Theft by the Guardian

Dinner time, and the Hogwarts Great Hall was once again filled with the aroma of delicious food and lively conversation. At a corner of the Gryffindor table, Hermione was flipping through her Magical Theory notes while eating roasted potatoes, preparing for the next day's classes.

A figure sat down in the empty seat next to her. Hermione looked up to see Silas, holding a plate of food that seemed to have been specially selected to be less "dark" than usual (like grilled chicken breast and a vegetable salad).

After sitting down, Silas didn't look at Hermione. Instead, he cleared his throat and said in a tone that was deliberately casual, almost trying too hard to seem unconcerned:

"Ahem, just to be clear, I'm absolutely not sitting here because it's convenient to talk to you while we eat."

Hermione put down her fork and looked at him, a mixture of annoyance and amusement on her face. "Then why did you specifically come all the way from the Ravenclaw table to Gryffindor? It's quite a distance from the kitchens."

Caught in his lie, a flicker of awkwardness crossed Silas's face, but he immediately lifted his chin and retorted in a proud, "I'm right" tone: "This is a conclusion I reached after rigorous observation! I strongly suspect the kitchens are biased towards Gryffindor! The roast meat served here is always cooked better, and the vegetables are fresher! I'm simply pursuing a higher quality of dining!"

Hermione looked at his awkward demeanor, clearly wanting to chat but fabricating an excuse, and couldn't help but laugh. She shook her head, not calling him out further.

Seeing that Hermione wasn't pressing the issue, Silas relaxed and began to enjoy his dinner. Halfway through his meal, he seemed to remember something, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. He quietly took out the small cage containing the Niffler from his pocket, opened it a crack, and let the little creature out.

As soon as the Niffler was free, it began searching its surroundings with its shiny little eyes for anything that glittered.

Silas leaned down and pointed towards the Slytherin table not far away, where Draco Malfoy was haughtily talking to Crabbe and Goyle. He whispered his instructions to the Niffler:

"Go on, see that guy with hair like straw and who looks down his nose at everyone? Steal a Galleon from his pocket!"

The Niffler seemed to understand. It darted like a black lightning bolt, gliding silently close to the ground, using the tablecloth and the crowd as cover, and quickly slipped under the Slytherin table.

A few minutes later, as Silas and Hermione were chatting idly, an enraged wail suddenly erupted from the Slytherin table:

"My Galleon! Who stole my Galleon?! I distinctly put it in this pocket!"

It was Draco Malfoy's voice. He was frantically patting his robe pockets, his face contorted in anger. A Galleon was no small sum for a student, and even though he was a Malfoy heir, losing money out of nowhere was enough to make him ache and fume.

Hermione looked at Silas in surprise, then at the Niffler, which had just slipped back under their table and was handing a Gold Galleon to Silas. She lowered her voice, a hint of reproach and confusion in her tone: "How could you... how could you let your pet steal things?!"

Silas took the Galleon, still warm from Malfoy's touch, tossed it casually, a look of mischievous triumph on his face. He leaned closer to Hermione and explained in an even quieter voice:

"I don't like him. This afternoon in the corridor, he and his two cronies blocked the way and looked down their noses at me, acting like 'I'm a pure-blood, therefore I'm superior' idiots."

He paused, a look of disgust and revulsion mixed on his face, and added the crucial reason:

"What really annoyed me then was... I had to fight the urge to stick my finger into his nostrils, which he'd flared open like a hippopotamus! The image was too beautiful to contemplate, and I was disappointed I didn't do it, so he had to pay some price to soothe my wounded soul."

"Pfft—!" Hermione, who was taking a sip of pumpkin juice, nearly spat it out when she heard this. She quickly covered her mouth, coughing violently, her face turning red from a combination of laughter and choking.

"Cough, cough, cough... Silas! I'm eating! Do you want me to laugh myself to death?!" Hermione said, patting her chest and glaring at Silas with a tearful smile.

Silas chuckled triumphantly at her flustered state, put the Galleon back in his pocket, and returned the Niffler, which had completed its mission, to its cage. He felt no guilt about playing a trick on Malfoy, even considering it a public service (or rather, a service to his own mood).

Looking at the Gold Galleon he'd "borrowed" from Malfoy, he idly spun it between his fingers. It felt a bit too hot to hold – not out of fear of Malfoy, but more out of annoyance. He had only intended to teach that arrogant blond brat a lesson and embarrass him, not to actually take his money.

"Alright, little guy," Silas said, bending down to the Niffler, who was looking at him expectantly with its shiny eyes (perhaps anticipating more "sparkly" tasks), "your mission isn't over yet. Go, quietly place this Galleon on the floor by that blond brat's feet. Let him find it himself, get frantic searching, and then find it at his feet again. That'll be enough embarrassment. I'm not actually after his money."

Silas thought his plan was perfect. It achieved the goal of pranking Malfoy while also making him appear as a "thief with a code of honor," merely playing a prank, not a real thief.

The Niffler tilted its flat little head, seeming to understand. It nodded (or made a nodding-like motion), took the Gold Galleon with its tiny paws, and turned, slipping back towards the Slytherin table like a black shadow.

Silas sat up straight with satisfaction, continuing his dinner, chatting with Hermione occasionally, and keeping an eye on Malfoy's side of the hall with his peripheral vision, anticipating Malfoy's comical expression shifting from furious to confused, and finally to embarrassed yet relieved upon finding the Galleon at his feet.

A few minutes passed. Malfoy was still complaining and searching with his cronies, but the "finding it at his feet" scenario Silas expected hadn't materialized.

"Hmm? Is the little guy moving that slowly?" Silas wondered, a bit confused.

A little while later, Malfoy seemed to give up searching and sat down grumbling, his expression still sour.

Just then, Silas felt a gentle tug on the hem of his robe. He looked down to see the Niffler had returned. The little creature looked up at him, its small eyes blinking, with an innocent expression that seemed to say, "Mission accomplished, praise me!" But... its tiny paws were empty.

Silas's heart sank, a sense of foreboding washing over him. He lowered his voice and asked, "Where's the Galleon? Did you put it by his feet?"

The Niffler nodded vigorously and even pointed in the direction of the Slytherin table with its little paws, as if to say, "I did! I definitely did!"

Silas frowned, sensing something was wrong. If the Galleon had really been placed at Malfoy's feet, with Malfoy's frantic searching, he wouldn't have failed to find it. Unless...

A thought flashed through Silas's mind. He suddenly remembered the Niffler's innate nature – its almost instinctive, irresistible possessiveness towards gold and treasure!

He grabbed the Niffler, ignoring its squeaking protests, and examined it carefully. Sure enough, nestled within the soft, fluffy black fur on its belly, he felt a hard, round bulge!

Silas: "..."

He couldn't help but laugh and cry as he dug the Gold Galleon out of the Niffler's "secret stash." The little creature tried to protect it with its paws, letting out a wronged squeak.

"You little cheat!" Silas flicked the Niffler's forehead lightly with his finger. "I told you to put it back, and you went and stole it yourself, embezzled it, didn't you?"

The Niffler covered the spot he'd flicked with its paws, its shiny little eyes filled with the wronged look of "The Galleon was too shiny, I couldn't help it."

Silas looked at the Galleon in his hand, which had been recovered (or rather, never truly lost), then at Malfoy, still sulking in the distance, and sighed helplessly.

"Forget it, forget it. It seems this money is destined to be yours, little miser." Silas put the Galleon back into the Niffler's paws, deciding not to cause any more trouble. "Consider it Malfoy's sponsorship for your 'emotional damages,' since he glared at me with his nostrils."

He put the Niffler back in its cage. The little creature seemed to know that the Galleon ultimately "belonged" to it and curled up contentedly.

Hermione, who had witnessed the entire scene, couldn't help but chuckle. "Your pet... certainly has character."

Silas shrugged. "Yeah, like me, not exactly a rule-follower."

The prank targeting Malfoy ultimately ended with the Niffler "lining its own pockets" and Silas reluctantly giving up. However, Silas felt that he had achieved half his goal by making Malfoy uncomfortable for a while. As for the Galleon... he'd just consider it an unexpected bonus.