𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔲𝔰

Nine

"Pastries." I was shocked to see that Newt's suitcase was filled with baked deserts instead of the usual expanded interior filled with magical creatures. "What happened?" Tina and I turned our heads and stared incredulously at Newt.

His eyes were as wide as saucers, "I-I..." He stuttered.

"Okay..." With that, Abernathy stalks off, shaking his head. 

"You two!" Tina seethed before grabbing our arms  and the case before disapparating.

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"I cannot believe you didn't obliviate that man! If there's an inquiry, I'm finished!" Tina walked down the streets of New York. Newt and I had tried to sneak off earlier but she gripped my arm tightly, pulling me next to her. 

"What? You didnt do---" I spoke out, but was cut off.

"I'm not supposed to go near the Second Salemers!" She cried out. I opened my mouth again but a flash of blue caught my eye. 

"Billywig." I mumbled. 

"What?" Tina looked up and saw it just before it flew away. "What did you say that was?" 

"Um..." I tried to make something up. "Just a moth." Newt said casually.

I shot him a thumbs up before I was pulled off by Tina again. We rounded the corner just to stop again. There was a collapsed building that looked like it had been run over by a giant.... oh jeez.

"What the hell do you have in that case?" I whispered to Newt. 

We approached the building which was surrounded by a crowd of muggles, some claiming a gas leaked had caused the house to explode, while others said it was a huge creature of some sort.

Newt raised his wand discreetly and muttered a spell. 

"No, officer, it was a giant hi--- no, yea it was a gas leak, a gas leak!" The whole crowd seemed to change their minds.  "Yeah, it was a gas leak!" "What hippo? It was a gas leak!"

I rolled my eyes playfully before the three of us pushed past the crowd and into the building.

Stepping over pieces of debris, we finally reached a bedroom with a familiar muggle lying on the ground, unconscious.

I kneeled next to him, examining him for any wounds. The man groaned, swatting my hands away. Newt noticed his suitcase on the muggle's bed and quickly locked it.

I ignored my surroundings and saw a small, red bite on the man's neck. "Oh, no." I muttered.

Newt had performed a repairing spell and the building was good as new. 

"Was it open?" Tina asked, referring to the case. "Just a smidge..." Newt trailed off. I scoffed, getting up to look for the creature that bit the muggle.

"The niffler thing is loose again?!"

"It might be."

"Then look for it! Look!" I cringed at her tone.

I knelt on the ground by the bed and looked under it, only to meet the eyes of the muggle's attacker. "Murtlap!" I cried out.

It jumped at me, latching its tiny teeth on my arm. I screamed, falling on my back. Tina and Newt leaped over. 

Newt grabbed the murtlap by its tail and pulled it off of me. He held it and opened the suitcase, shoving it back down there. I held my wounded arm as Tina cried out next to me, "Mercy Lewis, what was that?" She exclaimed, her hand on my shoulder.

"Nothing to worry about, just a murtlap." Newt played it off, but I knew better.

"It bit the muggle, too. I don't think it's serious, however." I examined my own wound. It was bleeding. 

"Ugh, this one's more serious than the other times he's bit me." I stood, brushing myself off.

"Th-this isn't you first time?" Tina spluttered. "Of course not. I raised him." Tina gaped.

"You!" The three of us turned around and saw the muggle was awake and standing. He pointed at Newt, then saw me. "And you!"

 "Easy, Mr. Muggle." 

"Wh-what? My name is Kowalski...Jacob." 

Tina shook his hand. Newt took his wand out and pointed it as his head, ready to obliviate.

"Wait! You can't obliviate him! He's a witness!" Tina cries. I turned to stare at her incredulously. She almost arrested me for not doing so!

"I'm sorry, you just yelled at me the length of New York for not doing it in the first place..." Newt voiced my thoughts.

"But he's hurt! He's ill!"

"He's fine."

We heard the muggle start throwing up in the corner of the room, and Tina shot Newt a victorious smirk. He scratched his neck.

"Well, I admit this is a slightly more severe reaction than I've seen, but it really was serious he'd have---" I elbowed him, cutting him off. No need to get us into any more trouble, Newt.

"He'd have what?" Tina crossed her arms and stared at us. The muggle, Jacob, was as well, his eyebrows knitted together in worry.

"Well," Newt starts quietly, "the first symptom would be flames coming out of his anus." 

"Which there isn't!" I said and pointed to his bottom as Jacob tried to twist around to check. 

"This is balled up!" Tina cries.

"It'll last 48 hours at most!" Newt tries to reason. "I can keep him if you want me to."

"Oh, keep him?" I sat down on the bed and sighed sadly, prepared to be here for a long, long time. "We don't keep them! Mr. Scamander, do you know anything about the wizarding community in America?" Newt straightened to his full height.

"I do know a few things, actually. I know that you have rather backwards laws about non-magic people. That you're not meant to befriend them, or marry them, which seems mildly absurd to me." 

"And from my experience with English wizards, they all have an unhealthy obsession with dangerous magical beasts!"

"They're not dangerous!" I stood up, ready to argue with her.

"Um, I'd beg to differ." Jacob raised his hand and added quietly. His other hand was still on his behind, as if trying to stop the flames if they were to come.

Tina rolled her eyes and muttered a small "Whatever."

She grabbed the suitcase from the bed and handed it to Newt, or more like shoved it to him.

"Anyway, you're all coming with me." Neither of us felt like arguing, so Newt just helped Jacob walk to the door. "I'm dreaming, right? I'm just tired. I never went to the bank. This is all just a nightmare, right?" The muggle asked drowsily.

"I wish." I mumbled, following Tina out grudgingly.