PLAYING WITH PUFFS [CARCER]

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To say that Alice Longbottom had fallen head over heels for her Pygmy Puff, Fizzio, would be an understatement. From the very moment that the blonde had picked up the custard yellow puff, she knew it was meant to be. Alice had always wanted a Pygmy Puff growing up, but for one reason or another she was never allowed one. The main reason being her cat, Oscar. He was big, gray, and fat. Alice had babied him a bit too much when he was a younger cat, so he had a habit for overeating now. Alice had always figured that getting a puff would be like getting Oscar a brand new live toy. And Alice didn't want that. But after Alice had first held Fizzio, she swore to herself that she would not let anything harm him. Including Oscar, whom since the arrival of Fizzio had taken to sitting on opposite sides of the room from Alice.

Alice had started carrying around Fizzio, nicknamed Fizz, where she went. He fit perfectly in her front pocket and he happened to quite like sitting in Alice's pocket, walking with her from class to class. Often times, Alice would take a peek at him in class and find him snoozing away inside of her pocket. Seeing such a little creature do such a thing warmed Alice's heart. She loved animals, and seeing them happy and at peace made her happy. But then came Oscar, who was always just a grouch in general. Alice would typically just roll her eyes at the silly feline whenever he would unhappily hiss at her for having Fizzio near.

Supper had just ended and Alice had found herself in the common room. Lately she had been spending more time in the group room than in her dormitory, hidden behind her drawn curtains. Perhaps it was because Fizzio made her so incredibly happy that she didn't want to be cooped up in bed longer than she needed to. However, he didn't have any affect on Alice's interactions with people. She mainly ignored all of her other fellow badgers. Alice preferred to talk to Fizzio or Oscar. Tonight, the common room was a bit slow. A few students had returned from dinner, but many still remained in the Great Hall, probably for dessert or to mingle with their friends from other houses before curfew. The school had really started to crack down on curfew, ever since the killing and the stationing of Aurors at the school. Alice had yet to see any herself, but she knew they were probably there.

For now, Alice sat in an armchair in the corner of the room by a table. She set Fizz down on the table and almost immediately, Oscar had come out of nowhere to sit upon her lap. Alice smiled a little, figuring that the cat only wanted his mother's attention if the puff wasn't around. She began to slowly stroke Oscar's furry back, as he glared at Fizzio. A low hiss escaped his feline lips and Alice stopped petting him. "You hush, Oscar," she said picking up the cat and turning him to face her. "Be nice," she said sternly to the cat before setting him down next to her on the chair. She turned her attention to her puff, who was rolling around on top of the table. She felt her cat then nudge at her free hand. With another small smile, Alice sat in the chair petting Oscar with her left hand and making sure to keep an eye on Fizz.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Carcer watched the tiny green fuzzball that was Quinn make her way up his arm toward his shoulder. The Pygmy Puff was quite fearless, it had turned out, and generally seemed to think it was the same size as Carcer. It had actually gotten into a fight with a spider and killed it this morning, which surprised Carcer—the puffs were certainly capable of driving spiders off, but he'd never heard of one aggressively dive-bombing one from above, pinning it, and killing it. Well, it made for a good journal entry, anyway, and he'd learned that even these tiny things had outliers with some serious fight in them. His misgivings about taking care of something so small had vanished, since he'd lucked out enough to choose the puff that was willing to take care of itself. Still, part of him was looking forward to the day he could hand Quinn over to Alice, who could at least make out details on the poor puff. Carcer could barely make out the eyes on the otherwise-featureless, fuzzy green ball. It made keeping one for a pet difficult. He'd tried Engorging it, but that had only been temporary—Carcer wasn't dumb enough to think there were no downsides to changing the size of an animal. It had been interesting to see how quickly Quinn had adapted to her new size though.

The largest of the Hufflepuffs was making his way back up to the castle from setting feed out for Apollo and Diana and giving them a brush-down. Being a prefect, a seventh-year, and nigh-invulnerable afforded Carcer the privelege to still walk the grounds alone before curfew, where normally he'd have to stay within the castle walls after dinner. One of the advantages to being a half-giant, no doubt about it. He opened the front doors of the castle and slipped in, hearing the doors bolt themselves behind him, and headed toward the dungeons. Being sorted into Hufflepuff had presented something of a challenge at first—even normal students had always had to crawl to the common room from the secret entrance. However, apparently, Helga Hufflepuff wasn't kidding when she said she'd teach anyone and everyone equally—when Carcer opened the entrance, it magically stretched itself to allow him to walk into the Hufflepuff dungeon. It also made it obvious when Carcer had arrived, which according to his housemates had broken up a few fights before they'd even begun. He stopped at the pile of barrels near the end of a lonely hallway, glanced around, and pulled his wand. He located the right barrel and tapped out a pattern—tap, tap, taptaptap. The barrels slid aside, revealing a crawlspace that then stretched itself until it was a doorway fit for Carcer's great frame.

He made his way down the corridor, emerging into the common room. Several students waved at him—Carcer was generally treated as the protector of the House, thanks to his size and strength, his tendency to break up fights, and his skill with his wand. And being the friendly guy he was, he was very approachable when you needed help. His eyes roamed the room—and noted, to his surprise, that Alice Longbottom was downstairs. That was unusual. For six years, she'd steadfastly avoided anywhere that was a popular congregation spot as much as she could. She was watching her own Pygmy Puff—Fizzio, he recalled—and scratching her cat behind the ears. Carcer smiled. He strode over to the table she was sitting at, slipping his bookbag off and casually throwing it into the corner, where he knew it'd be left alone until he chose to collect it. He walked over and placed his left hand on the table, smiling at Alice. “Hey.” As soon as his hand touched the table, the little green ball on his shoulder took off, rolling down Carcer's arm, ramping off his hand, and landing like it was some kind of superhero. Quinn spotted the other Pygmy Puff and immediately charged, but a hiss from the cat beside Alice caused it to stop and run to the edge of the table instead.

Carcer sat down on the floor beside Alice—his head still coming up higher than hers—and grinned as Quinn roared at the cat, the sound coming out as a tiny, furious squeak. “Careful, Quinn thinks she's big enough to pick a fight with that cat.”

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The common room was beginning to slowly get more crowded as more students returned from dinner. Alice imagined it was getting late and they needed to make curfew. For once, the presence of her fellow badgers was not that meddlesome or annoying to Alice. She was quite enjoying sitting in the corner gazing upon her puff and petting her cat. She then heard a few students say some greetings to another student who had just entered the common room. Alice kept her head down, not knowing who it was and not wanting to draw attention to herself. She imagined she was already being muttered about as to why she was even down in the common room. Aice let out a sigh as she continued to watch Fizzio, who had started rolling around in circles on the table.

When Alice felt another person's presence, her eyes immediately snapped to the hand that had found its place on the table next to Alice. However, this wasn't just anyone's hand. It was a hand of a half-giant, that much was certain. And there was only one person in Hufflepuff house that it could possibly belong to.

"Hey," Carcer Hagrid said just as Alice looked up at him. She greeted him with a small smile before something rolling down his arm caught her attention. Looking down at the table again, she watched as Carcer's forest green puff began to charge at Fizzio. In return, Fizz began to run in circles again, away from the green puff. Alice's smile widened at the sight. Carcer was one of the very few people Alice knew loved animals like she did. He was a Hagrid, after all, so he was practically raised around wild creatures. Carcer had actually let Alice join him in on a ride with his Abraxans, Diana and Apollo, very recently and it had really helped Alice feel more comfortable around Carcer. She had never truly spoken to him much until this year, but she was finding him to be quite a good friend.

Oscar caught her attention when he hissed at the new green puff. She immediately stopped petting him. She glared down at the fat cat. "Let her. I think this cat needs to learn a good lesson from a Pygmy Puff," she scoffed at Oscar, folding her arms across his chest. The cat then jumped off of the chair and crawled underneath it instead, protesting Alice. As the half-giant sat down on the floor next to Alice, she was reminded how small she was compared to him. Even as he sat on the floor, he was still taller than her and she was in a chair. Alice was certain she had never met a taller person in her life, but Carcer had been tall since she had known him. Alice had noted that being so tall had given him an advantage in certain classes, particularly Care of Magical Creatures, whenever they would deal with a rather persnickety creature.

Alice relaxed her hands back into her lap, offering up a little smile to Carcer again. "She is quite the fireball," she said, referring to Carcer's puff, whom Fizzio had started slowly nearing to get a good wiff of her.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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She smiled at him. Alice rarely smiled at people, but she was often smiling while in the presence of animals. She hadn’t smiled nearly as much this year, though. Carcer was a watcher—he sat on the sidelines and studied his fellow class- and housemates. Not for his own agenda, he just liked knowing people, even if they weren’t generally interested in hanging out with the half-giant. So he actually knew Alice well enough to say she wasn’t as happy this year. And Carcer guessed it didn’t have to do with the murder, though that might be part of the reason. But he also knew that when she was riding around on Diana, Alice let whatever was bothering her fade away. Put the Longbottom in her element, and whatever weight was on her shoulders (that Carcer suspected had to do with one James Potter) seemed to vanish, leaving just a happy girl with a smile. And that was infinitely better than the sullen girl that occasionally emerged in class these days. This time was no different—her eyes tracked Quinn, and the smile on her face went from one of greeting to one of contented happiness at the sight of yet another animal in her proximity.

It was a good expression to see, the half-giant noted as he sat down beside the girl and warned her that Quinn might actually jump off the table and pick a fight with the cat. Alice seemed to be okay with that, saying her cat needed a good beating from a Pygmy Puff to learn to be civil. Carcer chuckled at that. The idea of a Pygmy Puff beating up a cat twenty times its size wasn’t funny—it was that he found no difficulty imagining Quinn actually doing it that made him laugh. “She is quite the fireball.” The little green fuzzball seemed oblivious to the approach of her sun-colored counterpart, still searching for the cat that had slunk under Alice’s chair. Carcer rolled his eyes. “You have no idea. She doesn’t really start fights with other puffs, but anything else she thinks is threatening, she’s ready to have a go. And she’s very smart. Watch this.” He pulled his wand with his right hand, aimed it at the Pygmy Puff, and Quinn was surrounded by a translucent golden bubble—a very small Shield Charm. Quinn immediately chirped her approval and rolled off the table without hesitation, ready to thrash a cat.

But Carcer had been waiting on that. His left hand snaked past Alice’s stomach to catch the Puff inside its safety ball and deposit it back on the table before he dispelled the charm. “Not today, Quinn,” he chided, to which the Puff huffily strode away from the edge of the table, finally realizing that Fizzio had approached her cautiously. The green fuzz chirped in greeting, but didn’t approach. “She’s smart. She remembers Fizzio running from her, so she’s not approaching him. That, and I think she’s satisfied because he was intimidated…plus, you saw earlier. As soon as I cast Protego, she was off the table. She knows the charm’s too strong for a pet to break and she was trying to weaponize it.” He shook his head as Quinn…well, he thought she was puffing out her chest to look important, but she was so small he just could not tell. So he would just have to wait to see how the two got along. He really, really hoped the answer was “well” for Quinn’s sake. “Are you still okay with taking her after the assignment? You can probably tell she’s a handful, which is pretty impressive for any creature that can fit in a teaspoon.”

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Alice had surprised herself when she realized how easy it was to open up around Carcer. She had never been one to speak to people outside of her immediate friend group of Ronan, Elodie, and James, but she had never thought ill of Carcer simply for his love of animals. This year, though, she had spoken to him more than ever before. Alice had really come out of her shell on their Abraxan ride. She found that she didn't have to talk a lot around Carcer to be able to have fun, as they were both the type to prefer solitude. Alice liked that about Carcer, and she was realizing she wanted to spend more time with him the more she was around him.

As Carcer pulled out his wand and aimed it at Quinn, Alice couldn't help but press her lips together to hide a smile in anticipation. As the golden bubble appeared around the green puff, Alice's eyes widened in amusement. She watched the puff carefully as something seemed to register in its expression before it let out a chirp and rolled right off of the table. Alice felt Carcer's hand swiftly move past her to catch the puff just in time before he went to the ground. “Not today, Quinn,” Carcer said to the little green ball of fierceness. As the puff huffed away from them, Alice let out a little laugh. Such interactions between humans and their animals brought out a certain type of happiness in Alice. She was always glad to see that others acted the same way she did with her animals.

Alice shook her head at the puff as Carcer spoke, but she couldn't stop smiling at Quinn. "She really is a little fireball!" She leaned in to the puff to look more closely at her as Fizzio began to slowly walk around Quinn in circles, sniffing her. She sat back up and turned to Carcer. "Of course," she answered him with a happy tone. "But... only if you want to give her to me," her tone was now more uncertain. Alice didn't want Carcer to think that she was trying to steal Quinn away from him or anything. She wasn't usually sure how to ineract often times with people, for she spent most of her life interacting with people who she knew well enough to not second guess. A part of her also didn't want Carcer to think that Alice was only being nice to him because he had offered him Quinn. She figured she didn't have to say that out loud, but it was a genuine concern of hers. She actually wanted to hang out with Carcer more, and she was silently hoping they would. She just didn't know how to express that feeling to him.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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“She really is a little fireball!”

Carcer chuckled, nodding in agreement. “Oh yeah. I tried using an Engorgement Charm on her, to keep track of her after she decided to hide in my robes for almost a full day. Not on a permanent basis, of course, but I was amazed at how fast she got used to being three times bigger. She got used to being smaller again just as fast. I’d like to shake the hand of whoever figured out how to breed these things, the intelligence they have is crazy, especially considering Puffskeins aren’t that bright.” Puffskeins were popular pets since they basically cleaned up spilled food, kept houses clear of spiders and bugs, and, naturally, were cute and cuddly. The miniatures were just as varied in their diet, except people kept them fed, and they couldn’t handle spiders as easily—most of the time, anyway. Maybe they were purposely bred to be smarter than Puffskeins so they would know not to follow the instincts of their larger cousins? If that was the case, it hadn’t worked on Quinn. “She ambushed a spider this morning. It was a proper size for a Puffskein to kill, but I didn’t think a Pygmy Puff would want the fight. Quinn got the jump on it, killed, and ate it. I was impressed, I would have thought a spider bite would be lethal to these guys, but she didn’t even give it a chance to bite. No fear whatsoever.”

Her next statement surprised him. Alice was still willing to take Quinn, but only if he was willing to give the puff to her? Ah…maybe she was worried he didn’t think she could take good care of Quinn or something. That was silly, but Carcer didn’t say that out loud, of course. “Did you know, there are only three people I let mess around with Apollo and Diana? One’s my little brother, he’s been around them his whole life too. Then there’s Professor Bates. She’s not the Magical Creatures professor for nothing. And you’re the third, because you’re the only person I know who’s as good with animals as my dad. Every other person that I’ve caught trying to visit my Abraxans, I’ve asked them not to come in the stables unless I’m already inside.” He paused for a moment as Quinn pressed her tiny nose to the table and sniffed around, trying to identify some scent that was beyond his own nose’s ability to detect. She seemed to follow it for a few inches before losing it—possibly someone else’s puff that they had picked up off the table, then. “So don’t worry about whether or not I trust you to take care of her, because I do. I just…feel like it’s hard for you to say no to animals. I’m not sure how many you already take care of and how much of a burden an adventurous Pygmy Puff might be. I just…you shouldn’t feel like you have to take her, you know? You’re my first choice, but if your plate is…already full, you know…but I promise you, lack of trust is not the issue here.”

He paused a minute and shook it off, laughing softly, before a thought struck him. He glanced at Alice out of the corner of his eye. “You know, I’m not used to seeing you down here in the common room. Something up?”

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A scenario played out in Alice's head of the little green puff jumping in to action to attack a spider. In her head, it was pretty comical and cartoonish. She pictured the spider weakly fighting back against the almighty green puff and a little smile appeared on Alice's face as she looked at Quinn. "She'll be great to have around then," Alice said gently reaching her hand out to pet the green puff. "I don't much care for spiders," Alice lowered her voice to a whisper as she then turned back to Carcer. While Alice loved most creatures, very small and fast spiders were probably at the bottom of her list of animals she loved.

Alice watched Carcer as he spoke, telling her about the only three people he let around his Abraxans. The fact that Alice was among those three meant a lot to her. She had really enjoyed their company and she was glad to hear that Carcer could see how she adored them. While his words meant a lot to Alice, she didn't reply. It wasn't because she wasn't grateful, because inside she was near bursting with joy at his words. She just didn't know where to start or how to thank him for such kind words. While Alice had always prided herself in being able to read others or watch people carefully, she was not good at wording how she felt about certain situations.

At the sound of little sniffs, Alice turned her head to look back at Quinn just as Carcer had paused in conversation. Quinn was really a peculiar Pygmy Puff, but Alice never saw animals as difficult. She believed some just needed more attention than others. She could tell that Quinn would require more attention than Fizz right off the bat, and the idea sort of excited her. When Carcer began to speak again, Alice turned back to him, watching him as he spoke. Sometimes when she interacted with the half giant, she forgot just how tall he was unless she was looking right at him. "I just…feel like it’s hard for you to say no to animals." Alice smiled a little sheepishly at that comment. It was true, however. Animals were Alice's weakness. "So far it's just Fizz and Oscar," she said, reminded of the stubborn cat under her chair. "But that cat practically takes care of himself, he's so stubborn," she rolled her eyes at the thought of Oscar. "I'd love to take care of her, though," she said quieter now, looking back at Carcer. Her voice so quiet partly because she didn't want Oscar to hear he was going to have a new puff sister and half because she was slightly embarrassed for some reason.

“You know, I’m not used to seeing you down here in the common room. Something up?” Alice blinked, looking at the half giant for a moment. She had almost forgotten that being in the common room like this was completely out of the norm for her. Alice had no excuse, to be honest. And she couldn't see herself telling a lie to Carcer, so she shrugged. "I dunno..." she said, turning to look at the puffs on the table. "I guess... I wanted a change of scenery." She looked back at Carcer, smiling slightly. "Thought I might as well. I've spent enough time up in that dormitory, after all," she laughed a little bit, but it was more of a nervous laugh than anything. Alice wasn't so used to having to explain herself to people that weren't Elodie or James. And with them, Alice never truly had to explain herself, as they already knew a lot about her.

Alice let out a deep breath, straightening herself in her chair. "Sooo," she said a little uncertainly. "Have you got an "after dinner" routine?" She asked, the certainty in her tone improving. Small talk was another weak point of Alice's, but she enjoyed Carcer's company and was willing to make it not weird for either of them. And... a part of her wanted to know more about Carcer. If she was being honest, Alice wanted to hang out with Carcer more. He had proved to her to be good company to keep and she had enjoyed when they had gone on the Abraxan ride. This was a friendship she wanted to work on and keep.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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“She'll be great to have around then. I don't much care for spiders.”

Carcer blinked. Was Alice….ashamed of not liking spiders? He couldn’t help but laugh at this confession, though he kept it quiet to avoid attention. He grinned at the Hufflepuff. “I take it back, you’re smarter than my father when it comes to animals. Dad loves the acromantula in the Forbidden Forest, says they’re seriously misunderstood creatures. They can’t bite through my skin, but I still just do not see the appeal.” He didn’t mention that the acromantula that started the massive colony had been Hagrid’s pet and escaped him just before he got expelled. It was a long-kept secret, but there was nothing to be done about it. Very nearly all of the gigantic spiders had been killed in the Battle of Hogwarts when the Death Eaters drove them towards the castle, but they had already repopulated to where theyd been beforehand. If even one acromantula survived, the great nest would never be destroyed, and the idea of actually fidning every acromantula and killing them was ludicrous. They were too numerous, too dangerous, and too smart to be wiped out. He’d had to catch a few of them for Professor Bates once, and it was not an experience Carcer was prepared to repeat.

It honestly surprised him to learn that Alice only had the two pets. Then again, maybe not. Professor Longbottom seemed like the kind of person to not let his children have more than the could handle—or more than he felt they could handle, anyway. But alice clearly wanted Quinn and already liked her…then again, he didn’t doubt she would have made off with Professor Bates’ entire pygmy puff crate if she thought she could get away with it. “Not to worry then. She’ll be yours after the next Comcee class.” He watched as the green and yelow puffs began to play at last. Her authority secure, Quinn seemed ready to have some fun at last. Carcer smiled and put his hand palm up on the floor beside Alice’s chair, feeling more than seeing the cat turn his attention to it. Alice confessed that she just felt like being donw in the common room, smiling at her laughter. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad to see you down here.” He smiled, even as he felt a paw prodding at his hand in curiosity.

"Sooo, have you got an "after dinner" routine?”

The half-giant shrugged, running his hand through his hair. “Sort of. I always go out and feed the horses right after dinner, of course. Then I come back here for curfew and do homework if I have it. If not, I’ll just sit in the corner and people watch. Sometimes people come to me to settle arguments or for help. Three nights a week I also patrol the castle after hours. They don’t let the students do that, normally, but I’m a prefect and I’d be really hard to just kill, and they need the help.” He looked at the two puffs for a moment before his eyes widened and he turned to Alice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…that wasn’t a joke or anything. I’m not…trying to make light of what’s been happening, just…that’s how it is.” Great, now he was feeling all morbid himself. It had occurred to Carcer that he could die—after all, he was very mortal. But it was never really an issue to him. He was not afraid, and he was the best choice among the students to patrol simply for his natural defenses. But discussing it with Alice…he didn’t like it. He didn’t want her thinking he was a likely victim or anything. “So yeah, that’s my usual routine at night. How about you?”

Come on, Carcer. You’ve never felt awkward in your life, so don’t start now.

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Alice felt a shiver go down her spine at the mention of "acromantula". Alice had studied them. But what animal hadn't Alice studied, really? While Alice didn't care for normal spiders, she absolutely dreaded the idea of coming face to face with an acromantula. "Has... your dad ever taken you out into the forest before?" She asked, raising a curious eyebrow. Alice knew that Carcer's dad, Rubeus Hagrid, had always been a lover of animals. Her father had told her that much. And from what she understood, Carcer's dad was with animals much like how Alice's father was with plants. Alice believed it took a special kind of soul to love creatures and plants that way. However, she didn't really think that of herself. She felt it was just natural for her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw the yellow and green puffs begin to play. She watched them for a moment, a little smile on her face. The fact that Fizz would have a playmate his size made her happy. It just so happened to be a plus that Quinn could probably protect the both of them from Oscar's claws, as well. Alice had a feeling that Oscar wouldn't like Quinn, but she also had a strong inkling that Quinn could handle Oscar's stubborn attitude. Alice turned to Carcer just as he was saying that Quinn was to be hers after the class assignment was through. Just as her smile was beginning to widen, she felt a little tail underneath her chair wag slowly and curiously when Carcer moved his hand. Alice silently rolled her eyes at her cat, but when Carcer smiled at her she couldn't help but slowly return the smile. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad to see you down here.” At this, Alice couldn't help but feel slightly embarrased for some reason. To hide this, she just blinked a few times and looked down at her feet. But she smiled all the while.

As Carcer spoke, Alice let her gaze follow over to the puffs. She was listening to him, and that was why when he started to apologize, Alice looked at him almost in misunderstood alarm. She blinked at him a moment. "Don't apologize," she shrugged. She didn't look away from him. Usually in a situation such as this, Alice would have looked away or not said anything at all. "It is what it is," she said quietly. Alice hadn't really taken the murder as terribly as James had. James' sadness had been a real jerker for Alice's own sadness. While the loss of such a young person was terrible as well, Alice just hadn't let what had happened really sink in. Sometimes she almost forgot about it entirely until someone brought it up.

She was glad for the subject change when it came, though.

Alice shrugged. "This, mainly," she gestured to her puff, not bothering to gesture at Oscar. He was hard to forget about in general. "Except in my dorm." She shrugged. The air about them had for some reason started to feel awkward. Alice knew she was a pretty awkward human being, but she didn't want Carcer to feel at all awkward so... awkwardly Alice looked at Carcer, trying to raise a jokingly curious eyebrow at him. "So... exactly how hard is it to hurt you?" She asked, hoping he would catch on her to joking tone. Alice figured it must be hard, the way he mentioned it sometimes. But she wanted to hear the technacalities of it all from Carcer himself.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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“Has... your dad ever taken you out into the forest before?”

Carcer glanced over at Alice. It was a little surprising she didn't know the story, considering her father had fought hard to keep his from leaving Hogwarts, but then again, he supposed it wouldn't have really accomplished anything to implant a distaste for people in Alice by telling her how horrible they were. Alice was antisocial enough on her own. “No. Dad retired from his positions the year before I was accepted to Hogwarts, and he's never set foot on the grounds at the same time as me or my brother. He won't do it except for our graduations. See...Dad's been targeted by the Ministry in the past just because he's half giant. And...well...he refused to take the chance that him being on staff while we were students could endanger our education. So he left the place he'd called home for most of his life, all because of a few bigots still in power.” There was unmistakeable anger and bitterness in Carcer's voice. His father had hidden it well, but Hogwarts was his home, and it hurt him to leave. Mom always said it was okay, because that was pain Rubeus could endure, while the pain of causing either of his sons not to make it through school was not. But he shouldn't have had to make such a horrible choice in the first place. And worse, he'd done it without telling Carcer before it was too late, when he could have chosen to go to Beauxbatons instead. Carcer had just wanted to go to the same school as his father, but he'd never understood the price that would be paid for him getting what he wanted.

Well he'd sure shown them all. The board had never had anything to say about either of the Hagrids, Carcer's grades and behavior were too outstanding to give them ammo to work with in his case. And this train of thought wasn't helping the situation. Luckily, Alice seemed to be on the same wavelength, being quite accepting of the situation, such as it was. Things still seemed awkward, but Carcer was happy that Alice had taken such a realistic attitude—sad as it was, facts were facts. He knew he liked her personality for some reason. He chuckled at Alice's nighttime routine. Sitting around, watching and playing with animals? That was his kind of night too, albeit on a larger scale, it seemed. Then again, maybe it was for the best that Alice didn't have any large pets. There was no doubt in his mind that she'd ignore the curfew rules to go take care of any pet she couldn't keep in the dorms. “So... exactly how hard is it to hurt you?” Carcer looked over at Alice, arching her eyebrow. This was...interesting. He'd never seen her try to defuse awkwardness before. Although...he supposed this was the first time he felt awkward around her, too. But it did the job. He grinned.

“According to Mom and Dad, we're not as tough as a dragon is against physical attacks, swords and spears and such, but we can withstand a lot more magic than a dragon. Mom says that giant's blood gives us almost as much magical protection as a full-blood giant, but only a proper portion of size or strength relative to how much giant we have in us. The strength and toughness increases when we get angry, though. I can...feel it...when I get angry. I think anger is a common emotion for giants, so it wakes the blood, I guess? When Dad gets mad, I've never seen anyone stop him.” His dad was a gentle soul at heart with no interest in hurting others, but Carcer had seen him pushed to his limit a few times by people who knew just what buttons to push. Mom was just as bad, but she hid it better. He turned to Alice and a sudden, teasing smirk crossed his face. Oh, this would be fun. “If you're really curious, cast something at me and see what happens.” He shifted until he was facing her completely, then jabbed a thumb right at his chest. “C'mon, Longbottom, take your best shot.” His grin was teasing, but he had no problem letting the girl take a shot at him just to see. He knew she wouldn't cast an Unforgiveable, and there weren't many other ways to subdue him with wand magic.

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Alice watched Carcer as he spoke about his father. Of course, Alice had known that his father was the Hogwarts groundskeeper during her own father's days at Hogwarts. She could recall some details of what had gone on during the Second Wizarding War, but Alice wasn't really into the politics of it all. She was aware, however, of how strict the Ministry used to be with a lot of the laws. Especially with laws considering goblins, half giants, and other magical beings. Even reading about such ordeals upset Alice. But hearing about how Carcer's dad had retired from his job before Carcer and his brother were in school in order to... protect them, really got to Alice. She finally looked away from Carcer and down at her feet as she awkwardly moved them around. "People can be so cruel," was all she could say.

Looking back at Carcer and seeing him grinning made Alice grin a little bit in return. Alice raised her eyebrows a bit at Carcer's saying he could feel his strength increase when he was angry. She couldn't help but chuckle a bit, though, when he said that nothing could stop his dad when he was angry. Alice imagined Carcer, for a moment, trying to imagine him actually getting very angry at someone. While Alice didn't know Carcer that well yet, and she imagined he did get a little peeved every now and then, she found it a little hard to believe such a kind person as he could get so angry.

Alice turned to Carcer just as he turned to face her as well. When the smirk crossed his face, Alice raised a curious eyebrow at him. “If you're really curious, cast something at me and see what happens.” Alice's eyes widened at him. While he had just said that he could withstand more magic than a dragon, Alice wasn't sure how she felt about casting a spell at him like that. She began to shake her head at him, but didn't look away. "No, no - I couldn't..." she said, her voice trailing off. It wasn't that she didn't believe that Carcer could handle whatever little spell she cast at him, but rather the idea of casting a spell on a friend in general. Alice had never really cast a spell on anyone, for that matter. The idea was not very comfortable with Alice, and that had been why she had denied joining the Dueling Club. Fighting was not a favorite thing of Alice's, even if she could see that Carcer was just teasing.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Oddly enough, Alice feeling awkward and sympathic about his dad’s situation relaxed Carcer. Getting past putting his foot in his mouth was nice. Carcer didn’t mind talking to people, but he wasn’t the best orator in the world, and sometimes he just said things that didn’t sound out loud the way they sounded in his head. Alice would get used to it. Hopefully. Or he’d mysteriously learn how to speak good in front of her. That would be completely acceptable as well, bit a lot less likely. So he waved off her comment with a smile and a nod, not caring to get into it and have his mood turn dark. What was more fun was to see Alice squirm at the idea of hitting him with a spell. Even though she couldn’t hurt him and probably knew it, she still didn’t want to do it. That gentle nature was probably part of the reason she was such a natural with animals. Dad often said they always knew your intentions, no matter what you said or did, and if that were true, it was little wonder Alice could handle them so well. He smiled and put his arms down. “It’s fine. Most people jump at the offer to take potshots at me. Nice to know someone doesn’t want to even if they know it won’t hurt me.”

Carcer grinned. “I can show you my strength, though.” The half-giant reached out with both hands and grabbed hold of Alice’s chair, lifting it off the ground. Carefully, so as not to unbalance her and send her falling, he rotated the chair until she was facing him, then braced it on his shoulder, holding it woth both hands even as he stood up, giving the blonde Hufflepuff a view of the entire common room from even higher than his own point of view. If she was of a mind to, Alice could actually get onto the balcony circling the walls with ease—it was right beside her. Carcer looked up at her, grinning now. “When it rains, I’m the first to know about it.”

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Alice's face relaxed into a smile when Carcer let his arms down. Many people would have been insistent on her hitting them with a spell, just to prove a point. But Carcer hadn't, and Alice really admired that. She obviously seemed uncomfortable with the idea of throwing a spell at him and he could see that and respect it. She smiled a little sheepishly at him. "To be honest..." she said, her shoulders shrugging. "I don't know if I could ever... attack someone like that." It took a second to admit to it, but she did it.

"I know that's probably not a good thing but..." she shrugged again. "The idea of really hurting someone... scares me. Ya know?" Alice looked at Carcer. A part of her felt like she wouldn't have to explain herself to him. If it were James, he would probably go on a tangent saying how "that is not good, Alice" or "you must always be prepared, Alice." But something told Alice that Carcer wouldn't do that.

Alice raised an eyebrow at the half giant as he began to reach out with both of his hands, grabbing hold of her chair. Suddenly, her chair was off of the ground. Alice's body froze, afraid that if she moved, she would fall. But it seemed that Carcer had a pretty steady hold on her chair as he lifted the chair up onto his shoulder and stood up. Alice's eyes widened at the height as she stared around the room. It was definitely a different perspective from way up here, instead of being so close to the ground all the time. She slowly bent over just a little bit so she could see Carcer over the edge of the chair in front of her. "Down on the ground, we are always the very last. It's quite boring down there." She said, a little smile on her face.

The Hufflepuff was in a rare good mood tonight. There was something about Carcer Hagrid that really helped put Alice in a happy mood. Perhaps it was his equal love and understanding of animals, or his similar preference of being alone as opposed to being in groups. She really liked spending time with him.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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“Down on the ground, we are always the very last. It's quite boring down there.”

He grinned up at her, an odd feeling for Carcer, but he was okay with it. He liked seeing Alice happy, it was a much better look than the somber, serious attitude she normally seemed to display, or the angry stubborn look she held when someone had screwed up. She hadn’t worn that look for him yet, which he was thankful for, but He knew it would happen eventually. Everyone fought over something at least once. If they didn’t, it wasn’t a real…friendship. Yeah, that. “On the plus side, you guys are much closer to the animals than me. Got you all beat on the birds though.” He carefully lowered Alice back down to the ground, setting the chair down carefully. No sense carrying her around too long unless she wanted him to—he had a feeling people were whispering already. Rumors didn’t really bother him, but he would rather minimize the chance of being awkward around Alice in the future. If she really wanted a good view, they’d have to take another trip on the Abraxans.

He leaned over Alice for a moment, looking down at her. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re right not to want to attack people.” He cast a charm to widen a nearby chair and dropped into it, legs taking up most of the space beneath the table, and lay his chin down, where he could watch the two Pygmy Puffs frolicking. Something in the hesitant way Alice spoke reminded him of a discussion he’d once had. “You know, I told my dad the same thing once. He said, ‘yer can say ye don’t want ter hurt others, but what ye mean is, ye hate seein’ others hurt.’ He said there’s nothing wrong with that, it should be respected, but he also told me that if it ever came down to having to decide between hurting someone or watching that someone hurt another, I’d find out just what I’m made of. He actually mentioned a few people when he talked about it, your dad and Mrs. Luna. Said he’d never met a pair of people less judgmental and more willing to avoid conflict, but he said if you gave them a reason to fight, they got downright scary.” His dad had said it, and Rubeus Hagrid was not a liar in the slightest sense, but he did tend to…embellish things a bit, especially where Harry Potter and his friends were concerned. Carcer believed him, but…it was hard to apply the word ‘scary’ to Professor Longbottom. Then again, most people said the same about his dad, but Carcer had seen his dad angry. He supposed Alice’s dad was the same way, you had to see it for yourself.

As he watched the puffs, a barn owl swept by and dropped a letter on his head. He grabbed the envelope and tore it open, reading the letter. Ah, the next Magical Creatures club meeting. “Oh hell, how did they manage to get crups and kneazles both for one meeting?” he muttered to himself, though he didn’t bother to keep his voice down, so Alice no doubt heard him. Well, at least he wasn’t being called on to catch unicorns for the meeting yet. Carcer pulled out his wand and cast a Twinning Charm, sending the original to tack itself to the common room bulletin board. Hufflepuff contributed a large number of the members of the Magical Creatures club, so there was a spot on the board that was always clear unless there was a notice for the club up. He looked over the copy for a minute more before dropping it on the table. Quinn immediately beelined for the parchment, biting at the corner to see how it tasted. Apparently it wasn’t to her liking, she sneezed and backed away. “The Magical Creatures club is going to review crossbreeding crups and kneazles with nonmagical dogs and cats,” he said, eyes looking over at Alice. “They actually got some for us to play with during the meeting. Should make for a fun night, eh?”

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Alice smiled at what he said about the animals. "That's true..." she said as he sat the chair gently back down on the ground. "I guess that's a plus to being so low to the ground," she shrugged, jokingly. It crossed Alice's mind briefly how easy it was for her to talk and joke around with Carcer. She often caught herself thinking that, though, as she did not usually get along well with people who were not James or Elodie. But Carcer was such a nice guy, and Alice had realized that long ago, even from not talking to him. He had never seemed like the type to go out of his way to annoy someone or prove a point and Alice admired that kind of trait in anyone. But for some reason, she admired it more in Carcer.

As the half giant leaned over her, Alice found herself looking up at him but she lightly smiled at his words. It was good to hear that he understood what she meant, even though she thought she had given a pretty bad description of why she felt that way. Whenever Alice didn't have to really explain how she felt, she felt much more at ease. As Carcer widened a chair to sit down in, Alice let out a little chuckle, her eyes then following his to the Puffs. Alice's eyes widened a bit and she nodded at the thought of her father getting angry. Her dad didn't get angry a lot, and luckily she and her brothers had avoided that kind of anger a lot as children but Alice had definitely seen him angry before. She thought for a moment about what Carcer said, and when she thought of her father - it made sense. If someone were hurting her brothers, Alice was sure she would put a stop to it.

"I guess..." She said, thinking hard before she continued on. "I guess I'm more just scared of... going through what our parents... went through," she looked at Carcer with a furrowed brow, knowing that she wouldn't have to explain what she meant. It was common knowledge in all young witches and wizards these days what their parents had gone through in the Second Wizarding War as students. While Alice knew the chances of something like that were very slim, a part of her always wondered... what if?

Alice, too, began to watch the puffs when she saw the barn owl fly overhead and drop a letter on top of Carcer. The sight made Alice crack a smile. Crups and kneazles? Alice raised an eyebrow as she watched Carcer read the letter. “The Magical Creatures club is going to review crossbreeding crups and kneazles with nonmagical dogs and cats,” he explained. Alice let her head tilt to the side just slightly, one eyebrow still raised in curiosity. Alice had not once thought about joining a club before. She never felt like dealing with classmates further outside of classes but... crups and kneazles were sounding intrigueing... not to mention a part of Alice really wanted to lay down and roll around with a couple of kneazles. "Is it... too late to possibly join the club?" Alice asked slowly. Perhaps having at least one friend in a club that wasn't complete nonsense could be fun. "I do like kneazles..." she let a smile creep up onto her face.

@carcerronaldhagrid