Fantastic Beasts by Kristy L., 811

Once upon a time,

there was a British wizard with a blue coat who loved creatures. Not just any creatures, however, he loved magical ones. This wizard kept a battered brown case full of magical creatures. It had infinite space and infinite time, so he can keep as many magical creatures as he wanted. He favored some creatures more than others, however, such as Pickett the Bowtruckle (which is a tiny little walking tree) , or Frank the Thunderbird (a bird that creates thunder). His name was Newt Scamander.

Newt the British wizard also had a Niffler. Nifflers are black, little balls of fur with a pink beak have a strong love for shiny objects, like magpies. They have a pouch that, can fit nearly a house worth of gold. This particular Niffler that Newt cared for, though, was quite tricky.

One day, Newt decided to leave Britain and write a book about magical creatures around the world. He chose to travel to Arizona all the way in America, stopping in New York first. Newt the British wizard boarded a ship and left Britain.

Once he was in New York, Newt was greeted by a no-maj, a non-magic human. Wizards were nonexistent to most no-majs, and anyone who believed in them was considered crazy. This no-maj however, led a society that claimed wizards were real and very, very dangerous. She preached to Newt about how evil wizards are and as Newt listened, his very sneaky Niffler snuck out of his magical case.

The very sneaky Niffler was out for gold. It spotted a gem on a woman’s shoe and stole it. It spotted a watch on a rich man’s wrist and stole it. It spotted a diamond ring, on a newly engaged woman, and stole it. It wasn’t until the Niffler was half a mile away from Newt, that he realized the Niffler was gone.

Where could the very sneaky Niffler be? Newt thought and thought and thought. As he thought and thought and thought, Newt spotted a sign outside of a building. This sign said Bank of New York.

Newt the British wizard followed this sign and into the building. While Newt the British wizard was looking for the Niffler, a little black-haired woman was watching. Her name was Porpetina Goldstein, and she worked for the magical government in America, the same government that prevents chaos and loose invasive species of magical creatures.

Newt could not see the Niffler! The British wizard sighed and sat on a bench next to a short, plump no-maj named Jacob Kowalski. He left his magical case with all his fantastic beasts next to Jacob’s case, which happened to look exactly like Newt’s case, without the infinite space and infinite time and whatnot.

“What are you here for?” Jacob Kowalski asked.

“Whatever you are here for,” replied Newt the British wizard in his British accent.

“You want a loan for a bakery that you’ve dreamt of since you were a child?” Jacob questioned this. As Newt nodded, a small little black ball of fur scrambled across the bank floor with jewelry leaking out of its pouch. Newt stood up and ran after it grabbing his magical case with infinite space and infinite time. Newt left behind something. A blue egg the size of a cup was sitting in the spot where Newt was. Jacob picked it up.

“Hey, Mr.English Guy!” called out Jacob. The Niffler was getting away. The egg was hatching. Newt was torn. He could see the Niffler slipping into an elevator. He could see bits of the egg shell breaking off. Newt chose to care for his egg. He used his wizard wand and zapped Jacob close to him.

Scared and confused, Jacob handed the egg to Newt as it hatched. Newt put his wand in his mouth to help the newborn coming out of the egg. A baby Occamy, bright blue and big-eyed, looked up at Newt as if he was its mother. Occamys are plumed two-legged winged creatures with serpentine bodies. They tend to be fiercely protective of their eggs, but the mother of the baby Occamy trusted Newt enough to leave the egg in his care.

“Shh, mummy’s here.” crooned Newt. Jacob stepped back, with a mortified look on his face.

“I was there….Now I am… here?” Jacob was shocked. He could not believe it!

“I’m Newt,” Newt introduced himself.

“…Jacob,” he did the same.”I guess I have to get going now. I….I’m going to talk with my loan officer.”

Jacob slowly staggered back to the bench where he was called to discuss a possible bank loan. The loan officer invited him in and started negotiating with Jacob.

“How will you make your business successful?” the loan officer asked. Jacob brought out his case and opened it. Inside were samples of his tastiest pastries. He had strudels and shortcuts and filos and choux and flaky and puffs.

“What is this trash?” demanded the loan officer.

“It is my bakery!” said a delighted Jacob. The loan officer did not look very impressed. Needless to say, Jacob did not get the loan. He sulked and sulked and sulked . As he was about to pass by the bank vault on the bottom floor, Jacob noticed the vault door was left open. There was a small black creature pillaging through all the boxes of gold, stuffing them into his already overstuffed pouch.

Suddenly, the same British man from before in his blue coat raced passed Jacob and grabbed the black creature. He grabbed the creature upside down and started flinging it around. Tons of gold and jewelry started flying out of his pouch. The British man started tickling the creature and was smiling. More gold and jewelry flew out of his pouch.

Jacob watched in awe. All of a sudden, the alarms started flashing and the loan officer stormed down into the bank vault. Using the chance to escape, the Niffler jumped out of Newt’s hands and disappeared.

“So if you can’t have the money, you’re willing to steal it??” the officer screamed angrily.

“We’re not stealing!!” pleaded Newt. Porpetina, who had been watching the whole time, zipped past Jacob and Newt, who lost the Niffler, and whisked them away outside of the bank.

“Go, get out of here,” Porpetina told Jacob. Jacob “stood shell-shocked until Porpetina waved her hand in his face,”Go!”

Jacob grabbed one of the suitcases that he and Newt (in which they both had suitcases that looked the same) had and left Newt was alone with Porpetina.

“Who are you?! What was that thing that raided the bank?!?!” she started interrogating him.

“I, um, I’m Newt. Newt Scamander,”said Newt.

“Porpetina Goldstein.” the black-haired witch said,“What was that creature?”

“That is ,um, a Niffler.” stuttered Newt. “It got loose.”

“I have to take you in,” said Porpetina.

She dragged Newt and his suitcase to her workplace, also known as the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA). Porpetina rushed Newt into a room where a man in a fancy suit was having a meeting with tens of other people.

“Ms.Goldstein? What is so important that you must interrupt us?” asked the man.

“I apologize, Graves, but this man has brought foreign creatures in this land and one of them escaped!” explained Porpetina. She pointed to his suitcase (the one that looks just like Jacob’s).”They’re in his suitcase.”

“Show me!” ordered Graves.

Porpetina brought the case to a table, opened it up, and gasped. Instead of a case full of magical creatures, there were only pastries. The case contained plenty of strudels and shortcuts and filos and choux and flakies and puffs.

“What is this? You said there were magical creatures!” demanded Graves.

“I don’t know!” frowned Porpetina.

“Ms.Goldstein, I encourage you to refrain from interrupting important meetings with… no-maj foods. You have already been demoted once, no need to do more harm to yourself.” said Graves.

Porpetina closed the case and dragged Newt out of the building in tears.

“I guess you can go now,” said Porpetina. Newt awkwardly stepped away and started walking in the opposite direction. All of a sudden loud screaming was sounded in a street nearby. Newt and Porpetina rushed towards the sound. Herds of people were rushing out of a collapsing building where the cause of the destruction was unseen.

“What is happening??” Porpetina asked a child close by.

“There’s a monster inside!” trembled the child.

Newt rushed inside, leaving behind Porpetina. He ran up the stairs of the building and into a room where he thought was the cause of all of the hysteria.

Inside, Jacob lay on the floor with Newt’s case opened. He had a bite on his neck. Porpetina caught up.

“Oh no,no,no!” she said. Porpetina cradled his head in her arms and used her wand to heal him up. “What bit him?”

A spiky yellow porcupine-like thing jumped out at her, but Newt’s hands were fast enough to catch it.

“This little guy!” said Newt. Porpetina glanced at the suitcase on the floor.

“What else escaped?” she asked.

“Just him, but the Niffler is still out there.” said Newt.

“Then find it!” said an exasperated Porpetina.

Newt scanned the room. Something felt off. Newt heard a little shuffling sound in the walls. He looked at a portrait hung on Jacob’s wall, there was a pearl necklace hanging from behind it. Newt used his wand and knocked the portrait off the wall. There was a hole. The Niffler was there all along! Newt’s hand shot out for the Niffler.

The Niffler wasn’t having it. It jumped out of the way and ran for the door. Newt scrambled for it. The Niffler jumped on Jacob’s dresser and desk, and Newt followed. He flung himself at the Niffler, only crashing into everything. Porpetina, who had been holding Jacob’s head the whole time, dropped Jacob on the floor and reached for the Niffler. It dodged her hand too, but Newt leaped in front of the doorway and closed the door. Porpetina leaped in front of the window and closed it too. The Niffler was trapped! Newt pulled out his wand and brought the Niffler to him.

“You sneaky little thing!” yelled Newt triumphantly. Porpetina quickly opened the suitcase and Newt threw the Niffler in. The Niffler was back where he belonged! Porpetina and Newt sunk onto the floor and sighed. Jacob was beginning to wake up after being dropped.

“What do we do about Jacob?” asked Newt.

“I’ll erase his memory, you get out of here.” said Porpetina.

And so, Newt the British wizard and his magical creatures left. They traveled to Arizona, and after that, Newt wrote his book ,”Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. All was well.

The end.