Word Crawl: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Welcome to the Fantastic Beasts word crawl!

Don’t know what a crawl is? No problem! It's esentially a writing board game: you write from one instruction to the next to create a story of 300 words or more and it can be about absolutely anything (you don’t have to stick to the Harry Potter theme in any way).
If you’d like to share your story, you’ll earn 20 beans and it will count towards your chance of earning one of our shiny quill and ink awards. You can post it below or if you’re uncomfortable sharing publically but would still like it to count, you can email it to us at hol.bookclub @ gmail.com (without spaces) with the subject line Crawl-Theme-HOL Name. There is no deadline, though if you want to scoop that award, we’ll need it by the end of that particular school year.

For this crawl we’re taking a step back in time: to 1920s New York to be exact. Grab a pen, keep a tight hold on that suitcase and let’s begin.

You’re walking down the street, observing the very strange behaviour of some people outside a bank when you realise one of the most mischievous magical creatures in your charge has escaped
*Write 25 words while you try to get away from the scarily earnest woman so you can recapture your pilfering pal*

You pursue the Niffler into the bank (accidentally striking up a conversation with a nice chap on a bench) and watch in horror as he weaves his way amongst the crowd, pinching things no ordinary wizard would have thought pinchable.
*Write 50 words as you frantically dip and duck amongst the people and furnishings* (Bonus if you can write those words in under a minute)

Eventually, you’ve caught up to him. Admittedly you’ve also brought a muggle along, broken the Statute of Secrecy a record number of times and now have a baby Occamy to deal with but who’s counting?
*Write 25 words while you realise that ah…yes, there is someone counting. And she’s not happy*

You make an unscheduled trip to the seat of American magical governance where you discover, to your horror, that you didn’t keep a tight enough hold on your suitcase (I did warn you…)
*Write 70 words while you try to blag your way through and wonder who’s swapped you a Danish for a Demiguise* (Bonus if there’s some kind of mix up in your story)

, you stumble onto the scene of yet another disturbance. Pretty sure you know what’s going on, you slip away to find out
*Write 30 words while you discover what your creatures have done to a prime piece of real estate, not to mention the occupant*

You help your very irritable and alarmed companion from MACUSA to carry your other new acquaintance to her house
*Write 40 words while you try very hard to slip away unnoticed*

You are persuaded into staying for dinner and, worse, into making polite conversation.
*Write 50 words while you eat strudel and listen out for the distant sounds of more property damage* (Bonus if you go get yourself a snack)

At last, you have time to actually open your case and assess how much damage has been done
*Write 10 words as you realise just how much work you’ve now got on your hands*

But before you go racing off after your escapees…
*Share your story with us*

[Shiloh Adlar]

The talking never ceased. No matter what I did, he kept rambling, and I kept smiling while searching for an exit. This was going nowhere. Suddenly, I found my chance. My best friend was coming through the door, and she met my eyes. With a simple blink that meant, "I'm in trouble, come save me," she appeared by my side telling the guy that there was a major emergency with her dog. She needed me. The guy looked at us funny but said his goodbyes either way. I took his number from him and immediately wadded it into my pocket.

I walked away with my friend after a huge sigh of relief. "That was a pain to deal with." She could only smile at me.

"How do you manage to get yourself into these situations anyway?"

"I have no idea. It's not like I try to be noticed."

I put my hand back into my pocket removing the paper and looking at it. "I don't think this is his number."

"What do you mean," my friend asked.

"This is the name of some club downtown. The Night Infirmary. Ever been to it?"

She shook her head. "Can't say I have. We should go check it out."

I looked at her like she was crazy. "I just escaped that guy, and now you want to follow him to the place that he gave me to follow him to? Are you insane?"

Somehow, she had convinced me to go, and now here we were in this club with loud trance style music and blinding strobe lights looking for the random guy from earlier. We finally spotted him, and he also spotted us. He smiled as he approached. "Good to see you again."

Then I watched his mouth open and saw the fangs.