"Have I told you that you have yourself a beautiful Phoenix, Penelope?" Newt Scamander called across the room as he stroked Pyra under her beak. Pyra never really particularly liked anyone except for Penelope herself, but the Phoenix surprisingly seemed to be taking a liking in the strange man.

"Thank you," Penelope responded with a smile. "I rescued her when my parents found her abandoned just outside of Ilvermorny."

"It was very kind of you to take her in. I rescue abandoned and trafficked beasts myself," Newt said, and with one last stroke of Pyra's brilliant feathers, he stuffed his hands into his pockets once more. "I thank you for your time, but I'm afraid we have to go. We still have a handful of beasts running around the city."

Penelope scoffed lightly; if only these two men knew her, they would know she wasn't just going to let them go. "Don't say your goodbyes yet, Mr. Scamander," she stopped chopping up the raw steak in her kitchen, throwing it into a bowl to feed to Felix before wiping her hands on a rag. "You already have one No-Maj tied in with this, it won't hurt to have another."

"Oh, no," Newt said quickly with a shake of his head, grabbing his suitcase from beside the couch. "I can't let you do that, it's far too dangerous."

"Why are you making me come with you, then?" Jacob Kawolski asked in a high voice, looking genuinely afraid at Newt's words.

"Nothing against you, Mr. Kawolski," Newt told him with a small smile. "I just can't let Penny here come with us, because she's a-"

"A woman?" Penelope finished with a scoff, rolling her eyes. "Look, gentlemen, I know there are certain stereotypes of women in today's society, but I'm not some weak housewife. And I'm afraid you can't stop me from coming with you."

She realized what she said was quite stupid, as Newt was currently holding a wand in his hand that could quickly Apparate them out of the house in a blink of an eye. Though, for some reason, Newt didn't do that. Instead, he only laughed.

"You are a peculiar woman, Penny."

"I've been told," Penelope laughed, and she couldn't help but smile at the nickname Newt had quite suddenly given her. Her eyes then drifted to the suitcase in the man's hands, and she beckoned towards it. "Now, what exactly is in that suitcase of yours, Mr. Scamander?"

"Call me Newt, please," Newt corrected her with another crooked smile, tossing the suitcase in between his hands. "And it's not important right now. If you insist on coming with us, you'll see soon enough."

"I guess I will, then," Penelope said, grabbing the bowl full of steak before making her way towards the back door. "Before we leave, however, let me feed Felix. He gets grumpy when he's hungry."

~

"Now how exactly did you manage to tame a griffin?" Newt asked as the trio walked through the dark streets on New York.

"My dad was particularly skilled in magical beasts," Penelope answered, and added with a laugh, "I guess that's what got him killed, too. He tried to tame an Occamy, but his assistant startled it and caused it to attack. Him and two others were killed."

There was then an awkward silence between the three, one of which Penelope broke as she cleared her throat. "Anyways, my grandmother brought back Felix from Greece. He was just a hatchling, abandoned by his mother because he had a nasty cut on his leg. My father stitched him up and we managed to tame him when he was young."

"That is fascinating," Newt murmured with a look of wonder towards Penelope. When the two made eye contact, he quickly looked away with an awkward cough.

A small smile on her lips, Penelope looked ahead of her towards the No-Maj, Jacob. He had his hands in his pockets, kicking a pebble every other step he took. It was then she realized a small red wound on his neck; it looked like something had bit him.

"What happened to your neck, Mr. Kawolski?" She asked, causing the man to turn around with his hand covering his wound. He looked to Newt as if he were asking for help.

"Um, a Murtlap bit him," Newt explained with an awkward laugh. "Nasty little buggers, Murtlaps."

"Did you treat it?" Penelope questioned, concerned; she heard that Murtlap bites could get pretty nasty if they went untreated, and the side-effects were awful.

"Oh, yes," Newt responded. "If I hadn't, he would be sweatin' like a horse right now, and stumbling around like a drunkard."

Penelope couldn't help but laugh as Jacob flashed a look of annoyance towards Newt over his shoulder. Suddenly, Newt stopped in his tracks, letting out a groan as he turned to look through the window of a jewelry store. At first, Penelope was confused, but then she noticed the small black creature standing on a necklace rack, covered in shiny and expensive-looking jewelry.

"Is that a Niffler?" She asked, staring at the fluffy creature in wonder. Her father had told her of the pesky British beasts, and how much of a handful they could be.

"It is, yes," Newt answered quickly, his mouth barely moving as he spoke. "Cheeky little buggers, they are."

The Niffler inside the store suddenly noticed Newt staring at it and, with a twitch of its pink nose, stuffed a bracelet into its pouch before disappearing into the darkness. Without a word, Newt flicked his wand, and the window shattered and fell to the ground.

"Newt!" Penelope called after him in dismay, but the man had already leaped through the broken window and was frantically looking through drawers for the little creature.

"Oh my God, we're gonna die," Jacob muttered from beside her, pacing back and forth with his hands on his head. "First the bank and now this?"

Penelope barely heard him, however, as her full attention was on Newt's suitcase, only inches from her. A latch had somehow flicked open, and a faint and low growl followed shortly after.

She jumped as a sudden bang sounded from in front of her. She looked up to see Newt on top of a fallen jewelry rack, leaning against another cracked window of the store, the Niffler in front of him. His wide blue eyes were focused on his suitcase as another growl, this time much louder, came from the object. Penelope slowly took a step towards it, leaning down and latching it before whatever creature was making that noise could break free. Just as the latch clicked, the window that Newt was leaning on broke, causing him and the Niffler to fall to the ground.

This seemed to snap Jacob out of his state of shock, and the man leaped after the Niffler as the creature began to run down the icy side walk. With a groan of frustration, Newt grabbed his wand out of his pocket and flicked it without a word. The Niffler suddenly rose into the air, his legs still running in a desperate attempt to escape, but it was no use. He began flying through the air, the dozens of pieces of jewelry falling from his pouch in the process. The trio began running towards it, dodging the flying jewelry and becoming covered in the process. Penelope hissed in pain as the necklaces and rings hit her skin.

Suddenly, the Niffler slammed into the window of the next store, causing it to wobble under the sudden force. The creature tried to escape, but it seemed like Newt's spell had caused the window to become sticky. Newt ran up to the creature, pulling it from the sticky trap, and began scolding it. Penelope barely heard it, as she was too busy worrying about the impending sounds of sirens in the night air. She realized that they were standing beside a jewelry store that they had broken into, covered in expensive necklaces and bracelets.

About half a dozen police cars pulled in front of them almost simultaneously, and several cops stepped out of them, each carrying a gun pointed at the trio.

"Uh, they went that way, officers," Jacob said as he pointed away from them, smiling almost desperately.

Though the cops were unamused, and they all loaded their guns as one said, "Put your hands in the air."

Penelope obeyed almost instantly, hoping that Jacob and Newt did, as well. She heard a squeak to her left, and turned to see the Niffler perched on Newt's shoulder.

"What the hell is that?" An officer asked, gesturing towards the creature with furrowed eyebrows. Newt only shot the officer a crooked smile, staying silent.

A low growl to the left of Penelope caused her attention to snap that way, just as Jacob gulped and said, "Lion."

A large male lion was stalking its way up the sidewalk, licking its lips as if it were preparing itself for a meal. The cops pointed their guns away from the three humans and towards the animal instead. Taking their moment of distraction as a chance to escape, Newt grabbed Penelope's hand, jumping in between her and Jacob just as they disappeared into a flash of light.