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Fantastic Tales of Maggick (and Other Adventures)
by: Janelle Borbank
'for those that need a touch of Maggick'
Newt x OC
Chapter Three
Janelle
I woke later with a massive head ache.
Not even up for two minutes and I knew I needed to vomit. Luckily a pail was nearby and I didn't waste anytime in grabbing it and holding back my long hair. A shiver ran through me as I realized while my clothes were now clean and dry, I was still damp and chilly. A groan escaped my lips as the headache came forth in my mind once again.
"I don't suppose you could keep it down." A deep voice came from the side. Finally I looked up to see that I wasn't really in a room, but a cell. The cot I sat on was adjacent to the wall I shared with the crazy man from before. I curled away from him even more then and glared.
"You tried to kill me with your-your whacko jack abilities!" I exclaimed, and immediately regretted as a huge rush of pain filled my senses. With a groan I gripped my head and curled back into a ball for a little while. The man chuckled at my ailments so I mustered the hardest glare I could in his general direction.
"It's called Magic, love. You're going to have to get used to that. You're stuck here as much as I am anyways." He said in an almost defeated tone near the end. I frowned at his words, not certain where to even start.
"There's no such thing as magic." I uttered firmly. The man just rolled his eyes at me.
"Sure, whatever you say. Now that that Time Turner's gone I reckon they'll give ya the boot too." He said. His deep, scratchy voice grating on my nerves as he grinned at me. I frowned, crossing my arms as I leaned back into the bars.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, dealing relatively well with the head ache I currently had. The man rolled his eyes and dropped his head back against the bars. Unlike myself he didn't have a cot. Not that they were all that comfy.
"Man, they really did a number on you. You really don't know anything, do you?" He asked, looking less amused. "Look, the necklace you had? It's called a Time Turner. Most only let you go back a couple of hours, but yours? Oh my, yours is- was something special. It let you go back much further."
I paused, mulling over the man's words before deciding to humour him.
"So what? We went back a decade or so?"
"Or so. Hey Blondie, what year is it?" The man asked as he looked past me. I frowned before turning to see the other man who had protected me parked in a cell much like my own. He was hunched over on the ground, and while he wasn't short, he certainly looked small when he looked up with almost a meek appearance on his face. I felt the urge to gently coo at him.
"It's January of 1926." Was all the blond man said. There was a moment where air didn't quite fill my lungs, and I had to mentally remind myself to breathe before it actually happened. I watched him sit there silently for a moment before a whistle from the black haired man came from behind me. Turning back around I frowned at him. He gave a short laugh.
"Yeah, it won't take you long then." He said. I frowned and tilted my head slightly.
"Won't take long for what?" I asked, but the black haired man refused to say anything.
"He means the affects of the Time Turner," the man said from behind me. I turned to look at him as he gave me an almost pitying expression. "The problem with Time Turners is that when one breaks, it's effects stop, but the damage is done. I'm afraid you will be stuck here and…. Well….. Technically you're not in the right time. Judging by what he just said it's a rather big jump too. Which means there's a strong chance you'll fade. Especially being a muggle."
I choked on air, or maybe I forgot to breathe.
"Fade?" I asked hesitantly, but the look he gave said it all. The next thing I knew though was that both men were reminding me to breathe. Instead of responding or trying to ask more questions I curled up into a ball again and rocked back and forth for a short while muttering the same thing over and over.
"There's no such thing as magic….. There's no such thing as magic."
Oh how I wish that were true.
"So why are you here?" I asked the blond after crying enough tears and going completely numb. He glanced at me, timidly offering a sheepish smile.
"The briefcase that I stashed my Niffler in? Well, he's not the only beast hidden in there." He explained. I raised a brow, but surprisingly noise came from the cell opposite the blond.
"Ah right, most magical creatures were shunned in the early 1900's. Some almost hunted to extinction." The black haired man offered. I frowned, thoughts of the leather bound book that had captured my interests and made me want to become a vet. The idea of all those creatures once being alive…. And then dead? It was actually quite heart breaking. Looking at the blond, I realized it had broken his heart too.
"What's your name?" I asked. The blond looked up at me, admittedly a little surprised. I noticed then that though he made eye contact he quickly broke it each time and simply looked in my general direction.
"Newton…. But you can call me Newt." He said faintly. I smiled ghostly at him, leaning back against the bars.
"My name's Janelle, but you can call me Jelly or Elle," I paused for a moment before frowning. "And if I can, I want to help you get your creatures back."
Newt glanced at my eyes a few times, smiling, but never really maintained eye contact. I didn't mention it though, and instead turned to the other man.
"And who are you?" I asked. He took his sweet time, but eventually rolled his gaze over to me and narrowed his cold grey orbs.
"If you must know my name is Fillin, but Fil is what I go by." He said in a non too interested way. Deciding not to feel discouraged, and probably still not exactly believing this to be real, I continued.
"So where are we?" I asked. Fil gestured around in a pathetic flourish.
"This is the Ministry of Magic, pretty much the wizard version of government." Fil said, seemingly also submitting to the thought. My curiosity peaked, but before I could ask another question Fil snickered over to Newt. "I take it those creatures are in big trouble."
Maybe it was the tone he said it in, the 'Sorry not sorry' tone, or maybe it was the disinterest on his face. Either one made me want to sucker punch him in the jaw.
Newt was quiet, only making me want to do something, take action, even more.
"I'm sorry," I blurted out. Newt looked at me with surprise. "If I had been more careful this wouldn't have happened."
A ghost of a smile spread across the man's lips, but it was gone in seconds.
A while later someone came and took Newt away. He didn't return, and soon Fil was taken as well. I sat in the cage for a while longer, starting to realize how God awful I still looked with running makeup, blood, dirt, and water streaks on my face. So I spent the alone time trying to clean myself as best as I could. Well, as best as I could without a mirror.
Soon somebody came and collected me too, but instead of going anywhere important I was sat in a large waiting room of sorts. Being the only one there I paced, and hyperventilated, and had a small cry. It wasn't long before a person came quietly into the room though and I quickly pulled myself together.
"The Minister will see you now." The woman who had collected us from the alleyway said. I followed after her into a room where both Newt and Fil were sitting on either side. The woman escorted me to a chair in the centre of a room, to which I sat and shook. Their were a lot of people stuffed into this courtroom….
The minister, an older, larger man, stared down at me with disinterest, but I couldn't decide if it was because of how awful I looked or because I was kept him from his sponge baths.
"Please state your name and age for the record." Another woman called from the crowd.
"Janelle Borbank, 18." I said with a firm tone, reminding myself not to shake like a leaf every five seconds.
"Miss Borbank, please recall the events that occurred up until the arrest." The Minister asked calmly. So I told them in short detail exactly what happened, some people glaring at Fil when I mentioned him flourishing his wand at me, but mostly a look of disgust came from the mention of the Niffler.
"So it is true that both individuals did in fact reveal their wands in front of a Muggle, and both have harmed you in some way?" The Minister asked. My brow furrowed as I looked at the multiple faces in front of me.
"That's not what I said. Newt- he, well he saved me. If he hadn't helped me when he did I would've-"
"You would've not been mauled by a beast and harmed." The Minister continued. A deep frown etched onto my lips and brow. Fil wasn't lying when he said they were mistreated.
"Miss Borbank, whether you are aware of it or not you have travelled a great deal back in time if what Mister Ronan says is true. As such, it is impossible to return you to your true time without the time turner. This requires you to live a normal, Muggle life that the Ministry will set up for you….."
He was still talking but the weight on my chest was getting heavier and heavier. Soon I couldn't hear him, that is until his next words.
"….and as such any memory of the Wizarding world will be forfeit-"
"So you're going to erase my memory and dump me off somewhere?" I asked, incredulously. There was a silence in the courtroom for a moment. I looked around, frowning.
"I know what the time turner's affects are. Fil- er- Mister Ronan explained to me that I will eventually fade. I understand the repercussions and that they are out of your control, but could you possibly find it in you to let me live my final days out knowing what really happened to me?"
There was a hush over the room still as I added a soft "Please" to my case.
"Please step into the hall while we debate."
I left the room and went back to the waiting room, nervously breathing in and out heavily on the brink of hyperventilating. The only thing that made me stop was seeing another person was already in the waiting room. I took a seat across the room from him, only noticing after my mini panic was over that he was staring at me. When he was caught he simply smiled.
"Apologies, I was in the area and heard the story of a Muggle taking on a Wizard with an umbrella and winning and decided I simply must meet this individual for myself." The middle-aged man said with a tone that was neither here nor there, but the twinkle in his eye made me think he found it amusing.
"Yeah well, this uh, this Muggle is made of some pretty tough stuff." I said lamely while trying to clean myself up.
"I do not mean to intrude, but is there anything I could help with my dear? I'm afraid I have not met many Muggles and am uncertain of their needs." He said with a kind tone. I smiled forcefully and shook my head.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I just crash landed back ninety years in the past, with no method of returning to my time, and a huge expectancy to die slowly and probably painfully. I'm never going to see my family again, some guy was pointing a stick at me and casting weird spells to hurt me, I look like a hot mess who might be losing all her memories, and my saviour's going to lose all his magical creatures just because I couldn't keep it together." I rushed out, my pitch raising until it was squeaking at the end.
"I see, this is certainly an ordeal you've been through." He said in a soothing tone. I couldn't even speak and just nodded weakly at him while trying not to cry again in frustration.
"While I'm afraid the time travelling may not be something I can help with, perhaps there are a few small things I could give you a hand in." He said while proffering a familiar purse of mine. I got up and walked across the room for it quickly, thanking him many times. He simply smiled.
"I know a few people in this place, it's good to have contacts." He said, making me pause in opening my bag.
"You knew it was mine, knew you would see me here? A-Are wizards psychic too or something?" I asked. He chuckled at that.
"No my Dear, but I did imagine any lady would miss her purse after some time," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "As for the time travel. Well, I find that despite the breaking of branches, a tree will still stand, perhaps even flourish. So please, do not be afraid to rattle a few branches."
I paused at the almost deeper tone his voice took on, but didn't question as someone came from inside the courtroom and looked at the two of us.
"The Minister will see you again."
I raised from my seat, sparring one last nod of thanks to the man before hesitantly walking into the courtroom.
Needless to say, I was not happy to hear a failing verdict.
"While we wish to respect your wishes on remembering your past, we strongly oppose the chance of the wizarding world being exposed. Your request has been formally rejected."
Boom, done.
Just like that, I was going to lose everything.
I was given a moment to tidy up in a bathroom, given some clean clothes, and then escorted down a different hallway. Numbly I followed after my escort, but my eyes flickered over to a figure in the hall. He was the man I had spoken to earlier, and even from far away I could see the twinkle in his eyes.
'Do not be afraid to shake a few branches.'
I turned and looked ahead of me, wondering what his motif had been for that. The mantra repeating in my head so much that I almost could ignore the constant burn of the ring on my finger. I was handed a leather briefcase that looked a lot like the one Newt had been toting around and shown the front door.
Then I saw the most golden opportunity.
A leather briefcase sat right by the man I had spoken to's feet. Another man was chatting with him and seemed to have put it down to search his pockets for something. The words rattled in my head once more before I tripped on my own two feet and nearly took out the two men.
"I am so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" I exclaimed with embarrassment before picking myself and the suitcase up. The new man sneered at me, giving me an up and down look with a whisper menace on his face before I politely excused myself and continued to follow my escort to the doors.
Once we were outside, surprisingly not going out actual doors but rather the side door to an old building, the man escorting me turned and offered a hand politely to me. I looked at it for a moment.
"I am going to apparate us there Ma'am. I need you to grab my arm." He said patiently. I gulped before gently touching his arm. Immediately the nausea got to me as I was tossed this way and that in the void. When we landed I felt ill again, but the man simply waited for me to gather my bearings before leading me up some steps. It was only then that I really took in the architecture of the city, the odd noises, and lack of electric buzzing (at least the amount I was used to).
The man showed me to a flat that had all the basics I imagined were important in this day and age before turning to me.
"Apologies Miss, but it really is for the best." He said before procuring his wand. I stared down at it for a moment before biting my lip and turning around.
"You seem like a nice guy, I've never done this to a nice guy." I said.
"What-"
I spun around and slammed the suitcase into the side of the man's head. He fell to the ground, but I then hit him once more to make sure he was out before apologizing profusely and then feeling bad and pulling him onto the couch and getting something cool from the fridge for his head.
My feet fled out the door then and down the road, practically jogging with both my purse and suitcase in my hands. Not a clue where I was planning to go, but a single individual clear in my mind as I clutched the leather suitcase tighter.
So...It's been a while...
shortly after my last update my keyboard snapped. Literally shattered, when I was going between classes my bag wasn't properly shut and it fell out and shattered. I do not have any other means to get on the internet save for my phone, so I couldn't write anything until I bought a new ipad keyboard... Which wasn't a big problem. I bought it in february from the states... And it came in 3 days ago. Ugh.
So not too too much has happened... I'm sorry but I was really wanting to push this out before I write a midterm tomorrow. I'm hoping nobody has given up on this story, I really have written a lot for it! If anyone is curious, this is taking place in January of 1926, and the movie will take place in November.
I really want everyone's opinions, I plan to make this a big story and hopefully get on a twice per month updating schedule.
Also someone addressed concern about whether I will be 'glossing over' the abuse. Not sure if I said this, but I tend to put things that will come forth far later in the story in the first few chapters so I can loop back to them. The abuse issues probably won't be overly visible at first, but they will definitely be indicated later on.
PLease review! I need all the motivation I can get right now!
Iland Girl