Alice {Newt Scamander}

Chapter Two

Chapter Two - The Niffler

Words: 940

I remember when Newt and I first met the Niffler.

October 14th of 1925.

The sun was shining and the wind had a slight chill to it that often reminded me of the snow that's would fall on the grounds of Hogwarts. Newt and I were aboard a train to Romania to give a dragon egg to Gregory, the head of the sanctuary there.

Newt was asleep, and good thing he was too. He hadn't slept for days, not after one of the Occamys got sick. He had been caring for the little creature nonstop, until I finally forced him to lie down and get some sleep.

His head laid on my lap, my hand running through his hair as it helped him sleep. His face was so calm, a nice change from the constant worry of his creatures. I hadn't realized I had stopped playing with his hair until Newt's hand was atop mine, pulling it back to its place.

I smiled as I continued, glad he was finally getting some much needed rest. This man, my colleague and friend, was going to end up working himself to death. But I was positive he wouldn't have it any other way.

His sleep was interrupted by a screech from down the train, followed by shuffling.

"That dog just stole my necklace!" Newton immediately awoke, how could he not? A dog stealing a necklace, that's completely absurd. Well, not when you're on a train of muggles. They miss magic even if it's right in front of their faces.

Newt looked up at me as I quickly pulled my hand out of his hair, a bright red flush on my face. We stood up, and Newt exited the compartment as I pushed the case onto the luggage railing above the seats.

I felt a tug on my neck and looked down to spy a platypus looking creature about to steal my necklace. His eyes were full of sadness and regret. I realized exactly what creature this was. It was a Niffler, and sadly, one that was being used to steal items from others.

This was a reoccurrence with Nifflers. Witches and Wizards would leave out food for them, and when they came to eat it, they would empty the Nifflers of their gold and jewels. The Nifflers had no choice but to continue to search, and come back because, well... there was food.

I heard compartment doors opening and closing, and a man's voice saying, "Excuse me, have you seen my dog? I'm afraid I've lost him." I looked down to the Niffler and whispered:

"Do you want to be somewhere where you'll be able to keep your gold?" Nifflers were smart, understanding humans and their speech, just not being able to speak back. The Niffler nodded, and I continued.

"Alright, but you mustn't steal this necklace okay?" I said, holding onto my mother's necklace. The Niffler dropped the necklace out of his hands and I noticed the collar on his neck. It was tight, rubbing into his skin and most likely hurting him quite a bit. I took it off and the Niffler looked eternally grateful.

I set him lightly in my bag and gave him a few gold coins, telling him to stay still. I hid my wand as a man pulled open the compartment door.

"Have you seen my dog? I've lost him again." He asked, and I looked at him. He had the look of a drunkard. There was no way I was letting this Niffler go back to him.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen any pets at all," I replied, "I've only my luggage. I'm waiting for my husband to come back." I lied. The man noticed I still had my necklace on, and certainly noticed the large jewel in the center. He came to the conclusion that the Niffler hadn't been here, otherwise my necklace would be gone.

"Alright, thank you kindly. If you see him, could you just call out Augustus?" The man asked, and I nodded. He closed the compartment door and walked off. It was moments later that Newt came back in, sliding the door shut behind him.

"What did the man want?" He asked, and I pulled the Niffler out of my bag to see he had snagged all of my galleons.

"Probably this little bugger." I took a few of the gold coins and put them back in my bag, taking out the equivalent in Knuts and handing them to him. "I need the Galleons, but you can have my Sickles and my Knuts, and I'll trade them for Galleons when you have enough."

"That's a Niffler." Newt seemed shocked that I had him in my hands.

"Yes, it is. That man was using him to steal items from others, he had a collar on and everything. How someone could do such a thing to such an adorable creature."

"It's horrible when people do things like that. I knew you'd have the same opinion, that's why I asked you to come with me." Newt smiled at the Niffler, who burrowed into my arms more.

"It's alright, Newt is perfectly safe. He won't hurt you, he loves creatures like you. In fact, he has a full case of them."

"Yes, I do, that's true." I looked to Newt who was in awe of the creature in my arms. His eyes were alit with wonder, and his crooked smile reflected that perfectly.

"Can we bring him with us Newt? I don't want him to go back to being used."

"I think you already know the answer, Alice."