Newt honestly never gave any thought to being a father. Like many young men, he thought it would happen some time in the future. But life, like magic, always finds a way to surprise people.

Which is why Newt was completely caught off guard when he stumbled across what could only be a small magical child wandering around Africa with little to no protections whatsoever beyond a small pendant around their neck.

It had been a late night, Newt was incredibly exhausted after chasing off a large group of poachers and saving as many of their poor victims as he could before they returned with reinforcements, and the last thing he expected to be wandering outside their camp was a small magical child looking rather dazed.

Since he knew full well the dangers of Africa, and he had set some rather unpleasant creatures that would survive in the environment without destroying the ecosystem loose since they were well enough to leave after patching them up, Newt scooped the little one up and left them to nap in his small hut. They fell asleep in an instant once covered up, giving him time to escape.

For the next two days, Newt completely forgot about the child who continued to sleep in his trunk. At least until they wandered up to him after he finished up checking on the more critically injured creatures. He almost jumped out of his skin before he remembered rescuing them.

He used a quick bit of magic to clean up, before he checked on them. Besides being magically exhausted, and a little sunburned, they looked more or less okay. Though the smattering of freckles on their face stood out due to their extended time in the sun, and their red hair looked a tad messy. There was quite a bit of dust and dirt on them, and their clothing was a tad too big.

"Are you alright? You've been sleeping for a few days now?"

The dazed expression cleared up slightly.

"Who...are you?" they asked.

Newt didn't know whether to feel relieved or alarmed at the familiar British accent. None of the poachers he chased off spoke British like that, and it lead him to believe the child had been kidnapped.

The problem was that he was very far from any civilized magical communities, he would have to explain what he was doing when he rescued them.

"My name is Newton Scamander. What's yours?" he said. He was rather awkward with children, and it was becoming clear that the child was likely under some residual effects of the kidnapping. Likely a spell or potion to keep them docile.

"My name?" they said, looking horribly confused. "I think...I think my name is Iris..."

Iris was a distinctly female name, which really raised alarms about why she was kidnapped and dragged to Africa. He knew for a fact that the African ministry had decidedly lax laws regarding children, mostly due to the fact that the majority of their magical communities were made of small indigent tribes that could move out of their reach if given enough reason. Or worse, were extremely hostile to outsiders.

Newt couldn't in good conscience leave her to wander Africa alone. Hopefully he could contact her family once back in Britain or another allied country.

"Tell you what...why don't we get you some food?" said Newt. He decided to treat her like one of his creatures, at least until whatever spell or potion wore off. Hopefully her memories would return then.

Iris timidly took his hand and followed him like a duckling to his little shack.

A few days later...

Newt looked rather pleased with his work. Iris' clothing had been altered to fit her smaller frame better, and covered enough that not even his mother would take issue with it. Iris was openly fascinated by his creatures and seemed to know which ones to avoid unless Newt was with her.

You could imagine his surprise when he caught her speaking to the small Occamy mother he had rescued. The poor thing was in horrible shape and wouldn't likely last giving birth to her eggs.

The revelation Iris had a rare magical gift certainly explained why she had been taken...parseltongue might be viewed as 'dark' in England, but there were plenty of less than savory families who would love to have a small, impressionable child they could add into their family to pop out more magically powerful children with the gift. And that was just in England...Newt had come to learn that in other countries such as China and India, the gift was viewed as 'sacred', not evil.

To his dismay, Iris still couldn't recollect her family name. All she knew was her birthday, her first name, and that her parents were gone. The rest was either too blurry or a complete blank.

Newt felt reluctant to pry because he worried Iris had seen her parents killed but her mind had blocked out as much as possible to protect her from the trauma.

Add in the fact that she had consistent nightmares that lead to her curling up against him at night when she tried to sleep, and he knew that whatever events lead her to wander around the depths of Africa was not something he wanted to bring up anytime soon.

It had been a solid month since Newt rescued Iris and the creatures. And he had almost let his guard down about the issue. It wouldn't be the first time he had run into such foul groups.

Except this time he had found an innocent child with a rare bloodline gift that could be passed down. A female one at that.

For that reason alone Newt kept up his guard, at least until he could contact his brother and his family for assistance.

A good thing too, because the poachers tracked him down and they were pissed.

"Any sign of that damn bleedin' heart?" demanded the leader.

Due to the fact they were speaking relativelyacceptable English, Newt understood every word and was glad that Iris had a preference for high places. While it made it a tad awkward in the morning and he had to find trees with a stable enough base to set the case, the delight she showed coming out made up for it. It was such a small thing that Newt didn't mind the extra work. Besides, he kept finding such amusing creatures in the trees and sometimes saw rare birds that gave him funny looks.

(Even if it was a bit disconcerting to come face to face with an actual lion once...the cat had been just as surprised as him and accepted the bribe of meat long enough for him to leave. Iris still giggled about it.)

Right now he was extremely glad for her little oddity, because it meant there was no evidence of a camp on the ground. Their supper tonight had been left overs, as Iris was good about making the supplies stretch, so they hadn't bothered with a fire when a warming charm was just as good.

Newt was still worried about them looking up and noticing the wizard perched up on the tree.

"No sign, it's like that bastard disappeared off the map!" snarled his subordinate. He still had burns on his face, and Newt remembered him vividly for torturing a poor Erumpet before he set the camp on fire.

As Newt listened in to their conversation, there was one thing that bothered him. Not once did they mention Iris, or a girl fitting her description.

A child that young would have been remembered, especially if she had been taken for her gift to be sold off to the highest bidder. Particularly since she was young enough to be 'untouched' goods, which meant a higher payday. There were certain dark rituals and spells that would benefit from virgin's blood, as he well knew.

Any decent pure blood knew of the spells, but not what they entailed. Just that it was bad news if a ritual called for that sort of ingredient, especially in large numbers. There was a reason rituals involving living sacrifices had been rightly banned.

No, the poachers apparently were after Newt for the creatures he rescued and to get general payback. Seeing them leave, despite at least one of them looking up in the tree, Newt knew something had to be up.

There was no way that man missed him up there. He had looked right at Newt and ignored him completely.

Which was why the next morning after he had made very sure to erase his presence in the tree, Newt sat down and actually thought over what he knew about Iris.

Then he remembered the odd pendant she wore around her neck. It was a gray-colored necklace that could almost be called silver, with a rock that was enchanted with a series of interconnected spells all of which were based on protection and safety. A rather sensible item for a magical child who loved heights a bit too much.

Newt instinctively knew Iris would be a natural on a broom. He didn't know how he knew, he just did.

After this incident, Newt planned to properly investigate the necklace.

The pendant itself was relatively unordinary. Something that any half-decent caster could make in their spare time. It was only when he felt odd bumps and groves on the chain that he thought to enlarge it, as he couldn't make out any proper detail with his magnifying glass he kept on hand.

What he found shocked him to the core.

The pendant was a ruse meant to disguise the true nature of the chain. While he knew enough to recognize silver at a glance, he knew immediately this was far more precious than normal silver. So much so that if someone knew what it was, they would very well kill Iris just to get their hands on the stuff. It was worth more than his entire family's fortune.

Iris' necklace was made of True Silver, a rare highly magical metal that almost impossible to find. In fact it was so rare that even the smallest ingot of the stuff would be fought over by the goblins and sold for well over tens of thousands of galleons.

And if that wasn't enough, the spells and runes on the chain itself were all highly intricate and extremely difficult. Newt could only make out two or three out of five, and that was pushing it.

Whoever made this meant serious business when it came to protection and spells.

"Iris...who gave this to you?" asked Newt. He had a massive headache just trying to make out even a fraction of the spells on the metal.

Iris scrunched her face up, making her look even more adorable than normal. Then she suddenly gained a pained expression and held her head. Newt was barely able to catch her before she passed out, to his alarm.

Newt decided to let the subject drop. Somehow he had a feeling it was related to the trauma that caused her to lose her memory. He put her into the little bed he had made, and silently swore to update his small shack. It was fine enough for a researcher who spent most of his time out of the case, but it was hardly suitable for a small and swiftly growing child. Eventually she would get too big, and he was starting to get a little tired of waking up with a random creature in his bed being used as a teddy bear.

Besides, he didn't want to contemplate her reaction once they found her family and he had to return her. It had to be a very well off one, if she had a protection necklace made of True Silver of all things. Someone had to be looking for her.

As Newt examined the spells and enchantments on the chain, he would make a rather starting discovery.

Some of the spells were reacting to him in particular. Not the ones that would react in a negative fashion to danger...these were spells meant to shield others from harm.

To his amazement, the necklace prevented a nasty swipe from the Nundu. The cat itself was unharmed, but it's claws were completely blocked.

It was going to be a little while before he figured out why.

Iris looked around the small port town with wide eyes. She clutched Newt's hand tightly, afraid she would be swept away by the crowd.

Newt, in a spirit of mischief, picked her up and let her ride piggy back style. Her squeak of surprised turned to delight at being so high up.

As he looked around at the children running about, Newt couldn't help but notice the difference in their clothing and what Iris was wearing. Some small part of him felt a tad guilty that most of what Iris was wearing happened to be hand-me-downs and hastily spelled clothes he had outgrown himself to fit her.

And that was without getting into the fact that he had no idea what sort of female undergarments were needed for a girl her age. The makeshift loincloths would only make do for so long, before they wore out.

(Newt did not want to contemplate what she would need once puberty set in.)

So while Iris was safely inside the case, which was tucked away in a discreet corner under muggle repelling charms, Newt went back to the stalls to talk with the owners.

Most of the women were very understanding, and a simple explanation of having to run away from a very angry animal was enough to explain why Iris was wearing obvious hand-me-downs. The fact Newt was more than willing to pay for proper clothing didn't hurt either.

He still blushed at the fact most of them called him a 'good father', even if he had to explain Iris' mother was no longer around. His lack of answers seemed to garner sympathy from the shops, as they likely believed the creature they had run from had taken the unnamed woman out.

Newt also made a point to get a few stuffed toys. He had seen Iris looking at them while they were in town, and knew this would be a pleasant surprise.

They could go shopping for supplies later. Right now was the time to relax and unwind while getting used to people again.

The expression on the little girl's face when she saw the new clothes and toys made Newt's heart melt. It wasn't a lot, not like the fancy clothes and things her real family could get her if they could afford a necklace like the one she wore, but the simple joy she had at them made everything worth it.