As Newt had said, they were not out of the woods yet. They still had to escape the MACUSA building and, if possible, grab Newt's suitcase and their wands from wherever they'd been stashed, likely Graves' office. To make things more difficult, there were sirens blaring all around them, the whole of MACUSA obviously aware that something had gone wrong with their execution. There would be Aurors on them shortly and all they had to their names was a bowtruckle and a Swooping Evil tucked safely back up Newt's sleeve.

The problem was that they were left sprinting through a room filled with row after row of columns, meaning Aurors could come from nearly all directions and had cover. They could hide behind the columns too, but there was no telling if more Aurors would simply pour form behind them or not. Added to that, Newt felt Elvira flagging through his grip on her hand, palms sweaty, as she began to drag, her limp growing heavier.

He whipped back behind a pillar, dragging her around to press her to his chest once more as a spell flew past just inches from where he'd been standing a moment before. They could hear running footsteps, and Newt felt Elvira tug her hand loose from his grip, growling so low that he almost couldn't hear,

"Alright, you know what? Now I'm pissed."

She stepped fearlessly from behind the pillar, neatly dodging Newt's wild swipe for her as he felt her pull away. Two spells came roaring towards her from between the columns but Elvira raised her hands, palms flat facing the spells, and Newt heard her whisper something in a rolling, rhythmic language. The spells burst into bright white light against an invisible barrier and, with another murmur, Elvira fisted her hand seemingly on thin air. In a puff of smoke, tiny, crackling bolts of red light flared around her and went screaming between the columns, far too many for the two Aurors facing off against her to have a prayer of deflecting. They both took hits and went down and Elvira gestured for Tina and Newt to follow her out from behind the columns. They ran on, past the bodies of the downed Aurors, ribbons of residual red energy cracking across their clothes.

"And to think, I could barely scrape through my Native Magic course at Ilvermorny," Tina laughed breathlessly as they ran, and Newt saw the corner of Elvira's mouth quirk up, a new energy seeming to run through her now. They kept going, pushing on through the columns towards the exit, and just as they were about to reach it, the sound of several feet joined in behind them and a spell went whizzing past Tina's head, close enough to ruffle her hair in passing.

"Zalegni!" someone barked, and Elvira knew the word and knew the only person in the world who would choose to use Bulgarian at that exact moment. She seized Newt and Tina by the hands and yanked them down, dropping facedown to the ground. A fireball, nearly as large as the three of them combined, roared over their heads, the heat enough to redden exposed skin as it passed, and there were several fearful cries as the fireball connected and then blasted through whatever shields the Aurors managed to raise in time.

Looking up, they saw Iliana standing in front of them, feet planted in a strong stance and hands outstretched, a particularly dark look on her face as fire continued to crackle around her hands. Flanking her was Queenie, with a handful of wands and one very distinctive cane, and Jacob, who was clutching the handle of Newt's case.

"When I sent that messenger, I didn't mean for you to plan a jail break!" Elvira barked as she clambered to her feet, both groups rushing together. "Are you insane? That was incredibly dangerous!"

Jacob handed over Newt's case with a smile as Tina and Queenie embraced, Queenie clutching her sister worriedly and babbling about how it had all gone down. Elvira, in contrast to her rough words, reached out and scruffed Iliana's nape, dragging her in for a bone-breakingly tight hug, resting her chin on top of her sister's bowed head.

"So?" Iliana demanded petulantly into her sister's chest. "I'm a Blödgarmr, what do I care about danger or laws?"

"And if that ain't gonna wind up on my tombstone one day," Elvira chuckled.

"Come on, we should all, ahem, climb inside," Newt said, thrusting out the suitcase. "Queenie, I believe you're the only person they aren't currently hunting for. Do you think you could walk us out in here?"

Queenie looked at him and smiled. "Nice to meet you Mr. Scamander. And yeah, I think I could manage it. A lot of people don't expect me to get up to much, on account of the fact that they think I'm a ditz."

Jacob looked at her incredulously. "You just saved me from being Oblivi-whatevered. You're the furthest thing from a ditz."

Queenie looked at him, a slow, intrigued smile spreading across her face. "Aw, you're sweet."

Newt set the case on the ground, flipped up the catches, and lifted the lid. "Everybody in."

"Wait, where are we going?" Iliana interjected. "They'll have our houses watched, ditto for the Cactus Cat."

"I know a place," Jacob suggested, but before he could actually explain where it was, Queenie was smiling and grabbing his shoulder.

"Oh, that's a great idea, honey! I'll take us straight there!"

Jacob stared at her uncertainly. "Can you... uh..."

"Yes, she can, now everyone in the suitcase," Iliana ordered, hands on her hips. "I didn't break into MACUSA just to get caught standing around planning our next move."

Tina clambered in first, Jacob following, and Newt went down next. Elvira followed him, using his hand to guide her down the stairs as Iliana followed close on her heels. The trapdoor above them shut as Queenie closed the lid on the suitcase, and they heard the latches clicking into place before, presumably, she picked it up and began to cart them out.

"You okay?" Iliana asked, moving to her sister's side worriedly as Elvira sagged against Newt's counter, her cane planted firmly on the ground in contrast to her tired posture.

"Here, sit," Newt urged, clearing away the worst of the spray of papers and pictures with a sweep of his wand. "Get off your feet a moment."

Elvira offered him a weary smile, allowing him to take her arm and help her hop up to sit on the counter. She shifted so that she gripped him, pulling him tight against her side and leaning her head on his shoulder. Newt cleared his throat awkwardly as Iliana shot him a knowing look. For lack of any better ideas, he delicately pulled his hand free from her grasp and wrapped his arm around her waist, supporting her as she leaned on him.

"I'm fine, Iliana," she assured her sister. "Gonna need a strong drink and a peer group in a couple days when it all sinks in, but I'll live. You know me." She reached out, cuffing her sister's shoulder gently. "Made of hard and bony stuff. Takes more than an execution order to take me down. Leastways, as long as I got Newt with me." Her hand came up, coving his on her waist, and Newt flushed as her thumb began to stroke the back of his hand. Iliana mouthed 'thank you,' to him as Elvira closed her eyes for a moment, and Newt nodded back, feeling slightly uncomfortable about being so physically affectionate with Elvira in front of the others, but he couldn't persuade himself to let her get too far away. The last time she'd been further than an arm's length away she'd been sitting in a chair about to die.

"Can we jump back to the part about how your sister reads minds?" Jacob asked, raising a hand and looking at Tina uncertainly.

"She's a Legilimens?" Newt asked her curiously, eyebrows rising slightly.

Tina nodded. "It means she can look into people's minds, usually just what they're thinking about at the time," Tina explained, "unless she's actually trying. Then she can see things that are buried deeper."

"It's why I went to her for help, I knew she'd be able to find you all and where your effects were," Iliana added, wincing as she glanced at Tina. "I should probably apologize for holding her at wandpoint in a janitor's closet at some point."

Elvira snorted and Newt found himself holding her tighter. She squeezed his hand in response almost absently as Tina gave Iliana a thoroughly unamused look.

"You pulled a wand on my sister?" Tina demanded. "A wand you're not even supposed to have?"

"Sorry, what?" Jacob asked blankly. "I thought all you guys had wands? Do you have to earn 'em or something?"

Iliana huffed, leaning back against the side of one of Newt's cabinets. "In America, at least, you have to present your letter from Ilvermorny to purchase your first wand, and it's kept locked up at the school until you graduate. But if you're not allowed to go to Ilvermorny," Iliana continued leadingly. At seeing Jacob's still-confused look she sighed and explained bluntly, "I'm only half human, my mother was a veela. Ilvermorny doesn't deign to let things like me pollute their halls."

"It's why I left school early," Elvira added. "I wasn't going to go to a school that wouldn't accept my baby sister too, so I left school about two years early."

"By the way," Iliana said, reaching into the pocket of her coat and pulling out a flask. She flicked the top open with her thumb and a puff of purple smoke was emitted. She waved it temptingly before her sister. Elvira's eyes lit up and she leaned forward eagerly. Iliana passed it over, nodding knowingly, "Yes, I thought you might need some?"

"My own potion for dealing with chronic pain," she added upon seeing Newt's faintly concerned expression. "It can only be taken sparingly, because it's ever so slightly poisonous, but it takes the sting out." She brought it to her mouth and down a quick mouthful, wincing as she did so and sticking out her tongue. "Unfortunately it tastes like goblin piss, but I have a feeling we've got a bit more to handle tonight."

"Graves always insisted the disturbances were caused by a beast," Tina said, looking to Newt. "We need to catch all your creatures so he can't keep using them as a scapegoat."

"There's only one still missing," Newt admitted. "Dougal, my demiguise."

"Dougal?" Jacob repeated slowly, looking bemused, while Elvira groaned, replacing the cap on the flask and tucking it away in her duster.

"Slight problem is that... He's invisible."

"Invisible?" Tina deadpanned.

"Yes, most of the time..."

"He does... How do you catch something that?" Iliana asked incredulously. "I mean, how did you get a hold of him the first time?

Newt winced. "With immense difficulty."

"So... are we just supposed to roam around New York until we find something that looks... invisible?" Jacob asked faintly. "Cuz that seems... pretty impossible."

"Gnarlak!" Tina exclaimed suddenly, but Elvira groaned, arching her back and burying her chin in her palm despondently.

"Excuse me?" Newt asked, looking between the two women blankly. Even Iliana was sneering at the unmistakably goblin name. "Who?"

"Gnarlak, he was an informant of mine when I was an Auror!" Tina continued eagerly. "He used to trade in magical creatures on the side."

Newt looked at her hopefully. "He wouldn't happen to have an interest in paw prints, would he?"

"He's interested in anything he can sell," Elvira said disdainfully. "And he's a giant pain in my ass. The amount of times he's sent people over to start shit in my bar trying to get rid of the competition..."

"He doesn't like not being the biggest fish in the pond," Iliana noted. "Literally or metaphorically. But he does tend to be... annoyingly well informed."

The Blind Pig was situated below street level, behind a worn poster of a big-eyed redhead advertising something no one had ever paid much attention to. With the six of them crammed on the stairs leading down to the bricked-up wall, it was a little crammed and there was some shuffling as Tina and Queenie both drew their wands and flicked them, their casual streetwear turning into dresses suitable for a speakeasy. Tina was clad in a silver-grey and Queenie in a soft blush color, both of them turning to Elvira and Iliana. The sisters gave each other calculating looks and each flicked their wand at the other. Iliana was wrapped up in a mint green silk confection, a few jewels gleaming in her originally plain updo. Elvira's clothes melted away into a silky, sapphire gown that was cut a bit tighter than current fashion dictated but showed off curves Newt hadn't realized were hiding under her many layers. The girls glanced back and Newt gestured to his tie with his wand. It rewound itself into a neat knot, and Jacob was left as he was.

Tina tapped rhythmically on the poster and a secret panel slid open on the poster, revealing a pair of eyes staring at them from inside. It looked them up and down and then the peephole slammed shut. There was a faint clicking sound, and the brick swung open to admit them.

"This place has no charm," Elvira muttered as they stalked down the steps into the bar proper, where goblin woman was singing loudly and twirling around the tables to the slow, brassy music, entertaining the guests. Queenie and Jacob moved off to the bar while Iliana took up a position closer to the stage, cocking her head in professional interest as she watched the goblin woman make her way through the crowd. Tina, Newt, and Elvira all seated themselves at a table close to the entrance, none of them particularly eager to linger very long in the Pig.

"I've arrested half the people in here," Tina said, looking around as she shifted nervously in her chair.

"The other half owe me favors," Elvira noted, and Newt watched as she inclined her head to a man across the room who was almost certainly a vampire. The man smiled in reply, baring gleaming white fangs, and stretched, gesturing to the open space on his booth next to him and jerking his head invitingly. Newt flushed as Elvira leaned into him, pressing a hand to his chest as she curled against him. She shrugged and mouthed an unapologetic 'sorry,' to the vampire across the bar, who scowled but turned back to his conversation.

"Is that... Etienne Griswold?" Tina asked, looking at her with a mix of disbelief and intrigue. "Half the vampires on the East Coast answer to him."

"I helped him track down a fledgling vampire who stole something from him about three years ago," Elvira explained absently. "He's a huge flirt, always making passes when we met to discuss my progress."

Newt found himself suddenly very aware of the fact that he was apparently not the only male in New York City who found Elvira to be so attractive, especially considering there were a pair of wizards three tables over who were also shooting her speculative looks.

The goblin's song ended and another goblin emerged from around the corner. He had distinctive backwards-bent fingers, and Newt didn't need Tina's hiss of "It's him!" to guess this was Gnarlak. It was obvious in the way he was dressed that he had money and he strode around the place like he owned it. He seated himself in the empty chair at their table without so much as a by-your-leave and a house elf immediately appeared with a glass. Gnarlak took a sip, eyeing the beverage appreciatively, before turning to Newt.

"So... You're the guy with the case full of monsters, huh?"

Newt twitched. "News travels fast. I was hoping you'd be able to tell me if there have been any sightings. Tracks. That sort of thing."

"Your contacts all tapped out, Ellie?" Gnarlak asked, eyes flicking to Elvira mockingly, and Newt felt her tense where she was still pressed against him. "Not surprising."

"As you well know, the Cat ain't opening back up until this is all settled and I can get back there without MACUSA breathing down my neck."

Gnarlak shrugged. "Not much incentive for me to help you out then, is there? You've got a big price on your heads. Why should I help you instead of turnin' you in?" he asked, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"I take it Ill have to make it worth your while?" Newt asked, and it was very clear where this was heading.

"Let's consider it a cover charge," Gnarlak said carelessly, lifting a foul-smelling cigar to his mouth and holding it tightly between his teeth." Newt dug in his pocket, pulling out a small stack of coins that he slid across the table towards the goblin.

"MACUSA's offerin' more'n that."

Again, Newt dug in his pocket, this time producing a lunascope that he laid delicately on the table.

"Lunascope?" Gnarlak chuckled. "I got five."

For a third time, Newt dug in his pocket, this time gently lifting out a glowing, transparent egg. There was a slight rime of frost over the top of it and inside the coils of a serpent could be seen moving about gently.

"Frozen Ashwinder egg!" Gnarlak said, leaning forwards with interest. "You see, now were..." He froze and narrowed his eyes at something. Newt glanced down and realized that all the rummaging in his pockets had disturbed Pickett, who called Newt's coat his home. He had poked his head out to see what was going on. "Wait a minute. That's Bow... That's a Bowtruckle, right?"

"No," Newt said firmly, covering Pickett with one hand protectively, and Elvira glared across the table at Gnarlak, who asked eagerly,

"Come on. They pick locks, am I right?"

"You're not having him!" Newt insisted.

"Name something else, Gnarlak, you know I'm good for it," Elvira added irritably, leaning forwards. "You want some warding done, a shipment of cactus cat juice?"

Gnarlak narrowed his black eyes at her. "You feel like gettin' up off that re'em of yours?" he asked archly, and as Tina gasped, Elvira's lips thinned to a faint line and she leaned back against Newt once more, looking furious.

"Didn't think so." He pushed himself to his feet and started back towards his office, calling back over his shoulder. "Good luck gettin' back alive, Mr. Scamander, what with the whole of MACUSA on your back."

Elvira could feel the way Newt was trembling rattling through her as well as he watched the goblin's retreating back, and she closed her eyes and winced as he called out sorrowfully, "Alright."

Gnarlak paused, and when he turned and stalked back to their table there was a triumphant, malicious gleam in his eyes. He watched eagerly as Newt fought to untangle Pickett from his jacket, the bowtruckle desperately clinging to him. "Pickett..." he said faintly as the bowtruckle made plaintive litte squeaks, clearly understanding what was about to happen and tried to cling to Newt even harder.

Gnarlak snatched the bowtruckle from Newt's grip. "Somethin' invisible's been wreakin' havoc around Fifth Avenue. You may wanna check out Macy's department store. Might help with what you're looking for."

"Dougal," Newt whispered, but his eyes were glued to Pickett as if he couldn't bring himself to look away. "One last thing. There's a Mr. Graves who works at MACUSA. I was wondering what you knew of his background."

Gnarlak plucked his cigar from his mouth, rolling it between his fingers thoughtfully. "You ask a lot of questions, Mr. Scamander. That can get you killed."

"MACUSA are coming!"

There was a crack as someone or something Disapparated, and in a flash the whole bar was in chaos as those who weren't on friendly terms with MACUSA fought to get out before the Aurors breached the bar. Iliana, Queenie, and Jacob rushed from the various posts they'd taken up around the bar.

Tina shot to her feet, palms slamming down onto the table. "You tipped them off" she accused the goblin, who merely laughed unapologetically in the face of her anger.

"Sorry, Mr. Gnarlak…," Jacob said casually, and the goblin turned questioningly, straight into a beautiful jab delivered by the No-Maj. "Reminds me of my foreman!" Jacob cheered as the goblin hit the ground, Pickett flying from his grasp.

Newt and Elvira shot off, scrambling around tables and chairs trying desperately to get a hold of the bowtruckle and guide him away from the worst of the panic, where he was liable to crushed under an unknowing shoe. The bowtruckle was fast and clearly scared, trying to get up off the floor and being jostled around as people knocked into chairs and tables.

Elvira saw him climbing up a table leg and seized him up a bit less gently than she would have normally, turning and reaching for Newt. The pair of them dodged a trio of goblins and made their way back to the others in the middle of the room, slamming into the huddle just as Iliana turned and stepped into nothingness.

Macy's was normally a beautiful, glittering sort of place, especially when it was all done up for Christmas, but when the lights were out and the customers that usually flooded the place were gone, it took on an eerie, abandoned air that the decorations somehow made even worse. They all fanned out among the displays in pairs, creeping along, looking for some sign of Dougal.

It came in the form of a purse that lifted itself from a display and began to bob its way slowly across the floor, seemingly suspended from nothing, heading deeper into the store. They all clustered around, hiding behind a display of Santa's workshop as they watched the demiguise carry the accessory around.

"So demiguises are fundamentally peaceful, but they can give a nasty nip if provoked," Newt whispered, trying not to spook the animal. "You two, head that way, and you two, the other way." Tina and Iliana nodded, splitting off to the right while Jacob and Queenie crept left. "And try very hard not to be predictable," Newt added, urging Elvira along at his side as they crept out from their hiding place, approaching the demiguise. It was visible now, barely knee high and covered in shaggy white-silvery hair, long, wise eyebrows drooping over its eyes. It was busy filling its purse from a display of Christmas candy that it had broken into, clinging to the side of the shelf.

A faint, screeching cry split the air and the demiguise lifted its head, looking up.

"That... wasn't the demiguise," Elvira guessed as it hopped off and began to creep towards a small door off to the side, labelled for employees. Newt chuckled, shaking his head fondly as he urged her forward. Dougal glanced back and saw them but seemed fairly unperturbed, almost as if he were checking to see if they were behind him before moving on.

"No, I think it might be the reason that the demiguise is here," Newt explained as the others came out of hiding, following them into a side storage room where stock was kept until it was ready to go onto the main floor of the store. Their shoes tapped against the stone floor while the demiguise moved silently, the purse hanging over one of its long arms.

"It's sight operates on probability, so it can foresee the most likely immediate future," Newt explained.

"So what's it doing?" Elvira asked uncertainly as she watched the demiguise reach the opposite end of the room and then stop, setting the purse gently on the ground and looking up.

"Its babysitting."

Elvira froze where she was, fighting her instinctive urge to loudly demand a further explanation. "Beg pardon?"

"This is my fault," Newt said, shaking his head self-depreciatingly. "I thought I had them all, but I must have miscounted."

There was a great shifting above them as massive coils of blue scales began to coil and shift among the rafters overhead. There was a faint rumbling and Dougal made a soft, chirruping sound as he dug into the purse and pulled out a gummy dusted in glittering sugar.

"It was babysitting that?" Tina said faintly, staring up at the occamy in muted horror and disbelief as it lowered its massive beaked head down from where it was coiled in the infrastructure of the store, leaning down towards the treat Dougal offered up. The candy looked comically small vanishing into the creature's massive mouth.

"Occamies are choranaptyxic, they grow to fill available space," Elvira supplied swiftly, and Newt shot her a pleased smile. He edged forward and Dougal obligingly moved back, allowing Newt to slowly approach with his hand extended, the same pose it seemed Elvira had seen him do a hundred times tonight at various points.

"Mummy's here," he whispered soothingly as he approached, the occamy dipping its now massive head to observe Newt's cautious approach.

There was a faint tinkling sound, almost like something jingling, and Elvira watched as a sparkling red glass Christmas ball rolled past her and up alongside Newt. The occamy didn't know what it was, it opened its mouth and squawked angrily, the coils beginning to shift and writhe above them as it thrashed in protest. Dougal hustled back, climbing up Jacob like he was a tree. Newt lunged, managing to grab on behind the occamy's head, and Elvira shrieked in surprise as a loop of scaly body dropped off of a rafter overhead and swung at her.

"We need an insect!" Newt yelled as he clung to the occamy. "Any kind of insect and a teapot! Find a teapot!"

"how are we supposed to fined anything in here!" Tina yelled, diving aside as a wing grew and scrabbled along the ground. She landed on top of a pile of crates that shattered beneath her, sending up a cloud of dust and making even more noise. Jacob and Queenie ran for it back into the aisles, trying to find some cover as the occamy continued to expand. The roof burst open on one side as its wing flared and smashed through the shingles.

Elvira and Iliana locked eyes across the room.

"Teapot!" Elvira yelled, and Iliana nodded.

"Bug!"

She began to shift, her body twisting and clicking until a small bird was all that was left, soaring down along the ground. Iliana was almost invisible, darting from shadow to shadow and dodging as the occamy knocked shelves over, scrambling through the dust and debris for a bug of any kind.

Elvira twirled her cane, her wand appearing in her hand, and pointed it at a nearby Christmas bauble. It was most assuredly not one of her best Transfigurations, as the china still bore the same snowflake pattern as the ornament had originally, but it would do in a pinch. She lifted up the lid and cried out, "Got the teapot!"

There was a swooping and sharp claws dug into the fabric of her coat over her shoulder. Elvira glanced up and found Iliana, still in bird form, perched on her shoulder, holding a struggling cockroach tightly in her beak. Elvira snatched the bug from her sister's beak and Iliana gave a short, sharp trill, launching off her shoulder again and finding someplace relatively safe to perch until this was all over, staying in her bird form in case she needed to hunt another bug.

The whole scene froze. Queenie was on her hands and knees, a roach skittering away from her reaching fingertips. Jacob was pinned up against a support beam, Dougal in the process of going invisible on his shoulder. He stroked the frozen occamy's scales nervously. Tina was braced under the junction of two more support beams, and Newt was still clinging onto the back of the occamy's head. The occamy, meanwhile, was fixed entirely on Elvira.

"Roach," Newt said slowly. "In teapot."

Elvira nodded her understanding, moving the roach side to side just a bit to insure that the occamy was, in fact, staring at the insect and not her. The head followed her movements and Elvira tossed the roach lightly into the air. The occamy cried out and surged once more, coils of scale coming up and over and around all at once as it began to untangle itself from the ruined storeroom. Newt dropped off the occamy's head and rolled, grabbing up the lid of a badly-dented stockpot while Elvira fought to hold the teapot still. The occamy was still surging down, down, down into it, the body thinning as it went, but it still exerted a hell of a lot of force as it went after the roach. The tail vanished inside and Newt acted, smacking the overlarge lid down on top of the teapot securely.

"Choranaptyxic," Newt repeated in satisfaction, the pair of them panting as they suspended the teapot between them. "They also shrink to fit the available space."

Tina emerged from underneath the beams cautiously, eyeing the teapot as if waiting for the occamy to expand once more and shatter its way out. "Tell me the truth. Was that everything that came out of the case?" she asked sternly.

Newt nodded wearily. "That's everything. And that's the truth."

It took a series of Reparos from everybody before the storage room was set to rights, Jacob assigned to hold the teapot securely while the rest of them worked. Seeing as they were in the storage room of a closed No-Maj store, it was a fairly safe place for them to hunker down for a moment, and so Newt set his case on the ground and ushered everyone inside. Tina, Queenie, and Iliana all stared around in awe at the inside of the case, having never seen more than the inside of Newt's workspace, and Queenie not even that. As Jacob helped Dougal up into his nest, Newt gently slid the occamy back into the next and then looked around, smiling in satisfaction at the expressions of awe and interest on the other's faces. It gave him a small burst of energy - it wasn't useless, what he was doing, no matter what people said. The looks of fascination on the faces of his new friends as they looked around at his creatures proved it.

He slid his hand into his pocket and winced as something sharp slashed at his hand. He spotted Elvira, sitting alone near the edge of Frank's enclosure, her cane resting beside her as she leaned against the sun-warmed stones. Newt drew his hand from his pocket as he began to pick his way through the suitcase towards her, Pickett coming out too.

"Right. I think we need to talk. I wouldn't have let him keep you, Pickett," Newt assured the bowtruckle, and only got an angry chatter in reply. "Pick, I would rather chop off my hand than get rid of you. After everything you have done for me, now come on." The bowtruckle turned his back to Newt's face resolutely and Newt continued patiently, "Pick, we've talked about sulking before, haven't we?" "Pickett... Come on, give me a smile. Pickett, give me a..." The bowtruckle returned by sticking out his tongue and blowing a very tiny and adorable raspberry at him. "Alright. Now, that is beneath you."

He paused by a worktable, eyes darting up to Elvira and back down again. She was sitting peacefully, but like she'd sensed his attention, she turned to face him and offered a small, weary smile. Newt, too, was starting to feel tired. They'd been up close to an entire day by now, and what a day it had been! He couldn't think of anyone else he would rather have spent it with, though. From watching Elvira dive out of the way of the erumpent to slinging spells at Aurors to coaxing an occamy into a teapot, she was a woman after his own heart and, knowing how much they'd been through together though it had only been a few hours, Newt wasn't suite sure if it was normal, how attached to her he'd come in the course of the evening.

"Newt, who is she?" asked Queenie's soft, absent voice. Newt looked up and saw her gesturing to the portrait of Leta, one he used to look at daily but, since he'd placed Elvira's picture alongside it, he couldn't remember the last time Leta's cocky smirk and elegantly-set hair had drawn his eyes.

"That's no one," Newt said swiftly, glancing at Elvira. It somehow felt wrong to think about Leta the way he used to when she was sitting right there, and that probably meant something.

"Leta Lestrange?" Queenie said for herself. "I've heard of that family. Aren't they kinda... you know?"

"Please don't read my mind," Newt said a bit sharper than he intended to. Leta wasn't a topic he wanted to get into, not right now. Not while his time with Elvira was probably rapidly dwindling. He sighed and turned back to his work. He heard Queenie's faint steps as she came down from his little shack and, if he focused, he could just feel the faintest of tugs at the back of his mind. He dropped his leaves and turned to stare at her fully. "Sorry, I asked you not to."

"I know, I'm sorry. I can't help it," Queenie said apologetically. "People are easiest to read when they're hurting."

"I'm not hurting," Newt replied instinctively. "And anyway, it was a long time ago." He turned back to his work, sorting through leaves and picking out the ones that were dried or had brown spots on them. He could feel Queenie still there at his side. He was almost as aware of her as he was of Elvira sitting in the sun, absently playing with the end of her braid and slowly working her knee, bending and straightening the leg as she massaged her patella.

"That was a real close friendship you had at school," Queenie offered up, and Newt realized she wasn't going to be deterred.

"Neither of us really fitted in at school. So we became quite..." He trailed off, uncertain.

"You became real close. For years," Queenie finished for him, and for once he wasn't quite as upset. It made it easy, when he didn't have the words. "She was a taker. You need a giver." Queenie smiled at him sympathetically. "You're right, Mr. Scamander. You're not hurting. Least, not as much as you used to be. And Miss Elvira?" Queenie smiled and nodded at him encouragingly. "She's a giver."

Newt stared at the woman blankly for a moment, trying to decide whether he should be glad that he had some external sign that he wasn't entirely mad for thinking there was something between himself and Elvira and feeling horrifically embarrassed that Queenie had no doubt picked up on every sappy thought he'd had about her.

It was Tina who broke the tension, strutting down a ramp leading into one of the enclosures. "What are you two talking about?" she asked curiously, spotting them by the worktable.

"Nothing," Queenie said swiftly, and Newt was glad he could rely on her discretion. "School."

"School," Newt agreed dully as he watched Elvira rise from her spot, shoot a wistful smile in the direction of where Frank perched at the top of one of the stony columns, and began to approach the shed.

"Did you say school?" Jacob asked curiously, appearing from the direction of Dougal's little nest. "Is there a school? A... wizardry school here? In America?"

Queenie beamed at him. "Of course, Ilvermorny! Its only the best wizard school in the whole world!"

A bit of pride flashed in Newt and he corrected her gently, "I think you'll find the best wizarding school in the world is Hogwarts."

Queenie gave him an offended stare for daring to suggest such a thing. "Hogwash!" she pronounced, and folded her hands in front of herself. "Ca-caw, ca-caw! Purr, purr!" She stomped her foot twice and began to sing to a simple, lyrical melody, a song that she plainly knew by heart.

"We stand as one, united, against the Puritan. We draw our inspiration from good witch Morrigan. For she was persecuted by common wandless men so she fled from distant Ireland, and so our school began. Oh! Ilvermorny-Massachusetts! We choo-choose it!"

"We choo-choose it!" Tina echoed, joining in the song.

"The wizard school supreme." As Newt watched, Elvira's lips began to move, her voice to quiet to catch at first, but as the song continued a faint sparkle began in her eyes and Newt knew that no matter how much Elvira hated the place for rejecting her sister, she had enjoyed her time at Ilvermorny as much as he had enjoyed his time at Hogwarts. "Your castle walls, they kept us safe. The days with you, a dream. You taught us all our magic and now one thing's quite clear: where'er we roam!"

"Where'er we roam!"

"Our one true home!"

"Our one and own!"

"Is Ilvermorny dear!"

The three witches were all smiling and laughing as they finished their little song and as much as Tina and Queenie seemed to enjoy his and Jacob's applause, he saw Elvira's smile faltering. Iliana's expression, too, was one of wistful nostalgia, like she was staring at something she'd long ago given up. The sisters exchanged a meaningful look, Elvira seeming almost apologetic, and once more Newt wished he and Theseus had managed to be that close.

It was at that moment that lightning flashed incredibly close to them, thunder rolling through the suitcase and setting several of the animals chattering and scurrying nervously at the sound. High above them, Frank had leapt off his rock column and was beating the air with his wings, letting out shrill warning cries as the weather turned worse around him. Just like that, Newt's stomach dropped as he recalled that while his creatures were back where they belonged, there was still an Obscurial out there somewhere that was the source of the actual attacks.

Elvira met his gaze from across the table and nodded grimly.

"Danger," Newt announced in reply to the questioning looks. "He senses danger."