25 Saturday

The week had speedily gone by for Noelle after Monday's events. It was wash, rinse, and repeat as each student went to class and mostly learned non verbal magic and then the students with "detention" went and helped Hagrid in the evenings. Because of their punishment, the DnD group couldn't even get together on Wednesday as they normally did. She imagined much of the semester would start to speed by now as they were used to the daily grind.

Still, there were several things worth looking forwards to, which almost made Noelle want time to fly faster. She was anxious about Kade's Halloween party he threw for their friends every year near the end of October. And for the Halloween feast in the Great Hall. Her favorite holidays were Halloween and Christmas, and Hogwarts made them even more enjoyable. Magical even.

Noelle stood outside, getting ready to use the port key to visit Queenie for her lessons. Even only being her third week with Queenie, she did hope it would be over soon so she didn't have to keep lying about where she went and what she was doing each week. Only Brooke knew, and she'd been sworn to silence.

Noelle took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the key, her body turning inside out as it had before. A little more used to it now, Noelle could see all manner of dull colors flashing about next to her, as though the world itself were apparating with her. Just as she thought this, everything righted itself and she was in the warm abode of Ms. Goldstein.

Taking off her coat, Noelle walked into the room. "Ms. Goldstein? I'm here." From where she now stood, she could see Queenie sitting in her armchair, and then she noticed the back of someone's head, someone sitting on the couch.

Queenie looked up. "Oh hey honey, come on in. This is my friend Newt Scamander. He went to Hogwarts like you. Hufflepuff." She smiled.

Noelle came around to sit in the opposite armchair, taking note of this new stranger. He looked tall and thin, around Queenie's age. His hair was mussed and tousled in a strange fashion. Noelle put her hand out. "Hi there, I'm Noelle."

He reached out to shake her hand and then quickly pulled his hand back to grab onto a suitcase between his legs, which had begun rattling as he moved. "Sorry, nice to meet you." He seemed somewhat awkward, not meeting anyone's eyes. And now Noelle was deathly curious about his suitcase.

Queenie must have caught her look or read her mind, because she answered the unspoken question. "Newt is similarly to your friend Hagrid. He keeps all manners of magical creatures and studies and cares for them. How neat is that?"

Noelle nodded but was wondering why he was here. Had Queenie forgotten about their lesson? Noelle tried to catch her eye.

Pouring tea for the three of them, Queenie answered once again. "Mr. Scamander is here today to help with your lesson on magical creatures." She stressed the words magical creatures so Noelle would understand her meaning.

And she did. Queenie wanted Noelle to practice her legilimency by reading a wizard's mind. In this case, this Mr. Newt Scamander. Noelle had to make a note to mention the name to Brooke later and see if she knew anything about the man.

Newt, on mention of his creatures, began excitedly detailing them, and his many adventures to America to find new and interesting species. Noelle, of course, was wildly interested, but knew she also needed to focus on the task at hand. It helped that he wouldn't look at either of them.

Noelle went to pull her wand halfway out of her sleeve and then stopped herself, wondering if, due to her innate ability, she would even need to. He paused and looked at her briefly. "What have you been learning about in your class at Hogwarts?"

She sat up straighter, trying to look innocent. "Nifflers and murtlaps. I've also been helping Hagrid out with his doxys and spiders."

Newt looked suitably intrigued and told her all that he knew about the listed creatures. Leaning forwards again slightly, Noelle whispered under her breath, "Legilimens."

As before, the connection snapped into place, and Noelle was tapped into his mind. Though, most of what he was thinking was instantly spat out as words, Noelle still knew she was in his mind as she heard everything before he said it aloud. Being in a mind had somewhat of an echo to it as well, she noticed. She glanced at Queenie and smiled brightly.

Newt caught the two of them staring at one another and looked back and forth. "What?"

Queenie shook her head and then to Noelle, "You getting all this honey? Pay attention."

Noelle nodded and cleared her throat, regaining her focus. "Sorry sir, go ahead."

Brooke nodded. "Newton Scamander is another famous name. He was the first to catch Grindelwald. But in his earlier years, he was a Hufflepuff here at Hogwarts, known for caring for creatures in his time off from classes and for his expulsion regarding a Javerty… Basically an oversized ferret."

Noelle didn't look surprised. "From everything he was saying this afternoon about creatures, that doesn't come as much of a surprise honestly. Still, he was pretty cool. And I read his mind Brooke! Queenie says I should only have another lesson or two before I'm done with my training!" The two of them sat on a bench in the hall, keeping their voices low as other students passed them on their way to dinner.

Brooke looked impressed. "That's great! Have you told the others yet?"

Noelle frowned. "Not yet. And frankly, not sure I will either. I've been told it doesn't always go so well."

Brooke didn't look pleased with her answer. "Well, ultimately it's up to you I guess, but I would tell them. They're your friends and you can trust them not to say to anyone else. In the meantime, you're coming to Hogsmeade tomorrow again right?"

"Yeah. Of course. I'll see you then." Noelle answered. Her quandary with telling her friends was similar to her issue of sending Robert her letter. But sooner or later, both would have to be dealt with.