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The autumn season proved to be a not-so-great time for one Hermione Jean Granger, an important member of the Ministry of Magic, currently working as a temporary member of the Pest Advisory Board in Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Well, at least the early days, that's for sure. The elegant Mrs. Granger merely gave the same answer whenever her coworkers asked her why; she needed some fresh air and some actual field work. Of course, being the avid supporter of house elves' welfare and fair treatment, she rarely stayed in her office more than a day. But recently, her paperwork, if they could be called paperwork in the wizarding world, piled up so much that Hermione decided to briefly transfer herself to any office in the department that was demanding help.

Her choice was the Pest Advisory Board over Being Division. It was a decision Hermione was going to regret.

The day was Saturday, or so her report stated. Mrs. Granger brought along her field assistants, Donnelly and Lisa. Her superiors told her that it would be better to bring along more competent members, but Hermione countered that the two companions required at least one actual experience in handling magical beasts in the world.

Hermione should've listened to them.

The following mission detailed a complain sent by a witch whose residence was disturbed by a multitude of magical beasts; something small, fast, and furry; something long, feathered, and blue in color; and a fat, bird-like animal that constantly appear and disappear wherever it wanted. The owner, Mrs. Hale, would like some help in clearing of whatever creatures hiding in her house, or else she would leave. Mrs. Hale requested Hermione to come through the Floo Network, because her neighbors were all Muggles and were not used to anything abnormal.

And so they did. At 9 o'clock in the morning, the trio came over and started the eradication process. It was not a successful task, however.

The long, blue thing turned out to be an Occamy, one that had grown up to ten meters. Donnelly and Lisa were too busy chasing around the thing, which was shrinking and growing just to escape the two bumbling sorcerers. Stunning spells didn't faze the Occamy at all, as did Freezing spells. Hermione's trap, which included a teapot, went unnoticed by the Occamy until it could no longer find a hiding place, in which it quickly flew into the opened teapot.

The next target was the small furry animal, which was a Niffler. Poor Hermione could only watch in embarrassment and laughter as her assistants chased the little thing all over the house. It took them two hours' worth of yelling, swearing, and jinxing Stunning spells before the Niffler, squirming in its magical trap, was safely procured.

The last magical creature to capture was a Diricawl. At first, the Diricawl was easily caught, but that was where they were wrong. Without proper protection spells keeping the bird in its cage, the Diricawl easily teleported itself outside the cage, prompting yet another chase throughout the house. Hermione finally ended up using Immobilize jinx on it, angrily telling her helpers to consult any books on controlling magical beasts, preferably the ones written by Newt Scamander.

It was already 2:30 in the afternoon when the trio, after Mrs. Hale gave plenty of apologies, completed their work. The three beasts were to be handed over to the Beast Division so that they can be released in their proper habitats.

After arriving back in her office, Hermione acknowledged her coworkers that, despite the unsatisfactory performance, they could handle themselves quite well, especially during the Niffler chase. She casually told them to file a decent report to hand over the following morning when she noticed that the smallest cage was unlocked. Just when she straightened herself up, something tiny scurried outside her office.

The Niffler had escaped.