AN: one shot written for the QLFC week 1

Position prompt: BEATER 1: BEATER 2: "Hell's Grannies". Best moment? When the grannies start graffitiing "Make tea, not love" on the walls. Write about someone who looks innocent but is evil on the inside. (Tom Riddle is not allowed for this prompt)

Additional prompts used:

Prompt 12: (creature) Niffler

Prompt 13: (character) Hagrid

Thanks to my fellow Puddlemere united team members JBrocks917, falling winter roses and SilvermistRuhi for adding to the fic and beta-ing to turn it into this fic.

8 pm: Two hours before curfew, two hours before my plan continues. Tonight is the night that the Nifflers get to hunt through the castle for treasure.

9 pm: One hour to go. The Nifflers are ready to go; the box just needs to be opened. The Nifflers know who to listen to.

9.45 pm: Only fifteen minutes left. Most students are either in their common room or on the way there: let us hope they've left a lot behind. One day Dumbledore will learn not to trust me, but until then … well, I've got free reign of the castle.

After all, everyone trusts the big, half-giant gamekeeper: one of the few people without a wand, but always ready to help.

9.55 pm: Five minutes left. The castle halls should be empty or nearly empty. I wonder what I will add to the collection tonight.

10 pm: Finally. The Nifflers are gone. Let's hope they bring back useful items and not just shiny stuff.

The Nifflers gathered just in front of the entrance to the castle.

***hphphp***

"Okay team, let's go. The big guy wants valuable, we want shiny. Grab anything you can without being seen. Split up, make your teams. Everyone to your floor, we have two hours before Hagrid expects us back."

All the Nifflers raced off in different directions, leaving the common rooms till last, just to make sure all students would be in bed by the time they entered. When the two hours were nearing their end, one of the Nifflers that had gone down to the dungeons arrived and entered the Slytherin common room. At first glance it couldn't find much as the Slytherins were a proud and tidy group. Leaving something out was simply inviting someone to take it. Just as the Niffler was about to give up and go to the next room, he saw a flash of white platinum. He quickly looked over but discovered it to be the hair of Malfoy. When a glint of something shiny appeared on Malfoy's arm, the Niffler decided to follow him. After all, he couldn't leave something shiny behind.

On entering Malfoy's room, he hid under the bed until Malfoy left to go into the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind Malfoy, the Niffler was out and about, searching the room. The watch that Malfoy had been wearing was the first to disappear into the Niffler's pouch and the bag of gold on his desk the second. The dresser was next, from which the Niffler took cufflinks and a silver hairbrush. Deciding that it had finished in the room, the Niffler gave the room a last swipe and moved out of both, Malfoy's bedroom and the Slytherin common room long before Malfoy returned from the bathroom.

While the first Niffler was making his escape from the Slytherin common room, another was entering the Hufflepuff common room. This common room was empty of people but contained a lot of shiny and valuable stuff in it. Unfortunately, the Niffler knew he couldn't swipe anything from there that would be easily noticed missing because the occupants of this end of the castle would make a fuss and an investigation would follow. The whole point here was stealing that which wouldn't be missed or reported, so the Niffler had no choice but to look at places which were inconspicuous and often overlooked, like under the cupboards or in between the sofa cushions, and was not disappointed. It put all the gold pieces and other shiny trinkets into its pouch, grabbed some shiny wrappers from the bin, and began making its way to its next target.

The Ravenclaws were lucky because the students kept the common room nice and tidy. With the exception of a few books lying around the room, the Niffler didn't have a lot of stuff to steal. The Niffler made his way around the books, grabbed a few bookmarks with shiny coating or tassels, but couldn't find anything else.

It was the Gryffindor common room that was the best place for the Nifflers to go, as the Gryffindors were messy beyond belief. If anything went missing it was usually blamed on being misplaced, but never of being stolen. The Niffler that was lucky enough to get the Gryffindor common room this month had a feast: there was a brooch that had been left on the coffee table, a shiny pen belonging to a Muggle-born, a small pot of nail varnish that got left on a table, a pile of chocolate frog cards, and some coins that were littered around the room where they had fallen out of peoples' pockets without them noticing.

The other great find was the potions classroom. One of the Nifflers coming up from the dungeons was passing the classroom just as Snape came out of the room. While quickly hiding, it caught the reflection of light on one of the potion vials standing on the table. Making sure the hallway was clear, the Niffler went into the room and grabbed a pawful of the vials before making its way out of the room and back up to Hagrid's hut.

All in all, the operation ran as smoothly as on any other month, with the exception of one Niffler that had bumped into a house elf when scouring a room. The room that the Niffler had found had been used for a picnic by a couple of students and the Niffler had found a fork that had been left behind. Just as it was putting the fork away, a house elf popped in to clean the room but the less said about the fight between the two, the better. The important part is that the niffler got the fork.

***hphphp***

The results of tonight's find weren't too bad. With the exception of the Slytherin common room from which I've gotten a bunch of Malfoy's things, the amount of stuff that the Nifflers brought me was what I had expected. I don't usually get stuff from the Slytherins—they're way too careful—but today, luck seems to be on my side. I will keep the money that was found, but everything else I will either sell or give to the Nifflers to keep.

The watch, the cufflinks, the hairbrush, the brooch, the pen, and the potion vials will probably fetch me some money, depending on who I sell it to. I'll need to be careful that sales can't be traced back to me, but I am used to all that—people don't get away with stealing from students without being good at it.

The other items such as the wrappers and bookmarks, I put in the Nifflers' cage. The things are shiny but worthless.

Half of the time I'm surprised I haven't been caught yet, but other times I'm not. After all, everyone thinks that I'm friendly and helpful, but most importantly, they think I'm loyal to Dumbledore. After all, he gave me a job after I got expelled, but that was just a little too late.

I had always believed in the good of other people before I got expelled. I wanted to show that I could be trusted, that giants—well, half-giants in my case—weren't as bad as people thought we were, but it was pointless. I got expelled because a Slytherin blamed me for something I didn't do and because I was half-giant. That was all they needed. They never got proof, they just assumed.

Well, that was their biggest mistake. I will keep acting the same as I have, but plot behind their backs. Dumbledore has no idea how much he has helped me by giving me control over the Nifflers.

Nobody ever realises how much they make themselves a target by sticking to stereotypes. For example, if you steal from a Slytherin, they will never tell. If they have a way of finding their item, they will simply steal it back, but they never tell. Telling is admitting that they weren't clever enough to protect their stuff.

The Hufflepuffs, on the other hand, would make it known immediately. The thought of one of them stealing is appalling. Stealing is the worst crime ever, because if you steal from someone you aren't loyal and honest.

The Ravenclaws are difficult to steal from because they are remarkably tidy. They never leave anything lying around and they are way too organized to lose anything.

The Gryffindors, on the other hand, are perfect. They are always astonishingly messy, and they would never even consider thinking that someone stole from them. Even if one of them does, it is brushed off with a 'you probably just misplaced it' until they forget about it.

Stealing from students is the easiest thing ever, and they deserve it. It was a student that ruined my life, and it was that same student who taught me the two lessons I needed to become who I am: never trust anyone but yourself and always work towards your own goals. It was that day that I learned that being a Gryffindor looks great but being a Slytherin is what gets you what you want. And turning Slytherin has led me to where I am now, getting revenge on students and the school alike.