I think you're supposed to bring someone along with you to pre-heat your sleeping bag, then you turn them out when you're ready to use it and it's nice and warm. At least, that's the method I use when camping... :)
Creature comforts "What is this?" Professor Several Snipe, Potions Master at Pigpimples, poked at a mess of sticks, grass and mud that might have been a nest of some sort. It was half-concealed under a large plant, an Umbellifera Umbra, that was slightly off to one side of the Kitchen Garden. Nearby were half a dozen varieties of carrots, a collection of edible herbs and a couple of rows of magical and distinctly inedible herbs. Professor Jittery, who was standing in for her brother Flittery this semester as the Herbalist-in-Residence, sighed. She sounded despondent. "It was supposed to be a mole-rat box," she said. "The brief set to the students was to pick a magical animal and build something that would provide a specimen of it with creature comforts. There was scope for ambition and there were some elements in there for the lazy students to take advantage of, and there was an opportunity for some students who could stand to do a little better to do so. And... I got this from-- well, it's not fair to name na-" "Ronnie Weasel," said Professor Several Snipe casually. "Oh don't look like that Jittery, there isn't a teacher in the school that couldn't have identified the student from that slightly pathetic collection of twigs." "Except Mockheart," said Jittery who was feeling mean. She hadn't realised that it would be so easy for Snipe to guess the student. "Is he still alive?" Snipe sounded slightly shocked. "Hanging on," said Jittery. "Of course, it helps that I can make Essence of Dittony and Belladonna; even the postdocs would struggle with that." "Of course," said Snipe sounding thoughtful. "But... Hermione must be losing her touch if he's still alive. Or she's up to something, of course." "Hermione Mangey?" Professor Jittery sounded cautious, as most teachers did around Hermione. "She is an... excellent... student. Quite surprising that she's not on an accelerated programme." "Hah, that would be apocalyptic," said Snipe. He poked Ronnie's sad little construction again. "What animal did she pick for her creature comforts project?" There was silence that dragged out until Professor Jittery gave in. "Um," she said, coughing a little. "Well, it wasn't a dragon, which is what I'd been expecting. I'd even prepared for that." "Aha?" "Yes, well... well... um... it was Hagrid," said Professor Jittery. "I mean, he shouldn't count, but he turned up and moved in, so by the terms of the brief that makes him an animal. Um." "Best not to tell the Headmaster," said Snipe quietly. "He can be a bit sensitive, and he's fed up with the number of prophecies that Miss Mangey has appeared in now. He's just looking for an excuse to Pensieve her, and I wouldn't like to bet on the outcome of that. Well, did Mr. Weasley capture any mole-rats?" "Twenty-seven," said Professor Jittery. She sighed. "He really understood what creature comforts they'd need." Snipe glanced at her, wondering why there was a note of sadness in her voice. "But they're not magical creatures," she said softly. "So, of course, he failed completely."
2 comments:
I think you're supposed to bring someone along with you to pre-heat your sleeping bag, then you turn them out when you're ready to use it and it's nice and warm. At least, that's the method I use when camping... :)
Creature comforts
"What is this?" Professor Several Snipe, Potions Master at Pigpimples, poked at a mess of sticks, grass and mud that might have been a nest of some sort. It was half-concealed under a large plant, an Umbellifera Umbra, that was slightly off to one side of the Kitchen Garden. Nearby were half a dozen varieties of carrots, a collection of edible herbs and a couple of rows of magical and distinctly inedible herbs. Professor Jittery, who was standing in for her brother Flittery this semester as the Herbalist-in-Residence, sighed. She sounded despondent.
"It was supposed to be a mole-rat box," she said. "The brief set to the students was to pick a magical animal and build something that would provide a specimen of it with creature comforts. There was scope for ambition and there were some elements in there for the lazy students to take advantage of, and there was an opportunity for some students who could stand to do a little better to do so. And... I got this from-- well, it's not fair to name na-"
"Ronnie Weasel," said Professor Several Snipe casually. "Oh don't look like that Jittery, there isn't a teacher in the school that couldn't have identified the student from that slightly pathetic collection of twigs."
"Except Mockheart," said Jittery who was feeling mean. She hadn't realised that it would be so easy for Snipe to guess the student.
"Is he still alive?" Snipe sounded slightly shocked.
"Hanging on," said Jittery. "Of course, it helps that I can make Essence of Dittony and Belladonna; even the postdocs would struggle with that."
"Of course," said Snipe sounding thoughtful. "But... Hermione must be losing her touch if he's still alive. Or she's up to something, of course."
"Hermione Mangey?" Professor Jittery sounded cautious, as most teachers did around Hermione. "She is an... excellent... student. Quite surprising that she's not on an accelerated programme."
"Hah, that would be apocalyptic," said Snipe. He poked Ronnie's sad little construction again. "What animal did she pick for her creature comforts project?"
There was silence that dragged out until Professor Jittery gave in. "Um," she said, coughing a little. "Well, it wasn't a dragon, which is what I'd been expecting. I'd even prepared for that."
"Aha?"
"Yes, well... well... um... it was Hagrid," said Professor Jittery. "I mean, he shouldn't count, but he turned up and moved in, so by the terms of the brief that makes him an animal. Um."
"Best not to tell the Headmaster," said Snipe quietly. "He can be a bit sensitive, and he's fed up with the number of prophecies that Miss Mangey has appeared in now. He's just looking for an excuse to Pensieve her, and I wouldn't like to bet on the outcome of that. Well, did Mr. Weasley capture any mole-rats?"
"Twenty-seven," said Professor Jittery. She sighed. "He really understood what creature comforts they'd need."
Snipe glanced at her, wondering why there was a note of sadness in her voice.
"But they're not magical creatures," she said softly. "So, of course, he failed completely."
Greg - your method seems significantly better than mine.
Hah, this was a more pleasant than usual visit to Pigpimples. That ending was, I'm afraid to admit, rather satisfying.
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