Breaking The Silence
The silence was overbearing, not even a breath of wind passed between them, the Magizoologist seated on the opposite end of the interrogation desk, waiting for Graves to begin.
He inhaled sharply, thoughts still focused on his creatures, on the fate of his companion. Tina had done nothing to deserve this, and yet she had been hauled in with him, forced to make contact with Graves' icy stare.
His gaze scrutinizing, Graves shifted slightly in his seat, his eyes never leaving Newt's face for a second. "You were thrown out of Hogwarts for endangering human life - "
"That was an accident!" Newt blurted out, interrupting the older wizard.
Graves was unmoved by the agitation in his voice, his expression stoic. "With a beast. Yet one of your teachers argued strongly against your expulsion. Now, what makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?"
"I really couldn't say..." Newt muttered, bowing his head and glancing at the corner of the desk.
"So setting a pack of dangerous creatures loose here was just another accident, is that right?"
"Why would I do it deliberately?" Newt asked, thoroughly confused by this notion. He'd always been so compassionate, so kind, caring and selfless that he couldn't imagine letting his creatures loose on the general public.
"To expose wizard kind," Graves responded, acting as though the answer were obvious. "To provoke war between the magical and nonmagical worlds."
"Mass slaughter for the greater good, you mean?" Newt was looking rather uncomfortable, frowning with a hint of thinly veiled anger lacing his tone.
Graves nodded. "Yes. Quite."
"I'm not one of Grindelwald's fanatics, Mr. Graves."
The silence stretched between them, intensifying. Percival Graves, his heated gaze now burning with absolute hatred, made a motion over Newt's suitcase. "I wonder what you can tell me about this, Mr. Scamander?"
A twisted mass of writhing tendrils poured like liquid smoke onto the desk, encapsulated by a shimmering bubble. It hovered in midair, Graves watching intently, utterly fascinated by this bizarre anomaly.
The inhabitants of the room, each one staring in silent wonder, could just make out the unearthly cries muted by the containment vessel. Newt glanced over his shoulder at Tina and was about to speak when there erupted from their captor a sudden blast of wind.
Newt practically spun around in his seat. "Did you - ?"
His lips quivering with barely suppressed laughter, Graves fought to maintain his composure. "You'll have to excuse me. I uhm... might have ingested something I shouldn't have."
This statement was followed by a second eruption, and this time Graves, his face blushing several shades of red, shook his head and chuckled.
"Oh!" Newt leaned sideways in his seat, attempting to distance himself from the aroma. Even the Obscurus in its bubble backed away, pressing itself against the wall of its enclosure. "Oh, good heavens! For a minute there I thought my erumpent exploded."