Summary: How did Newt recapture the Billywigs that escaped from his suitcase?
Rated: K+
Genre: Adventure, General
Tag: N/A
The Escape
Newt Scamander frantically read through the log of magical creatures stowed in the suitcase while walking through each habitat. Calculations ran through his mind as he scanned over the creatures still present before checking them off and moving on.
A deep sigh escaped him as he puzzled over what had exactly got out; an erumpent, demiguise, murtlap, occamy, that blasted niffler, and lastly, two billywigs. Finding them all was going to be a challenge, catching them would be a tad difficult at worst. Though he was confident in tracking his creatures down in the foreign environment they were set loose in, the one he dreaded the most in looking for were the billywigs.
They were not the biggest of insects he had in his possession; being about the size of a hummingbird, and their unfortunate speed and knack for evasiveness will prove to be a challenge. Even the demiguise, something that could completely disappear from sight, didn't give him as much worry to find as these little bugs did.
Despite Newt's many sightings of the little sapphire blue bugs zooming by him, he was not prepared, or even quick enough to try to grab it by the base of the stinger to subdue it. His obligatory companion nagged him to hunt down the more mischievous creature instead when she learned what else slipped out of the case.
Collecting the occamy was a success, and to add to Newt's excitement, he spotted the pair of billywigs buzzing around the rafters where it resided. The gleam of their wings caught the moonlight through the cracks in the ceiling, and the two soon landed on top of an old wooden crate nearby. They tilted their heads in unison and twitched their wings up and outward in an odd pattern. Newt immediately identified what was going on; they were performing a mating dance.
He knew the billywigs were virtually harmless, but it simply would not do if the native Australian bug quickly became a pest in America. He needed to catch them.
Placing the occamy and demiguise back where they belonged inside their makeshift home, Newt quickly set to work in making a nectar trap for the billywigs. Extracting some of the essence from a one-sided bottlebrush flower, the trap was quickly constructed.
Resurfacing into the dusty attic, Newt's gaze went right back to the two bugs nearby. Carefully moving toward them, he placed the shoddy bottle trap in front of him. Giving it a shake to encourage the flowers' scent to be released, he crouched down and waited.
The billywigs took interest immediately, and both buzzed down over the large jar and hovered a moment as if suspicious. It didn't take long for the two to quickly give into the sweet smell of their favourite meal, and in an instant, Newt clamped a lid over them and let out a pleased sigh.
They were finally all accounted for.
Originally Written For:
The Houses Competition
Word Count: 485
Originally Written: February 2018
