Crash! Bang! Clatter! Or not...

Still curiosity got the better of Haddie. It always did. She approached the kitchen and peeked her head in, only for it to occur to her at that second that someone might assume, naturally, that this was her doing. "I had no par...What the heck?" She blinked in confusion at the chaos that was happening. And a little bit of awe.

Oh, there was Jaemin, her dueling buddy. Haddie entered and stopped along side the first year Slytherin. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail and whipped back and forth as she took it all in. The ends of her hair were dyed a rainbow of pastel colors, courtesy of the salon in Hogsmeade. "You're doing?" she asked. If it was, he was gonna get the biggest congratulatory high-five she could give. No doubt about tha...wait. "Are those tiny elephants, eating forks?" And spoons, and knives and any other cutlery they could find. But most importantly, were those tiny elephants?

Of course it wasn't his doing! If Jaemin had this many nifflers, he definitely wouldn't be chasing them around the kitchen. He'd have them in his dorm, for snuggling and general happiness. That was what nifflers were for. He looked up at the familiar voice, eyes settling on Haddie for a half a second before he took off after a niffler that ran across his foot.

"They're NIFFLERS!" he yelled happily, bent over and grabbing after one as he chased it. Oh my Merlin, he had to catch one. "I need one Haddie, HELP ME!"

It would be a tragedy if they all escaped and he hadn't caught one! He'd waited all his life three years for something like this to happen. He loved Sniffler a lot, but he needed one of these nifflers. They were his hedgehog's namesake! He dove under the table after one, just narrowly missing it as it ran off with a fork. Why were they so hard to catch?! This just wasn't fair!

Either way though...

"This is the best birthday present ever!"

Haddie stood there, not moving. She was pointing vaguely at the craziness around them, as if piecing something together. "Weird. The same thing happened to me on my birthday. Only it was ferrets and pygmy puffs." And now it was happening for Jaemin on his birthday. As far as she knew they were the only two kids here that got pets for their birthday from the school itself. Wonder what that could mean?

She tried, and failed to suppress her laughter at the sight of Jaemin rushing around trying to catch one. "Hopeless." Haddie threw up her hands in mock exasperation and shook her head. "I can't believe a lost to you. Use your wand, dummy." She grinned, and rolled her eyes at him as she took out her black with silver and gold inlaid wand. "Accio niffler!" One of the nifflers slide several feet in her direction, then took off again. "Still trying to get that one down," she confessed. Okay, let's try, "Carpe Retractum!" That did the trick. The niffler she'd been aiming at was snatched up by the golden rope and hurled toward Haddie. Then, up and over her head, landing with a plunk on the counter behind her. It took off again without seeming to care it was just flung across the room. "So, that works. You just need to stand right over there and catch the next one. Try using that pot to catch it in!"

It really wasn't Jaemin's fault that he didn't think to use his wand. After all... he was twelve now, yes, but he was still a first year, and he still didn't think about magic first when it came to catching things! And he hadn't had much luck with the seize and pull charm in Magical Creatures class. He skidded to a halt, however, when Haddie started casting spells... he didn't want to get in the way, and it would probably be so much easier even if chasing them around was an awful lot of fun.

"They're really quick! I didn't think nifflers would be that quick!" he said excitedly, watching as her spell pulled one a bit. When the little creature took off again, he watched it with an almost yearning look on his face. "They're so cute, I want to keep all of them..."

Oh my Merlin YES. Haddie could catch them with the seize and pull charm! Jaemin bolted back to where the niffler had landed, grabbing a handful of silverware that was yet untaken because his entrance had disturbed the small creatures. He threw it into the pot, wincing a little at the clanging sounds before picking it up and holding it at the ready. Lots of shiny stuff all ready for the niffler! It wouldn't be upset about being in the pot if it had shinies!

"Go go go!" he yelled, bouncing and grinning, his knees slightly bent so he would be prepared to move in whatever direction was necessary when she grabbed another. "I'm ready!"

Haddie glanced back at him with a devious little grin that showed she was enjoying herself way too much. But how could she not? "How many do you want?" A bit over confident maybe, but she was really good with the seize and pull charm. Just ask Ilya.

Haddie aimed her wand at a random niffler, tracking it as it ran. "Carpe retractum!" The niffler went soaring over her head and thunked into the pot. "Holy carp, that worked... I mean, of course it worked..." She aimed for another one, tracking it like she did the first. Let's see if they could get two for two. "Carpe retraaaaaaah!" A niffler leapt for Haddie's wand, attracted by the shiny silver and gold inlaid design she had done over the break. It only just missed because Haddie had jerked her hand away, startled by the sudden movement in her periphery. But the niffler wasn't about to give up. And neither were its friends apparently. It was done so recently that not a smudge of tarnish had yet dulled the wands sparkle. That made Kira, her wand, the shiniest thing in the room.

Of course Haddie didn't know that. She held Kira up as high as she could, keeping it out of reach, for now at least. "Uh... what's happening? Why are they trying to steal Kira!?"

How many did he want? Was that really a question that needed to be asked?! "All of them!"

Sure, his dorm had other people in it and was probably not big enough for all these nifflers. Sure, there were a lot of things in his dorm room that would likely get snatched up by the nifflers, and even more things in the common room itself that would get grabbed up. But that was all logistics, which could be figured out later. Right now, he just knew that he wanted to be in a warm, snuggly, shiny-stealing niffler pile. He deserved it.

Aaaaaaand one in the pot! Jaemin let out the loudest, most excited yell of his life. The small creature seemed dazed for a moment as it rolled around in the pot to get back on its feet; the sides were just tall enough to keep it in, luckily, and it had no chance of escaping once it was in the pot.

It looked up at him with inquisitive eyes, and that was it. Jaemin was in love with this tiny creature, so enamoured that he would never ever ever be able to let it go. He stared into the pot with a giant grin on his face, resisting the need to bounce in excitement so he wouldn't jostle the poor little thing.

Haddie's shout drew his attention, albeit very slowly, and he looked up to see what she was doing now. One of the nifflers was after her wand? And then... more of them... Oh Merlin.

"They like shiny stuff, Haddie!" he yelled, setting the pot down carefully on the counter so it wouldn't get knocked over before rushing over to Haddie. He grabbed her wand from her hand hurriedly as a niffler jumped at it, looking around for a place to hide it. No such place, not in here where the nifflers had wreaked havoc. He looked at her, wide-eyed, before grabbing the neck of her shirt and stuffing her wand right down it. "You gotta hide it or they'll take it!"

Now that he had a niffler in a pot, he was slowly realising that the kitchen was absolutely a mess. Every fiber of his tiny being was insisting that they stay and catch more nifflers, because he wanted moooooore, but...

"...we should probably go find a professor."

Before there were was no kitchen left to produce food for the students come morning.

SPOILER!!: Austin! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by keepmeclose22

"They do seem like they're going to be good. Plus, you were an awesome help." He was actually excited for these cookies. When he first came down to the kitchen, he only wanted to clear his mind. To get a break from his studying for his O.W.L.S. Little did he know he'd make a friend today.

"These all sound amazing. I really need to look into this. Especially for my sister." His sister was the princess of the house. If she knew there were stories of princesses, especially one that cleaned before becoming a princess, she'd go crazy. He could imagine it: she'd sit there in one of his baking aprons and sponge, scrubbing the floor. At least they'd get a clean floor out of it. "My sister's turning four at the end of the school year. Her name's Lucy." He gave a small smile. "Do you have any siblings?"

He glanced at the oven, checking on the cookies. Just a few more minutes now, and they could take them out and add the chocolate and marshmallows.

Rachel smiled, he eyes lighting up at the complement. "Thank you, kind Sir.'' She gave Austin another curtsy. "I think you're quite wonderful yourself and I would love to bake more goodies with you sometime.'' Could it be that she had found herself a baking partner at Hogwarts?

"You definitely need to. You can read her the books and watch the movies with her.'' Rachel found absoloutely nothing wrong with boys showing an interest in the Princesses, especially if they were doing it for a sibling. "Lucy is quite a lovely name. I hope I can meet her someday. No, I'm an only child. My mommy couldn't have anymore children and she and daddy briefly though about adopting but they became busy with their careers.'' Rachel would have loved to be an older sister but she never grew up feeling lonely.

The girl sniffed the air. "It sure smells delicious.'' Would the cookies be done soon? She really wanted to add the chocolate and marshmallows.

Abby smiled and said "Yeah maybe they are just busy but maybe that could happen just need to see if i run into the two of them soon" Abby liked Hady cause she always gave friendly advice

They've left only a mess and (the blame for it) in their wake....

TThe next few moments were a whirlwind of confusion activity. Haddie was being swarmed by nifflers, then her wand was gone. "Hey!" Jaemin was running around frantic, but before she could react further to him taking her wand, it was down her shirt? She stood there, flustered for a fraction of second, then nodded her thanks. He had just saved Kira, and herself from the nifflers (mostly Kira), after all. Sure it might have been a bit unorthodox, but it worked. The nifflers were ignoring her again, rushing around the kitchen in their search for anything shiny.

Yeah, getting a professor might be a good idea, but... "Don't you want to at least catch another one?" Because she totally had an idea on how to do just that, that didn't put her wand in danger. Haddie was muggle-born, after all. She had ample practice in coming up with non-magical solutions to things. But if Jaemin was content with his one niffler, she'd leave it at that.

The nearest professors were probably on the first floor. If they were in their offices at least. "We can check Professor Hirsch's office first," Haddie suggested. "So we're not wandering around aimlessly." She was backing toward the kitchen door watching the mayhem around them. Sure, Sour Drapes was the most logical choice, given he was the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, but no thank you. She was not voluntarily going to that man for any sort of help. Especially, since he'd been no help to her last time there was a crisis. Besides, he'd probably not let Jaemin keep his nifffler. No, not probably. He definitely wouldn't.

CLANG! Haddie turned in time to see the pot holding Jaemin's niffler topple over and his pet run free, escaping into the stampeding herd of its brethren. No, no, no! Jaemin was not losing his pet on his birthday! Haddie wasn't going to allow it. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her plan B. A small closed compact mirror. The shiniest thing ever when it catches the light right. Haddie grabbed the overturned pot, and any other pots she could find, stacking them on each other so that the top of the niffler's pot was level with one of the counters. Then she opened the compact mirror and rested it on the pots handle, on the opposite side of the pot, and fidgeted with it until it caught the light, and shone brilliantly. The mirror, reflecting the light, would draw a niffler in, which would then fall into the pot as it tried to get to the mirror.

SPOILER!!: Abby

Abby smiled and said "Yeah maybe they are just busy but maybe that could happen just need to see if i run into the two of them soon" Abby liked Hady cause she always gave friendly advice.

Breaking another chocolate chip cookie in half and dunking it into her milk, Hady smiled. "With everything that's happened already this term I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if they're both just very busy." It happened. A lot. To all of them. Herself very much included in this. Taking a bite of her now milk soaked cookie, chewing, then swallowing she nodded her head. "If you don't see them soon you could always send them an owl." Easiest way right there to get in touch with someone when you didn't want to search everywhere for them.

Abby nodded and smiled and said "Yeah your right there Hady i suppose i could always just send them an owl if i don't see them anytime soon"

Very suddenly, going for a professor was the absolute last thing that mattered. It mattered so very little that Jaemin's legs decided that they were never leaving the kitchen. Because the clanging of the pot falling signaled the happening of the most tragic event in Song Jaemin's entire life. The small boy had been turning back in that direction, because he had been set on picking up the pot to carry around with him as they looked for a professor. When the small creatures seemed to rise up en masse to knock it over, the poor little boy just... froze.

Absolutely froze.

His new pet was gone, into the fray of now escaping nifflers. The saddest "nooo" in the world escaped him, and his hands went up as if holding them out would somehow summon a niffler into them, but everything was suddenly blank and quiet and he didn't quite know how to react to this TRAGEDY that had just befallen him. They were leaving, scurrying around faster than Sniffler ever had. He couldn't just... let them go...

He made a small, sad, strangled sound and lurched into motion after them, again trying to snatch one up with his hands before fumbling to pull his wand out. "C-Carpe retractum," he yelled, his voice cracking a bit as a little golden rope shot out and hit the floor where a niffler had been the half-second before. They couldn't just... this wasn't faaaaaaair. It was his birthday, didn't they know that?! Why was Hogwarts so MEAN?! He gave it one more try, not able to spare any focus on Haddie and what she was doing at the moment as he tried to catch at least one of the retreating nifflers.

This was so the last straw. He was the most done with Hogwarts that was possible.

They weren't taking the bait? They weren't taking the bait!!! Oh, sure. Her wand they wanted, but an even more shiny expendable mirror and they're all Oh no, we're good thanks. Freaking ingrates! And poor Jaemin. He looked so sad and heartbroken. Unacceptable! She was not going to allow it!

Haddie wasn't entirely sure why she cared so much. Jaemin was a friend, sure. It was also his birthday, so that probably helped. But still, she hadn't known him all that long. Yet she did care a lot. A lot a lot. There was no time to even ponder on that though. The nifflers were getting away.

Haddie dug her wand out of her shirt as she ran up to Jaemin. The last niffler vanished from sight just as she aimed her wand. Seize and pull wouldn't work, but hope was not lost. "Accio niffler!" Sure enough a niffler appeared, being dragged backwards across the floor by an invisible force. A foot closer to them. Two feet closer. "Grab it Jaemin!" But it was too late. The spell broke and the niffler sprinted away again. Haddie ran after it, but it was gone again before she even reach the spot her summoning spell broke.

"Wait! Come back," she yelled after it. "We have plenty more shiny stuff for you if you...come back." The blonde American eagle sighed and turned back to Jaemin. He looked so sad that even Haddie's heart was breaking. She had the strongest urge to give him a comforting hug, but fought it, because, well, that just felt awkward and they really only knew each other for a short time and... no, that was it.

Haddie glanced between the area the nifflers all vanished in and her friend futilely. She felt helpless. This couldn't be the end of it. It was just too cruel and unfair. Haddie decided then that it wouldn't be the end. She wouldn't allow it. "Jaemin Song," she said. Her voice was determined and confident and defiant, like she was the star of an action movie at the moment when she took on the mission to kick the bad guy's butt and save the day/city/world. And not some first year witch on a mission to get a friend a pet. "I will find a way to get you a niffler." Mark her words. Mark them.

He couldn't even be a Sad Sack while standing up right now. As the last of the nifflers disappeared, Jaemin just flopped down into a little pile on the kitchen floor, legs splayed out in front of him as he sat there. This was awful. This was the absolute worst birthday ever. How could they all be gone? There had been so many and he hadn't managed to get even one...

"I didn't even get to pet them," he said mournfully, staring at a rubber spatula that had been abandoned on the floor a few feet away from him. "Not a single one."

This school was the worst. The students were threatened with being eaten, or poisoned, or given an army of the creatures they wanted most in the world only to have them all get away without even being allowed to touch a single one. What kind of school would do this to a poor first year?! Why had his father been so excited about this place?! It didn't make any sense at all. Oh suuuuure. There was learning, and friendship, and all those other things that Hogwarts yielded. But what did that matter when Song Jaemin didn't have a niffler to snuggle????

He looked up at Haddie and bit his lower lip hard to try and keep his sadness at least a little in check. It wasn't working very well though. He was still the saddest little boy who had ever turned twelve years old.

"Thanks for trying..." she had tried really hard, too. It was nice, much nicer than she needed to be to him even if they were friends now.

Ordinarily, Haddie would have made an excuse to leave and then left. Pity parties weird her out. She never knew what to say or do, often making it worse, and spent the whole time feeling uncomfortable and wishing she was anywhere else. But she felt like she couldn't leave Jaemin like this. The boy did beat her in a pretty epic, in her mind, duel. He was tougher than this. So in her most uncharacteristic move this year, Haddie stayed.

Of course that didn't exactly mean she was gonna let this continue. No way. No how. She marched up to him, towering over the sitting boy defiantly. "No." It was almost an order. "Nope. You are not throwing yourself a pity party. I won't allow it." Did her tone effectively convey that he didn't have a choice in that? She thought so. "Nor are you giving up." Haddie grabbed his arm and tugged, trying to drag Jaemin to his feet. "I'm not giving up, so you can't either. Okay, so you didn't get one today, but you will. You will have your niffler before you graduate Hogwarts! But only if you get up now and actually enjoy your birthday. You can't let setbacks ruin it for you, or you'll never get your niffler and never learn the patronus charm, or anything else."

She wasn't having luck dragging him to his feet. The least he could do was help her out a little by, you know, getting up himself. She was taller than him, and older than him by almost half a year. It shouldn't be this hard to drag him to his feet. She let go of his arm. "So you are gonna get up. Come on. You are gonna decide that nothing will stop you from getting a niffler. And we are gonna go and have fun on your birthday. Got it? Plus you know, my neighbor loves magical creatures and works with them. He wants of starting a rescue for hippopota-somethings... So he probably knows a way for you to get a niffler, but I'm not gonna ask if you don't get up and enjoy your birthday."

Haddie sure was insistent. Jay looked up at her when she started talking, a little surprised by how... pushy she was being. It didn't bother him, but it didn't stop him from feeling sad, either. He'd had a niffler in a pot in his hands and now it was gone, and he hadn't even gotten to pet it. For something like that to happen, not just in general but on his birthday, was just the worst.

"I came to ask the house elves for a cupcake, since I'm not home... mom usually has a cupcake for me." he looked around the kitchen, scratching the back of his head and standing as she kept tugging at him arm. Fiiiiiiiiine... he'd be a Sad Sack while on his feet. "But now the kitchen is all messed up..."

Which meant no cupcakes. And no nifflers. His expression went a bit sour.

"So far this birthday stinks." He was pretty sure her neighbour wouldn't just... give him a niffler, either. Adults didn't do that. They did that whole responsibility thing, which meant small boys never got happiness. MEHHHHH.

SPOILER!!: Abby

Abby nodded and smiled and said "Yeah your right there Hady i suppose i could always just send them an owl if i don't see them anytime soon"

It was nice being right. Especially when you were right about something concerning a friend. In this case it wasn't all that hard to come up with her little idea if one could even call it that. Hady smiled at Abby and nodded her head. "Anytime." She was always available for talking, studying or whatever. Little breaks between school work were always a welcomed thing.

Abby smiled and said "You are such a good friend to me Hady which is why i can rely on talking to you about things and i will always come to you if i ever need to talk about anything"

Before Austin could respond to anything, the timer made a [i]ding[i]ing sound. He put on one of the oven mitts, took out the half baked cookies, and set them on the counter. "Time for the best part, which is the Chocolate! And marshmallows. But the chocolate is important." He grabbed a handful of marshmallows, plopped a few in his mouth, and put three of them on each indent cookie. Three was enough, yes?

"Maybe over the summer. I'm sure I'll have to watch her. Maybe I'll bring her to Diagon Alley sometime." She wouldn't have a use for most of the shops, but there was an ice cream parlor, and she did love ice cream. They could all hang out this summer. And Rachel could tell Lucy the stories of these fine princesses.

"You're mom sounds like a lovely lady." He said after a few moments. "Mine passed away a few months ago. But it's alright. I've got my little sister to look after." He flashed one of his infamous smiles at her. Hopefully his little comment wouldn't ruin the mood. If anything, they had chocolate, so there was no way they were staying sad for long.

SPOILER!!: Abby

Abby smiled and said "You are such a good friend to me Hady which is why i can rely on talking to you about things and i will always come to you if i ever need to talk about anything"

Finishing off the last bite of her cookie Hady smiled at her friend. "Thanks Abby that means a lot to hear. I try my best to be a good friend and listen to everyone when I can." It was true. Even if she had no idea what to do and all that she was capable of was listening then that was what she did. Knowing that the older girl was around if ever she needed to talk was nice. "I'll remember that, thanks." Picking up her glass of milk she drank what was left of it before putting the glass and her cookie plate into the sick.

Abby smiled and said "Yeah that is good Hady and that is why i like you because your a really good friend of mine"

SPOILER!!: Abby

Abby smiled and said "Yeah that is good Hady and that is why i like you because your a really good friend of mine"

"And you're a good friend of mine," she smiled over her shoulder at Abby before returning to cleaning the glass and plate she had used. There wasn't another at all wrong in cleaning up after herself and saving the house elves a little bit of work. She didn't think they would mind it.

Abby smiled at Hady and said "Yeah i know Hady i am going to miss you when i graduate"