Gamekeeper's Hut



The Hut This outsize shack, originally used by the Keeper of the Grounds, has been taken over by Professor Sarah Norman, the Wandlore teacher for Fifth to Seventh Years, and the Animagi Trainer. Her entire menagerie has joined her from New York, so somnambulists are advised to cross this location off their mental map for night-time wanderings.

The denizens include a 40-stone White Bengal Tigress and a 21-foot Reticulated Python, among many, many others. For those with the requisite courage, and lack of allergies, it may also be considered her office. Over the door, and around the building a foot below the gutters, are blunted hooks of sturdy construction, for when Harald, the python, feels like taking the air. Thanks to a previous owner, Harald thinks he's a bat, and therefore needs to "hang" and "chill" - or rather, given that he's a reptile, "warm". For those favouring the aerial approach, there's a Fwooper/Parrot hybrid with fire-breath, and a couple of crows with comprehensive knowledge of CIA strategy and tactics, who patrol the perimeter.

The mud wallow at the back contains a couple of very content Capybaras, and probably one rather shrill and bespattered Pygmy Puff on a regular basis. They are frequently accompanied by a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig in their happy snuffling. Remaining at all times within the walls of the hut, is a two-foot high miniaturised Black Rhino, due to his tendency to charge any tree he sees and knock himself cold. Hallowe'en trick-or-treaters are thus advised not to approach in Ent, Huorn or similar costumes. Equally an indoor inhabitant is the Caracal who, due to a confluence of curses, randomly ages or drops in age by some four years each night when she falls asleep. This makes her eyesight and memory questionable, and thus she needs a safe, contained environment. There's also a Guban camel with a distaste for strangers, because she had abusive former owners, who likewise elects to remain largely inside.

The Manticore cub, for the safety of all, is also only to be found within the four walls. There's a roving ground-level patrol by the Kneazle, although it seems she would just raise the alarm if encountering a violent intruder. In short, animals are entirely safe here, and humans, even those with wands, irk them at their peril.

Sarah has recently unearthed (well, actually, it was Andrena who nosed them out) a set of diaries written by Silvanus Kettleburn, and she finds them engrossing reading. Andrena has also demonstrated, on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, a previously unsuspected talent for truffle hunting. Sarah is hoping to set up a barter system with the Chef in the Kitchens, so as to reduce her own monthly feeding bill, which is currently exorbitant. She has removed all weapons and implements of violence from the hut, with the exception of a single axe for chopping firewood.

For those not inclined to animals, Professor Norman can often, during the day and outside classes, be found in the Animagi Trainer's Office.

Sarah's turntable
Along with his diaries, Sarah has unearthed Professor Kettleburn's complete collection of Flanders and Swann, and the "Bestiary" in particular can be heard with great regularity.



Sarah's shifting perspective is somewhere hereabouts.