Upside Down (Fantastic Beasts)

~ 1 ~

It was a cold, spring morning in New York and the wind ran through the streets, hugging every building and stealing scarves from frozen pedestrians.

Leaves fluttered about outside of Kowalski's Baked Goods and the wind made the sign hanging above the door swing violently with every gust of wind that hit it.

Jacob waddled around his small shop, dusting off price tags and placing each baked product neatly into a presentable manner.

He turned to the large, glass display shelf that tucked itself between the wall and the till. He looked as his pastry masterpieces stood proud, showing off their unique design like mannequins on a runway.

Jacob smiled at his work, he didn't know where the ideas and designs came from nor did he know that his imagination could muster that anount creativity. He looked twice as proud as his pastries.

Jacob leant his old sweeping brush against the newly painted walls and walked to the shop door. He looked around and saw several green banners hanging from people's windows in the apartments across the road. Several stores chose to have a "green theme", which Jacob was also planning on doing.

He had already put a green bow tie on this morning and changed several table clothes from red and white checkered to a bold green.

He baked a variety of irish-based pastries such as little cauldrons and top hats. Jacob leant over his display towards the front of his store and placed a pastry top hat and cauldron on a rotating stand.

Jacob finally felt pleased with himself, he had successfully prepared his store and now it was ready to open on time. A few of his usual customers already were loitering outside in the wind, waiting to be warmed by the smell of cooking dough and the fresh goods.

Jacob grinned as he changed his shop sign from 'closed' to 'open'. He bounced back towards his till and waited for his customers to come in.

A few spilled in at once, admiring his new work of creating random 'beasts' out of dough and icing. A lot of the customers already bought what they knew they wanted, leaving only a couple left standing in the shop.

Jacob looked up from his till and grinned at his usual customer, a woman with short, blonde and curly hair. She always bought the same pastry whenever she visited: The Niffler.

"That will be one pound please..." Jacob asked as he tapped away at his cash register.

"Your forgetting the other pound, Mr Kowalski." The woman blushed, handing him two pounds.

"I thought I could sneak a sale in but...I guess there is no giving back is there." Jacob chuckled and handed the woman her bag with the pastry in it, "Goodbye, Queenie."

"See you later, Jacob." With a grin, she smoothly strolled out of the front door and walked into a crowd full of busy people.

"Oof!" Came a voice from the other side of Jacob's shop. He craned his neck to see a man under a basket of loaves, which had fell from the very top shelf. He rushed over to help the small gentleman, whom he noticed was wearing a strange, little and green outfit on.

"So sorry, Sir." Jacob mumbled as he lifted the shelf and then the man to his feet, "That shelf is a right pain sometimes..."

The little man rolled his eyes and handed Jacob a loaf, "Oh right..." He shuffled back behind the desk and served his strange customer, "Nice costume, celebrating St. Patrick's tomorrow then?" Jacob asked normally, handing the man his loaf.

"How dare you! This is not a costume!" The little man hissed, "I think you will find this is my best Saturday attire. Do you treat all your customers this way?"

"No no no!" Said Jacob, panicking as he did not intend to offend the man, "I just thought because it is green and..." A thought popped into Jacob's mind that the man did indeed look like a leprechaun.

"You think I dressed up as a leprechaun!" The man accused Jacob, pointing his little finger at him.

"I didn't say that..." Jacob replied, taken back by the man's short fuse.

"Course you didn't but you were thinking it..." With this the man toddled out, carrying his loaf of bread in his bag. Jacob rolled his eyes and put the man's money into the register.

Meanwhile, the little man hobbled down the street and looked back at the shop. He clicked his fingers twice and an evil grin began to be painted slowly onto his face. He stuffed the loaf into his hat and dissapeared in thin air, as if he had apparated away...

Back in the store, Jacob wandered to the back of the shop to check on the ovens. While he did so, a certain Niffler pastry's head began to move...