Catastrophe || n.s

v. triggered

Newt had Apparated them to the empty streets of Fifth Avenue, only blocks away from Macy's Department Store. He walked quickly up the dark and deserted sidewalk, though Mr. Kawaloski rushed past him to show him the way to their destination. Penelope kept towards the back of the group, simply because Tina was now walking beside Newt, and the pair were whispering quietly to one another.

About three blocks down, Jacob quickly crossed the street towards a large building with many windows. He stared through the window at the display with wide eyes, and it took Penelope a moment to realize that an expensive-looking purse was being moved by some invisible force.

Newt pushed past Kawolski and, with a wave of his wand, mumbled "finestra", causing the glass window to shatter before their eyes. Jacob, still not used to the wizarding world, jumped at the sudden action, though he still followed Newt as he leaped through the shattered window and into the store.

The large building was almost haunting as they group walked through it, searching for the floating purse that they had seen earlier. They found it scurrying through the Christmas department, soft grunting noises that belonged only to a Demiguise coming from the area around it.

"Right," Newt said from beside Penelope; she jumped at the sound of his voice, as she hadn't noticed that he had crouched down beside her. "Demiguises are fundamentally peaceful, although they can give a nasty nip if alerted."

Penelope's eyes widened as a silky white creature appeared behind the floating handbag, walking through the isle as if it were a customer in the busy store. It then stopped as its eyes landed on a box full of ornaments, and it began picking through them curiously.

Newt gestured towards Queenie and Jacob, who stood behind two poles in attempt to stay out of sight of the Demiguise. "You two go that way," he said, pointing to his left. "And try very hard to not be predictable."

Queenie and Jacob exchanged a confused look at his words, though they didn't argue as they slowly slid off in the direction they were told. Thankfully, the creature was still crawling amongst the shelves of ornamaents, its huge yellow eyes looking around it as if it were searching for something. Suddenly, a faint screech echoed through the silent department store, sending chills down Penelope's spine.

"Was that the Demiguise?" Tina asked from where she was crouched on the other side of Newt, her voice a mere whisper.

"No," Newt responded with a shake of his head. "But I think it might be the reason the Demiguise is here. Come on." He then grabbed Penelope's hand, pulling her alongside him as he followed the Demiguise through the empty store.

At the sound of the sudden footsteps behind it, the Demiguise stopped walking. It turned around, gazing at Newt for a moment before tilting its head as if telling him to follow it. It then continued to scurry up a flight of wooden stairs that led to the next level. The corner of Newt's lips twitched in a small, crooked smile as he stared at the creature. Then, he followed it up the stairs, Penelope and Tina following closely after him.

On the second floor, Queenie and Jacob were already there, watching as the Demiguise approached the middle of the room, the handbag hanging from its arm. Once it reached the middle of the room, it crouched low to the ground and began pulling things from the bag.

"Its sight operates on probability," Newt explained in a whisper. "So it can foresee the most likely immediate future." He then began to approach the silky white creature, keeping low to the ground so he didn't startle it. Penelope, unable to resist the curiosity she felt towards the creature, followed him.

"What's it doing?" She asked Newt when she caught up to him, watching the creature as it pulled various objects from the handbag and held them in the air.