Hiya! Happy Wednesday. Thanks for everyone who reviewed :) This is an extra long one
Though he had made a promise to Harry not to touch the stone again, that did not stop him from drawing comfort from the magic it let off when he was near it, nor did it stop him from researching it.
He was certain he could have asked Harry for information on the object and he would have produced some age-appropriate book plucked from the Hogwarts library. Sometimes, however, it was best to gain some knowledge stealthily. So he pulled out all the books he had brought from Riddle Manor.
The desk in the room was small - big enough for simple study but not designed to let anyone spread out several books at once. He had to transform pieces of dust into book marks that he labeled with numbers.
His fingers itched for parchment but he realized after searching every drawer that there was none. He did find a muggle pen and some very bright, very small paper - piece after piece was stacked and the top of each was gummy - as if a sticking potion had been momentarily smeared across the surface. After frowning at it for a moment, he started using them. He would never say it out loud, but they were quite ingenious.
It was somewhere between reading a chapter on the difference between casting magic upon an object and imbuing it with magic that he dozed off with a half-written thought on one of the gummy notes.
"Devlin?"
Her voice was similar enough to Emma's that he staggered forward in his sleep, startling into consciousness. The chair clattered to the floor. The gummy note that had been in his hand crumpled in his first as he righted himself, and then fell onto the floor.
Lily was standing in the doorway. Devlin tried to breathe through the fog of sleep depravation.
"You're going to miss breakfast if you don't hurry up," she said, pursing lips. She left the doorway, and then a second later walked backwards to peek her head by his door again. "Oh yeah and my mum cleans all the rooms so if you don't want her to see what you're reading you better hide it."
Devlin wondered how close she'd gotten to him before saying his name from the doorway.
"I'm just studying."
She arched an eyebrow but left down the hallway.
Mornings at his home were rushed usually - his mum was gathering papers and his dad was running in early. They juggled bringing Emma to school and someone staying with him - and both arriving to their day jobs on time. Here, it was different. Things moved as slowly as the syrup on the pancakes Ginny was serving. Lily had ordered a set that looked like hearts.
"Do you want any special shape?" Ginny asked. There was still a cautious undertone to her voice whenever she looked at him in the morning, but Devlin had noticed it smoothed out as the day went on.
"Ah…no…whatever is normal is fine."
He ended up with more heart shaped ones because she had extra.
"You got some like me!" Lily said, half smirking because she could probably tell it hadn't been his wish. She was childish but a firecracker with a wicked almost sarcastic sense of humor.
Harry huffed into the kitchen, clearly annoyed.
"Something wrong?" Ginny asked.
"Apparently knowing the Minister of Magic from school doesn't get you any real favors," he said - it seemed to Devlin he was trying to conceal some actual anger under prickly-sarcasm.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I tried asking Arthur about his snake bite last night. He had no idea really just that it had been a "last ditch effort". I tried asking Hermione more about it since I knew the Ministry had been involved. She flat out will not tell me. Says it is classified."
Ginny's brow drew down.
"That kind of leaves you stuck," she commented.
"We could always ask specialists," Devlin said, swallowing quickly. Harry peered at him, urging him to continue. "Well - like the people that might have been working for the Ministry or called in. I mean - who was the best Potions-"
"I already had Neville ask Severus' portrait - he apparently was barred from involvement."
Devlin frowned.
"Well, my dad sells the venom he collects to Potion Masters and Magizoologists - who worked for the Ministry at that time in those jobs? Both would probably be needed to identify what class of magical snake Nagini was and create an antidote."
Harry smirked.
"I'll ask Charlie."
Devlin didn't bother to ask who Charlie was.
oOoOoOoOo
Without anyone needing information from him, the day dragged slowly onward. The makeshift headquarters were not as crowded as they had been a few days before - Rowan was gone, Saul was no where in sight, and other stations such as where Alexandra and Thatcher usually sat were half empty. He knew this meant only the most important people still needed to be on his case, but it felt odd. Harry had assured him Alexandra was still on his case, she had just traveled to a library for something.
"Hey, are you Devlin?" His blood froze in his veins and soon his muscles followed. A foreboding sense of knowing but not wanting to know expanded with the ice crystals forming in his blood. Don't move, don't move, don't move. He heard the footsteps moving, followed the scent as it came up at his side. His eyes stretched to their peripheries, seeking out visual evidence to his panic. "You're Devlin, right? Your, ah, dad asked me to find you."
All responses were frozen within his body.
"I'm Damian," he said, "I work with your dad as an Auror. He wanted you to come to his office."
Devlin already knew his name. Knew his face. Knew every little detail of his eyes. This was the man that haunted Devlin's dreams.
The man he had killed.
"Yeah," he said, his voice cracking. "Alright."
Run, run, run, his mind shouted and somehow his magic melted the ice and unfroze him.
Run, run, run, except fleeing would only reveal a problem.
He turned to leave, being mindful that his pace wasn't hurried.
"Your dad said you're a werewolf," Damian said, "I am too - if you ever need anything on a related note."
"You're not my pack," Devlin said, more so for him than Damian. He tried to check his defensiveness.
"No," Damian said, drawing in a breathe that Devlin was sure was accompanied with a confused expression. "I guess in your world there is still enough of us to have packs. Here, there are so few we try to come together across all lines."
He could hear the wolf in his voice.
Devlin did not know what to say. Damian was welcoming him in a way that was beyond rude to dismiss since Devlin didn't have a pack here and he wasn't an adult - but …
"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind."
His wolf growled angrily at him in his head, admonishing him for being so rude.
He walked away.
oOoOoOoOo
There was an older man sitting at the desk with Harry. He looked a bit like Ron and his hair matched, but Devlin did not recognize him. He turned casually as Devlin entered - his face was scarred. He had a rough appearance about him, as if he were someone who regularly ran from danger. He smelled of dust and earth and magic.
"Hiya," he said, his voice deep. There was something strange about him that made the hairs on Devlin's neck stand up. "I'm Charlie but you probably already know that."
Devlin moved closer.
"No," he said, slowly, "I don't. Should I?"
He could feel his wolf awake in his senses, making his heart beat steady but strong. He searched the man's face, but there was nothing unusual about it aside from the scar.
Charlie's brow furrowed, the lines deep and set. His blue eyes were clear and level.
"He's Ginny's brother," Harry said.
"Oh," Devlin said, carefully. He was learning quickly that people equated him knowing or not knowing them as a verdict of their aliveness or death in his world. And for some strange reason it saddened them if they were dead, despite it really having no actual impact on them here. He pursed his lips. "I do think I've heard Freddie talk about you. Curse breaker, right? I don't really pay attention to the adults when I am at Molly's house. I'm usually - well Freddie is usually occupying my attention in some annoying way."
"Oh, George has a Freddie there too, huh?" Charlie smiled warmly, seeming to have forgotten about his own alternative self.
"I am ninety-five percent sure Freddie is Fred's…I mean…I am usually seventy percent sure I can tell the difference between Fred and George…"
The room went silent for a moment. Charlie leaned forward.
"Fred is alive in your world?" His voice was hushed, his blue eyes wide with wonder and hurt and yearning.
"Well, he was when I left. Fred has Freddie and George has Josephine. She's alright, I suppose. Better than Freddie. But she's Emma's age."
Charlie smiled as if he might cry.
"Mum would cry if I told her," he said. He seemed to have forgotten about himself.
"You and Freddie don't get along?" Harry asked, casually.
"The first time I met him, he made Maria cry while trying to get me to talk about Voldemort." Harry's green eyes wandered as he tried to place something, and Devlin felt himself swallow - he'd said her name. But Harry did not bring her up. Maybe she did not exist here. Devlin wasn't sure how that would make him feel. "But we get along okay at school - he's in Gryffindor though. He calls me 'Genius' and I urge him not to start nicknames based on academic achievements. I help him in Potions sometimes."
Harry nodded.
"Charlie wants to have a look at the stone later this week. He's going to be on our special team."
Devlin looked at him.
"Alright," he said - it was not as if he knew the talents or experiences of people here or that he could make better suggestions. He could guess why Harry wouldn't want Alexandra on such a team, and did not begrudge him the extra caution, he supposed.
"He was also recounting for me what he remembered about his father's run in with Nagini."
"And?"
"Dumbledore procured an anonymous expert on snakes," Charlie said. "I never saw him. Working with dragons, I know a lot of Magizoologists - I gave Harry the best known ones. But honestly - I suspect there is only one Dumbledore would have known well enough as to consult with so quickly."
Devlin arched a brow.
"Newt Scamander."
Devlin looked at Harry.
"The man who Saul called in to look at me?"
"Yeah - one in the same." Harry pursed his lips. "If you really want to know about Nagini I think he's our best bet. I think you should ask to see him. He was obviously fascinated by you anyway."
"Why?" He asked, tipping his head.
"Who knows," Charlie supplied. "Newt is just one of those people who is driven to know about any creature."
"I'm not-"
"You're a boy who traveled across dimensions. And you're a werewolf."
"Did Harry tell you?" He really wouldn't appreciate that!
"It wouldn't have mattered," Charlie said, "I can tell. I was bitten by a werewolf in human form - so I'm not a werewolf but…there's a tiny bit of it in me."
Devlin frowned.
"A werewolf with flat teeth bit you?"
"He did not have flat teeth - but yeah," Charlie said, sort of laughing.
Devlin tipped his head.
"You mean Greyback bit you."
"Yes. I guess he's just as insane in your world."
"I've met him," Devlin said evenly.
He turned to Harry.
"I don't appreciate being looked at as a creature - but alright - I will write to him."
And so that was how he found himself at the edge of Newt's property with Harry that evening.
The wards were hard and blocking - unlike his wards at home that let Zee's ball pass through, this would have stopped even inanimate objects. Harry tapped them with his wand, and they waited.
Newt was slow but sure on his feet. He cut a hole through the wards to allow them entrance.
"Hello," his brown eyes were kind and warm and regarded Devlin with care. Since it had been Devlin who had written him, it was Devlin who he seemed to feel he should address. Devlin appreciated not being seen simply as a child along for the ride. He sealed the wards behind them. "I was ecstatic to receive your missive this afternoon. Less so about the subject, but I do understand, of course."
"So you do know about Nagini?"
His property was vast and Devlin could feel the magic that made spots grow like a tropical jungle and others barren like a desert. He could hear and smell the animals, but they did not approach. The walk to the house was probably a half a mile.
"I provided the anti-venom to Dumbledore many years ago."
Devlin noted how he sidestepped knowing about Nagini. He lead them up a clear path to his house - on either side there lay wilderness - wet, dry, dark, cold, hot - he felt it on the side of his face through the barriers that contained them as they passed.
Finally, they arrived at the front door. It was simple. There were small cages on the porch with animals in them - they looked as if they were being healed and were all dozing.
"Usually, there is a welcoming committee," Newt said, as he waved his hand over the knob and it unlocked. "But since you are strangers they are probably all hiding around the corner watching."
Inside was warm and cozy. Newt lead them into a casual dining room and summoned some tea.
"Tina is out visiting Rolf and Luna," Newt said, stirring his tea slowly. He blew onto the hot liquid. "She realized we might want some privacy - though she knows as much as I do about all my work."
"I was surprised, and grateful, that you could see me so quickly," Devlin said - politely. He tried to turn on the charm that came so easily to him in his world - everything here felt a bit like a foreign skin. "I was not even sure if we had come across the right person - finding your name in relation to Nagini was difficult."
Newt smiled at him - not fooled by his mask.
"I'm sure Dumbledore was careful to cover his tracks," Newt said. "I never worked for him and, in this last war, I never picked a side. Generally, I do not pick sides."
Harry was frowning.
"You fought against Grindelwald."
Newt's gaze shifted to Harry.
"Yes, I did. When I captured him the first time, I did not see myself as against him. He was simply there, dangerous, and in ensuring the safety of those around me, I captured him." He sipped his tea. "Animals do not pick sides - they do what is necessary for their survival. In the end I found that the survival we would have at the hands of Grindelwald was not the survival I wanted - so I chose a side and fought with Albus."
"But with Voldemort - you didn't feel the same need?" Harry asked, genuine.
"I did not join Dumbledore's Order when he created it. I did, however, occasionally assist Albus in his war against Voldemort. I was never on Voldemort's side."
Harry nodded.
"In fact," Newt said, putting his tea cup down and peering at Harry with an intense focus, "Albus sometimes even asked me about you. In - well I guess you would have been in your third year - I was at Hogwarts to rally for a hippogriff's stay of execution and Albus took the opportunity to ask me about a talent you seemingly could not have inherited. He said 'he can speak to snakes' and I remember blinking, startled. I had known Fleamont, of course, at Hogwarts. He certainly had not been a parselmouth. His wife hadn't been either and since James went onto marry a muggleborn - well you can imagine I was surprised. Albus had seemed very nervous when he confided in me and he began speaking about a 'small bit of transferred' power. Small and transferred are not terms that typically go together, you understand. I knew Albus was fooling himself - it was something he did when he feared the consequences of what he was facing."
"He knew long before he told me," Harry said - softly but still with some bitterness.
"He knew the night he called for the anti-venom," Newt said, firmly. "In all honesty after seeing what Voldemort had done to Nagini I am not sure I would have put the words in a boy's head either. Such a dangerous thing for a monster to know - perhaps more dangerous than a boy not knowing."
Harry was frowning. "What?"
Newt sipped his tea.
"I'm not dismissing you, Harry - but Dumbledore's thoughts might be more clear to you after Devlin and I finish discussing Nagini."
For a moment there was a flash of something fierce in Harry's eyes, but then it settled down on it's haunches - well used to being kept under control. A peace overcame his gaze - Devlin could see he had already come to terms with how he had been lied to as a child. Though curiosity was there - there was not insatiable drive behind it. He did not need to know.
"Go on, of course," Harry said. "Knowing about the anti-venom for Nagini is the most important thing of this visit."
Newt regarded Harry for a long moment until he seemed to come to terms with something he saw in Harry's gaze and turned to Devlin again.
"Have you met Nagini?"
Devlin did not see why it mattered - but what he saw had little meaning. Newt had something he wanted.
"Yes, I have."
"So you will not be startled by her size when you go to kill her."
"No." He kept it short.
"Why do you believe you will be able to kill her? Surely - Harry has told you how powerful she is."
Devlin was well aware of the conversation they had just put on pause about Harry's illogical inheritance of Parseltongue. It meant that if Devlin admitted to being able to speak to her he would reveal his relation to Voldemort. Harry could no longer even speak parselmouth and any Wizard as intelligent as Newt would know a Horcrux could not influence the genetics of a child.
But Devlin was also the boy who had shown his dorm mates all his scars so they could not be whispered about. He had told everyone he was a werewolf so it could not be used against him.
So he put his tea down, and he looked at Newt. Unlike Harry Potter, he did not need a snake.
-I am a Speaker.-
"He explicitly told her I am not a meal. He forbade her from hurting me," Devlin said, switching tongues easily.
"And you, Devlin Potter - son of Harry Potter, grandson of James Potter who married a muggleborn - where did you get your ability as speaker to snakes?"
Devlin kept his gaze even.
"From Nagini's owner - my grandfather."
Newt pursed his lips; Devlin thought he was upset about Devlin's heritage.
"I suspected as much," he said instead, without any judgement. Devlin realized he had perhaps been upset at the idea Voldemort had owned nagini - he was a lover and advocate of all animals, whether they delighted in swallowing human bodies whole or not. Devlin, however, had considered himself as owned for much of his childhood by Voldemort. "Though I am startled Voldemort had a daughter."
"You'd be less startled if he had a son?" Devlin asked, almost laughing.
"Yes, absolutely," Newt said. "It is highly unusual for a male Parselmouth to sire a female child - who survives to birth."
"Why?" Harry asked. Devlin hadn't quite been ready to ask in a way that so openly showcased his lack of knowledge. Had Voldemort known? It wouldn't be the first time Voldemort decided to keep certain knowledge from him. Is that why he had looked at Alexandra on the battlefield - curious?
"A Parselmouth is a person who can speak to snakes, yes?" Newt asked. They both nodded, Devlin reluctantly. "That is the common understanding. The ability for a witch or wizard to speak to snakes originates not from Salazar Slytherin but from an ancient blood curse - a Maledictus. A Maledictus is a specific kind of blood curse that is passed from mother to daughter. When this line is broken - by a son - the curse is still carried, dormant, in their blood. It presents as a shadow of the curse - in this case, the ability to speak to snakes. Salazar's family brought this curse with them to Europe - and so here, where so little is known, it is considered to be a family trait."
Newt looked sad.
"Speaking to snakes voluntarily is really no curse, though. In Salazar's line - broken as it has been long ago, it presents as the ability to speak to snakes - though curses are strange, and sometimes they simmer here or there, and rise again even within a broken bloodline. The true curse is in the unbroken bloodlines - a daughter cursed to be both a human and a snake - able to change forms voluntarily, but also destined to sleep always as a snake - and one day, wake unable to be human again."
Devlin couldn't breathe. Could it be true? He tried to pull together every ounce of doubt he had alive in him - except the potion from his grandfather's house knocked the doubt from him.
"Nagini was a little younger than I was at the time, when I met her first," Newt continued. "She was brave, and kind, if bruised by a world that had hurt her terribly. When Albus saw her in Harry's memory - he knew who she was. Any one of us would have recognized her. That Harry had been in her head - hearing her thoughts - he knew what that meant too; she was also part of Voldemort."
He fiddled with his teacup, ignoring their shocked faces.
"I can not really judge her for her choices - she did not really have choices. She was a human inside of a snakes body - for years she must have been alone without another soul to speak to. And he found her, or she found him - and who else was she to side with but the person who could speak to her?"
Newt turned to Harry.
"When Albus realized Voldemort had discovered he could turn a living being into a vessel for his soul he was terrified Voldemort would not only piece together what you were, but would view you as he viewed Nagini. To be kept protected. To be kept close. To serve him. You may have thought I have more will power than a snake but Albus feared differently, for Nagini was a person. He kept it from you, in order to keep it from Voldemort."
Harry said nothing - there was a heaviness in his eyes that Devlin knew from his own world.
"Can you make the anti-venom?" Devlin asked, frank. Newt turned to him.
"Will you still be able to kill her, knowing she is human?"
Devlin stared solidly at Newt - there was no judgement in his eyes, just pondering, and worry, and sadness.
"Yes," he said.
"It's not easy to kill someone you know is human," Harry said, looking as if he were reevaluating this whole plan.
"Can we just talk about the anti-venom?" Harry looked stricken with worry. Nagini being a human changed things for him - but it changed nothing for Devlin. Except for the knowledge that he carried in his blood a curse.
"We can talk about it - yes. The issue is that long ago, Nagini herself gave me venom to study. When Albus came to me to help Author I only had a tiny bit left. I was able to make one dose, but it was not enough to heal the wounds - only to save his life. I used most of the remainder to create a salve. I do not think I have enough to create another anti-venom, though I could come close with other magical snake venom - enough to perhaps pause the effects long enough to get someone to help.
"But then they would need the anti-venom still."
"It is probable they would in order to make a complete recovery. Perhaps the Newt in your world would still have some."
"I doubt it. She's probably bitten more people in my world than she did here. It has to come from her, while she's alive, right?"
"Yes," Newt said, frowning. "I am sorry, Devlin."
Devlin thought of his nightmare - her coils as they wrapped around his wolf - as her head rose into the air and prepared to strike down on them. He thought of Severus as they exchanged missions - informing Severus of Bella's necklace and he of the snake. Surely Severus wasn't the only one who knew of the snake. He thought of his mothers scream as Harry's dead body was dropped on the ground; would she seek revenge by killing the last Horcrux she knew of?
"…if you had access to her…if you could milk her again…"
"She's dead, Devlin," Harry said. "I saw her die."
Propelled by the thought of his mother coming face to face with Nagini, Devlin reached into his cloak and drew the large vial out from within his protected and enlarged pocket. He had brought it with him when they had stopped at the house after work - just in case.
He plucked it delicately from his robe. The scent of Riddle Manor lingered in the dust still stuck in the crevices of the ornate vial. He slid it across the table. He could feel Harry's gaze upon him. Newt was frowning at the bottle, the lines on his face deepening as it came closer.
"I profess - I did find it curious why, and how, someone would brew polyjuice potion for a snake."
Newt's hands picked it up, gently.
"Where did you find this? Do you believe it to be legitimate?"
"It belonged to my grandfather." He did not mention that it had come from this world. "I believe it is real."
Newt ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Harry - the very first time he had glanced at Devlin's guardian before him. But he did not speak to Harry - he spoke to Devlin.
"It could work. You have enough here for multiple transformations. In all honesty I am not sure how the blood curse works with polyjuice-"
"It would have to be me, I suspect," Devlin said. The idea of being alive in her skin, either of them, made his heart beat fast with fear. But this was a necessary step to getting an anti-venom and he knew he would need that anti-venom in his bag in order to feel confident enough to attack her in his world.
"Yes, I agree - your blood is the only blood that would-"
"Alexandra could do it," Harry interjected, a bit firmly.
Devlin turned slowly to him. Not only had he just explained that she was terrified (petrified actually) of snakes, but Devlin had specifically not brought her name into this or revealed that Voldemort had the same daughter here that he had in Devlin's world.
"She's terrified of snakes," he said, with a searing edge to his regard that he hoped would have Harry seeing his mistake.
But Harry was oblivious.
"And you're not afraid of being Nagini? Devlin - you woke screaming as if you were being murdered in your nightmare. She could do this. She's the adult."
The idea that he had screamed last night left him with an indescribably bad taste in his mouth - it mingled there with humiliation, frustration, and anger; joining hands and spiraling around him. He had never really told this Harry what it meant for him to scream - how not screaming had saved his life that first time. How every time he fell to his knees he would have a momentary feeling of panic that shook through his whole body at the reminder that he had once been in the same position before Voldemort. That sometimes he'd look up from where he'd fallen afraid he'd see Voldemort looking back at him and he would be six again.
That he had screamed last night. That Harry had heard. That Harry said it now…
You're spiraling in the wrong direction, his Grandfather would have said, dismissively, if he could have seen Devlin right then. He would have looked down at Devlin and his brow would have pulled downward minutely at Devlin's magic as it danced on his skin. Instead it was Harry who could see him.
Devlin wasn't really seeing Harry though - his mother was frozen to him, forever screaming at his father's dead body, terrified that Harry was gone and Devlin was standing next to Voldemort. Until he could find her and make sure she was okay - that is how she would be to him.
Terrified - her world crumbling.
"She's terrified of snakes," he said, again. Her panicked face filled his minds eye. He tried to keep his magic on his skin, no matter how it wanted to jump away from him and fulfill his needs and his wants.
"She's the adult," Harry said, pushing ahead. He was either deliberate or oblivious. The father to such innocent children who had not known the world Devlin did. The retired soldier who had forgiven those who had, for all intents and purposes, sacrificed him to the whims of Fate. "She could take this burden from you."
It was like a million pins and needles undulating like ocean waves on his skin - again, and over, and once more, and repeat. His chest tightened. Devlin tasted ion. The magic rose high and heavy and he lost himself in a heady sense of strength.
It stung as it lunged away from him. Away, away, away. Except, his magic alone could never wish him back to his mother and neither could it wish him anywhere here; Newt's wards were not malleable like the Potter's house - they were built to keep in powerful creatures. Devlin's magic slammed against them. Magic was an extension of a magical person and Devlin felt the restraint on his magic the same as he would have had someone held him down physically.
Newt had known something was going to happen, Devlin realized, because the dining room door had shut and locked. The potion vial shined beneath a blue shield.
He steadied himself against the table, refusing to be brought to his knees. Everything in the room shook. Devlin was frozen in that moment with his mother - her face, her scream, knowing she was saying his name. Her magic as it overcame Voldemort's and broke his silencing charm.
"Devlin," Harry said - forcefully. "Look at me."
He did not want to look. He did not want to see fear or worry or shock in Harry's Killing Curse green eyes. And yet - he never really wanted to look away form this Harry either - this piece of his father, different as they were.
So he looked.
And he found no fear. No shock. No worry.
Just Harry.
"You told me you can do anything for one minute," Harry said. His hair was whipping around him. "Be here with me for one minute. I said too much or maybe I didn't say enough - I don't know which. Be here for one minute. Talk to me for one minute."
Devlin could do anything for one minute. He held onto that.
"She's terrified of snakes," he said. His magic wove in desperate circles around him. "She's terrified."
"Your mum?" Harry asked, though Devlin had no idea why anyone would need the clarification. He nodded nevertheless. "But Alexandra isn't your mum, Devlin. We don't know if she's terrified of snakes. We don't know what she would want to do. So we have to ask."
It hurt to breathe, but he did breathe. Again, and again - his chest quaking, tightening, and releasing.
It took a lot, but he nodded.
"We should tell her. But…I want to do the transformation."
"Devlin-"
"I don't want her to feel that - to be that. I already know what it's like to transform into something else. I can do this."
"I-"
"My wolf will do this. He will do this."
He knew he would. There was little his sharpness saved him from these days, but he knew he would take this burden. Something about the way he said it made Harry frown, and Newt tipped his head.
"It's an experiment. We'll have to discuss it with her."
"We can discuss it," Devlin said, "but don't pretend I am an incapable child. I will get this venom whether you're there to assist or not."
"Devlin…"
"I'm my father's son," he said, leveling his gaze at Harry. "Only doubt me if you'd have doubted yourself."
"I'm not the only name on the papers, Devlin."
It was such a strange comment to come from Harry's face that he had to pause and furrow his brow. He sighed.
"I'll convince her more easily than I'll convince you. Learn how not to die and all that."
"I don't think she meant learn how to murder someone, though," Harry said, a bit firmly.
Devlin let go of the table edge.
"Well, you're all late to the party then, aren't you?" He reached into Newt's shield and took the potion back. He ignored Harry's pale face for Newt's. To his credit, Newt did not seem surprised by Devlin's statement at all.
"Thank you for agreeing to help me with this, Mr. Scamander. I truly appreciate your extending your many talents. I will be in contact with you after I have the venom. I have helped my own father collect and vial venom so I already know the typical charms."
"Of course," he said. He paused, looking for a moment almost uncertain. "You should know, Mr. Potter - holding in our magic…has terrible consequences. You may have gone through tremendous tragedies - but you would have been a powerful child even if you had not. Your magic is yours innately - suffering does not make our magic stronger. If you were holding your magic in because you worry it makes you strange or because you think it makes you more susceptible to darkness you are not only incorrect but are taking steps to fulfill your own prophesy, so to say."
"I don't suppress my magic," Devlin said.
"Perhaps you have never done differently and so do not know." He frowned awkwardly. "But you did today."
"Thank you for your continued help," Devlin said, with finality and practiced politeness. He dreaded turning around and dealing with Harry.
Harry's face was a carefully arranged nothing. Devlin thought, unlike his own father, that his Harry actually could produce mental shields.
"Thank you, Newt. Please tell Luna hello for me. Lily keeps asking me to see her two boys again."
Newt smiled.
