The two first-years supported Nathan on each side and huffed him to the prefect's compartment. Confusion broke out at the sight of Nathan, but Tem convinced the prefects that this had been only an accident when they ate some sweets. As with Temsivar, some prefects needed an explanation about allergies to be convinced.

One of the Hufflepuff prefects was proficient with healing magic and reduced Nathan's swelling down to slight bumps. Except for some light bruising and reddened eyes, Nathan felt good again. The prefects insisted on him visiting the hospital wing as soon as they got to Hogwarts but otherwise didn't inquire any further.

"Hah! My plan worked," said Nathan, gleefully. "Too bad that animal got away. You think it was responsible for all the thefts?" The three of them walked down the corridor towards their compartment.

"Yes, it was quite obvious. It was hoarding all the valuable stuff. I saw multiple watches in the pile as well. I'm sure Damian's in there as well," said Tem.

"What was it you said about Stuart? You think he is responsible?" asked Ashley.

"Indeed. I think the animal is his, and he pretended to have lost his toad. We need to find him and ask about that creature. This should help us catch it once and for all."

Stuart's compartment wasn't far from theirs and they convinced him to join them. Stuart followed them warily, not knowing what they wanted, and sat down as close to the compartment door as possible. He shifted uneasily on the seats.

"Alright, Stuart. Don't worry, we're not accusing you of anything, but does your toad look like a black rat, without a tail and a large snout, having fur like this?" asked Tem, holding up a small evidence bag with the black fur he had gathered earlier.

Stuart stared at him in shock for a moment, but finally his shoulders sacked forwards and he said with a sigh, "Yes, that's Norbs. He is a Niffler."

"What's a Niffler?" asked Nathan, a curious glint in his eye, eager to learn more.

"They are very cute magical creatures with the tendency to collect all that is shiny, as you surely have guessed. They aren't easy to catch when they see sparkling things around, which they can gather and put into their belly pouch," explained Stuart, a dreamy smile on his face.

"Interesting. Aren't we allowed only to bring a few select animals as pets?" asked Nathan.

"I-I couldn't leave him at home. Didn't you see how cute he is? And he is so dependent on me," said Stuart, with a pleading frown.

"How did you imagine a Niffler not to turn Hogwarts upside down?" asked Ashley, shaking her head in disbelief.

Stuart smiled sheepishly. "Ah, it's possible to keep them happy. They need a shiny nest. Here, on the train, it was harder. I had to smuggle him inside my bag. I made sure he couldn't get out, but, but… er, I failed." He turned away from the other student's gazes.

"Well, no matter. The important thing is, how do we catch your Niffler? I'm sure, nobody will be too mad about it, if we can explain it reasonably and get everybody their stuff back," said Tem.

"Hmm. It seems like he got most of the valuables on the train. We need to find his nest, which he will have built," said Stuart.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"We did. He ransacked the whole storage wagon and built himself a nice pile of shinies," said Tem, unable to keep a smile from his face, remembering the sight.

Stuart gaped at him in shock. Tem caught himself again and willed his smile back to a reserved frown.

"How did you get into the storage room? Did you chase him out of there?" asked Stuart.

"It's not important how. Nathan's ingenuity and efforts allowed us entry. But yes, it escaped our attempts at apprehending it," said Tem.

"The best course of action then is to present him with irresistible bait," said Stuart.

"Such as? Is there anything valuable left on the train, that is not behind the once again closed doors of the storage wagon?" asked Nathan.

"I don't know, but we ought to find something," replied Tem.

"Norbs likes necklaces the most, better yet with a pendant having a sparkling gemstone in it," said Stuart. "My Grandma always cried out when Norbs got near, as she wore a huge family heirloom around her neck."

"Where are we supposed to get such expensive jewellery now? Unlikely that's the standard for Hogwarts students," said Ashley, shaking her head.

"Hmm, based on the junk your Niffler also collected, it appears to me, the stuff need not be valuable, just look like some precious metal?" asked Tem.

"Yeah, pretty much. One time my Mum suspected me of stealing all the candy she had stored in a jar. Norbs got hold of them, as they had golden wrappers," said Stuart.

"Perfect! We need to craft a necklace out of the trash from our sweets," said Tem and cleared his pockets of all the remaining wrappers. He looked eagerly around and the others provided their candy.

"Good thing I don't mind producing some more material. Does anyone here know how to best make a necklace out of this?" Tem pointed at the mountain of candy wrappers on the seats.

"Don't look at me, just because I'm a girl. That's nothing my Mum taught me," said Ashley in mock airiness.

"Well, everyone. Give it your best shot and we will see what's usable."

The four of them began folding and connecting wrappers to form jewellery resembling items. They solidified the plan with a good amount of laughter and joking around. After a while, they had crafted some respectable necklaces out of bright and colourful candy wrappers.

"Hah, you are a girl after all! Yours looks the best, for sure," said Tem, grinning.

"You're gonna look like a girl, too, if you don't shut up soon. Otherwise, you'll have to wear these!" retorted Ashley, with a grin of her own.

After another round of laughter, Ashley got serious again.

"I think you guys should try to learn the leg locking jinx. I could not hit the Niffler and I tried throughout the entire storage room. Even if Norbs will go for the bait and I have a clear shot, we increase our chances if we all can jinx him," said Ashley.

"Yeah, I'd love to learn another spell. Lumos won't help here," said Nathan keenly.

Ashley peered at Temsivar. "I don't know. Isn't that spell rather advanced? How could we possibly hope to learn it quickly enough, before we arrive at Hogwarts?" asked Tem, a wary look on his face.

"We should at least try. If one of you picks it up swiftly, we'll increase our chances a lot. I'm sure of it. It's not that complicated," said Ashley.

"I don't want to hurt Norbs," said Stuart with concern in his voice.

"Don't worry. It doesn't hurt."

"Oh, really? You weren't the one going down to the floor, hard, were you?" said Stuart accusingly.

"Oh, right. Sorry 'bout that." Ashley smiled uncomfortably, scratching her cheek. "The spell didn't hurt, that's what I meant. Right, your fall was the problem. I'm sure your Niffler will be fine."

"Hmm, I don't like it, but I guess you're right. Alright then, start teaching." Stuart pulled out his wand.

So did Nathan, as if he'd been waiting for this moment all along. They all looked expectantly at Temsivar, who continued to frown.

Unable to come up with a good excuse, he sighed and went to his bag to get his own wand. He hadn't bothered to carry it around, as useless as it was in his hands. The wood of his wand felt unfamiliar, its structure scratchy and somehow wrong. He knew that wasn't entirely true, as he had felt something when he got it from Ollivander's. This light feeling of power, emanating from him into the wand. His frustration had mixed with it afterwards, unable to recapture this sensation in the last weeks.

And now, there was still nothing. How could he ever hope to learn that spell? What would the others think, when he couldn't produce the tiniest sliver of magic? Perhaps this circumstance would be the motivation necessary for him to finally cast a spell? One could only hope.

With another deep breath, he turned around to the others. "Alright, let's do it!"