Howard Stark never understood why the orange cat gave him such a scathing glare before strutting away… on its front paws, no less.
The image burned itself into his memory.
He never saw that strange, magical cat again for the rest of the voyage. But he never forgot it.
Years later, Howard would tell the story to his young son, who listened wide-eyed and thrilled.
"A kickboxing cat that walked upside down?" Tony would laugh. "Dad, that's amazing."
But as Tony Stark grew up, he dismissed it like any other bedtime tale from a whimsical father.
That is, until the day he found himself deep in a crumbling cave.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
Meanwhile, Garfield sulked his way into the cabin, still walking on his front paws, grumbling the whole way.
Newt Scamander looked up from his magical case, confused.
"Garfield?" Newt blinked. "Are you… walking upside down?"
"Go away." Garfield snapped, tail flicking with attitude. "I'm in a very bad mood."
He threw himself into the soft blanket on Newt's bed and buried his face.
"Pffffft—ahaha! You really did it!" Pandora's voice rang like church bells made of mockery.
"Oh, Garfield, my majestic feline overlord. I'll remember this moment for centuries."
"I swear." Garfield growled. "If I ever see that Stark brat again, I'm kicking his smug little face twenty more times."
"And if he has a son? Him too."
"So petty, I love it."
Newt quietly backed away and returned to tending his creatures. Nothing good ever came from getting involved with Garfield.
Moments later, something caught Garfield's attention, a soft rustling, the faint scent of mischief.
From the open lid of Newt's suitcase, a pair of black claws crept out, followed by a sleek, fuzzy creature with a beak-like snout and glittering eyes.
It was a Niffler.
A very familiar, very sneaky Niffler.
With a smirk curling across his whiskers, Garfield launched forward in a flash of orange, pouncing with deadly feline grace.
"Gotcha!"
The Niffler yelped as Garfield pinned it under his paw. "Hey, hey, hey, don't struggle, you slippery little treasure ferret."
The Niffler wriggled, trying to escape.
"Surrender now and I might not chew your ears off."
The Niffler squeaked in protest.
"Speak! Say the words, 'I submit to His Majesty Garfield the First!'"
It thrashed harder.
"Believe me, I will bite your shiny snout!"
"Garfield." Pandora chimed in sweetly.
"You realize no one can understand your angry meows, right? You sound like a particularly whiny teapot."
"Shut up, Pandora." Garfield hissed. "I hate you."
"Wager and loss, furball. A noble price for defying fate~"
╭(╯^╰)╮
Pandora vanished with a laugh.
Garfield turned back to his furry prisoner, baring his sharp teeth. "Now then... last chance."
"Submit, or suffer the royal pounce."
The Niffler blinked up at him, clearly sensing Garfield's dominance. Finally, with a low grunt of surrender, it bowed its head.
"I~I submit! Majesty Garfield, I surrender!"
Garfield purred triumphantly. "That's better."
Despite its platypus-like beak, Garfield knew the Niffler's lineage came from Australian echidnas, small, burrowing mammals, like moles.
Submitting to cats was in their instincts. And Garfield? Garfield was no ordinary cat.
This troublemaker was no ordinary Niffler either.
Garfield had seen it before, the Niffler who had stolen the Blood Oath pendant from Grindelwald.
A relic with enough magic to bind two of the most powerful wizards alive.
Back in the case, Newt had just noticed the empty nest.
He paled. "No, no, no? Where did you!?"
He climbed out in a rush, scanning the room in panic.
"…"
There, lying belly-up under Garfield's victorious paw, was the tiniest, most stubborn Niffler in his care. The same one that had outsmarted half his magical menagerie.
Now rubbing his head affectionately against Garfield's leg.
"…I don't believe it." Newt whispered.
"This little gremlin gave me more trouble than any creature in the case."
And it surrendered just like this.
Magizoology never prepared him for this.
Could it be that Dumbledore was right, that a cat could help him? A casual remark, over tea and half a lemon biscuit.
Newt hadn't taken it seriously. A cat? Help?
Still, the idea didn't seem too bad.
He'd considered it, inviting Garfield into his enchanted case, letting him wander the menagerie. But reason always won out.
"What if another devil gets in?" Newt thought nervously. "What if he eats my Bowtruckle? Or worse…"
As it turned out, his instincts were correct. Though he still failed to keep Garfield out of the case.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
Days later, their ship docked in New York.
Customs was a breeze. In this era, regulations were relaxed.
As long as the suitcase opened without exploding and your pets weren't breathing fire, you were good.
Garfield nestled smugly inside Newt's overcoat, tail twitching.
Once through, Newt breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into the bustling streets of Manhattan.
But peace didn't last.
Not long after Newt Scamander arrived in New York, his problems began.
First, he discovered a group of Squibs, non-magical descendants of wizarding families, holding a protest rally against wizards.
Before he could do anything about it, trouble of a more familiar sort struck, his mischievous Niffler caught the scent of coins and slipped out of Newt's enchanted suitcase.
After sneaking out again, it wasted no time.
He first stole change from the pockets of nearby beggars, then followed the glittering scent trail straight into a nearby bank.
By the time Newt realized his creature was on the loose, he rushed off to find him.
His anxious behavior caught the attention of Tina Goldstein, an ex-Auror investigating strange magical disturbances.
Tina found Newt's behavior suspicious and intriguing, so she decided to tail him into the bank.
Inside the bank, a portly, sweat-drenched man named Jacob Kowalski nervously waited for his turn with the loan manager.
He had spent months preparing for this moment, hoping to secure funds to open his dream bakery. Unfortunately, anxiety was getting the better of him.
As fate would have it, Newt and Jacob collided, quite literally, just as Niffler began wreaking havoc inside the bank lobby.
Newt tried to maintain control, but with each passing second, things only got worse.
In the middle of a flustered exchange with Jacob, Newt spotted the Niffler tearing through coin trays and toppling over displays.
In the rush to respond, Newt dropped one of his magical creature eggs, a glowing, slightly pulsating bird-snake egg, which rolled to a stop right beneath a dozing Garfield, perched lazily on a nearby chair… how he got there no one knows.
Now, side by side on the bank bench sat Jacob, red-faced and confused.
Garfield, unimpressed and half-asleep, and between them, the magical egg.
Jacob glanced down at the orange tabby. "Hey… cat. Did you just lay an egg?"
Garfield slowly lifted his head, giving Jacob a withering stare. "Does your cat lay eggs."
"Really, if it weren't for the ridiculous plot going on between you and Newt, I'd give you a solid kick right now."
Jacob blinked, completely lost.
With a sigh, Garfield nudged the egg toward Jacob's lap with a single paw. "Take it, Fatty."
Not knowing why, Jacob instinctively obeyed.
He tucked the egg into his coat pocket, then, as if possessed by stress or fate, scooped Garfield into his arms and headed toward the loan manager's office.
Garfield gave a long-suffering sigh.
Meanwhile, Niffler was treating the bank like a magical supermarket, gleefully stuffing shiny metal objects… coins, buttons, paper clips into his pouch.
He even dared to swipe at a dog's collar, barely dodging the bite.
Back in the office, Jacob's loan request was quickly denied. His nerves, lack of collateral, and general flustered state didn't impress the manager.
With Garfield silently judging him the entire time, Jacob was swiftly kicked out of the bank.
Outside, Jacob slumped in defeat, only to feel a twitching sensation in his pocket. The egg was shaking.
Spotting Newt nearby, Jacob called out, "Hey, British guy! Your egg's about to hatch and your cat… well, your cat's a lot."
Newt hesitated. He could already see Niffler vanishing deeper into the bank, following a trail of gold toward the vault.
But the egg posed a more immediate threat.
After a moment's deliberation, he moved toward Jacob. "I'll take the egg."
Once a bird-snake hatches, you have a whole different set of problems. The Niffler can wait.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
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