The bells charm that Newt had chosen went off only an hour after he had finally drifted to sleep. Despite the pleasant ringing tone, Newt leapt from his hammock as if a raging erumpent were after him. He sprang up the stair, bounding out of his case in the upstairs hall of the cottage, stepping out of the case just as Tina's face emerged from around her swiftly opened door.
They both froze.
"Good—good morning Miss Goldstein."
Tina, still in her green silky pajamas, didn't respond. She crossed her arms across her chest and pushed past him to the head of the stairs. Before she could disappear completely, Newt said,
"Pardon me, but we'll need to get to the station soon. Could I assist you with any packing?"
Tina stopped on the top step and looked at him. Remembering her words of the night before, Newt kept his gaze on hers through massive force of will. Tina finally nodded.
"I'd do it myself but I can't find my wand anywhere."
Her brow furrowed, but then she descended the stair and was out of his sight. Newt frowned. Was she then unable to remember what they had spoken of last night? She seemed to have forgotten that Queenie had her wand, but she seemed to remember him from the evening before. He entered her room and looked around. The coverlet of the bed had been spread inexpertly, as witches and wizards tended to be when faced with basic household tasks and no magic. At least she had tried, which was better than most.
Newt took out his wand, summoning anything that belonged to Tina with a specialized packing charm, and began directing it into the trunk at the foot of her bed. The battered box would fit easily within his case of course, but they might look less conspicuous on the ocean liner if they had a little more luggage. Perhaps he'd get it out before they reached the docks. The lid thudded shut just as he heard Queenie out in the hall.
She poked her head around the frame, dressed and ready for traveling.
"Good morning Newt!"
"I was just packing up Tina's things." He stared at the bed, trying not to be so obviously pleased that Tina had allowed him to help. He eyed the bed and wondered if he should ask Queenie about one for Tina.
Of course this was obvious to Tina, and she gave him a big smile. "I'm so glad. And ya might as well take anything from in here that you can. This place belongs to our aunt, but we found out this month that she doesn't take her promise to our grandmother to take care of us real seriously, so forget her."
Newt blinked. Queenie sounded uncharacteristically bitter by the end of this.
"Apparently our aunt didn't feel like Tina should be her problem," she said. "I asked her if we could stay here, and she told me she couldn't stop me. She pretty much said she was through with our family. It's going to be obvious we were here, so we might as well take whatever we can use. Clean the whole place out if you need to."
"You don't think your aunt will cause trouble?" asked Newt.
Queenie sighed. "The thing is, even though she tried to shield her thoughts like usual, I could tell she lied to us about our inheritance. She took it all after our grandparents' death. She paid our school fees because someone woulda noticed if we dropped out, but then we were on our own. So for all I know all this ugly furniture she stashed up here shoulda been ours."
"Ah," said Newt.
"Take whatever you think we could use. I'm gonna make a quick breakfast, and then we'll be waiting on the porch."
Queenie descended the little stair with her bags levitating behind her.
-o-o-o-
Jacob and Newt had each bought round trip tickets, so to make things simpler, not to mention cheaper, Queenie and Tina opted to use the return tickets and let Jacob and Newt catch up with the creatures inside the case. The train ride back to the city took a little over two hours, and the girls stopped in a phone booth in Grand Central station to let Newt and Jacob out of the case. Newt was on high alert not to let anyone else out—that niffler would have a field day out in the busy great hall of the station.
They spent the bulk of the morning traveling down to the docks to reserve two first-class tickets aboard the ocean liner. It seemed prudent to get a cabin to themselves. To save money, Jacob and Queenie would be stowing away in Newt's case. They didn't get to SoHo until early afternoon. Jacob took Tina into the bakery to wait for all the customers to clear out so they could turn the sign to 'Closed' and prepare the staff for Jacob's absence.
Newt caught up with Queenie on the front stoop. "Am I right in understanding, then, that Jacob can't afford to close the bakery in his absence? Does he need to keep the bakery open to pay the bills?"
"The bakery's been doing real well…but Jacob has been doing his best to pay back the bank as fast as he can, so there's not a lot of profit. The kitchen appliances are all state of the art, and no-majs have to spend so much time on every step that he's got to have a decent staff. Thank goodness for Sam—he's supposed to be the dishwasher, but he's the only one Jacob can really trust with the recipes. Jacob says his Grandma would have loved Sam's delicate touch with fondant. I swear, the way that man can ice a cake, I can hardly believe he's not a wizard!"
Newt smiled at Queenie's enthusiasm.
"Why is this Sam not the manager instead of Lenny?"
Queenie's face immediately dropped instead of her cheer of the moment before. "Oh. That's because he's black. Lenny made a big fuss about how Sam shouldn't be so important around the bakery. That really made my blood boil. I mean, where do these no-majs get off?"
"Muggles can't seem to grasp exactly how small our little world is, or how much more we have in common with one another than is different." He nodded. "So, you'd trust this Sam with the recipes?"
Queenie nodded hesitantly. Newt grinned slightly.
"Then all we've got to do is make sure that Lenny doesn't realize what's going on. I think a self-reaffirming befuddlement charm ought to do the trick, even if Jacob doesn't arrive until spring."
"You mean—enchant them?" Queenie looked intrigued, then shook her head. "We couldn't—I mean, it'd be irresponsible to just leave them with no one to check on them."
"We could do it safely. I have some experience with this. It just means leaving a lot of contingent instructions, such as: 'take directions from Sam unless he's not here in which case follow normal procedure unless there's an emergency, in which case vacate the building and seek help.' And if you're still worried, at the very last of it, as a safety valve we'll have Lenny go to MACUSA and ask to speak to Abernathy. So we may come back facing a fine, but no one should possibly get hurt."
"I'm gonna fireproof this place so hard the whole block could get struck by lightning and nothing would happen." Queenie rolled up her sleeves, took out her wand, and began moving around the outside of the building making subtle gestures that were hidden by the morning bustle.
Taking that as approval of his plan, Newt went inside the bakery. The huge plate glass windows showed off the trays upon trays of pastries, breads, and confections. Newt had been inside the bakery before, and as ever he marveled at the way Jacob had rendered magical creatures into baked goods. Truly, creativity was a universal gift, and wizards would do well to remember that Muggles had their fair share of it—sometimes making better use of it because they couldn't rely on magical powers or enchanted tools.
Tina was seated behind the counter, behind the case of cakes, eating a huge babka bun. She had a little bit of icing smeared across her top lip, but by now Newt knew better than to draw attention to it. Jacob had flipped the sign after the last of the customers had left, and was speaking to his employees. Lenny resembled Jacob in stoutness, but unfortunately had none of Jacob's charisma and good cheer. The two kitchen boys, Adam and Ernest, were standing off to the side, looking uncertain. Newt took out his wand and cast a very mild confundus charm to prevent anyone making a scene.
Jacob stopped talking, noticing their vacant expressions. He turned to Newt. "You sure this is safe, buddy? I mean, isn't it a little weird, making them do stuff?"
Newt looked at him. "Well, I suppose it does limit their free will slightly, but it's only temporary and only where the bakery is concerned. Queenie said that they might not listen to your first choice of proxy. I will of course respect your wishes if you don't want me to."
Jacob ran a hand through his hair. "I guess if it's the safest way…" he said cautiously.
"You don't need to be doing any of that stuff on me," a low voice said from the kitchen.
"Ah, you must be Sam," said Newt.
A tall, broad-shouldered man emerged wearing the white shirt and apron of the others, but with a dish towel tucked into his apron ties. He was looking at Newt's wand with a raised eyebrow.
"What you got yourself mixed up in, Mister Kowalski?" he asked.
Newt looked between Jacob's confused expression and Sam's knowing one. It only took a moment to connect the dots.
"You're a squib!" he said. "What luck! That makes everything so much easier."
Newt rushed forward to introduce himself. Jacob's jaw was on the floor.
"Newt Scamander, magizooligist," he said, shaking Sam's large hand enthusiastically.
"Sam Williams," the big man said, "but I'm not so sure I qualify as a squib—it's my granny is the one in our family with the gifts. She came here from Barbados and met my Grandpa and settled down, then twenty years later come to find out there's all these rules. Wizards coming up to our place, insisting that she stop helping folks out with their troubles, asking for her papers and a wand permit."
"So you are a second generation squib with knowledge of the magical world. Fascinating! And MACUSA claims it's impossible for us to coexist in the city," said Newt. "Tell me, is your Granny still in the area?"
"Up on 103rd Street, just where she's always been."
"Excellent! Then, I'll tell you what we'll do. Mister Kowalski is going to be traveling with Miss Goldstein, her sister, and I to London. We may be gone for some time. He would prefer to leave you in charge of things here."
Sam looked to Jacob, a little warily. Jacob finally found his voice.
"Wow. So you must have suspected all along! But yeah, I need to go with Queenie, and I can't think of no one better to run this place while I'm gone than you, Sam."
Sam cast a concerned look at Lenny, whose unfocused gaze was on some bread braided into stars in the case.
"Yes, precisely," Newt said. "Jacob thought he might be troublesome, so I'm going to cast a simple suggestion triggered by a word or phrase. All you'll need to do is say it, and they should fall in line. If you have any trouble, you may write to us, I'll leave you an address. But if you have pressing difficulties, you can go to your Granny, and she'll be able to help you! I can't tell you how convenient this is."
Sam frowned. "I don't want to make no trouble for her."
Newt's brain was already racing ahead. They had booked the tickets before coming by the bakery, but only had a few hours left to secure the bakery and get back to the docks.
"Look, if there's really a problem, I'll give you a note in my own hand that you can send to MACUSA with a password, no magic required, and we'll deal with our own consequences when we return. But I can't imagine what could go wrong. These spells are very rudimentary and have worked for generations."
Sam still looked uncertain. A scrapping sound echoed through the space. Tina's stool dragged across the floor as she rose, her eyes unfocused again, disturbingly like the three men in the front of the shop.
"Where's Queenie?" she said. "Where's my sister?"
Jacob rushed to her side, reassuring her that Queenie would be with her in a moment. Newt hesitated, not wanting to further agitate her. He looked back to Sam.
"You've met Tina before?"
"I've met Mrs. Scamander before, yes," said Sam. Newt met his eyes for a moment, and found compassion there.
"Then you'll understand. She's been badly hurt. It's a magical injury—inside her head. I've got to take her to London for treatment. It's her best chance. We leave tonight. Can we count on you or shall we sort things out on our own?"
"I'll help you as best I can," said Sam. Newt smiled gratefully.
"Brilliant. Thank you. Really, it should work out perfectly. Jacob will show you where he keeps the recipes, and Queenie and I'll get this place fireproofed, floodproofed, thiefproofed and any other protection we can come up with in…" he glanced around until his eyes found the clock on the wall. "Two and one half hours! Excuse me please."
Newt rushed off to bring Queenie inside and the two of them got down to work. They raced the clock until they had done all they could. They bid goodbye to Sam, the assistants, and the unusually pleasant Lenny and headed for the docks.
The Royal Star Steamer crossing left at six that evening. This close to the winter solstice the sky had been completely dark before the four of them had even headed out from the customs office. Newt had one hand on his case, all too acutely aware of the fact that there were infinitely precious people and animals in his care. Newt hoped that he could easily get Tina settled in their berth. The last of his book advance was rapidly disappearing since he'd decided to be safe and book a private cabin so that they would be less conspicuous. If Tina could not be inside the case, then Queenie and Jacob might need to come up to sit with her while Newt went down to tend to the creatures. Usually he just booked third class and found an out-of-the-way corner of the luggage compartment to set up his case and spent the majority of his time working inside it.
This journey would be far different. They hadn't had the funds for four first class tickets, and while normally it would be third class for them all, it seemed important that Tina have some privacy in case she wasn't able to interact with the other passengers.
There were a few tense moments when Tina could not seem to attend the customs agent, but Newt finally managed to explain away her odd behavior and they boarded the ship. They had scarcely got settled in their cabin before Tina curled up on one of the beds and fell fast asleep. After checking on Jacob and Queenie, who were happily building their own little nest a little ways off from the place he'd made for Tina, Newt settled in to some reading before falling asleep himself.
The next morning, Newt was sitting on the bed across from Tina, scribbling in his journal about the effects of an experiment in growing some featherferns to feed to his fwoopers. Buying them from specialist sellers was breaking the budget, and he did have the space to grow them himself now. The trouble was, there were so many magical insects beasts and birds now that they ate the seeds right out of the soil before they could even get growing.
"So whatcha got in the case, mister?" Newt jumped off his bed, completely startled. Tina laughed, the same careless mirthful laugh she'd always had.
"Please call me Newt," he said for maybe the fortieth time in two days. He settled back on the narrow bed he'd been sitting on. His case lay on the floor between them. Tina stared at him. Newt felt like he was improving at keeping eye contact. He felt like she was offering a little more seemed to remember him from the past two days, even if she gave no indication that she remembered anything about their past together.
Newt hastened to answer her question.
"This case is a bit of a holding pen of sorts. I am a magizoologist—I study magical creatures and try to educate the public on how to care for them and make the case for preservation over removal or extermination whenever there is a problem."
"Holding pen? For what? Have you got winged horses in there? Or just like, some grindylows or somethin?" She looked very interested in the winged horses, and not so much by the grindylows.
Newt smiled. "I don't have any winged horses in the case at the moment I'm afraid. Since those are so useful for transport it's not very hard to find wizards who are willing to give them a home. I generally house creatures that are a little more…exotic."
"Like, dangerous?" Tina's brows rose, and despite the circumstances Newt felt charmed that he was getting to see a side of Tina as she might have been as a young girl. She was far more open to the possibility of dangerous creatures as an interesting prospect than she had been when they had first met.
"My creatures aren't dangerous—but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be fearsome under the right conditions. I study them so that I can keep them in a mutually beneficial arrangement until a habitat can be secured for them where they're safe from humans."
"Safe from humans? Shouldn't humans be the ones afraid of magical beasts?"
"That has been the traditional relationship, yes. But I'm trying to change that. I thought perhaps if we could educate the wizarding public about the wonders of these creatures, we could start to make protected places for them. They are just as deserving of a place in this world as anyone else."
The top of the case swung open, and Newt couldn't help but regret the end of his quiet talk with Tina. Queenie climbed out of the case carefully, as she was holding a small beaker containing a green liquid that was bubbling and smoking slightly. It smelled evil. In the other hand she was carrying a bucket and a towel.
"Good morning!" said Queenie. She looked a little strained. "I got Teenie's potion here. So, if you would just go down—Jacob was having a little trouble with your Nudu. He looked real hungry and wouldn't stop roaring and puffin up his—you know."
Newt hovered.
"I could stay, if you—" he began, looking at Tina.
"No, that's real kind of you, but the healer was real certain about this, and I've gotta be here in case it upsets Tina's stomach. You just go give us a half hour and we'll be fine."
Tina looked balefully at the potion. "I don't think I like this stuff, do I Queenie?"
Queenie attempted to be upbeat. "It's something that the healers said would really help. I sent an owl to see if you ought to still take it on the boat and they said yes, definitely, no matter what. So we gotta do what it takes to keep you doing your best Teenie."
Newt didn't want to be rude to Queenie, but he hovered by the case, waiting for some sign one way or another. Finally Tina accepted the beaker, wrinkling her nose.
"See ya later, mister," she said, waving with her free hand.
Newt gave up and stepped inside his case. Before shutting the lid, he popped back out.
"I hope your potion doesn't make you feel poorly, Miss Goldstein. If you're well enough later, perhaps you'd like to come down and see for yourself."
"Really? Can I?" Tina's enthusiasm was childish but endearing.
"Of course." He smiled at her faintly, and went down, setting to work for the morning.
Newt was doing his level best to pay attention to Jacob as he detailed the amazing (to him) way that Queenie had put together the second tiny house, the one that Jacob and Queenie were apparently sharing. In his case. This despite the presence of the place he'd made for Tina, now complete with bed. Tina would certainly have an earful for him about that when she was back to normal. She had drawn very clear lines as far as behavior and propriety before marriage went, and she expected her sister to follow them as dutifully as she had. Tina would not be pleased by the blind eye he'd turned to Queenie and Jacob's progressing relationship. Though if Tina were ever to return to herself, he would be so thrilled and relived that he'd happily listen to any number of lectures on his failings as a chaperone.
A rung creaked in the shed, heralding the sound of feet rapidly scampering down. The end of Jacob's story went unheard as Newt rose and went back up to the shed, opening the door just in time to come nose-to-forehead with Tina as she reached the floor. Queenie was nowhere to be seen, so perhaps she had decided to take a turn on deck.
"Hi," Tina said, and Newt wasn't even a little offended that she was trying to see over his shoulder out into the open space behind him. He stepped aside, scrutinizing her for signs of sickness, but there was nothing obvious. Maybe the sea air had cured her.
Tina stepped over the threshold of the shed with a small gasp. Casting his mind back, Newt was annoyed to find he couldn't recall exactly what Tina had done or said when she'd first seen inside his case. While they'd spent much of their time inside, caring for the creatures and talking enthusiastically about spellwork and potions and import-export tariffs on rare ingredients and how best to make the case for the preservation of magical beasts both in Great Britain and Stateside, before this moment Newt hadn't retained a memory of Tina's first reaction.
He decided that instead of regretting what was lost, it would be best to savor what was before him.
"Wowww," said Tina, holding onto the word as she walked further into what was now a fully functioning if modestly sized nature park. The shed was still the center of the raised paddocks, which radiated from this point like the spokes of a wheel. He needed to be able to reach each enclosure quickly in case whenever he was pressed for time, so most creatures had learned to expect food when he was centrally located.
The nudu roared, and Tina clapped her hands admiringly.
"It's so huge! And spiky, but it's fur still looks real soft."
"It is! Do you—do you remember him, at all?"
She shook her head, but looked at it intently, until her stare turned glassy. Newt, concerned, intervened and pulled Tina back into the present.
"This is a Nudu, or Nundu as it is sometimes known. It is considered one of the most dangerous creatures in all of creation. Its breath is poisonous, and can lay out a village with a magical disease."
Tina's gaze turned panicked, and she hastily backed away from the paddock. Newt cursed himself for his typically backwards delivery of information.
"No—no, there's no need to be concerned. This nudu had been terrorizing villages in Africa as a cub, and was badly injured by wizards there when I intervened and offered to take him away. He's now very tame. And the poisonous breath is a defense mechanism, only triggered when a nudu is under attack."
"How do I know he's not gonna suddenly feel attacked?" asked Tina with wide eyes.
Newt took her by the arm, and led her away toward some of his more pleasant-natured creatures. "Please, don't be frightened. There's a spell on him that would purify his breath if ever he were panicked, and there's a very strong enchantment on all the predators in here that keeps them safely in their own spaces. As long as you stay outside of the nudu's paddock, you cannot possibly be harmed by it. The same goes for all the creatures."
A billywig flitted through, catching Tina's eye.
"What is that?" she asked.
Newt smiled. "Not a moth." When Tina looked at him skeptically, he hastened on.
"A billywig, which unlike most other insects, people like to entice to sting them, as giddiness and levitation often result from billywig stings."
"Have you ever been stung?" Tina asked.
"Only very occasionally. I usually get on perfectly well with billywigs."
They walked past the graphorns, and stopped to check in on an injured hippogryph that Newt was transporting back to England for rehabilitation. The next paddock over, Jacob sat on a rocky outcropping, tossing out alfalfa pellets that never hit the ground.
"Hey Tina, you look good today!" he said. Tina frowned at him, as if trying to recall his name.
Newt tried to tactfully help her out. "Jacob is feeding the moon calves." He gestured to the furry creatures that crowded around the shorter man.
"These guys are my favorite," Jacob smiled. "I can't get over the way they get their food to hold still in the air so they can get it. It's so…delicate and magical and lazy all at once."
Tina smiled at him, but continued on. The lure of the niffler's lair was too strong for her to resist. Newt had to admit that it did outshine most things in his case, with the brilliant red-gold foliage of the tree cascading above the gold-lined lair. Newt regretfully looked at the gold inside. There was probably enough for him to buy a house. Unfortunately the niffler had stolen all of it, and if Newt were found trying to pawn the niffler's muggle treasures, more than eyebrows would be raised. Questions, uncomfortable questions, might be asked by parties to whom Newt really did not want to have to explain himself.
"It's amazing!" Tina smiled up at him. A fwooper swooped by, chasing after another billywig.
"The fwooper is another creature that I had to enchant in order to keep in here," Newt said, nodding at it. "This one is completely silent, but the fwooper's song has been known to induce insanity in those who've had prolonged exposure to it."
Tina smirked at him.
"You sure you've done it right? You've gotta be pretty crazy to have all this stuff shut up in here together."
Newt raised an eyebrow and put a hand on his hip in mock indignation. "I'll have you know I've been offered the Care of Magical Creatures position at the most prestigious school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Hmph, calling me crazy." He smiled at her.
Tina looked at him. "Are you a teacher then?" she asked.
Newt paused. "No. I didn't accept the post."
"Why not? You seem pretty into the magical creatures." She spread her arms to indicate all the life burgeoning around them.
Newt retreated a step, looking over at where the bowtruckles were happily scarfing a nest of woodlice that had been delivered to them earlier. His eyes slid to Tina, then back to the sticklike creatures.
"Hogwarts is in Scotland, and I had something that I needed to do in America."
Tina moved closer, and Newt hoped she couldn't see the blush that he felt crawling up his neck.
"And what was that?" she asked.
Newt looked at her, not quite sure he should be talking about this with someone who might only possess the memories of a teenager. But in her eyes he caught a familiar teasing glance that was certainly at least as mature as he'd ever gotten, and he continued.
"I had to bring a girl a book," he said, hoping against hope that this would be it, and Tina would remember, and all the barriers would come tumbling down.
Instead she shook her head, rolling her eyes. "That seems like a pretty stupid reason to turn down your dream job. What, was it too thick to send by owl?"
She moved past Newt, toward the little wooden house he'd made for her.
"This is cute, is it where Queenie's staying?" she asked.
Newt didn't answer, trying to collect himself. He swallowed bitter disappointment. Still, he couldn't lose all the ground he'd covered with Tina this morning just because he'd foolishly raised his hopes too high. Tina hadn't done a thing, but the hurt was real, and burned in his stomach.
A great snort came from behind the house. Tina looked up from where she'd been trying out the swing on the tiny porch of the house. The snort was followed by a loud bellow. Tina scampered toward him.
"What on earth is that?"
Together the two of them rounded the cottage, to where the erumpent was wedged at the very edge of her paddock. When they came into view, she let out another trumpeting bellow. Newt frowned.
"It's my erumpent, but I can't imagine why she's carrying on like this. She's usually quite sweet-natured."
Newt stepped right up into the paddock to get a better look at the creature. When the noise stopped and the erumpent seemed to have calmed, Tina took a step forward. Immediately the erumpent's head whipped around, and she let out a huge snort. She lowered her head and bellowed again.
Newt hopped down from the edge of the paddock and backed toward Tina, a look of complete confusion on his face.
"She's never been like this. Erumpents can occasionally be hard to handle when in heat, but that's not what's going on here. What could possibly—?" he cut off when he noticed the base of the erumpent's horn start to glow. He whipped out his wand from where he'd wedged it between his suspenders and his shirt.
"Jacob!" he called. "Please take Tina out of the case, and send Queenie down here as soon as you can."
He looked at Tina. Her eyes were wide. "Don't worry, nothing will hurt you. I just need to learn what's troubling her."
The erumpent, who was having none of his soothing tone of voice, snorted. Her horn was now fully aglow. She lowered her head again.
"GO!" Newt yelled, and Tina obeyed, turning and running for the shed.