Catastrophe || n.s

ii. suitcase

"Have I told you that you have yourself a beautiful Phoenix, Penelope?" Newt Scamander called across the room as he stroked Pyra under her beak. Pyra never really particularly liked anyone except for Penelope herself, but the Phoenix surprisingly seemed to be taking a liking in the strange man.

"Thank you," Penelope responded with a smile. "I rescued her when my parents found her abandoned just outside of Ilvermorny."

"It was very kind of you to take her in. I rescue abandoned and trafficked beasts myself," Newt said, and with one last stroke of Pyra's brilliant feathers, he stuffed his hands into his pockets once more. "I thank you for your time, but I'm afraid we have to go. We still have a handful of beasts running around the city."

Penelope scoffed lightly; if only these two men knew her, they would know she wasn't just going to let them go. "Don't say your goodbyes yet, Mr. Scamander," she stopped chopping up the raw steak in her kitchen, throwing it into a bowl to feed to Felix before wiping her hands on a rag. "You already have one No-Maj tied in with this, it won't hurt to have another."

"Oh, no," Newt said quickly with a shake of his head, grabbing his suitcase from beside the couch. "I can't let you do that, it's far too dangerous."

"Why are you making me come with you, then?" Jacob Kawolski asked in a high voice, looking genuinely afraid at Newt's words.

"Nothing against you, Mr. Kawolski," Newt told him with a small smile. "I just can't let Penny here come with us, because she's a-"

"A woman?" Penelope finished with a scoff, rolling her eyes. "Look, gentlemen, I know there are certain stereotypes of women in today's society, but I'm not some weak housewife. And I'm afraid you can't stop me from coming with you."

She realized what she said was quite stupid, as Newt was currently holding a wand in his hand that could quickly Apparate them out of the house in a blink of an eye. Though, for some reason, Newt didn't do that. Instead, he only laughed.

"You are a peculiar woman, Penny."

"I've been told," Penelope laughed, and she couldn't help but smile at the nickname Newt had quite suddenly given her. Her eyes then drifted to the suitcase in the man's hands, and she beckoned towards it. "Now, what exactly is in that suitcase of yours, Mr. Scamander?"

"Call me Newt, please," Newt corrected her with another crooked smile, tossing the suitcase in between his hands. "And it's not important right now. If you insist on coming with us, you'll see soon enough."

"I guess I will, then," Penelope said, grabbing the bowl full of steak before making her way towards the back door. "Before we leave, however, let me feed Felix. He gets grumpy when he's hungry."

~

"Now how exactly did you manage to tame a griffin?" Newt asked as the trio walked through the dark streets on New York.

"My dad was particularly skilled in magical beasts," Penelope answered, and added with a laugh, "I guess that's what got him killed, too. He tried to tame an Occamy, but his assistant startled it and caused it to attack. Him and two others were killed."

There was then an awkward silence between the three, one of which Penelope broke as she cleared her throat. "Anyways, my grandmother brought back Felix from Greece. He was just a hatchling, abandoned by his mother because he had a nasty cut on his leg. My father stitched him up and we managed to tame him when he was young."

"That is fascinating," Newt murmured with a look of wonder towards Penelope. When the two made eye contact, he quickly looked away with an awkward cough.

A small smile on her lips, Penelope looked ahead of her towards the No-Maj, Jacob. He had his hands in his pockets, kicking a pebble every other step he took. It was then she realized a small red wound on his neck; it looked like something had bit him.