Oddity

Chapter 3

We drag mr Kowalski to Tina's apartment but she stops us before we go in "Okay, before we go in... Im not supposed to have men on the premises." She says. Newt nods enthusiastically "In that case, Mr. Kowalski and I can easily
seek other accommodation and Margo can come with me as well" he offers. Tina shakes her head "Oh no, you dont!" She says pulling us into the building.

We carefully climb the stairs but a lady call out to us halfway up "That you, Tina?" She calls out. Tina looks concerned "Yes, Mrs. Esposito!" She responds. "Are you alone?" The lady asks. She nods "Im always alone, Mrs. Esposito!" She calls up.

We reach the apartment without any other problems. A blonde lady in a pink silk nightgown walks into the room. She leans against the door "Teenie, you brought men home? And someone else?" She says looking at us. Tina indicates to the woman "Gentlemen,Margo, this is my sister." She says.

She starts to take her shoes off " You want to put something on,Queenie?" She prompts. Queenie nods "Sure.". She uses her wand to slip into a blue over gown so. She looks at us "So, who are they?" She asks again. Tina indicates to newt "Thats Mr. Scamander. He's committed a serious infraction of the National Statute of Secrecy." She says. Queenie looks thrilled "Hes a criminal?" She asks. Tina nods "Uh-huh.". She indicates towards me "This is Margo Cooper. She is living on the streets and I offered her food" she says. And then she looks at mr Kowalski "And this is Mr. Kowalski, hes a No-Maj." She says.

"A No-Maj?" Queenie repeats. She then looks at her sister "Teen, what are you up to?" She inquires. Tina huffs "He's sick, its a long story. Mr. Scamander has lost something, I'm going to help him find it." She says. Jacob stumbles slightly and collapses onto the sofa, Queenie looks concerned "You need to sit down, honey.Hey, he hasnt eaten all day. Thats rough, he didnt get
the money he wanted for his bakery." She says. "You bake, honey?" She asks. Mr Kowalski nods she smiles "I love to cook."

Newt looks surprised "You're a Legilimens?" He states. She nods and I feel a surge of panic she'll know about my secret. She nods biting her lip "Uh-huh, yeah. But I always have trouble with your kind. Brits. Its the accent." She says and I would snort if it wasn't for the fact that she can read minds as probably knows everything. Jacob looks bewildered "You know how to read minds?" He asks. She nods and smiles "Don't worry, honey.Most guys think what you was thinking, first time they see me." She says.

She glances at me "no need to worry dear, I'm not gonna tell your secrets but if you want you can show us. We won't be cruel about the whole thing." She says comfortingly. I look at the ground a blush slightly. Newt looks at me curiously "don't worry I'm sure it's not very shocking" he says. I look up and realise that everyone is looking at me. I sigh and place my bag down wearily "well I guess I might as well show you"

I bend down and start to unclip my boots. I look up again "try not to gasp too loudly please" I say before undoing the last two clips. I float upwards towards the ceiling. I slowly bump the ceiling but I reposition my self so it looks like I'm crawling on the ceiling as a normal person would do in the ground.

Newt looks amazed "you are a oddity" he says. I nod "yeah that's me. Do you think you could help me down. Tina grabs a broom and holds it up for me to grab the broom handle. I latch on and she pulls me down. I latch my feet back into my boots and tap them against the floor "lead, stops me from floating away" I state.

Queenie nods "Now, you need food." She says. She and Tina retreat to the kitchen and I glance out the window. "Hey, Mr. Scamander,
you prefer pie or strudel?" Queenie asks. Newts by the door and looks uncomfortable in this situation. He looks blank "I really dont have a preference." He says. She glances at Jacob "You prefer strudel, huh, honey?" She says. He nods eagerly tucking a napkin into his shirt. She smiles "strudel it is"

She carefully contructs and cooks the strudel in the air and sets the table as well. I dig around in my rucksack and pull out a rope. I select a seat and tie myself to the chair. Everyone takes their seat and dinner is served.

It's been a while since I've gotten a proper meal and this strudel is delicious. Queenie looks at me obviously reading my thoughts "been awhile since you had a proper meal huh?" She asks. I nod "I sometimes beg on the streets and that pays for a cup of soup but it's risky, if the cops catch sight of me begging they can take me in to child services and as you can see I can't run very fast" I explain. "If you don't mind me asking what happened to your parents" she asks. I bite my lip "well my father was like me but mother wasn't so their marriage wasn't really the most celebrated event. They were out walking one night and... a group of grindlewalds followers attacked them." I say. Queenie shakes her head "well that is awful" she says. I shake my head "when I think about it they got off lightly, there have been cases where people with oddity's have been tortured or experimented on" I say. Mr Kowalski looks shocked "why would they want to hurt people like you" he asks. I shrug "for fun sometimes but other times they think they could cure us" I say. "Cure you?" Newt asks. I shrug "they think there's something not quite right with us and that's why we can do what we do. My father always told me that a oddity gets their gift from their second soul, though I don't know if that true could have just have been an easy way to explain it to a child" I explain. "He sounds like an amazing person, and his oddity was spectacular" Queenie says. Jacob looks surprised "there's different oddity's" he asks. I nod "people says there's an infinite range of possibilities. Mine is air manipulation but my father could manipulate lightning" I say. "That's amazing, but how do ya keep hidden so well?" Mr Kowalski says. I smile "we hide in plain sight, usually we perform in freak shows and sometimes street corners" I state. "But don't people freak out?" Tina questions. I smile "people go to freak shows to be tricked and that's all they think it is, a trick"

We sit and eat for a while listening as Queenie and mr Kowalski who I now know as Jacob flirt. Tina decides to put a stop to it through her thoughts. Queenie looks hurt "I am not flirting!" She says. Tina stands up "I'm just saying, dont go getting attached,hes going to have to be obliviated!" She says harshly, she turns to Jacob "Its nothing personal."

Newt looks at Jacob with concern "Miss Goldstein, I think Mr. Kowalski could do with an early night.And besides, you and I will need to be up early tomorrow morning to find my Niffler, so.." he says. Queenie looks confused "Whats a Niffler?" She asks innocently. Tina sighs "Don't ask. Okay, you guys can bunk in here." She says indicating to the living room.

They set up a bed each for us and I settle down under the covers after tying myself to the bed and removing my shoes. My feet float in the air but I'm not too bothered.

Tina walks in, standing awkwardly in her pyjamas "I thought you might like a hot drink?" She says. I nod gratefully and accept a mug. Jacob also takes one but newt doesn't he just lies there. "Hey, Mr. Scamander...Look, cocoa!" Jacob says but newt doesn't respond. Tina sighs "The toilets down the hall to the right." She says. I smile gratefully "Thanks"

As soon as the door closes newt sits up and gets out of bed. He opens his case and walks into it and disappears. I frown and put my hot cocoa down on the floor. I put my boots back on and untie myself from bed. A hand pops up from the suitcase and beckons us. I shrug and step into the suitcase, sounds like fun.