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Warning!
At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Spoilers will be present within the article. |
Sebastian was a Niffler owned by the British Ministry of Magic in the 1980s.[1]
Biography[]
During the 1985–1986 school year, Rubeus Hagrid wanted to determine which methods of training Nifflers would work best to help Gringotts Curse-Breakers find specific types of treasure. He contacted Jacob's sibling, Ben Copper, and Merula Snyde and asked them to meet him at his hut, where he explained his idea to them and asked them to help him train some Nifflers through different methods. After assessing what Jacob's sibling thought about Nifflers, the three students agreed to help out Hagrid. Hagrid suggested to Jacob's sibling that a Niffler with which they had previously bonded would be perfect to use for training, with Jacob's sibling agreeing to collect their Niffler from the Magical Creatures Reserve. When Jacob's sibling questioned how Ben and Merula would participate without having Nifflers of their own, Hagrid reassured them that he would ask the Ministry to loan them some untrained Nifflers to use before heading off to set up the first training session.[1]
Hagrid later brought Sebastian, along with the other novice Niffler and Jacob's sibling's Niffler, to the Training Grounds, where they met up with Jacob's sibling, Ben, and Merula. After Jacob's sibling's Niffler happily greeted them, Hagrid introduced Ben and Merula to their Nifflers, Sebastian and Lorelei. Hagrid offered Ben and Merula their choice of Niffler and asked them to do their best to get to know and love them. Merula partnered up with Lorelei, leaving Ben to partner up with Sebastian. To begin the training, Hagrid and the students discussed different training techniques, with Hagrid emphasising that the most difficult part would be getting the Nifflers to focus on specific treasure rather than just grabbing every shiny thing they saw. Jacob's sibling asked what treasure the Nifflers would be expected to find, to which Hagrid explained that they would be looking for Leprechaun gold, giving each of them a few pieces to use for training. Merula was surprised that Hagrid was giving them gold to use for training, expecting that Hagrid would want it back when they were done. Hagrid attempted to explain that the gold would actually disappear after a few hours, but Merula interrupted him, asserting that she and Lorelei would show them all how effective their approach would be.[1]
Jacob's sibling was surprised that Merula had already determined how she would train her Niffler, leading to her explaining that she would use a firm hand with Lorelei, asserting that she would obey her as soon as she knew who was boss. Hagrid claimed that Merula's strategy could work, but also asserted that a gentle hand could be just as effective, particularly for a kind creature like a Niffler. Jacob's sibling asked Hagrid about the differences between the two training methods, with Hagrid explaining that using a gentle hand involved lots of praise, treats, and love and focused on positive reinforcement, meaning giving the Niffler a treat when it did something right and just moving on and hoping it got it right the next time if it did something wrong. Merula scoffed at this method, claiming that it was naïve and that a person needed to be firm if they wanted to get a creature to do something. In response, Hagrid explained that using a firm hand meant stressing discipline and dominance in an attempt to be the boss, with Merula emphasising that this made the approach effective.[1]
After Jacob's sibling made a decision regarding which approach they wanted to use to train their Niffler, Hagrid asserted that using different approaches was part of the experiment and that he was eager to see how their training worked out, claiming that everything would be fine as long as their Nifflers knew that they loved them. Hagrid claimed that he would be in touch once the three students had had time to bond with and train their Nifflers for a while. As part of his training with Sebastian, Ben emphasised the gentle hand approach, only rewarding Sebastian with treats for finding leprechaun gold.[1]
After all three students had had sufficient time to train their Nifflers, Jacob's sibling, Ben, Merula, and their Nifflers all met back up with Hagrid at Hagrid's hut, where Hagrid claimed that he had set up a treasure hunt for the Nifflers by hiding leprechaun gold all over Hogwarts. Deciding to make the hunt more interesting, Hagrid offered the entire pot of leprechaun gold and the title of "Greatest Treasure Hunter at Hogwarts" to whichever student-Niffler pair found the most gold. Although Ben was excited to win a whole pot of gold, Hagrid asserted that it was just for fun before again trying to temper the student's expectations about the leprechaun gold, being interrupted again by the excited Ben. Jacob's sibling and Ben wished each other luck in the contest, with Ben privately asserting that he hoped Merula wouldn't win. Hagrid informed the trio that they would be searching for the gold in his garden first before allowing them to start the hunt.[1]
After a period of time spent searching, Jacob's sibling and their Niffler were able to find a piece of leprechaun gold hidden in the garden. Hagrid explained that this was the only gold piece hidden in his garden. Ben and Merula quickly ran off with Sebastian and Lorelei to keep searching before Hagrid could express that the reward was just for fun, with Jacob's sibling and their Niffler soon joining them so as not to be left behind. After searching in the Potions Classroom, Jacob's sibling and their Niffler went to the Clock Tower Courtyard after receiving an owl from Ben, who claimed that there was treasure in the courtyard. After meeting up with Ben and Sebastian, Ben explained that, through his gentle hand approach, he had already found a few pieces of gold in the courtyard and that he didn't feel that it would be fair to have all of them to himself, to which Jacob's sibling was surprised that he would help the competition so willingly. Ben explained that he would rather Jacob's sibling win the competition than allow Merula to win it before asserting that he was planning on making their hunt for the last gold piece in the courtyard into a friendly race to see how Sebastian measured up to Jacob's sibling's Niffler. Jacob's sibling agreed to the race with the condition that, if they won, Ben had to tell them why he wanted Merula to lose so badly.[1]
Jacob's sibling's Niffler managed to find the last piece of gold in the courtyard, winning the race for Jacob's sibling. Jacob's sibling thanked Ben for making them aware of the gold hidden in the courtyard, while Ben offered to tell them something very important he had learned about leprechaun gold in exchange for the gold piece Jacob's sibling had just won. If Jacob's sibling agreed to Ben's offer, he informed them that Hagrid had let slip that leprechaun gold disappeared after a few hours, as Leprechauns loved to play jokes on humans, explaining why Ben no longer seemed concerned about beating Jacob's sibling in the competition. Regardless of Jacob's sibling's decision, Ben explained that they would never hear the end of it if Merula won the title of "Greatest Treasure Hunter at Hogwarts." Jacob's sibling reminded Ben that Hagrid had said that the contest was all in good fun and that the important thing was that they train their Nifflers effectively, although Ben asserted that Merula only seemed to care about winning. Jacob's sibling and their Niffler then parted ways with Ben and Sebastian, with both wishing each other luck as they continued with the contest.[1]
Jacob's sibling and their Niffler were later called by Ben back to the Training Grounds, where they learned from him that Merula had used the Engorgement Charm on Sebastian, which she claimed she had done because it was "hilarious." Jacob's sibling reprimanded Merula for using the charm on a Niffler for the second time, reminding her of the time she had used the charm on a Niffler when various magical creatures had become loose around the school. Merula claimed that using the charm on a Niffler was funny then and was still funny now while asserting that returning Sebastian back to normal would keep Jacob's sibling and Ben occupied while she and Lorelei found the rest of the treasure themselves. Jacob's sibling asserted that leaving a Niffler in an enlarged state could lead to people getting hurt, but Merula simply continued the hunt on the Training Grounds with Lorelei.[1]
Ben went to shrink Sebastian, but Jacob's sibling noticed that the giant Niffler was acting very nervously, claiming that, if they started trying to cast spells on him while he was still distressed, he would likely run away and could potentially cause great damage. Ben agreed that he and Jacob's sibling should try to calm Sebastian down first, suggesting that they should use their most calming tone of voice to get Sebastian to relax so that they could safely shrink him without fear of collateral damage. While Merula and Lorelei continued to find leprechaun gold pieces, Jacob's sibling and Ben tried to talk Sebastian down before Jacob's sibling's Niffler distracted him, allowing Jacob's sibling to cast the Shrinking Charm on him and return the Niffler back to his normal size. After Ben confirmed that Sebastian was alright, Merula expressed her disappointment that the pair had spoiled her fun while Ben threatened to get her back for the prank.[1]
In a moment of anger, Ben cast the Shrinking Charm on Lorelei. The shrunken Niffler ran away, much to the fear of Merula. Ben was pleased to see Merula get a taste of her own medicine, but Merula asserted that he didn't understand exactly how bad what he did was. Merula explained that Lorelei's training had been hit or miss, with her behaving reasonably well when she was around but reverting back to her normal behaviour of stealing every shiny thing in sight as soon as she was on her own. Merula theorised that her firm hand approach might have caused Lorelei's failure to listen to her before angrily claiming that her tiny rampage was all Ben's fault. Jacob's sibling asserted that the pair of them needed to calm down and asked them to meet with them in the Great Hall when they had collected themselves to plan how to find and catch the tiny Lorelei.[1]
Sebastian slept on a table in the Great Hall while Jacob's sibling and their Niffler attempted to mediate Ben and Merula's discussion, with both blaming the other for what had happened. Merula angrily declared that the tiny Lorelei was running around the school and stealing everything in sight, including Penny Haywood's golden necklace, leaving Penny heartbroken. Ben and Merula asserted that their respective gentle and firm approaches had failed before Jacob's sibling shut down their arguing, claiming that no amount of blaming the other could help them solve their current problem. After discussing potential strategies, the trio agreed to set a trap for Lorelei in the courtyard by pooling all of their leprechaun gold to use as bait while they hid nearby to cast the Engorgement Charm on her to return her to her normal size. Merula was annoyed that they had to use all of the gold, but Jacob's sibling explained that their bait needed to be more enticing than anything else shiny at Hogwarts in order to attract Lorelei.[1]
With Ben and Merula agreeing to the plan, Jacob's sibling and their Niffler met with them and Sebastian in the courtyard with the pooled leprechaun gold, which had already caught the attention of Jacob's sibling's Niffler and Sebastian. Merula questioned why Jacob's sibling's Niffler was so well behaved, to which Jacob's sibling explained that they had built a strong bond with their Niffler, helping the pair better understand one another. Although Ben and Merula did continue to debate over which training method was superior, the trio eventually hid in order to set the trap. Ben expressed that Sebastian seemed to miss Lorelei, helping motivate him to return her back to normal. The tiny Lorelei soon arrived at the courtyard to take some of the leprechaun gold. Jacob's sibling's Niffler quickly managed to block Lorelei's escape route before Jacob's sibling cast the Engorgement Charm on her, returning her to normal.[1]
While the three Nifflers reunited and Merula ordered Lorelei to never run away like that again, Ben lamented that the treasure hunt was over, as there was now no way to find out who would have won. Ben and Merula continued to debate over who would have won if the competition hadn't been sabotaged, but Jacob's sibling managed to convince them to apologise to each other. Jacob's sibling then told Ben and Merula that they needed to return everything that Lorelei had stolen during her rampage and then search the rest of Hogwarts for the remaining leprechaun gold together in order to finish their Nifflers' training.[1]
After returning all of the stolen items, including Penny's necklace, and finding the last of the leprechaun gold around Hogwarts, Jacob's sibling, Ben, Merula, and their Nifflers met with Hagrid at his hut with their combined gold. After hearing about the situation, Hagrid explained that he had heard about the giant and tiny Nifflers, but was glad that the trio were able to make the situation right. Hagrid claimed that it wouldn't be worth trying to figure out the winner now that the gold had been combined. After Merula again asserted that the winner would likely have been her, Hagrid claimed that the purpose of the treasure hunt was to help train the Nifflers, claiming that the winner should really be the one who had done the best job of training their Niffler.[1]
After a discussion about what did and didn't work regarding their various training methods, Merula asserted that she had thought that being a strict disciplinarian with Lorelei would be the best way to train her, but that, despite it seeming to work at first, she immediately reverted back to her old ways the second she was left alone. Hagrid explained that her training method didn't change the Niffler's underlying behaviour, meaning that she listened to her while she was around but immediately reverted to her base instincts when she was on her own. Jacob's sibling realised that the result was different for Sebastian, with Ben rewarding him with treats only after he found leprechaun gold, leading to Sebastian wanting to find the gold more and thus being less interested in finding other treasures. Hagrid explained that Ben's gentle hand approach got at the root cause of the Niffler's underlying behaviour and that changing a creature's behaviour was difficult in any case, expressing his pleasure that they had done an admirable job of training their Nifflers.[1]
However, Hagrid asserted that Jacob's sibling's Niffler had listened to Jacob's sibling's commands when it really counted, claiming that, without their Niffler, Sebastian and Lorelei would never have been returned to their proper sizes. Hagrid explained that Jacob's sibling had spent the most time building a connection with their Niffler, claiming that there was nothing more important than the trust built between a creature and its trainer. Hagrid therefore asserted that Jacob's sibling was the "Greatest Niffler trainer at Hogwarts," a title which Jacob's sibling could either accept or share with Ben and Merula.[1]
Merula asked Hagrid what was going to happen to the leprechaun gold, with Hagrid attempting to explain once again that leprechaun gold disappeared after a few hours. However, just as he was about to explain, the leprechaun gold proceeded to disappear, much to Merula's shock. Hagrid asserted that he had been trying to tell them about this feature of the gold, but they kept rushing off before he could say anything. Hagrid claimed that he had now found a good idea about how to train Nifflers, asserting that, with a little more time, any of the three Nifflers, but particularly Jacob's sibling's Niffler, could make fine treasure hunters for Gringotts or anyone else.[1]
Hagrid reclaimed Sebastian and Lorelei from Ben and Merula, as they needed to be returned to the Ministry. However, Hagrid asserted that Ben and Merula could visit the Nifflers whenever they wanted, to which Merula asserted that she would be visiting Lorelei often. Jacob's sibling asked Hagrid if he might have another Niffler treasure hunt someday, to which Hagrid hoped that he would, but that, until then, he was glad to have friends like the trio to count on, with Jacob's sibling responding that they were also glad to have a friend like Hagrid.[1]
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (First appearance)