Summary: What does a Niffler do all day long? Exactly what you expect it to. Pillaging and Mayhem.

Rated: K

Genre: Adventure

Day in the Life of a Niffler

The Niffler awoke that morning in his burrow lined with countless treasures from countless scavingings. Gold chains, silver lockets, twinkling amber earrings, and even a well polished galleon or two were crammed into the dirt walls of its hiding place and home. He always had the same goal each day—find whatever shiny, sparkly object he could that was strewn about the creature's makeshift habitats or scattered throughout the artificial environments.

His owner was adept at finding even the most difficult of hiding places for trinkets, and sometimes it bothered the Niffler that he would wake to notice a few things were taken to be reused in the never ending search for shiny things. Everyday he would go on the same adventure of discovery and excitement, because finding anything that caught his eye was well worth the effort. But the time to celebrate his prizes would come later.

Poking his head out from the top of his burrow, the Niffler glanced around his immediate surroundings for anything that glimmered in the summer sun above him. The heat wasn't too bad; it never was completely unbearing. His owner strived to make sure everyone that lived there was happy and comfortable.

The flash of silver in the tree nearby had him quickly scurry up the trunk and out onto the branches, easily snatching the silver necklace from the thin finger-like branches of the vast tree. Tucking it in his pouch, the Niffler felt pleased with himself already. This treasure was new, and he always liked new nicknacks. A bowtruckle caught his attention for a moment, and he tilted his head at it as the tiny stick creature complained that he was breaking branches off its home. The Niffler quickly moved on, accidently snapping a branch as he did so. He knew there was much more exploration needed to track down all of the goodies for the day; talking to bowtruckles was not on the agenda.

Each new item the Niffler stumbled across only fueled his greed to find even more; a fierce-like frenzy would overwhelm the tiny creature's senses from time to time, and the need to find more would drive him to search more feverently than before. The warm, sunny day—in most of the modified environments, anyway—kept the little rodent energized and limber. He liked it when the days were set for the early summertime, especially with the artificial breeze that gently brustled the trees and gave just enough to cool the air when it got a little too warm.

Only half of the day had passed, and the greed that demanded for him to tuck away more treasures in his seemingly bottomless pouch still drove him. The thirst for those luminous trinkets and nicknacks hadn't been quinched yet, and his owner didn't tuck enough away this time. So the Niffler got creative and dug around in odd places to maybe unravel a secret stash by that rock or this root. When nothing came up, he found himself climbing up on the small porch of the shack his owner created to live in among the creatures he saved. It was always locked and warded to keep them from getting away, but the Niffler stared at the polished brass lock that the door bore. A twitch of his nose and a scratch of an ear later, he concluded that the need for that lock was quite strong.

Climbing up the wood planks, the Niffler dangled off the lock and pawed at it for several seconds. The clattering of it slapping against the wood only frustrated him more as he failed to pull it off, and he couldn't think of how to get it to release its grasp. There was a hole on the face of the lock, but he couldn't get his paws in it to tinker around. Maybe that bowtruckle would undo it for him?

After much debate and arguing with the stubborn sticks, one of them reluctantly agreed only if he kept his furry little butt out of their tree from then on. The Niffler couldn't promise that, not really—it wasn't his fault their owner and caretaker threw things up in its branches for him to pick up—but he'd try his best to be less destructive when scaling their home next time.

It didn't take the bowtruckle long to unlock the thing, and the heavy brass lock fell to the ground with a thud, leaving a dent in the wood. He quickly went and grabbed the large object to tuck it into his pouch. The obnoxious stick left stating that the Niffler was a nasty little thief, and that he'd cause their caretaker and owner unnecessary grief one day with his uncontrolled appetite for stealing things, but he just couldn't help it.

The lock was a lot heavier than he had thought, so he decided to go stash it back in his burrow before continuing on his day-to-day adventure. The Niffler found a nice spot for the lock right at the entrance, and he went about shoving the other objects he collected into their secret and designated spots throughout the maze-like home. He rather liked to admire the luminous trinkets all around him, and occasionally would re-arrange a piece that looked off or out of place.

A twitch of his nose told him that his greedy personality had yet to be sedated for the day, and there was new uncharted territory to explore now. The Niffler retraced his steps back to his owner's shack. He wriggled his way through the small opening the door had revealed once the lock had been freed. The wards seemed to have dispelled upon the removal of the lock, which made the rodent's break-in successful.

The Niffler's radar was on overdrive, and the glimmer of a pocket watch on the table was soon claimed as his, his paws tucking the long chain into his pouch along with the rest of it. He hopped over a circular glass object that he stopped to examine, finding the shimmer of the golden yellow frame satisfying enough to take; the Niffler tucked it away and hopped over to an end table.

He immediately froze, temporarily petrified at the hand mirror that revealed its reflection back at him. Another Niffler was ransacking the place? That couldn't be; he was his owner's only one, and even if he wasn't, this was his domain, and only he was supposed to steal from it.

After a moment, the creature tilted his head and cautiously approached the ornate silver mirror. The thing looking back mimicked his actions, and soon the Niffler concluded it was nothing to be threatened by. He took the hand mirror and shoved it into his bottomless pouch. Eying the bronze picture frame of the girl beside it, he decided it just wasn't polished enough to be taken. Swiping another small pocket watch, he wiggled his way into a drawer and gathered some sickles and knuts. Soon the small space was void of anything shiny that the sun had struck to catch his attention, but his radar was still going berserk.

He crawled around under the stairs a moment, seeing if anything else was hidden behind it. He only found a small amber jewel wedged in a crack before he looked up the ladder-like stairs. The Niffler wondered if the urgency he felt came from up there and if there were more desirable things present coming from the strange looking door in the roof. It didn't take much convincing for the thieving creature to climb up to the top and stick his claws in between the edges of the wood to pull it open. Yes, there was so much shiny out there, if he just pulled a little harder…

The Niffler managed to squeeze his way out of the makeshift home of his owner, and boy, was this world a lot bigger than the one he was used to. Everywhere he looked, there were glittering things hanging off the people, off the animals, off of everything. He was going to quite like this new place.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition

Word Count: 1,343

Originally Written: June 2018