SHIPWRECK. ❪ Newt Scamander ❫ ✓

twelve

Newt stared at the lights flashing on and off in his sitting room. He slowly unlocked his door and poked his head in cautiously. Inside, a baby Niffler was swinging from the brass cord on the lamp in an attempt to steal it. It was causing the light to flicker on and off. Then, it succeeded in stealing the brass cord before spotting Newt. It scampered away, knocking objects to the floor. Trinity was in the midst of it all. She was half-sobbing and half-screaming in frustration. She was holding an armful of shiny items, trying to gain the attention of the baby Nifflers.

"Oh - hi, Newt!" Trinity exclaimed, sniffling. "Mind giving me a hand?"

He smiled softly, closing the door behind him as he rushed to the dining table and dropped a saucepan on top of a baby Niffler, who continued moving across the table, dragging the saucepan along with it.

Trinity threw a shiny jewelry box that was in her arms at Newt, and he caught it, tossing the box into the opposite weighing scale, sending the baby Niffler flying into the air. Trinity caught the baby Niffler in her armful of shiny items. The baby Niffler was immediately entranced.

Newt caught the baby Niffler under the saucepan before it could fall, then tucked it into his coat pocket. Newt and Trinity walked toward the door to his basement but turned at the last moment to see a third escaped baby Niffler climbing onto a bottle of champagne on the counter. With a sense of inevitability, the champagne bottle popped and the baby Niffler zoomed past the couple on top of the cork, soaring past them and down the stairs to the basement.

Newt looked at Trinity in astonishment before scurrying down the basement, tripping over his own two feet. Trinity picked up the Niffler in her arms and dropped the rest of the jewelry. With the pieces of jewelry gone, the baby Niffler was wiggling around in her hands.

"Bunty! Bunty! Bunty, the baby Nifflers are loose again!" Newt shouted.

Trinity ran down the stairs behind Newt, still holding onto the Niffler. She was barefoot. She never liked wearing socks or shoes. There was no need for shoes in the ocean, so she never felt comfortable on land with them.

Bunty, their assistant, hurried into view. She was a plain girl who was crazy about creatures. In the beginning, she used to have a small crush on Newt, but after seeing Trinity, she was happy to back off. Plus, Trinity was still new to the world. She didn't know about simple inventions. She didn't know what a toaster was until the bread popped out of it. Bunty and Newt were her teachers when it came to understanding land life.

Bunty grabbed a glove with a gold necklace attached to it. She tempted the last baby Niffler - the champagne cork rider - with the gold necklace, then tucked two of them into a cage filled with sparkling objects. Trinity walked over to the cage. The baby Niffler she previously caught was still wiggling around in her hand. She gently put it back into the nest and locked the cage.

"Well done," Newt praised.

"I'm so sorry, guys. They must have picked the lock while I was cleaning out the Augureys - "

"It's all my fault," Trinity said. "I should have been watching the Nifflers, but I went to check on the Kelpie. Then, they got upstairs and you know what happened. I'm sorry, Newt."

He smiled at her. "Trinity, you're not at fault." He turned to Bunty. "You're not either, Bunty."

Trinity smiled lovingly at him. "How was the meeting with the council?"

Newt sighed. "Not very good, I must confess."

"Did you see Theseus?" Trinity questioned.

He nodded. "It didn't go very well. Now - um - did anything else happen while I was away?"

Bunty nodded energetically. "I've fed nearly everyone, Pinky's had his nose drops, and - "

" - and Elsie?" Newt asked.

"Elsie's droppings are nearly normal again."

"Wonderful. You can clock off now - " Newt stopped once he saw the bloody bandages around her fingers. "I told you to leave the Kelpie me."

Aside from Riddle, a new Kelpie joined Newt's collection, but it was wilder and did not take a kind liking to both Trinity and Riddle.

"That wound needs more ointment - "

"I don't want you losing fingers over it," he replied. Newt marched toward a patch of black water. "Seriously, you go home now, Bunty. You must be exhausted."

"I'm never exhausted with these creatures!" Bunty exclaimed.

The trio approached the water. Newt unhooked a bridle hanging beside the pond. He took off his coat and Trinity took it, folding it over her arm.

Newt jumped into the water, twirling around to see what direction the Kelpie was coming from. Trinity was always worried when he dealt with dangerous creatures. She offered to deal with the newly added Kelpie because she was also a sea creature, but Newt was worried that it would be the reason why she got hurt. Riddle and the new Kelpie had to be separated. They didn't know each other and were both males.

The Kelpie erupted out of nowhere, spiraling toward Newt with the intent of drowning him, but he grabbed him around the neck and climbed onto his back. The Kelpie thrashed around in the water, trying to shake Newt off. The Kelpie burst out of the surface of the water before he dove back into the water. The Kelpie came back up by the wood clearing, now bridled. He was docile now. He shook his mane.

"Ointment, please?" Newt asked.

Bunty gave it to him. Still mounted, he applied the ointment to a wound on the Kelpie's neck.

"Bite Bunty again and there'll be trouble, Mister," Newt threatened.

Newt slid off the Kelpie, taking Trinity's outreaches hand that she offered to him. He smiled at her and happily climbed out of the Kelpie's habitat. There was a crash from overhead. The trio immediately looked up.

"Um - is there a chance Theseus came to visit us?" Trinity asked frightfully.

"No, I reckon not. He doesn't know I've moved. I want you to go home now, Bunty," Newt ordered.

"Shall I call the Ministry?" she asked.

"No, I want you to go home. Please."