Drabble Challenge #91 & Ficlet Challenge #64
Title: Today on Care of Magical Creatures...
Summary: For Drabble Challenge #91: Who doesn't love Nifflers?
Characters/Pairings: Hagrid, Ginny Weasley, Colin Creevey, random Ravenclaw boy
Genre: Gen
Rating/Warnings: G; fun fluffy creatures + dental pain
Word Count: 377
“Gather ‘round, gather ‘round,” boomed Hagrid as he waved the children closer with his giant hands. “Yeh’ve got to get closer to see!”
Ginny Weasley and the other students in her class walked forward, hesitantly, afraid of what new horror would be unleashed on their Care of Magical Creatures class. After Hippogryffs and Blast-Ended Skrewts, they felt nothing was safe.
But scurrying around Hagrid’s boat-sized feet were about a dozen small, furry creatures that looked more like little dogs with long noses.
Hagrid explained that they were Nifflers, handly little creatures that could find gold for their owners. Ginny picked one up and giggled as it nuzzled her neck.
“These are so cute, Hagrid!” She beamed up at him, happy for a peaceful lesson for once.
She had heard about the Nifflers from Harry and Ron when they learned about them the previous year, and she was happy that they lived up to her expectations. It was a fun lesson, following the Nifflers around the grounds as they burrowed into the ground and popped back up with a knut or two that Hagrid had hidden.
By the end of the lesson, Ginny was starting to think that Magical Creatures weren’t that bad at all, and maybe she had been too harsh in judging their previous lessons.
She was returning to Hagrid’s Hut, her Niffler tucked under her arm and her pockets laden with knuts, when someone ran past her, screaming.
Curious, she ran after them, stopping as they reached Hagrid.
“Take it away!” a boy from Ravenclaw, whose name Ginny didn’t know, was yelling.
Hagrid, a look of confusion on his face, gingerly took the Niffler from the boy. The boy still looked furious, glaring at Hagrid as though he’d like to punch him in the face.
After the lesson, Ginny was walking back up to the castle with Colin Creevey, her friend and fellow Gryffindor.
“Honestly,” she was saying, “who doesn’t love Nifflers? They’re cute and fuzzy and they bring you stuff!”
Colin grimaced. “I suppose I wouldn’t love them if they were trying to rip the gold fillings out of my teeth.”
The Ravenclaw boy walked past them, his hand protectively covering his mouth.
“Ouch,” said Ginny, cringing.
“But Colin, what are fillings?”
Title: A Rubber Bird Thing
Summary: There’s a bird thing loose in the common room and Draco might have lost his mind. For Ficlet Challenge #64: A penguin in the Slytherin common room?
Characters/Pairings: Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, a penguin
Genre: Humor
Rating/Warnings: G; silliness and very odd penguins
Word Count: 852
A loud crash echoed across the Slytherin common room. Up in his dormitory, Draco Malfoy sat up so fast that he nearly fell off his bed.
What on earth was going on out there? He furrowed his brow in frustration. He had been having the most marvelous dream. He had just soundly beaten Harry Potter at Quidditch, finding the Snitch in about thirty seconds while Potter flew around like a drunken idiot, slamming into the grandstands. A scout from the Falmouth Falcons had just come up to him and was about to offer him a million Galleon contract to be their star Seeker when the sound woke him up.
“Crabbe! Goyle!” he whispered. He heard only snores in response.
He sighed. He had picked the worst lackeys ever. Not only were they dumb as poles, but they slept through everything. Draco was pretty sure the castle could cave in and crush the dungeons and those idiots would keep on sleeping.
Groaning, he climbed out of bed and headed to the common room, deciding at the last minute to take his wand along with him.
The crashes grew louder as he tiptoed closer to the common room. Draco held his breath, holding his wand up in a defensive position before jumping into the common room with what he thought was a terrifying yell.
“Grrrrrrrr-aaaaaah!”
His yell turned to a squeak as he looked around the common room.
All the armchairs were flipped over, cushions strewn here and there. Books, pieces of parchment, quills, all were scattered across the room.
And in the middle of it was a small black and white creature, that looked a bit like a fat bird made of rubber.
It looked at him, cocked its head to the side and simply said, “Meep!”
Draco let his wand arm fall down to his side. “What in Merlin’s name are you?”
It cocked its head to the other side, clearly finding Draco very interesting. “Meep meep!”
Draco took a tentative step forward. The rubber bird thing watched him with wide eyes.
Deciding that it was just a harmless, yet hyperactive, bird thing, Draco exhaled. “You’re not so scary, are you?” he whispered, holding his hand out to the bird.
The bird waddled over, its big eyes looking curiously up at him.
And then it clamped its beak down on his hand.
“Gaaaahhhhhhh!” Draco yelled in pain. He tried to pull his hand out of its beak but the bird held on tight.
His eyes watering, he stopped moving. “Please let go,” he whimpered.
The bird stared at him for a moment, and then, apparently bored with chewing on his hand, let go. It waddled over to a bookshelf and hopped up, flapping its wings and throwing more books on the floor.
Draco cradled his red and swollen hand, glaring at the bird.
“Meep! Meep meep meep!” it squeaked, throwing things randomly on the floor.
Too tired to go back to his bed (and not trusting to leave the bird thing alone), Draco turned one of the armchairs back over and curled up in it.
He was woken a few hours later by the sudden cries of his fellow housemates.
“What happened in here?!”
“It looks like a tornado came through!”
“Draco, Draco wake up,” whispered Pansy, shaking him gently.
He yawned. “Hi Pansy. What’s everyone yelling about?”
She looked at him like that was the stupidest question in the world. “Um, look around.”
Draco sat up and stretched his arms over his head as he surveyed the room. He had forgotten about the mess from the night before. “Oh, that...”
“Great job, Malfoy,” sneered one of the older students.
“What, you think I did this?”
“You’re the only one here!”
“But, but it was the bird thing!”
The other students laughed. “Bird thing?”
“Yea, this black and white rubber bird thing. It hopped around and flapped its wings and went ‘Meep meep!’ “ Draco hopped up and imitated the bird from the night before.
“I think we better take you to the hospital wing,” muttered Pansy, ignoring the rude comments from the other students. “You must have hit your head or something.”
“It’s true, I’m telling you!” he shouted, as Crabbe and Goyle helped Pansy to drag him from the common room. “There was a bird here! It went ‘meep meep!’ and knocked everything down!”
He stumbled over a book as they tried to pull him out into the corridor. He looked down at the page it had fallen open to. There was a picture of a bird, just like the one he saw the night before, with the heading “Penguin.”
“That’s it!” he cried, pointing down at the book. “It was a penguin!”
The other students continued to laugh at him as he was pulled to the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey couldn’t find anything wrong with him, so she gave him something for shock and some potion to give him a dreamless sleep.
But right before he drifted off to sleep, a little black and white face popped up next to his bed and gave him a soft “Meep meep!”
377/30 + 5 for challenge = 13 + 5 = 18 points
852/30 + 5 for challenge = 28 + 5 = 33 points
51 points for Hufflepuff!!!
Summary: For Drabble Challenge #91: Who doesn't love Nifflers?
Characters/Pairings: Hagrid, Ginny Weasley, Colin Creevey, random Ravenclaw boy
Genre: Gen
Rating/Warnings: G; fun fluffy creatures + dental pain
Word Count: 377
“Gather ‘round, gather ‘round,” boomed Hagrid as he waved the children closer with his giant hands. “Yeh’ve got to get closer to see!”
Ginny Weasley and the other students in her class walked forward, hesitantly, afraid of what new horror would be unleashed on their Care of Magical Creatures class. After Hippogryffs and Blast-Ended Skrewts, they felt nothing was safe.
But scurrying around Hagrid’s boat-sized feet were about a dozen small, furry creatures that looked more like little dogs with long noses.
Hagrid explained that they were Nifflers, handly little creatures that could find gold for their owners. Ginny picked one up and giggled as it nuzzled her neck.
“These are so cute, Hagrid!” She beamed up at him, happy for a peaceful lesson for once.
She had heard about the Nifflers from Harry and Ron when they learned about them the previous year, and she was happy that they lived up to her expectations. It was a fun lesson, following the Nifflers around the grounds as they burrowed into the ground and popped back up with a knut or two that Hagrid had hidden.
By the end of the lesson, Ginny was starting to think that Magical Creatures weren’t that bad at all, and maybe she had been too harsh in judging their previous lessons.
She was returning to Hagrid’s Hut, her Niffler tucked under her arm and her pockets laden with knuts, when someone ran past her, screaming.
Curious, she ran after them, stopping as they reached Hagrid.
“Take it away!” a boy from Ravenclaw, whose name Ginny didn’t know, was yelling.
Hagrid, a look of confusion on his face, gingerly took the Niffler from the boy. The boy still looked furious, glaring at Hagrid as though he’d like to punch him in the face.
After the lesson, Ginny was walking back up to the castle with Colin Creevey, her friend and fellow Gryffindor.
“Honestly,” she was saying, “who doesn’t love Nifflers? They’re cute and fuzzy and they bring you stuff!”
Colin grimaced. “I suppose I wouldn’t love them if they were trying to rip the gold fillings out of my teeth.”
The Ravenclaw boy walked past them, his hand protectively covering his mouth.
“Ouch,” said Ginny, cringing.
“But Colin, what are fillings?”
Title: A Rubber Bird Thing
Summary: There’s a bird thing loose in the common room and Draco might have lost his mind. For Ficlet Challenge #64: A penguin in the Slytherin common room?
Characters/Pairings: Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, a penguin
Genre: Humor
Rating/Warnings: G; silliness and very odd penguins
Word Count: 852
A loud crash echoed across the Slytherin common room. Up in his dormitory, Draco Malfoy sat up so fast that he nearly fell off his bed.
What on earth was going on out there? He furrowed his brow in frustration. He had been having the most marvelous dream. He had just soundly beaten Harry Potter at Quidditch, finding the Snitch in about thirty seconds while Potter flew around like a drunken idiot, slamming into the grandstands. A scout from the Falmouth Falcons had just come up to him and was about to offer him a million Galleon contract to be their star Seeker when the sound woke him up.
“Crabbe! Goyle!” he whispered. He heard only snores in response.
He sighed. He had picked the worst lackeys ever. Not only were they dumb as poles, but they slept through everything. Draco was pretty sure the castle could cave in and crush the dungeons and those idiots would keep on sleeping.
Groaning, he climbed out of bed and headed to the common room, deciding at the last minute to take his wand along with him.
The crashes grew louder as he tiptoed closer to the common room. Draco held his breath, holding his wand up in a defensive position before jumping into the common room with what he thought was a terrifying yell.
“Grrrrrrrr-aaaaaah!”
His yell turned to a squeak as he looked around the common room.
All the armchairs were flipped over, cushions strewn here and there. Books, pieces of parchment, quills, all were scattered across the room.
And in the middle of it was a small black and white creature, that looked a bit like a fat bird made of rubber.
It looked at him, cocked its head to the side and simply said, “Meep!”
Draco let his wand arm fall down to his side. “What in Merlin’s name are you?”
It cocked its head to the other side, clearly finding Draco very interesting. “Meep meep!”
Draco took a tentative step forward. The rubber bird thing watched him with wide eyes.
Deciding that it was just a harmless, yet hyperactive, bird thing, Draco exhaled. “You’re not so scary, are you?” he whispered, holding his hand out to the bird.
The bird waddled over, its big eyes looking curiously up at him.
And then it clamped its beak down on his hand.
“Gaaaahhhhhhh!” Draco yelled in pain. He tried to pull his hand out of its beak but the bird held on tight.
His eyes watering, he stopped moving. “Please let go,” he whimpered.
The bird stared at him for a moment, and then, apparently bored with chewing on his hand, let go. It waddled over to a bookshelf and hopped up, flapping its wings and throwing more books on the floor.
Draco cradled his red and swollen hand, glaring at the bird.
“Meep! Meep meep meep!” it squeaked, throwing things randomly on the floor.
Too tired to go back to his bed (and not trusting to leave the bird thing alone), Draco turned one of the armchairs back over and curled up in it.
He was woken a few hours later by the sudden cries of his fellow housemates.
“What happened in here?!”
“It looks like a tornado came through!”
“Draco, Draco wake up,” whispered Pansy, shaking him gently.
He yawned. “Hi Pansy. What’s everyone yelling about?”
She looked at him like that was the stupidest question in the world. “Um, look around.”
Draco sat up and stretched his arms over his head as he surveyed the room. He had forgotten about the mess from the night before. “Oh, that...”
“Great job, Malfoy,” sneered one of the older students.
“What, you think I did this?”
“You’re the only one here!”
“But, but it was the bird thing!”
The other students laughed. “Bird thing?”
“Yea, this black and white rubber bird thing. It hopped around and flapped its wings and went ‘Meep meep!’ “ Draco hopped up and imitated the bird from the night before.
“I think we better take you to the hospital wing,” muttered Pansy, ignoring the rude comments from the other students. “You must have hit your head or something.”
“It’s true, I’m telling you!” he shouted, as Crabbe and Goyle helped Pansy to drag him from the common room. “There was a bird here! It went ‘meep meep!’ and knocked everything down!”
He stumbled over a book as they tried to pull him out into the corridor. He looked down at the page it had fallen open to. There was a picture of a bird, just like the one he saw the night before, with the heading “Penguin.”
“That’s it!” he cried, pointing down at the book. “It was a penguin!”
The other students continued to laugh at him as he was pulled to the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey couldn’t find anything wrong with him, so she gave him something for shock and some potion to give him a dreamless sleep.
But right before he drifted off to sleep, a little black and white face popped up next to his bed and gave him a soft “Meep meep!”
377/30 + 5 for challenge = 13 + 5 = 18 points
852/30 + 5 for challenge = 28 + 5 = 33 points
51 points for Hufflepuff!!!