Summer Camp Niffler Hunt

Credit to Sienna Lenoir for my awesome banner!

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Emma hadn’t really thought she’d take part in the Niffler Hunt. She had only decided to take a walk by and see the cute creatures. She didn’t know very much about them, only having seen a photo in a book on the wizarding world she had gotten from the library. That same book had warned they were not good pets but hadn’t really elaborated, so admittedly if she could, she would have found a way to spend some time with the creatures before now. Although the warning lingered in her mind, she wondered if they were truly that bad that they couldn’t be pets. Immediately she felt a surge of guilt over even thinking of getting another pet, her cute owl just perfect for her. Tiny was an amazing comfort to her when she was away at school, and she missed them when they were delivering her letters.

Turning back around, she started back towards the cabins, figuring maybe she should go back and spend some time with Tiny, mostly because she had a feeling he may feel abandoned with how many different things were going on and how much time she was likely to spend away. But….Emma glanced over at the field where the hunt was being held and then up at the fluffy clouds sweeping lazily through the sky. It was a nice day, and owls were nocturnal. Tiny probably wouldn’t appreciate his sleep being interrupted. And really, what would it hurt to go see what the event was all about?

Resolutely heading towards the field where the Niffler Hunt was taking place, Emma stuffed her hands in her pockets. Reaching the edge, she grinned, her gaze immediately drawn to where the cute little nifflers were corralled. Looking closely, she grinned, happy she came. Deciding she might as well take a chance, she called out to the people in charge. “Could I use the cute little black niffler for the hunt? At least this round? I might feel bad and choose another one if I do another round, I suppose.”
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Action: Squeaky dug C8, A15, H2

Xin had always like animals, well, all animals except insects, and certainly not tarantulas. So when she saw the notice of a Niffler Hunt, the girl was quick to enter. The only nifflers she had seen was in books, and the pages described the cute creatures as 'not a good pet' That was understandable, as the rascals will dig the house up looking for shiny stuff. But the students weren't exactly keeping them as pets, surely not.

What's better than playing with the cute little ones and then get rewards for what the niffler dug up?And most importantly, it's free! A exciting game which is free and get to earn some extra money? Probably the best choice.

So now as Xin tiptoed towards the Niffler Hunt, eyes firmly fixed on the ground, to avoid any horrifying creepy crawlies. The girl had always been a victim of arachnophobia. At a young age, she would literally have nightmares if she ever saw a spider. You'd think it would get better over time， but it only got worse. Since 11, the girl would literally cry when she sees a spider. Finally, she made her way to the Niffler fair.

Xin grinned as a six nifflers came into sight. They were even better than the books described them. In a word, they were cute. In two words, they were really cute. In three words, well, you got the picture. Bending down, the girl ruffled one's head, and the niffler gave a satisfied squeak. She was immediately drawn to them, especially the yellow one. "You're sooooo cute!! Xin smiled and picked up the niffler, who wriggled in her arms, "I'm gonna use you for the niffler hunt."

Action: CHOUPETTE dug I7

RPing as Zophyr Qethnis from Uagadou

Genderfluid, pronouns at the moment: he/him

☽ Kirundi | French | English | Swahili | Arabic | Tswana | Xhosa ☾

Date: July 14 2023 Time: Morning

Interacting with: X Mentioning: X (open to interaction)

Nifflers were an animal that Zophyr, while never having seen one before, already loved. Cuteness, of course, was a factor. But not only were they cute, they were troublemakers. They lived for finding treasure. And that, Zophyr could understand.
Nifflers were native to the UK, so the soon-to-be second year didn't know much about them, apart from what he'd read and seen in books. His expectations were blown out of the water when he arrived at the niffler hunt, though. Six nifflers were ready to hunt for treasure, each a different color and each one cuter than the next. Zophyr was rarely affected by this kind of thing, but he could definitely understand why others were.

They all had names, and in the end, it was the name that helped the boy choose which niffler he wanted to use. Who could resist and adorable little furball with a name like "Sir Merlin the Third"? (Weirdly, he noticed suddenly, they looked a little like platypuses. But Zophyr knew even less about platypuses. So he decided to ignore this).
Picking up the niffler, he walked across the grounds that were being used for the hunt and put Sir Merlin the Third down again, letting him at it. "Come on, little guy, get me some treasure, will you?" He actually didn't really mind whether he got a prize or not; the chances were slim and the niffler obviously couldn't understand English, let alone Kirundi. But the hunt itself sounded like fun, and Zophyr was glad he'd come.

Action: Sir Merlin the Third dug H16

Roleplaying as approved Ilvermorny iNPC Cyrus Darsel.
Niffler Hunt.
July 2023.

Cyrus bounded along the campgrounds, a wide smile on his face. His eyes were as shiny as the surface of the Great Lake, and his steps seemed huge even to him. His happiness would exude from his features, giving him almost too much energy as he made his way to the Niffler Hunt with the best Niffler ever, Squeaky.

He wished he could keep Squeaky as his pet. He loved shiny things, and if Squeaky did, too, then they would be best friends. However, he knew the little guy couldn't be his─he was a creature of freedom, someone who didn't want to be restrained. Cyrus understood that. In fact, that increased his appreciation and respect for Squeaky.

He and the Niffler ended up at the Hunt area. Cyrus was still vibrating with excitement─bouncing on his toes, shaking his hands, even swaying from side to side due to his bouncing. 'Okay, Squeaky, let's do this!' he exclaimed.

He watched with immense curiosity as Squeaky ran around. He was unlike any creature Cyrus had ever seen before─actually, that was not true. In his mind, he likened the Niffler to a duck: majestic... and regal... and billed.

For a moment, Cyrus wished his button-up shirt had a Niffler on the breast pocket rather than a carefully-embroidered duck. He wished his trousers had Nifflers on the back pockets instead of mallards. But it was too late now, and for every majestic Niffler, there was also a majestic duck.

Cyrus bent down near Squeaky and squinted, surveying the ground. It didn't seem to have anything special, but maybe Squeaky could find something. The majestic and wonderful Niffler was likely ten times smarter than Cyrus. Cyrus grinned and saluted the Niffler.

'Okay, Squeaky... Let's dig.'

ACTION: Squeaky dug I17, G20 and A1.

Katherine "Kit" Felix
Stamina 9 | Evasion 12 | Strength 13 | Wisdom 4 | Arcane Power 0 | Accuracy 15
Savior | Calming Presence | Evasive Maneuvers II

banner will be made/updated eventually c:

The cutest treasure hunt ever! Kit would have been perfectly content to skip through the fields searching for shiny items or prizes on her own, but a soft companion made everything better. Even more, the weather enjoyed the activity as well as it maintained the warmth and beauty without scorching anyone who stood outside too long, the soft breeze adding a little music to the dulled echoes of excited chatter a little further away towards the cabins. She smiled, humming along as her steps wandered to find the assortment of nifflers the students were allowed to adopt for the day- or hour. The semantics weren't in Kit's favor, but she refused to change her mind that all of the nifflers could be hers for the day.

All of them were adorable. She barely held in a squeal of awe, instead opting for tears in her eyes and a sort of embarrassed laughter as she looked at them. "You're sure I can't have them all?" She wouldn't wait for the clarification to turn her attention back to the nifflers, not wanting to hear the unfortunate news as she took the time to look at them one by one. Otto seemed particularly curious as its nose sniffed towards her pockets. Her hands reached into the fabric to pull out nothing, hopefully indicating to the niffler that she had nothing to offer... currently.

"It's good that you're curious, though! You seem ready to search, is that true?" She reached down to scoop up the creature, smiling as it seemed to watch her. There was no confirmation from the niffler that it was ready to explore, but Kit knew. "Alright, alright- let's see what we can find!" And with that, Kit thanked whomever was in charge of caring for the creatures when they weren't out searching before resting Otto back on the ground so that he could do what he did best- treasure hunt. All the Beauxbatons girl had to do was follow, right? Hopefully their instincts combined would lead to something good.

Action: Otto dug F19

The day was fine, partly sunny and a nice breeze. A perfect day for a Niffler Hunt. Duvessa Ember was helping around to watch over, and hopefully prevent too much chaos from unleashing. The dark haired Slytherin responded plainly, not attempting to make her voice sound happy. Everyone had their own light, and she wasn't in the mood to share hers.

First, by the look of it, a Gryffindor entered. Taking the cute niffler Gertrude, she let it loose and struggled to keep up with it. The little creature tore off, charging towards the other side of the clearing. It seemed to have a rather odd sense because as it turned out, nothing too precious was found. Sure, a shiny wrapper of an old sweet, but they were bound to find something. Was another perhaps somewhere near?

Gertrude evidently was disappointed by the lack of findings and scampered off to a total other direction. However, luck was with the niffler because something was glinting in the midst of the soil. It was a key. An avarege one, definately not too expensive but a jolly nice find. Really useful though - Gertrude walked back to it's mistress, feeling pleased.
@Lily Isobel McCoire Gertrude has dug up a Plain Key

"Take Squeaky if you please," She responded, handing the soft niffler to another student, seemingly a Prefect. The fluffy brown niffler sniffed for a bit, before began to go chaoticlly towards a clump of trees. Did it smell something? Unfortunately, it seemed not to get anything big. It was of course possible that it smelt something stronger near it, but it dug in that spot and had returned with a bit of shiny tin foil.

However, Squeaky was not finished. Still determined to find something, it scuttled off... even deeper into the trees. But this time it seemed to have found something. It dug furiously and quickly, retrieving - gold. Shiny, fresh gold. Not real though. It was the clever leprechaun gold that would vanish quickly, but perfect on a prank. Squeaky decided to find something even better and began chasing down the items once more.

But luck was not with Squeaky at that time because it returned with no goods but a gold wrapping paper of an old sweet. Never mind - there was always time to try again.
@Emma Wynn Squeaky has dug up a Leprechaun Coin

Another student entered to Duvessa's delight. Choupette was chosen, the small funny niffler at the bottom of the pile. However, huge size did not always gurantee power, because Choupette was already speeding away quickly towards quite a rare spot. It was half hidden in the trees but the small niffler managed to sniff it out. What was it?

It was a tin of cat food, probably best for people who had cats but not a cheap gift either. Choupette seemed pleased with itself, gave a satisfied squeak and got ready for the next round.
@Fang Yun-Xin Choupette has dug up a Tin of Cat food

Sir Merlin the Third, a regal name for a large, furry niffler that was finally chosen by a student from a different school - not Hogwarts. They set off to find some gold, and the niffler quickly sniffed the air and hurried towards one direction. Perhaps it smelt something?

It certainly seemed too. There was definately more treasure around but Sir Merlin the third (what had happened to the other two? that remained a mystery) had begun digging up a certain patch of soil in a quick manner. Something glisstened and a round badge came into view. A Montrose Magpies badge to be precise. It was quite a nice gift to have found, and nice to give it to a friend if you didn't enjoy it. Sir Merlin sat back contentedly.
@Mahlioz Mahlioz Evethisawe Sir Merlin the Third has dug up a Montrose Magpie Badge

Squeaky was chosen once more by another person, this time by an older student, a Sixth year. Given recent luck the little Niffler wasn't quick at finding, but perhaps it would have more luck this time. It certainly was energetic, shooting off to a circle of trees and began digging up with quick pace. Something was quickly appearing in the midst of the dark soil - a chain, then a locket.

It was far one of the most expensive gifts that the Hunt had to offer, a majestic True Lovers Locket. With luck the sixth year had someone to date so they could share it with. So, feeling very proud, Squeaky continued the journey to try and dig up more.

However, seemingly slightly more distracted than the last time, it edged towards the end and began to dig once more, paws moving. This time it was a sticky caramel, still in its wrapper and glinting in the sun. A delicious snack surely. And once more the Squeaky chased off to the other end, trying to find something more. This time a key, another lucky find from a student. The little niffler certainly had more energy to find stuff.
@Koko Riddle Squeaky has dug up a True Lovers Locket, a Plain Key and Sticky Caramel

Roscoe was a niffler that hadn't been chosen for a while. It looked slightly miserable by the look of it, but brightened considerably when a new foreign student approached. The unique blue niffler scampered to one direction to try and find a nice little patch to dig.

Unfortunately, nothing too great was there. A stray bit of tin foil, silver and naturally attracted the attention of Roscoe. Dejected, it wondered what would come the next round.
@Kim Sato Roscoe has dug up a bit of tin foil (not something that we can give out, just a piece of shiny rubbish, sorry)

The last student entered for this round, a fourth year. She had selected a niffler that hadn't been used yet - Otto. A cute thing really, and eager to find. It was a bundle of energy from being cooped out waiting for someone to pick it so scrambled up and began to search.

It sped off to a place where quite a few nifflers were hanging around, and dug up a small patch. What was there? Something precious? It didn't seem to be too bad, a nice handy key that loads of people were getting. A certainly good find - but maybe something more exciting later.
@Lea Hirsch Otto has dug up a Plain Key

14 July, 2023

Niffler Day! AngelFyre had been looking forward to this for a while. She had missed getting to see them at the Fall Ball... thank you very much to the Real Girl, killer-possessed doll that almost killed Colin's cousin, Lily. But that was then and this was not then, so happiness at the prospect of a Niffler Hunt could not be suppressed.

Simon had mentioned he would try to meet her here if he could, but he and Rascal were doing some finishing touches to their Pet Fair routine. If she had heard her fellow correctly, a costume fitting was on the calendar for he adorable rodent as well. That she could not wait to see, and she chuckled.

As she made her way to the dig area, she made certain all of her beautiful necklaces and bracelets had been left back at her cabin. She had sworn to Simon that she would never take them off, and she had truly never meant to, but they had discussed it and it was quickly determined it would be asking for trouble to wear any of them. Nifflers, while adorable, were little thieves, and there was probably no safe place on her person that she could hide them away from the little loves. Why ask for trouble? Besides, Simon was not the one to exact the promise from her that she would never take his gifts off... it was something she had determined for herself not to do when they had been given to her, simply because she just loved him so much that it was like always having a part of him with her.

He just smiled at her when she brought up her quandry and then kissed her, continuing to smile at her with eyes open during the duration of the kiss. The message seemed to be a compilation of, You are just too cute, very sentimental, I trust you to do be wise, and oh yeah... I love you. Before his lips had even left hers, however, he started a tickle war between them which left them both exhausted and breathless, yet somehow in the mood for more snogging. Honestly, that had been the best part of summer camp to be sure.

Good times.

She was unaware of it, but she was chuckling softly as she approached the Niffler enclosure. Five or six of them made their way over to her, and she could have happily stayed there for hours petting them and letting them explore her, but other people were also waiting to have their fun, so she had to make a decision. One kept catching her attention, primarily because she swore he looked like a combination of Daffy Duck and a platypus. She checked out his name and that sealed the deal for sure. The tales of King Arthur and Camelot being one of her very favorite story lines, this large Niffler was going to be her choice. Besides, he was a "Third" and so was she... a Third year, that is. They were clearly a match meant to be.

"Nice to meet you, Sir Merlin the Third. Do you lisp by chance? No. Well, you understand I had to ask," and she laughed out loud as he cocked his head, listening to her intently.

She reached down to gather him up and he happily allowed it, checking out everything she was wearing, looking for anything he could find. The cheeky fellow even probed her pockets! Way ahead of you there, buddy. Sorry.

Before they even got to the dig area, Merlin started squirming in a most exaggerated state and she let him down, watching him dart off like a flash. She followed him around the area and was amazed at how quickly he could dispatch a good deal of soil in pursuit of treasure. She followed him to three different digs before he made his way back to her. His bill had made him naturally seem as if he were smiling, but when he had completed his digs, AngelFyre could have sworn that "smile" had grown.

"Well, you look pretty proud of yourself, Sir Merlin," she drawled to him as she squatted down to make it easier for him to climb back into her arms. "Did you find something fabulous? Show me! Show me!!" and she giggled as Merlin simply continued to "smile" at her.

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Sir Merlin the Third dug in areas B16, I12, and E20

@Simon Kincaid