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Not a sound could be heard in the stone-cold room.
It seemed as if silence had a weight of its own, drowning out all coherent thought out of Tina's head as she tried to process the words.
Finally, something triumphed above the messy swirl of emotions; rage.
"You want to kill him?" Her voice was loud and spiteful, chasing the silence away and making MACUSA's president, Madam Picquery sit straighter in her chair at the sudden response.
"It's the only way he can be dealt with." She tried to reason with the auror. Try to make her see beyond her attachment to the boy into the only logical course of action.
"You have seen what he is capable of. He has no control over himself, that much power can only cause harm."
"You want to 'deal with him' as if he were some common criminal?" Clearly her attempt at reasoning was being useless, for Goldstein was even angrier than before. "Have I been gone from this department for so long that things have changed so much? Is this how we do things now, whenever something causes the little bit of problem we just kill it!?"
She stood up fast from her chair and started pacing the room in little steps. Almost as if unsure of whether she was trying to calm herself or form a plan of attack.
Picquery guessed the later.
"You are being unreasonable." The president protested. She had summoned Goldstein to let her know the fate of the boy as a courtesy because she knew of the attachment she had to him, but she hadn't quite expected this level of resistance.
"Just because you feel sorry for the Barebone boy doesn't mean-"
"Sorry?" Tina cut her off, her face the picture of incredulousness. "This is beyond me feeling sorry for Credence, Madame President." She scoffed and walked closer to the desk.
In their previews encounters Auror Goldstein had always seemed like a rather quiet and model individual. Always ready to take orders and comply with the department's demands, or at least she had been until the incident with the Barebone matron.
The president couldn't help but wonder whether her demotion to the wand department had made her change her mind about respect owned, or whether she had always been like this and the circumstances had brought it up to the surface.
"Credence Barebone is a victim, not only of that dubious monster that called herself a mother. The monster who abused him so badly he actually suppressed his own magic. But he is also a victim of Grindelwald's manipulation, something I believe we can all feel sympathy with. And yet what is MACUSA's response to him? To end his life because it's not worth to try and save the very people we have endangered?"
The president had prepared herself for some resistance from Goldstein, even if her raw passion had taken her by surprise. But she was nothing if not a leader, and arguments were something she was well-versed with.
However, as she planned to counteract Goldstein's speech, the more words she spoke the weightier they became and the president found herself unable to refute her.
Fighting the urge to fidget in her seat like a coward, she replied with a note of urgency in her voice,
"What else can we do?" And it hit her then the desperation of her own words. What else could they do but to kill the boy and get rid of the danger?
Goldstein exploded.
"Train him! Help him! Quite literally anything but killing him would be helpful at the moment."
"This is ridiculous." The president exclaimed, finally exasperated. Goldstein spoke of nothing but silly ideas. "How do you even suppose we could begin to do that? He's not even a child, he's an adult. He's too old to learn any kind of restrain, it hasn't even been attempted before-"
"Because an obscurus his age has never survived this long!" Tina countered.
"Exactly!" The president shouted. "We have no means or way to know how he can react or how any sort of training or formation might affect him." She took a breath to calm herself and continued as Goldstein listened.
"You know the procedure, Goldstein. He would have to be placed in the custody of a wizard to keep track of his progress and after all the destruction he has caused I can't think of any person who would do that, not to mention the risk he would pose to anybody."
The Auror's shoulders slumped and her face seemed to loose all her fight.
The president couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the girl. Despite her attitude, she was only trying to do what was best for the barebone boy.
"What if I became his guardian?" She whispered quietly, thoughtfully.
Now, that took her by surprise.
"Excuse me?" The president asked incredulous.
Goldstein gaze took some sharpness and she stood straighter.
"Credence needs someone to take care of him and teach him magic. I'm more than capable to do both."
Goldstein was pulling for straws, the president knew that.
"Ms Goldstein, this isn't a child we are talking about. This is a young man who has killed a respected member of the No-Maj community. He's barely six years younger than yourself, how could you contain his destructive nature?"
"He listened to me. He stopped Grindelwald, and without him that monster would still be free. He deserves a second chance."
It's was a maniac idea, she knew that too. But she also couldn't help to remember what had happened to her and Mr. Scamander and how Grindelwald had almost killed them for being troublesome... and she had allowed it.
Could there really be another way?
Picquery took a long breath, defeated and already half-way regretting this decision.
"He's not to leave the perimeter of macusa until I say so. You are allowed as many visits to him as you want, but you will only teach him the kind of magic we deem safe. Is that understood?"
"What are you saying? " Goldstein asked, taken by surprise.
"What I'm saying Auror is, you are getting your chance with the boy."
And that's it! I know this wasn't the most exciting chapter ever, I wanted to have Credence go to live with Tina and Queenie and live happily ever after like he deserves!... But that wasn't realistic. After everything that had happened, they wouldn't have given him a pat on the back and politely asked him not to lose control and kill people. They'd probably keep him under guarded surveillance, but based on what happened at the end, best guess was they would have killed him anyways to prevent any slips.
Can you tell that I'm not a huge fan of MACUSA? Also, Picquery is not my fave either but I'm giving her a chance to redeem herself for not listening to Tina (and then blaming her when things went the way Tina warned her, I mean really?).
Our beloved chapters will appear soon enough though, do not fret.
In the meantime, is there something you'd like to see in the story? I'd love any comment or ideas, you guys are the best!