During the summer of 1952 while Newt's sons Jacob and Artemis were playing outside his wife pointed something unusual to him. The two of them were playing Aurors and
Dark wizards and instead of them taking turns playing the Dark Wizard his oldest son Jacob always played the Dark Wizard and his younger brother Artemis always played the
Auror. When Newt was growing up his older brother Theseus always played the Auror who went after Newt who played the Dark Wizard so that he could tie him up which
was something that he seemed to like to do to Newt. Usually if one child always plays the Dark Wizard they are either a younger sibling. He only hoped that it wasn't because
Jacob somehow had discovered the truth about his birth mother though neither him nor Tina had disclosed that truth about her. Seven years ago, when they had picked Jacob
up from the orphanage where his mother had hidden him from Grindelwald and his true followers the matron of the orphanage did mention that one of the older orphans who
had taken in interest in him scared Jacob so much that he screamed his head off whenever he came around. The matron did mention that the older child was disfigured in a
fire that had happened at his school so that might have scared him. Newt wondered if that was the case since Queenie had warned him about this Tom Riddle kid in a letter to
Tina that she had received at the orphanage after Queenie's death. Both Newt and Tina were accomplished Occulmens and Tina had even taught him Occulmency in 1927
after Queenie had gone over to Grindelwald's side since they both knew of her talent. Tina had learned Occulmency when she was younger in order to keep her kid sister from
finding out her secrets and possibly use them against her in innocent ways such as forcing her to include her in outings with her friends. Jacob's birth father had been killed
by one of Grindelwald's followers on Grindelwald's orders when he suspected that Queenie had turned spy for Dumbledore during the last wizarding war. Newt was grieved to
hear of his death since he considered him to be one of his closest friends no matter that he was a muggle. Newt and Tina were open with both Jacob and Artemis about Jacob
being adopted especially when Artemis asked why Jacob had two last names while he only had one.
"Jacob's last name is Kowalski-Scamander because his birth parent's last name was Kowalski and when we adopted him after his birth parents' death, we added the
Scamander to his last name since that was our last name." Newt had told both of his sons hoping that the explanation of Jacob's two last names would satisfy both of their
curiosities.
On one Saturday morning before Jacob and Artemis were sent outside to play Tina asked Jacob to stay inside to question him about him letting Artemis tie him up all of the
time in their game.
"Why do you always have to play the dark wizard? Is Artemis being mean to you?" his mother asked.
"No, Artemis is not being mean to me I chose to play the dark wizard in all of our games because my real mommy was a dark wizard." Jacob answered her surprising Tina
with his answer.
"How do you know that?" Tina asked.
Jacob looked around not knowing how to answer that since he didn't want to get into trouble for sneaking out of his room at night and admitting to his mother that he could
read minds. He had heard the stories growing up about his birth parents and his birth mother's gift. Tina gave him a look that made him want to tell her the truth no matter
what the consequences would be and make him wonderif she also had her own sister's gift too.
"Sometimes after we are supposed to be in bed, I would sneak downstairs to try to get a glimpse of my real parents in your heads since I never really knew them and I felt
that you were hiding something from me about them. That's how I knew that my real mom followed Grindelwald during the last war and was even in his inner circle." Jacob
reluctantly admitted.
Tina wasn't too surprised at his answer since she knew that there would always be a chance that he would inherit his mother's Legilmency ability she only hoped that he
didn't see any other things in her and Newt's heads such as their intimate moments together, she didn't feel ready to give him the birds and the bees talk. Her and Newt were
naïve in thinking that Jacob would stay in his bedroom at night so they would let down their mental shields at that time thinking that he wouldn't look into their heads at night
since he would be curious about his birth parents. This revelation about Jacob's ability also confirmed their suspicions about him though now her and Newt would need to
explain the truth about his birth mother sooner than they had expected to. She was also concerned that Jacob had called Queenie and Jacob his real parents though her and
Newt had raised him as their own from the age of one when they had rescued him from the muggle orphanage that Queenie had placed him in right after his birth and after
Jacob's death.
"You can go back outside and play with your brother now. I will talk to your father about you getting out of bed at night when he comes back with his animals." Tina told
Jacob.
The rest of the morning Tina went about her daily duties nervous about what she would tell Newt that the time had come to tell Jacob about his birth mother and that he
considered his birth parents his real parents. When Newt had come in from lunch, she told him to wait a while before going back to care and study his creatures since they
had something important to talk about.
"Newt, I found out why Jacob always plays the dark wizard when playing Aurors and Dark Wizards. It has to do with his birth mother, my sister. He thinks that he will become
a dark wizard because his birth mother was one. He found out about her by looking into our minds wanting to see his real parents, which proves that he has inherited his birth
mother's gift of Legilimancy. Also, he does not consider us to be his real parents since I did not give birth to him like I did to Artemis." Tina told him sounding concerned.
"We both knew that this day would come but it seems to be too soon and we did know that there was a chance that he would inherit Legillmancy from Queenie." Newt told
her.
"I am sending Artemis to spend the night with your parents so that we could have that talk with Jacob tonight, after dinner and you are not allowed to go and hide out with
your animals until after we are done in order to avoid talking to our son." Tina told her husband.
"Isn't it too soon to have the talk about his birth parents. He is still kind of young, I don't think that he would understand the full truth about his birth mother." Newt told her
hoping that he could get out of it since he didn't want to think about the bad things that Queenie did while she was in Grindelwald's inner circle.
"Newt, he is eight years old not two and we always knew that this day would come. It just snuck up on us that's all." Tina told him.
Newt looked resigned and knew that Tina was serious about it being time for them to have the talk to Jacob about his birth parents and that they were his real parents even
though he wasn't too happy about it. He wondered why his kids couldn't be normal like him and his brother were with the oldest child always playing the good guy to give him
a excuse to tie up his younger brother instead of the reverse as it was in his family.
"Has he seen us being really close to each other?" Newt asked quietly embarrassed that their own son could see their thoughts.
"I don't think so but it wouldn't hurt for you to talk to him about the birds and the bees anyway plus
when he gets older, he may be able to see women get undressed in their minds. Besides it seems that he was only interested in seeing his birth parents not seeing us in an
embarrassing position." Tina told Newt who looked like he would much rather spend time with his animals rather than talk to his own son about how humans mated in
addition to talking to him about his birth parents.
After lunch Tina wrote to Newt's parents
Aimee and Francis Scamander
Can you please take Artemis with you for the evening since I have verified our suspicions about Jacob, he has inherited his birth mother's gift of Legillimancy. Newt and I
need to talk to him alone about it and to set some ground rules on how to use his gift. He is interested in finding out about his birth parents and I need to explain to him
about his birth mother and her role in the last war.
Tina Scamander
Newt's parents wrote back.
Tina,
We will be glad to have Artemis stay with us for the night while you and Newt have an important talk
with Jacob. You can even bring him over before dinner and he can eat with us.
Aimee and Francis Scamander
When she received a reply from Newt's parents, she had packed Artemis's overnight bag for him to stay with his grandparents which he would be thrilled about. Jacob already
knew that he was going to stay with her and Newt while they went over some ground rules about his gift and to talk to him about his birth parents. They had already told him
about his adoption and that his birth mother was Tina's sister and that his birth father was Newt's best friend and a muggle. Jacob didn't seem pleased that his brother got to
spend the night with their grandparents while he had to stay at home with his parents and have a lecture about the gift that he had finally revealed to his parents even
though they were going to talk to him about his birth parents. He felt that he was being punished by being kept home while Artemis got to go and have fun with his
grandparents. That evening after Artemis was dropped off at his grandparent's house and after the three of them had dinner. He went into the living room with his parents for
their talk.
"Your birth mother did some very bad things but that will not mean that you will do those bad things also. She only did those bad things because it is against the law for her
to be with your birth father in America and it still is against the law. The only thing that we can do is hope and wait that the law would change in America where muggles and
wizards could be together. If it wasn't against the law for your birth parents to be together than your birth mother would not have done those bad things and became a
follower of Gellert Grindelwald. You are the only one who can decide if you will do bad things or not it doesn't matter what your birth mother did. You can play the Auror in
your games you don't have to play the Dark Wizard all of the time. Also, at the end of the war your mother became a spy for Albus Dumbledore's side and she had turned
against Grindelwald, especially after he had killed your birth father before she even knew that she was pregnant with you. She even warned us about another Dark Wizard
that was coming that was worse than Grindelwald that she had run into at the orphanage where you had spent your first year. We think that you had also seen some of the
bad things that this Tom Riddle had done and it came out in your nightmares when you were little." Tina told her son.
"My birth father never knew about me?" Jacob asked since he was never told that his father died before he even knew that Queenie was pregnant.
"No, he didn't. I didn't even realize that they were married until after your birth mother had died and your mother was told that she had left something for her at an
orphanage which turned out to be you. In one of the letters that she had written to your mother she had revealed that both you and father Jacob had gotten married and
that he was your birth father with a marriage license and a birth certificate to back this up. She also confessed that she had started to spy for Dumbledore after she had found
out what Grindelwald was truly about. I don't even lecture in America now because of that law. I blame that law for your birth parent's deaths and until the law gets changed,
I will not lecture there. I will go there to rescue or take care of the animals there and I do sell copies of my book there because I do believe in educating the public about
different magical creatures and the animals can't do anything about the laws so they are innocent." Newt told his son.
"Why did my birth mother put me in an orphanage if she loved me?" Jacob asked his parents.
"Honey she was afraid that if Grindelwald had found out about you then he would have killed you. Also she needed to keep doing her spy work for Dumbledore once she was
able to do so. She would have gotten you out of that orphanage after the war if she had lived but she did find a way to tell us about you so that we could get you from that
place and take you home to raise as one of our own." His mother told him.
"I know that you miss your birth parents but it isn't nice to read other people's minds without their permission or knowledge. Now that we are fully aware of your abilities
there need to be some ground rules set. I do know that sometimes you can't help reading other people's minds but you are not to share what you see unless that person
plans to cause harm to themselves or others than you can tell me or your mother since others may not understand your abilities. There are some things that are private and
hopefully you are not looking at them. Even your mother and I have some private moments that I do not want my children to see and that does include you looking into our
heads to see. Also when you do get older do not use your abilities to see naked women. You haven't seen any of our private moments?" Newt told him.
"No dad that would be gross if I did see that." Jacob told his parents much to their relief.
"Now do you consider us to be your real parents?" Tina asked Jacob nervous at what his answer would be.
"I know that you love me and that you are my mom and dad but you didn't give birth to me. I know that I am adopted and that Artemis is your child, but I am your nephew."
Jacob answered his mother.
"Actually, you are both my son and my nephew since your birth mother is my sister but when your father and I adopted you after the death of your parents you became our
son. Who takes care of you when you're sick or makes sure that you do your schoolwork?" his mother replied.
"You and dad do." Jacob answered her.
"Yes, we do and we both take care of you. We do not treat you any differently because you are not our biological son and the reason that you get more chores to do than
Artemis has to do with your ages and not because you are our adopted son and Artemis is our biological son. I am sure that your birth parents would have cared for you if
they had lived." Tina told him.
Jacob looked uneasy at this since he felt that he was getting into trouble for thinking that his parents were not his real parents. He was also embarrassed that his parents
would even think that he would see them in an embarrassing position. He hoped that this talk would be over soon.
"Okay you are my real parents, can I go now?" Jacob asked getting bored.
"No, you will need to use your gift of Legilimancy, of reading minds for good and not for evil. It can be used to help people to get over things that they are sad about and it
can help you to be a good friend by being empathetic." Tina told him.
"Where you sad when my birth parents died?" Jacob asked.
"We were very sad when they were killed and you were the one that brought light back into my life afterthe death of your birth mother. I was glad that she had come back to
our side in the war but I was devastated after her death since she was my baby sister. You were the one who helped me get through that sadness since I did have to get up
to care for you. I think that you could sense my sadness since you didn't smile until after you got to spend an evening with your father." Tina told her son.
"Do you still miss them?" Jacob asked.
"Yes, especially in times like these she could really help you with your gift since you did get it from her. I also miss your birth father as well even though he was a muggle he
was excited about the magical world and would be thrilled that you did turn out to be a wizard. He would be sad though that he never did get to see you." Tina answered him.
"No matter of the bad stuff that your birth mother did she still gave us you and I do miss her sometimes
especially the way she was before she joined Grindelwald's side. I also miss your father every day since he was the first muggle friend that I had even though it is against the
law in America for us to be friends. I didn't care about that besides they couldn't arrest me when I went back to England it was because of that law that we lost touch for
about a year. After your birth mother joined Grindelwald I wrote to him under a fake name so that no one could guess that he was corresponding with a wizard which was
illegal in America at the time but he never told me about him marrying your birth mother. He was also my first guy friend since my best friend at Hogwarts was a girl." Newt
told his son.
"Was that the girl that Uncle Theseus was supposed to marry and was heartbroken after her death which is why I was told that he never married and would probably never
marry?" Jacob asked his father.
"It is." His father told him.
"My birth father was a muggle baker as well as your best friend,dad. That is why you consider me your blood and water child since my birth mother was mommy's sister and
my birth father was your best friend." Jacob told them.
"That's right but when you miss them and want to see them inside our heads you need to let us know instead of sneaking around so we can let you read our minds to see
them." Tina told her son while Newt looked uncomfortable at that but he understood that Jacob would want to see his birth parents but he was still uneasy about having a
child who could read minds.
"I don't blame you for the death of my birth father. I know that you have been feeling guilty about his death all this time. You did not cause my birth mother to join
Grindelwald during the last wizarding war it was the bad law that forbid my birth parents to be together." Jacob reassured his father. Newt was surprised that his own son
could pick up on his guilt about his best friend's death that he still hadn't completely gotten over. There were times when he could see his friend Jacob in his own son and he
even cried when Artemis was born since Jacob Sr. never even knew that he had a son much less get to hold him.
"Your birth mother had left a letter for us if anything had happened to her when she dropped you off at the orphanage and I will let you see it now." His mother informed him.
Tina left to get the letter that she was waiting to show her son when he was old enough to understand why his birth mother had given him up.
Tina,
If you are reading this then I am dead. I understand if you don't ever wish to speak to me again but don't blame Jacob Jr. for my actions. I only joined Gellert Grindelwald in
order to be with Jacob since our relationship was against the law in America and Jacob Sr. refused to move to another country that would allow us to be together. Eventually
I did marry Jacob Sr. without using magic and I found out that I was pregnant with Jacob Jr. after Jacob Sr.'s death. Yes, Jacob Jr. is the son of Jacob Kowolski. Right before
we got married, I started to see Gellert Grindelwald for what he truly was and turned into a double agent spying for both him and Albus Dumbledore. I left Jacob Jr. at a
muggle orphanage that Albus Dumbledore had heard of in order to keep him safe from Grindelwald and his followers. I now regret the choice that I had made to follow
Grindelwald in the first place but I thought that he would allow Jacob Sr. and I to be together as equals and not as a slave to wizards. I am very sorry for the pain that I had
caused you and Newt by joining Gellert Grindelwald. I hope that you will take in Jacob Jr. and raise him as your own son as a reminder of what I was like before I joined with
Grindelwald and if you and Newt get married then he can see him as a reminder of his best friend Jacob.
Queenie
After reading the letter Jacob asked his parents, "What is a double agent?"
Tina looked surprised at the question and answered him.
"Someone who spies for both sides of a war but we were later told that Dumbledore had given your birth mother information in order to give to Grindelwald in order to prove
that she was still loyal to him even though she had turned against him."
Jacob seemed to be satisfied at that answer, "So she didn't end up being a bad guy and she gave me up because she loved me?"
"That's right and even if she was a dark wizard that doesn't mean that you will end up one. It will depend on the choices that you make no matter who your birth parents
are." Newt answered him.
"Did you want to know anything else about your birth parents?" Tina asked her son.
"That's it for now, but I still want to see them from time to time." Jacob told his parents.
"You can let us know when you miss them and want to see them. We can set up a time for that even though it will make us sad to think of them but you need to see them too." Tina answered him with Newt not looking at all too happy with that answer but Tina glared at him and he agreed to let his son see his birth parents in their minds.
"Now what will we do about you getting out of bed at night no matter what the reason could be?" Tina wondered.
"Well he could help me out in cleaning up after the animals for the next two weeks that we have in our nature reserve in addition to his other chores." Newt answered his
wife.
"That sounds okay to me since he did have understandable intentions though he could have come to us first about wanting to see his parents." Tina replied.
Newt and Tina had decided together to wait until he was older to show Jacob his mother's second letter to Tina warning her about an older child that she had ran into at the
orphanage when she had dropped him off by the name of Tom Riddle in spite that Jacob's gift of Legiliamancy made Newt and Tina understand his nightmares a little bit
more.