A Birth day

"Aria," Marcus said, "don't rush it. Take the time you need. You will have a lot of employees to interview, re-vett and screen for imposters. I've done those sorts of things. They can take time. If Daniella is smart, she's not just going to want the aurors looked at. She'll want every single ministry employee and associate. Once you get done with the hundreds of employees at the ministry, you could be doing the same for every single supplier or even regional ministry officials. We could have lost a lot of lives today, you know. Be thorough, not speedy."

Angus got up and went over to a tin on the top shelf of his bookcase, and he got out a wad of French muggle money. "Here--in case you have to do some business with the muggles. Take it along just in case," he told her, handing it to her. "You have any muggle credit cards or debit cards?"

"I do, if she doesn't," Marcus said. "She can use one of mine."

When Lucian and Aria left, Anise went back to her studying. She looked frustrated.

"What's the snag?" Angus asked.

"I can't do this," she sighed. "I'm supposed to write a five page paper on pygmy puffs, and there isn't five pages to know about them. What's to know? They're pocket sized fuzzy vacuum cleaners." That made Angus laugh.

"I'll tell you what. Go out to the barn, hunt up Jack, and see what he can tell you. See what he can show you in Kate's pygmy puffs."

"There's nothing to know. They're pink and fuzzy."

"Go," Angus laughed, pointing to the door. She got up and went to the barn , looking for Jack.

"Jack? You here?" she called, going in. She was a lot more interested in the thestrals and the unicorns, but here she was, needing to write five freaking pages of pygmy puffs.

Aria paused and looked at Marcus as he spoke of what she would have to do and she nodded " okay, so not days but weeks maybe months, at worst, but your right, be thorough, have to be to insure her safety.." she said then listened to Angus and watched as he got up and then handed her some muggle francs. " thanks Angus, that wasn't something I even thought about" she said then looked to Marcus " If I need to I'll let you know, but I don't like borrowing, I'll try and come back as much as the investigation allows." she said as she picked up her bag and headed out with Lucian.

Jack was mucking out the hippogriff's as he liked to do as he saw Anise walk in " he Anise what brings you here?" he asked placing the pitch fork against the stall door. He walked over to her stood by the Thestral's. " not many people can see these at your age" he said to her stroking its neck.

"I love them," Anise told him, petting the muzzle of both thestrals. "This one here is a strange bloke. Did you know his very favorite treat is a radish of all things? He adores them. And the mare loves celery. Don't know why. Celery has no taste. Well, I don't think it does, but she loves it. Anyway, that isn't why I'm here. I'm supposed to write five freaking pages on pygmy puffs, and honestly, there isnt' that much to write about them. All they are is little pink vacuum cleaners. Angus thought you might be able to show me a few things or something."

"I need to do something purposeful," Angus said.

"You are. You're resting so you don't start hemorrhaging again," Marcus said. "The only thing Jess had time for was one quick spell to try to start some healing. Hopefully, Robert can get over here before too awfully long, or I might have to whisk you over to New York for a quick visit with Nigel."

"Nigel? No thanks," Angus said.

"He's one of the top rated healers anywhere," Marcus said. "You could do a lot worse than to have him tend it til Robert can."

"No. I think not. I'll wait on Robert."

"Then, hook your bum to that chair and stay put so you don't undo Jess's work."

"I'm bored."

"I could cast a sleep spell so you won't be bored, you know."

"You really are not helpful today," Angus scowled.

Jack heard Anise and nodded " yep , he only gets them as a treat, so does she" he said as the mare walked over resting her head against his shoulder. He listened to her and chuckled " pygmy puffs huh" he said and chuckled well come over here " he said leading her to a stall with a red warming light in it and a pile of pygmy puffs " firstly did you know that A group of Puffskeins or Pygmy Puffs is called a poffle, They were bred by Fred and George Weasley and sold at their shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, It was one of their most popular products, George said they were having trouble breeding them fast enough for the demand, Even Ginny Weasley bought a purple Pygmy Puff and named it Arnold back in in 1996, which she frequently played with at Hogwarts and lost a few times too I believe." he told her as one small one rolled over to him. Leaning in his picked it up and held it " Puffskeins also have long pink tongues and make a low humming sound when their happy. " he said then looked at her " other than that there's not really that much to know about them." he chuckled as the small one licked his cheek with its long tongue and hummed . He placed it back in the pen and it rolled to the warming light and stayed there. " oh they do like the warmth, hate the cold, might just be these though.." he chuckled again. He turned and looked at her with his arms folded " they do make good companions , just like a knezel."

As Jack was talking to Anise, Kate walked into the barn and heard them talking about the pygmy puffs.

"I didn't know you were so interested in my little puffs," Kate told Anise.

"Well, its for a paper, and Angus said I might learn some things out here," Anise told her.

"So, that's the nursery for the new ones," she told her. "This lot just happens to be pink. There are two cages of purple ones, and four of the rainbow ones."

"Rainbow?"

"I don't know how I ever got them, because so far as I know no one else has rainbow ones, but they sell like wildfire, and yes, I do have to sell them because the reproduce faster than rabbits. If I didn't sell them, we'd be completely overrun with them. Look here." She motioned her to look at the purple ones and then she led her over to the other cages and showed her there were lots and lots of rainbow colored puffs. "Oh, dear, Jack, look here. One of our puffs has blessed us with a triple batch of rainbow puffs. There have to be nigh onto 75 new teeny tiny rainbow puffs. We're going to have to get two more nursery pens up and running. Do try to avoid telling Robert, won't you, or he'll have an absolute conniption."

"What?" Anise asked.

"Robert doesn't like us to be overrun with them. He doesn't dislike them, but he has an idea that there should be a limit on them. But these here are babies. We can't just chuck them out. Oh, look here!" Kate reached into one of the cages and picked up one of the new teeny tiny puffs. This one, though, had so many colors, Anise was absolutely fascinated with it. "Jack, look here. This little rascal is truly psychedelic. I am not selling this one, so you need to keep a good eye on him."

Jack saw Kate enter and begin to talk about them to Anise he also saw the triplets being born and nodded chuckling " there almost ready just have to get the heat lamps fitted" he said moving to show her the nursery's. He saw the one she picked up and turned to a small cupboard taking out a small collar he slipped it around the puffs neck" don't worry its shamed to grow with the puff , and Kates right, when they are old enough we ether release or have several reputable shops who sell to nice homes and we do follow ups every year to make sure there not doing anything untoward with them.2 he said handing the psychedelic pygmy puff back to her.

He chuckled at her mention of not telling Robert and shook his head " don't worry I won't" he said placing a water bowl and food into the pen with the new mother for extra nutrients." like every new mother we give them extra food , she would have used all her s on growing and berthing the babies, now this is for her." he added and chuckled seeing the long tongue flick out and take the pellets from the bowl.

"Are you serious? Are there really about 75 new ones?" Anise asked.

"Yes," Kate said. "That pile of fluff there is a big stack of new puffs. A regular batch for us is normally anywhere from six or seven or could be as many as two dozen. It just all varies."

"How long till they're full grown?"

"Well, we leave them close to their mothers for a few weeks, and they're old enough to sell or rehome at about 3 months or so. They're not really considered to be full grown til they're about six months, but we don't care keep them that long because there's just too many. Jack can tell you it did take us quite awhile to be able to find enough buyers for them, but we have good quality puffs, so we have plenty of shops that want to buy them now."

"And how long does a puff live" Anise asked.

"On average? Ten years, although there have been some documented cases of puffs living a lot longer. One puff even lived fifty years. Puffs are affectionate, and they want to be loved and cared for by a good pet owner. They need companionship. If they're well cared for, they can live a long, long time."

"Could I take some pictures of the different colored puffs for my paper?"

"Certainly," Kate smiled. "Just be sure to latch the cages every time you get one out or put it back, please."

"I will. Thanks. I'll go see if Ruby will let me borrow her camera," Anise said, sprinting back to the duplex.

"I know this is going to sound redundant, but you will make sure she's got the cages all latched. We don't need puffs running amuck. If we let that happen, we'll have seven hundred puffs, and Robert will rip his hair out by the roots," Kate said to Jack. "I really do need to get back and see if I can't slow him down. He's determined to go over and check on Angus before supper. When I left he was heading to his workroom to restock his bag, so I shouldn't leave him to his own devices much longer."

Jack nodded and listened to Kate as he spoke of the pygmy puffs . " yeah lots of disreputable sellers out there " he said " we vet ours so know there good and will treat them well." he then chuckled as Kate spoke about how long they live for. " I'm sure she will" he said as he watched her get excited to do her report now. He chuckled as Kate asked him to double check she had latched the cages when she left " don't worry I'll double check them, Robert has not that much hair he can afford to lose any more" he teased and chuckled as he saw one of the bow truckles reaching out to Kate " I think some one wants your attention" he said and pointed behind her.

Ruby sat reading in the living room now there was just Marcus herself and Angus who was resting in his chair as her lunch was prepared and waiting just to be put together. Ruby looked at Marcus and Angus " its going to be quiet around here with less people" she said softly so not to wake the now napping babies."

"You are so right," Kate laughed when Jack said Robert couldn't afford to lose any more hair.  When Jack said one of the bowtruckles wanted attention, Kate turned and looked.

"Oh, that's one of Fudge's new little twigs. Abbey named her Lolly. She thinks that we need to give them candy names. Isn't she cute? She's so tiny. Not sure what she's doing out here. How did you get out here, little one? Your tree is in the house, in the kitchen. Jack, is that a new, second tree or did someone move the tree in the house out here? I would love to have a more bowtruckles, honestly. And I will tell Robert he gets no choice in the bowtruckles. I like them, and I want more of them."

"You mean you're going to miss having Aria around," Angus said. "That's understandable. You should spend some time with Jessie and Yu and Cris. After all, Cris is your nephew. Or, resume your training to get back in shape. We have plenty of people to help with the kids."

"Heads up, All," Marcus said, looking out the kitchen window. "Robert's on his way over. Since he has his bag with him, I'd guess he wants to see to Angus's shoulder himself."

"Kate's going to hang him by his gonads," Angus shook his head, laughing.

Jack looked at the tree " that's a new one I made from a branch I found in the forest behind the barn" he said " and yeah I agree bow truckles are less trouble" he said giving Lolly a treat as she climbed on Kates shoulder " I think she came out this morning but now wants to go back in" he said with a chuckle.

Ruby listened to Angus and chuckled " yeah and your right there is a lot for me to do, and we still have the boys and girls " she added then looked where Marcus was looking " I was hoping he would come soon" she said with a smile as Angus said Kate was going to hang Robert by his gonads " that would be very painful" she said trying not to laugh as Robert came in the door. `