Newt led Penelope and Jacob across the frozen lake, stumbling a bit every few steps. He stopped beneath the bridge, setting his suitcase on the ground and opening it up. He looked to Penelope, nodding his head towards the open case.

"In you go," he said simply, earning a cocked eyebrow from Penelope. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by Mr. Kawolski pushing past her.

"I'll show her how it's done," he murmured confidently, earning a chuckle from Newt as he stepped into the suitcase. He had to force himself in a bit as he sunk down to his thick stomach, and he smiled cheekily up at Penelope as his cheeks grew pink. But he had managed to squeeze into the suitcase, and now Newt was looking at Penelope expectedly.

"Go on," he said and smiled in amusement. "Don't worry, it won't bite. I'll be right behind you."

Glaring at the man in a joking manner, Penelope hesitantly stepped inside the suitcase. She had only used a magical object a handful of times in her 22 years of living, and she had yet to get used to it. Though as soon as she stepped foot inside the suitcase, she felt herself slip down, sliding as if she were on a slide. The next thing she knew, she was standing in a wooden building, Newt and Jacob beside her.

"Whoa," she murmured as she looked around her, completely mesmerized. She stood in what seemed like a small office, with a table in front of her filled with books and containers full of potions. There was a single long window just above the table, and when Penelope looked outside it, she saw what seemed like a magical paradise.

"Brilliant, isn't it?" Newt asked from beside her, and she was surprised to feel his arm slip around her waist. "Wait until you see the rest."

He led her out of the small building, and immediately she was surrounded by life. Dozens of different species of creatures crawled and flew around her, and their calls blended together in a peaceful harmony.

"So is this some sort of zoo for your rescued creatures?" Penelope asked as she watched a humungous bug-like creature roll a huge boulder towards others of its kind.

"Not a zoo, no," Newt responded, grabbing her hand as he led her through the maze of habitats. "More like a sanctuary- a safe haven until I can release them back into the wild."

"Well, it's brilliant," Penelope murmured with a look of wonder towards the man beside her. She couldn't help but smile as she looked at him, which earned a slight chuckle from Jacob.

Newt led the pair towards a large area of an open plain, with a couple of acacia trees in the middle. Under a tree stood the very same Erumpent that was chasing them only minutes before. She now seemed peaceful, happily bellowing as she grazed on the golden grass of her enclosure.

"There she is," Newt said with a slight chuckle. "Back home, safe and sound." He gazed at the beast for a moment more before he turned to Penelope and Jacob. "I rescued her while I was in Africa a few months ago. She was being trafficked by a group of smugglers. She was very mistreated, but in just a few months she'll be ready to return to the open plains of Kenya."

"You know, she's beautiful when she's not trying to kill us," Jacob said, earning a nod of agreement from Penelope.

"Well, not kill you," Newt corrected him and turned to look at him with a smirk on his face. "More like mate with you."

The peaceful and humorous moment was suddenly ruined by the sounds of knocking coming from above them. Penelope jumped at the sudden noise and immediately looked to Newt for answers.

"Merlin's beard..." he muttered before taking off towards the small building. Penelope gestured to Jacob to follow her before running after the man, entering the building and following Newt up the steps that led out of the suitcase.

Penelope clumsily stepped out of the case, steadied by Newt as she took in the scene around her. As Jacob stepped out beside her, he mumbled the same words that were running through her mind.

"Oh, no."

The trio were surrounded by hundreds of witches and wizards, all staring at them with judgmental eyes; Penelope immediately knew that they were inside the MACUSA.

"Tina?" Newt's surprised voice caused Penelope to turn around, only to see Porpentina Goldstein, ex-Auror, standing before them. "What are you doing?"

"Mr. Scamander?" A man with a thick British accent broke the silence.

Newt turned to look at the man, a small smile on his face as he latched his suitcase. "Hello, sir."

"Theseus Scamander, the war hero?" A dark man with an African accent asked, staring at Newt in awe.

"No, of course not," the British man replied with a scoff. "This is his little brother- the one who got expelled from Hogwarts. What are you doing in New York?"

Newt eyes were glued to the ground, and Penelope could tell he was embarrassed at what the British man had said in front of all those people. "I came to buy a birthday present, sir," he responded quietly, glancing towards the gray-haired British man.

"You humor me, Scamander," the man said, narrowing his eyes at the young man. "What are you really doing here?"

Newt ignored him, glancing towards Penelope for a split second before his eyes became glued to the ground once more.

"Goldstein," Serephina Picquery, the president of MACUSA, called to the brown-haired woman, nodding towards Mr. Kawolski. "Who is this?"

"Jacob Kawolski, Madam President" Tina answered quickly, suddenly gaining confidence. "He's a No-Maj who's been bitten by one of Mr. Scamander's creatures."

"You brought a No-Maj into the Congress?" Picquery gasped, her anger growing even more intense. "Miss Goldstein, by bringing a No-Maj into MACUSA, you're only making this worse for yourself!"

"I've brought him as a witness, ma'am. I was planning on obliviating him as soon as he was healed," Tina explained quickly. Then, with a look of surprise towards Penelope, as she probably didn't know why she was there, she added, "And this is-"

"Penelope Finch," Picquery finished with a disdainful tone, turning her cold gaze towards Penelope. The young woman held her gaze, her eyes narrowed angrily. "The squib daughter of Charles Finch- the man who died because he couldn't follow a simple law."

Penelope clenched her fists at her side angrily. "My father was a brilliant man, don't you dare speak of him that way, you-"

She was cut off as a bright mist appeared near the ceiling of the room. It showed a fuzzy image of a mauled body- the body Penelope recognized as the New York Senator.

"Merlin's beard..." Newt murmured from beside her, staring at the body in horror.

"Do you know which of your creatures is responsible for this, Mr. Scamander?" A foreign woman who was sitting in the crowd of people asked.

"No creature did this," Newt told the woman, still staring at the image of the body. "Don't pretend. You must know what this is- look at the marks! It was an Obscurus."

His words caused a series of surprised murmurs to erupt within the room. Penelope herself was surprised; she had heard of an Obscurus before and how unimaginably dangerous they were. She had heard that there hasn't been one in centuries... so how would one come to be in New York?

"You go too far, Mr. Scamander," Picquery spoke above all of the whispers, staring at Newt with a harsh expression. "There is no Obscurial in America. Take that case, Graves."

At her words, a man sitting beside Picquery immediately reached out his hand, and Newt's suitcase was pulled right from his hands.

"Wait, no. Please, give that back," Newt pleaded, reaching for the case that now lay in Graves' hands.

"Arrest them!" Picquery called, and immediately Penelope felt a pair of metal handcuff's wrap around her wrists. She heard the others struggling beside her, and a half dozen guards began to grab at them.

"No, please!" Newt begged, fighting against the large man who held him by the arms. "Please don't hurt those creatures, they aren't dangerous! You don't understand, nothing in there is dangerous!"

Newt continued to plead with the Congress as the guards continued to pull the four of them out of the room, though it was no use. Picquery stared after them as they were pulled towards the prison, her expression emotionless.