Chapter Text
There was a thief in the Hufflepuff dormitories. Traps had been set by the teachers. A warren of nifflers had apparently come up in the kitchens, and had started by stealing cutlery. Then they had got out into the dormitory nearby, and started to cause complete chaos. Some of the older students had lost currency, watches, jewellery – and the teachers had got the treasure back by destroying the nifflers. The mother had been first to go, and when the boy had tried to protest he had been told not to be silly. These creatures were pests. Vermin. Now, there was only one of them left. The runt of the litter.
The boy, smallest in his year with a shock of red hair, lay on his stomach in the Hufflepuff common room. He had a string held out in front of him, with his grandmother’s ring on the end of it. He’d borrowed it from his big brother, and told him he might not be able to give it back. His brother had hesitated but handed it over, and ruffled the boy’s hair. He’d told him to be careful, and he had promised he would be, just like he always did. It wasn’t a particularly precious ring, but he’d polished it as best as he could.
He knew that he had to get this right. The other children had laughed when he had said he would be able to catch it. They had decided from the first day that they had seen him that he was a problem. That he had no friends. That he was all alone, that he was weird. He made friends with the house elves rather than the other students, and he spent his days in the forbidden forest and by the edge of the lake. He had only been in Hogwarts for a month, and he wished he could go home, to where the hippogriffs would let him spend the day brushing their feathers and where he could help keep the gardens free of gnomes. This was meant to be his chance to make friends and all he was making was enemies.
He missed home. He missed his family, and he felt sorry for the poor niffler whose family had been murdered. It hadn’t done anything to deserve this. It was just acting according to its nature, like the boy was when he wanted to watch the owls or draw someone’s pet rat. That knowledge was why the boy was still up at three in the morning, even though he had classes the next day. Because someone should save the niffler, and he was the only one who wanted to bother.
He was feeling quite tired when he noticed a shadow moving in the corner of the room, near the fire. A tug of the string brought the ring closer to the fire, and the ruby set into it sparkled. The boy held his breath and the shadow crept closer – smaller than the other nifflers, no larger than a rat – it would have fitted into the boy’s cloak pocket.
It was creeping towards the shining ring, and the boy’s heart thudded in his chest – for the first time, rescuing the creature was looking like it could actually be possible. Clawed hands reached for the ring, and it gripped on tightly. The boy took his opportunity, leaping forwards and landing over the creature, clutching it tightly with both hands. The creature squeaked and tried to escape but the boy held on as best as he could. The niffler was still clinging to the ring.
“You need a name.” He mumbled in an attempt to soothe it, running his fingers through the creature’s fur. It was surprisingly soft and warm, and was making a happy chittering sound in his grip when it was no longer being held so tightly. Looking closer, he could see that the niffler was a male, and he wasn’t trying to escape. He was quite small, and the boy knew he would be able to hide him. “You… you can be Nick, okay? And I’m Newt. Nick and Newt.” He grinned brightly, and carried the niffler to his dorm, approaching the battered trunk that he had with his suitcase beside it. Carefully, he held Nick upside down a short distance from the trunk above a pillow. He hesitated.
“Sorry if this hurts.” He mumbled, shaking him until a few pieces of jewellery and a watch fell out onto the pillow – he would claim he had found the niffler’s nest, and that none were left, and hopefully that would be enough to save this one’s life.
Nick squeaked indignantly as the jewellery was stolen from him. Newt flinched, feeling a sudden burst of guilt.
“I know.” He whispered, not wanting to wake his dorm mates. “I know, but I can’t… You can’t keep them.”
Earlier today, he had moved most of his clothes back into his case, and lined the trunk with a soft blanket onto which he had scattered all the sickles and knuts he had. Trying to look after the niffler mattered more than being able to buy the occasional sweet or new quill. He placed the niffler in the trunk, and he scurried around curiously.
“Hey… I hope… I hope it’s okay. I’ll check on you in the morning, and I’ll bring you some food.” Newt whispered. “I’ll get you more shiny things as soon as I can, I promise, I should be able to steal a spoon at breakfast and-“ He hesitated, then untied the ring he had used as bait. He put it in the trunk.
Letting out a satisfied chitter, Nick shoved the ring into his pouch and set about organising his coins. Newt closed and locked the trunk, and put his case on top of it, before finally clambering into bed. At least now he had one friend in the Hufflepuff dorm.