The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Demiguise


Disclaimer: This has been written for the International Wizarding Schools Challenge. I do not own Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts or any of the recognisable characters or locations mentioned henceforth.

School: Ilvermorny
Theme: International Wizarding Schools
Prompt: 5). Newt Scamander [Main Character]
Year: 7
Title: The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Demiguise – by GhostDragon42


Minami Iwo Jima – March 1919
Newt's first thought upon landing in the entrance courtyard of the Mahoutokoro School of Magical Arts, via Portkey, was that everything was so much more colourful here than at Hogwarts. The castle walls were constructed from a vivid green type of stone he had never seen before, accented with veins of turquoise and gold inlay. Even the floor was covered in drawings of who Newt could only assume were famous Japanese Wizards. As much as he hated to admit it, even he was unable to resist falling asleep in Professor Binns History of Magic classes.
"Mr Scamander, you came!" Newt looked up his worn brown leather case in hand and tracked the voice to a young Japanese woman in tightly wrapped burgundy tinted robes bearing the Mahoutokoro crest. Newt guessed she'd be in the Japanese equivalent of her Seventh Year.
"Of course, I came. I was on my way the moment I finished your letter. Miss Allia Kobayashi, I presume?" He asked as the woman stopped short and bowed hurriedly to him.
Newt prided himself on reading creatures of all behaviours and types, but he had never quite learned how to react in front of other humans. Especially pretty girls. And the young woman in front of him was very pretty. She had her raven black hair tied into a braid, but a few loose wisps were fluttering about her face as if the job was hurried. And her eyes were sparkling with what could only be described as hope.
"Yes. I heard about what you did with the Occamy poachers in Tokyo… tricking them into turning themselves in and rescuing the Occamys from under their noses. So I thought that maybe you could help me." Newt flinched. What he referred to as the Occamy Disaster was not one of his better moments.
"I can. I'll admit that I'm not as much of an expert with creatures from this part of the world as I am with European creatures, but I should be able to get your friend out of the country. Has there been any…" Newt hesitated at the look of fear that crossed the girl's features for a brief second, answering his own question.
"The exterminators are coming tomorrow. I spied on them today, and Headmaster Arisaka can't wait to get his new invisibility cloak." The girl shivered and bit her lip. Newt straightened his back and narrowed his eyes.
"Well, we better get Mr Dougal out of here before morning then." Newt looked up to the sky. The full moon hung low in the clear night sky, illuminating the green walls and casting the shadow of the building across the mountainside.
"This way, but we must be silent," Allia intoned before beckoning Newt to the edge of the courtyard, where a thin paper door stood open. Newt followed her inside, his blue coat fluttering behind him.

The interior of the castle was even more colourful than the outside. The walls were still made from the same green stone, but this hallway was illuminated by scattered torch lights. Allia had to keep ushering him forward, as he couldn't help being distracted by the tapestries adorning the walls depicting Emperors and wizards past. Every hallway they travelled down had more of them, and some even had ornamental displays of jewel-encrusted wands and elegant swords. More than once he had to stop sharply to avoid knocking one with his briefcase. Newt was not exactly unfamiliar to sneaking through buildings, but this one was undoubtedly a step up from the animal trafficker hideouts and dingy alleyway auction halls. He did know that there was no way he would be able to get himself back out of the castle without Allia's help. The place was as much of a maze as Hogwarts was, though it was certainly cleaner and by far more geometric. Eventually, they came to a large open-air room with a broad set of brown wooden stairs that, like everything else in the castle, were highly decorative. Unlike the rest of the castle, voices could be heard coming from the second story. Allia grabbed Newt by the shoulders and pulled him back into the hallway, where they both flattened themselves against a wall.
"I've told you already Shigeru, I don't care for your new laws. The beast will be slaughtered, and I will acquire the pelt," an old and grating voice said.
"It's Minister Shigeru to you Headmaster. I rank higher than you, in case you have forgotten. You would do well to show me the respect that comes with my position," the second man, who sounded significantly younger, stated coolly.
"You might think you're better than me because you won an election, but I still hold more power and influence than you. You would do well to remember that."
Newt glanced to Allia. She stood frozen stiff, and was squeezing her nails so deep into her palms that she might draw blood. Newt couldn't really blame her. If his Minister and Headmaster were arguing over the fate of his best friend, he'd probably be panicking too.
"The Demiguise will not be touched," Minister Shigeru said forcefully.
"Leave my domain now. Leave, before I have you removed!" the Headmaster said venomously. A soft pop filled the room beyond, followed by several words that Newt's translation spell couldn't quite catch. Then came the slamming of a door.

Newt peered around the corner, but both floors were empty once more.
"We should move quickly before they come back," he whispered, turning back to his new friend. She was still frozen, her eyes staring unfocused at a tapestry on the wall in front of her depicting a Samurai. Suddenly, her robes seemed to shift from burgundy to bronze. Newt ignored it and tentatively placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Allia?" Perhaps hearing her name was what snapped her out of the trance, Newt wasn't sure, but she turned to him, grabbed the arm on her shoulder, and pulled him into the room and up the stairs at a run. She opened another paper door and pulled him into a hallway lined with more conventional wooden doors. Down the corridor they went, moving so fast Newt's case clipped the wall several times before Allia pulled open one of the doors and shoved him inside. She slammed the door closed, perhaps louder than she needed to, and slumped to the ground in a heap.
"Allia?" a soft and tired voice exclaimed. Newt spun around, taking in the room. It was a dorm room; with chests of draws, an elaborate carpet, and a set of bunk beds positioned along a wall with an open window. Peeking out from the uppermost bunk was another girl, the same age as Allia, who was trying to wipe the sleep out of her eyes.
"Go back to sleep Emiko," Allia said, though her voice was shaky. Emiko grabbed a set of glasses and placed them on her face, before gasping at Newt.
"Hello. I'm Newt. I'm a Magizoologist. I'm helping…"
"Smuggle Dougal out of the country. I know. Allia hasn't shut up about you. Nice to meet you, Mr Scamander," Emiko finished. She sat up, ensuring her doona was wrapped around her and peered over the bedrail.
"What's up with her?"
Newt scratched his head. This was not what he had expected when he got a letter about a Demiguise marked for death.
"We just heard the Minister arguing with the Headmaster, Emiko," Allia said softly, "It's getting worse. You'd think, after the War, we'd have learned to get along better. We're going to be as bad as China soon."
Newt raised an eyebrow, "I don't understand."
Emiko smiled at him, "Minister Shigeru has been trying to implement new laws to protect the lower classes. The upper classes don't like it very much."
And everything clicked into place.
"We're having a similar problem back home between purebloods and non-purebloods. At least you've got people trying to do something about it. We don't even have that," he said solemnly.
A soft humming filled the room, and Newt and Emiko both stared at Allia. He didn't recognise the tune, but Allia was swaying her head as she sang the soft melody. The light of the torch set into the wall flickered for a moment, and a shadow slipped across the floor. Newt, realising what she was doing, made sure to memorise the tune and made a mental note to see if he could emulate it later. Another shadow slipped through the room, and a small creature with long silky white hair faded into existence in Allia's lap.
Newt had seen some fantastic things on the job, and one he valued above all others was the sight of a baby Graphorn being born. Now, as he stared into the doleful eyes of the young Demiguise, which if he had to guess was only a year old at best, he realised he might have to revise his list, because the image of the tiny white-haired creature clinging to Allia like it's life depended on it almost broke him.
Newt softly placed his case on the ground and dropped to his knees.
"Hi there, you must be Dougal." Newt held out his hand, palm upwards to the creature, which continued to stare at him.
"I found him in a dumpster in Nagasaki a few months ago. I don't know how he got there, but I've been taking care of him. I can't let them kill him. I can't," Allia sobbed, a tear running down her cheek as she ran her fingers through its hair.
"Don't worry. I'll be sure to take extra good care of him, and once you're out of school, maybe you can come and visit us in Britain." Newt backed up, giving the pair some space, and opened the lid of his suitcase.
"Why don't I show you where he'll be staying?" Newt stepped into his case and descended the ladder, glancing at his watch as he did so. It was now 5 am. He needed to move fast if he was going to get out of here before dawn. Newt dropped down to the ground and quickly checked the temperature gauges on the walls. All green. He let out a small sigh of relief. Each habitat was functioning correctly. The case was still relatively new, and slightly illegal. As such, most of the charm work was his own, and Newt would be the first person to admit that he was not an expert at charms, as Leta used to frequently remind him.
Allia descended the ladder in awe, the Demiguise clinging to her back, arms around her neck. She stepped onto the ground and glanced at the open manuscript lying on the desk.
"That's the first draft of my book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Through here." Newt led the girl out of the small shack and into the central space of the case.
"Wow!" Newt didn't bother suppressing the smile that tugged at his lips. So far only three people had been inside the case, and it was nice to see his hard work being marvelled at. The Mooncalves were dancing around in their midnight enclosure, leaving patterns in the grass; the Graphorns were asleep in the desert; the Niffler's treasure trove was gleaming within its floating island cave; and, the newly installed bamboo forest, with its nest of Occamys, gleamed in the false light.
"This is incredible!" Allia exclaimed, "Are those Graphorns! I thought they were extinct!"
"They're the last mated pair in the world," Newt confirmed. Allia's mouth formed into a silent O. Newt laughed and walked over to the spherical hanging nest he'd prepared on the edge of the bamboo habitat.
"I've prepped this for Dougal, should keep him comfortable. Nothing in here's particularly dangerous if not provoked. Besides, he can turn invisible, so he should be fine."
"You really care about all these creatures, don't you?" Allia whispered, stepping closer to him, the Demiguise still wrapped around her neck. Newt shuffled his feet and smiled softly.
"Someone has to." Allia reached up on her toes and kissed him softly on the cheek. Newt blushed bright red, and a similar blush crossed Allia's own features. Then, taking a deep breath, she turned toward the nest.
"Come on Dougal, time to hop off," She whispered. The creature yawned and allowed Allia to lift him off her shoulder. She placed him softly into the nest and arranged the leaves and pillows, so his head had somewhere to rest. She kissed him on the nose and ran a hand through his hair.
"Goodbye, little one. I hope you have a good life. Mr Scamander will take good care of you. I'm sorry it has to be this way…" She leaned her head against his gently, before pulling back. Dougal's eyes had drifted closed, and he was dozing softly in his new home. Allia turned back to Newt, tears in her eyes. She wiped them away with her sleeve and tried her best to smile back at him. It didn't reach her eyes in the slightest.

"Um… I don't know what you guys are doing down there, but you might want to come out. There are noises coming from down the hall," Emiko's voice floated down from outside the case. Allia stiffened once more.
"It's the headmaster, he's come early!" She hissed. Then she ran back to the ladder, Newt hot on her heels. They jumped out of the case and shut the lid. Emiko was standing by the door in a similar robe to the one Allia wore - dyed indigo - ear pressed against the keyhole.
"They're coming this way," she murmured, "how are we going to get rid of him?"
"Can I disapparate?"
"Not from the island. Only the Headmaster and the Minister can do that," Allia breathed, "but there might be another way…" Allia raced to the window and stuck her head out into the quickly fading night. She let out a piercing whistle, then waited.
"Brilliant," Emiko exclaimed, "you're going to love this Mr Scamander." An answering whistle came from outside, and Newt edged towards the window. Allia stepped back, revealing a giant grey feathered bird with a pale hooked beak hovering outside the window.
"This is Koharu, I used to ride her back to the mainland before I boarded here. She'll get you to the mainland. From there you can apparate back to Tokyo and catch a portkey back to Europe."
Newt, still in a state of shock from the appearance of the giant bird, grinned at her.
"Have you ever considered a career in Magizoology?"
Allia shrugged, "I haven't really decided. My parents aren't really accepting of that sort of thing."
"Well, if you ever want to take a shot at it, come and see me again. I can see someone of your talents going very far indeed." Then Newt, ignoring the look of wonder that crossed Allia's face, jumped out the window, case in hand, and landed on the creatures back. He waved to the two girls and stroked the giant petrels feathers between his fingers. The bird took off, flying away as the sun broke the horizon, bathing the jade palace of Mahoutokoro in dazzling golden light.
"You are so crushing on the British guy, aren't you?" Emiko giggled, elbowing her friend as three knocks echoed from the girls' door. Allia just rolled her eyes, watching as Newt and Dougal vanished into the morning light.