Catastrophe || n.s

i. it's a talent.

Penelope Finch cursed to herself as she felt the sharp beak of a Phoenix nip at her ear.

"Oh, calm down, Pyra," she groaned with a roll of her eyes as she swatted at the Phoenix. Pyra squawked, flapping her magnificent flame-colored wings as if begging Penelope for food. "I'll feed you in a moment," the young girl added, reaching her hand out and petting Pyra under her beak. The Phoenix closed her eyes and cooed, nuzzling Penelope's hand happily.

Usually, Penelope's full attention was on her rescued pets. Tonight, however, something else had caught her attention; a sound. To be more specific, the mating call of a female Erumpent. She had never seen one before, but her father had often told her stories of the large African beast, and how it had killed a few wizards before.

She couldn't imagine how one would get into the city of New York, especially without anyone noticing it. At first she thought she was imagining it, perhaps due to lack of sleep, though then she saw the faint golden glow of then animal as it trotted through Central Park across from her house.

"What in the world..." Penelope muttered as Pyra squawked behind her once more. It was as if the magnificent Phoenix was able to detect that something was wrong. Although Penelope couldn't help but feel curious towards the mysterious sighting of an African beast, she had to put her mind off of it. She was what wizards and witches call a No-Maj, even though she was a squib, and she would not be treated lightly in found meddling in magical situations. So in the end, all she could do was let the Magical Congress deal with it.

To get her mind off of it, she decided to focus back of the beasts of her own. Chuckling with amusement as Pyra flapped her wings impatiently once more, Penelope turned away from the window to feed the Phoenix and Felix the Griffin.

~

Later that evening, as the moon began to rise and the air began to cool, Penelope exited her house to check her mail that was delivered earlier that day. Wrapping her arms around her trench coat and breathing out deeply against the cold, causing a cloud of mist to form at her lips, she quickly made her way across her small front yard towards her rusty old mail box.

As her eyes scanned the large park across the street, her mind immediately drifted back to the strange call she heard earlier that evening, and she wondered if the Congress had dealt with the beast yet. Or if they even knew.

Ignoring the sudden longing to go search the park for the beast, as she knew that was a stupid idea considering how dangerous Erumpents could be, Penelope opened her mailbox to grab the mail. A flash of orange light caught her eye, coming from her bedroom window, and she rolled her eyes. She knew the light belonged to Pyra, and she made a mental note to herself to scold the cheeky Phoenix when she got back up there.

Stepping away from her mailbox and shuffling through the few letters in her hands, Penelope didn't notice the two men who were quickly making their way down the icy sidewalk. At least, not until it was too late. She stumbled into the fence of her front yard as a young man pushed past her quite harshly, only simply mumbling a quick "so sorry" as he kept walking.

Staring after the two men with a scoff, Penelope shook her head crossly. Being the outspoken girl she was, she couldn't let this slide.

"Hey!" She called after the men, jogging to catch up with them. "What's your problem?"

The man who had bumped into her, taller and slimmer than the other, stopped abruptly. The other took a few more steps before stopping as well, turning back to the first man with furrowed eyebrows. The first man turned around, and Penelope could actually get a good look at him. He was young, probably around early-twenties, with curly blonde hair that partially fell over his eyes. He looked at her with a crooked smile, his hands stuffed awkwardly in the pockets of his trousers. It was then Penelope noticed the wand in his hand, and she smiled a bit.

"My apologies," he spoke, his voice laced with a thick British accent. "Didn't mean to bump into you like that- just in a bit of a hurry."

Cocking an eyebrow, Penelope looked from the man down to the wand in his hand. "Why? Are you part of the Magical Congress or somethin'? Are you going after the beast that was roaming Central Park earlier?"

The two men looked at each other with surprised expressions. Then, suddenly, the tall man flicked his wand quickly, and the next thing Penelope knew, she was back in her living room. She sat on her couch, and the two men were standing in front of her.

"How did you know I was a wizard?" The young man asked quickly, shuffling his feet as if he were in a hurry.

Penelope only simply shrugged, a cheeky smile on her lips. "It's a talent," she said simply. "My parents were magic, but I'm a squib. I grew up in a magic household, so I know how to detect a wizard. Plus, I saw your wand; you're not very good at concealing it."

The man chuckled, looking to the ground as he shoved his wand deep into his pocket, as if he were now trying to conceal it better. He reached out a hand towards Penelope, the same crooked smile on his face as before. "I'm Newt Scamander."

Penelope took his hand, surprised at how soft it was; for some reason, she expected it to be calloused and worn. "Penelope Finch," she answered with a small smile. She then turned towards the second man. "And you are?"

"Oh," the man said awkwardly, reaching out his hand for her to shake. "Jacob Kawolski."

"You're a No-Maj," Penelope commented as she shook Jacob's hand and, with a look towards Newt, she added. "You do realize association with No-Majs is forbidden in America, right?"

Newt only simply nodded with another crooked smile. "I've been told. And to answer your question from before- no, I'm not with the Congress, actually."

"So why were you in such a hurry, Mr. Scamander?" Penelope asked, suddenly intrigued. "And it better be a good reason, too; I'm gonna have a bruise on my shoulder tomorrow."

Newt shoved his hands into his pockets, chuckling lightly before answering. "Uh, I may or may not have accidentally set a load of magical creatures loose in the city."

"Well, isn't that a catastrophe," Penelope muttered, crossing her arms as she looked between the two impatient men. She knew they must've wanted to leave, but she couldn't help but feel curious towards them.

"Yes, just a bit," Newt responded, looking to the ground.

"So that was your Erumpent?" Penelope asked, genuinely surprised. What kind of man would just have an Erumpent with him in the middle of New York City? "So what are you then?"

"I study magical beasts, actually," Newt answered, shuffling something in between his hands; it was then Penelope realized he was holding a suitcase. "I'm writing a book to help my fellow wizards understand them better."

"You do realize the keeping of magical creatures in America is illegal, right?" Penelope asked, hoping that the two men hadn't spotted the Phoenix perched in the corner of the room.

"I've been told that, yes," Newt said with a nod of his head. He then angled his head towards Pyra, fast asleep on her perch. "Do you realize that?"

Penelope crossed her arms, a smirk forming on her lips as she looked at her pet Phoenix, wondering how the men would react if they saw Felix. "I guess you could say I'm a bit of a rebel."