Echos >> Newt Scamander

02. Sorry, We Call Them Muggles.

They apparated back into a cramped alleyway across from the bank. A place much too small for three people.

The woman who had grabbed the pair whirled on Myra's Echo, "Who are you?"

"I'm sorry?" he replied, confused.

"Who are you?" the witch repeated with even more force.

"Newt Scamander," Newt responded a lot more politely than Myra would considering the circumstances, "and you are?"

"What's that thing in your case?"

"That's my niffler," Newt pointed at a bit of mustard on the woman's upper lip, "Er, you've got something on your-"

"Why in the name of Deliverance Dane did you let that thing loose?" the woman interrupted.

Myra began to twitch, annoyed with the woman's disrespect, "Have you never heard of nifflers?" the blonde butted in, wanting to put the rude witch in her place, "They'll do anything to get something shiny."

Myra took a calming breath, "Besides, I'm sure that Mr. Scamander didn't mean for it to escape."

"Who are you anyway?" the stranger turned on Myra, "his accomplice?"

"Myra Kegley," she narrowed her eyes, "I own the wand shop down the street, Wishes, Wands, and Wizardry, you may know it."

The witch looked surprised for a moment, but shook it off before rounding on Newt once again, "You could not have chosen a worse time to let that creature loose! We're in the middle of a situation here! I'm taking you in."

"You're taking me where?" the brunette asked tentatively.

The woman produced an ID card from within her jacket, the name reading Porpentina Goldstein, "Magical Congress of the United States of America."

"So, you work for MACUSA?" Myra easily identified the nervousness in her Echo's voice, "What are you, some kind of investigator?"

Myra also noted Porpentina's hesitation before she answered with an "uh-huh."

The blue eyed witch snorted, "I guess that explains why no one's caught Grindelwald yet."

Porpetina huffed before stuffing her ID back in her coat, "Can you please tell me you took care of the no-maj?"

"The what?" Newt inquired, his head tilted in confusion.

"The no-maj!" Myra enjoyed the frustration of the rude witch, "No-magic- the non-wizard!"

"Oh," Newt looked sorry, while Myra just laughed lowly, "Sorry, we call them muggles."

"You wiped his memory, right? The no-maj with the case?"

"Not in the slightest!" Myra crowed, busting out laughing when she saw the appalled look on Porpetina's face.

"That is a section 3A, Miss Kegley, Mr. Scamander," the witch grabbed the two by their elbows, "I'm taking you in," and forced them to disapparate once more.

When they apparated again, they were on Broadway, Porpentina towing both Myra and Newt along.

"Come on," the witch said, dragging the pair towards the Woolworth Building.

"Er- sorry, but I do have things to do actually," Newt attempted to convince her to let him go.

"Well, you'll have to rearrange them!" Porpentina told his as she pulled them through the busy traffic.

"So, Mr. Scamander," Myra began, "What're you doing in New York?"

"I came to buy a birthday present," he replied a small awkward grin, the blonde assumed it was from relief at the distraction from the situation.

"What kind of birthday present?"

"An appaloosa puffskein."

"Why New York then?" It wasn't that she didn't want her Echo to be there, that couldn't be farther from the truth, Myra was just curious.

"There's only one appaloosa puffskein breeder in the world and he lives in New York, so..." Newt gestured to their surroundings with his free hand.

Porpentina maneuvered the chatting pair over to a side door that was guarded by a man in a doorman's uniform, "I've got a section 3A," she told the guard, who immediately open the door for her.

Myra barely heard anything that her capture said beyond that because she was too immersed in watching her surroundings shift from a normal muggle lobby to the MACUSA entrance hall. The last time that she'd been in the MACUSA headquarters was when she was getting the permit to run her shop, which had been a little over ten years ago. While they were walking up the staircase, Myra's head tilted back, her eyes zeroing in on the dial at the top of the ceiling, labeled Magical Exposure Threat, which had settled on the section Severe: Unexplained Activity.

This didn't come as a surprise to the blonde as she did read the New York Ghost. She didn't know about the cause of the activity though, most just speculated that it was the doing of Grindelwald.

Myra shook the thoughts out of her mind and turned her head for a moment, looking at the awed face of her Echo. He's quite beautiful, was her only thought left over.