Catastrophe || n.s

vii. griffin dance

[ I've decided to update every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, just to have a bit of a schedule :). ]

~

Penelope went home that night, comforted when Newt told her and the others that all of the creatures that had gotten loose were now back where they belonged. Newt and Jacob went back with the Goldstein sisters, as they had already offered them a place to stay that night. Though Penelope couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealously when Newt had so happily agreed to go home with Tina.

She had no idea what had gotten into her.

~

The next morning, Penelope woke up refreshed after a night of good sleep. After she had eaten a breakfast consisting of eggs and bacon, she grabbed the frozen meat out of the freezer for her beasts to eat. She was busy cutting up the meat when she heard her doorbell ring.

Confused as of why someone was visiting her so early in the morning, she wiped her hands on the rag beside her before making her way towards the front door. When she opened the wooden door, she was surprised to see an awkwardly smiling Newt standing in its place.

"Mornin', Miss Finch," he greeted with a nod of his head. In his hand he held his suitcase; Penelope had learned that he never went anywhere without it.

"Hey, Newt," Penelope said slowly, her eyebrows furrowed. She expected that, now that the whole loose beasts thing was over with, Newt would move on from her, as he no longer needed her help. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I forgot to get my book from you last night, actually," Newt replied with a slight chuckle. He then looked to the floor, smiling crookedly before looking back up to the woman. "And I just wanted to see you."

Unable to hide the smile that crept onto her face, Penelope stepped aside to let the man inside. "Come on in, Mr. Scamander. You're just in time- I was getting ready to feed Felix."

Newt followed closely behind Penelope as she led the way through her house and towards the back door, a bowl of freshly chopped meat in her hands. Outside the house, enjoying the morning winter sun, sat Felix the Griffin. His beak was buried deep within his golden fur, as if he were attempting to scratch an itch he just couldn't quite reach.

"Newt, meet Felix," Penelope said as she gazed at the beast in wonder. At the sound of her voice, the Griffin raised his head, jumping to his feet and prancing over to her.

"He's brilliant," Newt murmured as he looked the animal up and down. "How do you keep him here without the Muggles seeing him?"

"When I moved into this house, my mother put a charm on the backyard, making any magical beings invisible to No-Majs," Penelope explained, reaching into the bowl and pulling out a thick chunk of meet. She tossed it to Felix, who leap into the air with a single flap of his giant wings and caught it.  She then handed the bowl to Newt, who only looked at her in confusion. "You want to feed him?"

"I heard that feeding a griffin who has yet to accept you is especially dangerous," he said skeptically, not taking his eyes off the beast before him. "I would have to perform a type of ritual."

"Well, go on, Mr. Beast Man," Penelope said with a shrug, laughing a bit as she looked at the man beside her. "Perform your griffin dance."

"I have yet to master it, actually," replied Newt self-consciously, crouching low to the ground and flipping his navy blue trench coat behind him. "But I can try. If things go wrong, however, your beast could very well kill me..." He then looked up at Penelope, his blue eyes shining in the sunlight. "If that happens, I trust you to calm him down."