Author's Note: Hello everybody, this was sort of thrown together quite haphazardly. I had a completely different storyline when I wrote the first sentence but then suddenly a whole different story came out. Who knew?!
Hogwarts Assignments: Arithmancy - write about how third time's the charm.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise.
Charm
The first time, he had been laughed at.
The panel of publishers had looked upon his life's work as nothing more than a joke, a waste of time and money in a world that could so easily deal with the creatures he was trying to protect.
The second time, he had been berated.
This group of men turned him with angry accusations and poisonous words. They accused him of sympathising with, encouraging the death of innocents. They claimed he promoted evil and sought to spread devil worship amongst the people. They had chased him from the room.
This was the third time, and his mother had always claimed that third time was the charm.
Newt sat in the singular chair, his knees pressed tight together. He tried to his best to hold perfectly still, the ancient, bottle green leather seat squeaked with every movement and he was loathe to interrupt the heated discussion before him.
Five men sat in a vague semi-circle around him. Four of the five were whispering furiously, one was also sweating profusely, but the fifth sat very calmly in the middle. He did not engage in the conversation around him but rather studied Newt with very small, calculating eyes.
"Are you the Newt Scamander?"
Utter silence fell instantly. The four other men stopped short in their tracks, jolting into place as they looked to the fifth. His hands were steepled in front of him, long pale fingers pressed together in front of a sour looking mouth. He seemed to be taller, and more senior, than the rest.
"I- I- I b-beg your pardon?" Newt stuttered. He was completely taken off guard by the speaker, never mind the question.
The man leant forward, leaning his elbows on the desk. His eyes seemed to narrow even further. "Are you the Newt Scamander, late of New York? Where you recently averted a disaster of humongous proportions. The exposure of our kind on an impossible scale."
All eyes suddenly whirled on him. Newt could feel a blush fight its way onto his cheeks. His fingers clenched tighter on the handle on his briefcase, pressing it hard against his knees. More than one set of eyes flickered down to his briefcase, understanding dawning on their faces brighter than the sunrise.
"Yes," Newt confirmed with some conviction. It made little difference, if they were going to reject his book based on that he didn't care, nor would he change it.
"Is it true that one of these creatures that you write about in your manuscript," he waved vaguely at the handwritten sheaf of papers on the desk beside him, "was vital in the success of this venture?"
Newt was momentarily shocked into silence at someone asking about the animals he cared for. "Yes," he stated uncertainly, "but not just him, there were several other creatures involved, including a Swooping Evil."
A riot of whispers broke out again at the mention of that creature. They were silenced with a waft of his hand.
"And you can tame it? You explain how in this book?"
"The venom of this creature, at a concentrated dosage, has already proved invaluable in the protection of the magical world. This book I have written aims to educate wizard kind on the plethora of magical tools and companions we have at our disposal if only we took the time to care for them rather than kill them!"
The main speaker sat back in his chair. His hands were still steepled into a point beneath his chin but his eyes seemed less shrewd as he regarded the slightly odd, uncomfortable figure of Newt Scamander.
The silence seemed to stretch forever.
"Let us talk contracts, Mr Scamander."
Newt jolted forward, excitement surging in his stomach. Third time, it seemed, really was the charm.
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Much Love, MaryandMerlin x