A/N: Srry Newt. Maybe. This is actually a really long chapter, perhaps I shoulda broken it up...
Newt didn't know the day. He didn't know what time it was. He didn't know where he was either. It was almost like he was floating in a dark abyss. The only reason Newt knew that he was alive was the dull throbbing in his head, and the feeling of chains wrapped around his body. Other than that, it was dark and quiet. Not a breath of wind stirred. He was alone. For a while Newt just sat there. He willed himself to awaken, but he was afraid of who'd he find when he did. Slowly, Newt opened his heavy eyelids.
He was in a stone chamber of sorts. There was a cold air draft somewhere. There were bars in the small window above him, which shined feeble sunlight on him. The door to his prison cell was also made of metal bars, which zapped with a kind of electricity. Probably from some spell of Grindelwald's.
He didn't know how long he sat there. It may have been hours or minuets, but he heard soft footsteps walking along the stone floor. Their mind was very quiet, except for the low buzzing sound it made. Newt tensed a little, whoever it was, they weren't going to be very nice, Newt was sure of that.
Grindelwald walked in front the prison cell, staying well away from the bars. He wore a white tunic, and black trousers along with black boots. His eyes watched Newt intently, piercingly. He smirked.
"Good morning, Mr. Scamander. Did you sleep well?" he asked teasingly. He was fingering the wand.
"I've had better days." Newt replied hoarsely. Grindelwald's smile broadened. "Yes, you probably have."
Newt wasn't sure where this was going. Grindelwald muttered a spell and opened the cell door with a creak. He walked in quietly and started to circle Newt, like a cat stalking its prey. Newt merely stared ahead. "I'm sorry to say that I underestimated you, Newt." He brushed the tip of his wand across Newt's cheek. Newt flinched slightly.
"You're powerful. Very powerful." Grindelwald stopped circling and looked into Newt's eyes inquisitively. Newt looked away. "Let's see how well you'll react to this spell." Then, quicker than Newt could blink, Grindelwald had pointed his wand, "Legilimens!"
Newt, reacting quickly, blocked his mind from Grindelwald's prying fingers. Apparently, Grindelwald wasn't expecting Newt's quick reaction. It seemed like an invisible barrier had pushed him back a few feet. Anger flickered through his eyes.
"Learned in Occlumency are we?" Grindelwald spoke. "How good are you at it when in pain? Crucio!"
Pain seared through Newt's body, like white-hot knives piecing repeatedly into him. His headache spiked extremely high. Suddenly, Newt felt Grindelwald trying to pry into his mind again. Desperately, Newt pushed his energy to block him, his body was shaking uncontrollably.
Grindelwald staggered back. The amount of energy Newt just pushed on him was too much for him to bear. The boy was slumped against the chains confining him to the wooden chair. His breathing was ragged and heavy. He had used to much magical energy, and now his body was reacting to it the only way it knew how; more pain.
Grindelwald smirked. He knew now that if he did this, Newt would soon become too weak to block him from finding out how to harness Newt's power.
For the next two hours, Newt was trapped to the torture Grindelwald inflicted upon him. Grindelwald was growing weary and still had not penetrated Newt's mind. He is strong…he thought as he left the prison cell.
Vinda waited for him outside the dungeons. She looked at him with a question in her eyes. Grindelwald shook his head slightly a fierce look in his eyes.
Newt hurt all over. His body screamed pain, but he refused to cry out, showing Grindelwald how much it hurt him. All he wanted was rest. With the last of his strength, Newt opened his mind, reaching out to someone, or anything. Finally, he found a mind that was at rest and quiet. Peaceful. Newt rapped his own mind around the other mind. He could be at peace for now. The creature must have felt Newt's presence because it asked, "Hello?"
Newt found that the voice was a little jumbled and hard to understand. It must be an animal. He thought weakly. He was about to answer the voice when all he knew was darkness and quiet.
Grindelwald had slipped back into the dungeons. He pulled up a chair at the door, sitting down. In the cell before him, Grindelwald watched the sleeping form of the boy in front of him. He was pale and trembled slightly. Gellert watched him intently looking for some way to get to his mind. Maybe, just maybe, he could enter Newt's mind while he was asleep.
Grindelwald pulled out his wand, muttering "Legilimens." Usually, when Grindelwald wanted in someone's mind to find something, it was very easy. But this was not the case for the boy sitting chained in the chair, even while he slept! Gellert found the Newt had instinctively put up a 'barrier,' in his mind, hindering Gellert from getting to him. Again, Grindelwald was surprised at how powerful this man, who was as skinny as a stick, really was.
Newt jerked up from his sleep, finding Grindelwald looking at him intently. Anger and fear flickered through Newt's eyes for a split second that Grindelwald almost thought he had imagined it. Newt looked at Gellert warily, he seemed unable to hold himself up.
Grindelwald stood up abruptly, he was grinning with a mischievous glint in his eyes again. He had come up with a brilliant idea. Maybe if he couldn't penetrate Newt's mind within the next week, he could force him to... Yes…this could work. Grindelwald could be patient. In the meantime, he had some things to plan, messages to send…
November 6, 1938
A tapping noise at the window of his office woke Dumbledore up. He glanced out the window, the beautiful morning sun blinding him for a second. Albus noticed a large barn owl sitting perched outside on the window ledge. His round yellow eyes investigated Albus' blue ones. The owl tapped at the window again.
Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Albus stood up from his chair and opened the window, holding out his arm. The large owl flew up lightly and put his talons carefully on Albus' outstretched arm. The cool morning air blew softly through the open window and birds were chirping in the trees. Newt would love this. If only he was here. Albus thought mournfully.
Spotting the letter tied roughly on the owl's leg, Dumbledore untied the knot. He looked at the envelope labeled Albus. It was in a familiar tidy script. Albus' eyes widened slightly. It was Grindelwald's handwriting. Albus wondered dimly why Grindelwald would be writing to him. Perhaps it was about Newt!
Excitedly Dumbledore walked to his desk. He gently placed the owl down, one hand holding the letter. Albus quickly slit open the envelope, disregarding all possible spells that could have been placed on it.
Albus,
My dear old friend.
It has been a long while sense I have seen you; has it not? Now let's not get distracted. I have a friend of yours, Newt Scamander. I must say, I wasn't expecting him to be so…resilient. He seems to be weak, but he is not: you have trained him well. As for the future of this boy, you have one week to declare that I am the leader of the Wizarding and Muggle World. If you have not done so by the end of that week, Newton Scamander will be publicly executed, and it will not be short or pain free. I know that you're fond of the boy, but would you rather save one life and risk the whole world, or would you rather save the world and lose one life. The boy's life is now in your hands my dear brother,
Gellert,
Whatever Albus was expecting, it wasn't this. He was trembling so much that he had to sit down. Albus absentmindedly brushed his hand along the barn owl's soft feathers. What was he going to do? If he saved Newt, the world would die. If he saved the world, Newt would die. Perhaps there was another way.
First, though, Albus had to tell the others. Standing up and grabbing his jacket from its hanger, Albus walked quickly out of his office door, the letter still held tightly clenched in his hand. His shoes clicked on the hard stone floor, and the sunlight shone brightly through the tall windows in the halls.
Albus walked quickly out of Hogwarts castle, past the large clock tower and into the courtyard. There he followed the well-worn path towards Hogsmeade. It took about thirty minutes to walk through the muddy road and into the picturesque village. The cool autumn wind blew non-too gently now, leaves dancing across the path.
Albus looked up at the sign as he walked into the Hogs Head. It was dimly lit, and there was not much furniture, but hey, the room was comfortable and cozy. Albus walked along the creaky wooden floors, still slightly in a daze, and found the group sitting at the table glumly.
Theseus looked like a ghost. He had dark bags under his eyes. His usually erect, and straight posture was now slumped and tired. He was also still wearing his clothes from yesterday. Theseus wasn't eating either, he only played with his food, his head resting on his hand which was on the table. Dumbledore doubted that he even went to bed.
The others looked better then Theseus, but that wasn't to say they weren't suffering. Tina was also playing with her food, but she was wearing fresh clothes and looked like she got some rest. Queenie's usual joyful and happy eyes were now tired and dim, yet still shone of hope. She was eating a little bit. Jacob on the other hand was stress eating. He seemed to not be able to stop, although it was with little and small bites that he did eat his food. Jacob also seemed well rested and hopeful. Lally was not to be found.
Tina looked up when she saw Albus walk into the room. Her eyes grew hopeful and questioning. Dumbledore held up the letter, pulling up a chair next to Theseus' sad form. Aberforth and his son, Aurelius walked in holding some bowls of more soup. Lally also walked into the room, a book in her nose.
"Any news, Professor?" Queenie questioned. (She was not able to read Dumbledore's mind because he was so well trained in Occlumency.)
"Yes, but I'm afraid it is bad." Replied Dumbledore sadly, "Grindelwald has sent me a letter by owl. He says that if I do not tell the wizarding world that he is leader, Grindelwald will publicly execute Newt. He wrote that it will not be fast and pain free. Grindelwald also reminded me that if I save him, I risk the world. If I save the world, I kill Newt." Dumbledore buried his head into his hands.
Tina gasped, her eyes filled with sorry and worry. Theseus was in a daze; his fists were clenched in anger.
"Do you know where the owl came from?" he asked.
Dumbledore shook his head and said in a muffled voice, "I didn't check. Besides, Gellert is a smart wizard; he'll have taken every precaution."
"Even if it's fruitless, I still will do anything to find any clue about Newt's whereabouts." Theseus said passionately, "It's my fault he's gone. I should have paid more attention!"
"Theseus! No, it's not your fault!" Queenie gasped, "Why would you think that it's your fault?"
"Because, I'm his older brother, I should have protected him! And I wasn't there!" Theseus cried out, disregarding all manners. The tears flowed from his eyes uncontrollably, he was mad, he was scared, he was sad. Dumbledore had expected this outburst. He hugged Theseus speaking in soft tones. They stayed like that for a while, Albus rubbing Theseus' back in slow, steady circles. He whispered gentle and encouraging words.
When he was finally under control, the group headed back to Hogwarts castle. Excitement coursed through Lally's body. If she could just see the owl, Lally thought that she would know the correct spell to trace it back to its origins, unfortunately there were a few minor drawbacks. If Grindelwald had used several different owls to send the message, (which he probably had,) Lally could only be able to trace the owl back to where it had gotten the message. Hopefully, the spell would lead them to a different owl and that owl to a different one, and so on, until they found Newt.
Dumbledore opened his classroom's doors, walking along the stone floor. He led them up the short flight of stairs to his room. Lally looked on Albus' desk and found the large barn owl resting. Dumbledore glanced at her, knowingly. "Perhaps you have a spell that will help us in our search?"
Lally grinned, lifting her wand. Muttering a few well-chosen words, a map formed in Lally's other hand. On the map was a red pin, shiny brightly, all the way from Mont St. Michel, France.
"France?" muttered Tina, thoughtfully.
"There's a small wizarding community there, but I've heard that most people there are criminals and traitors." Theseus spoke, "It could be the perfect hiding place for Grindelwald. It's surrounded by waters, and high cliffs, it's also a well-fortified castle. As far as I know, no one would think twice about going there. In addition, there's so many strange Muggle tourists that a wizard could hid in plain sight and wouldn't be noticed."
"At least this gives us a lead. The earliest I can get us there is probably by this afternoon." Albus said, hands in his trouser pockets. Once again, the usually twinkling was in his sharp, blue eyes.
Lally smiled, folding up the map. "What do we do when we get there?" Asked Jacob, looking at Albus.
"Let's not worry about the future just yet instead let's just focus on the present, or else we might miss some important detail." Answered Albus wisely.
"Did you just make that up?" Queenie asked, giggling slightly. Dumbledore smiled, eyes crinkling, "No, actually. That is something that the Dumbledore's have passed down from generation to generation."
"Mum said that a lot. Especially when I would get worried about what would happen to Adrina. She was a good teacher." Aberforth spoke thoughtfully. Queenie jumped a little. She hadn't realized that he had followed them; his mind was also blank.
"Theseus?" Tina questioned. Theseus looked away from the sunny window, and to Tina. He hummed to show he was listening. "We're going to need you to get us into the Ministry."
"Oh, right." There was a pause, not an awkward, but more as a small breath of air after being under water for what felt like eternity, "It's a shame the world should be so happy when the kindest, most humble person anyone's ever known is in the hands of the darkest wizard of our century." Theseus said softly. Another pause.
Lally headed towards the door, "Let's stop dwelling on what we can't do, and start doing what we can."
Jacob raised an eyebrow at Queenie, who then tried suppressing the urge to laugh, a smile tugging at her lips. Jacob rapped an arm around Queenie's waist, and they both walked out together, following Lally. Bunty, now holding Newt's old case, also walked out, Tina following close behind.
"Albus," Aberforth spoke quietly, "Whatever your ex-lover does to that boy…You must, must be prepared to stop him. Newt Scamander is too good and too kind. Don't let the world lose someone like him." There was a pleading look in his eyes, "He has saved my son many a time, and he has gotten me out of some terrible situations."
Albus looked at Aberforth with questioning in his eyes. "You're fond of the boy, aren't you?"
Aberforth blushed a little. "He's like my son, Albus. When no one else treated him kindly, he still saw me and saw my hurt, and helped me."
Theseus stood in the background, listening. "There was never a creature he couldn't love…" He muttered.
Grindelwald was happy. Which wasn't always a good thing, depending on the way you look at it. He was happy because he'd finally, finally gotten somewhere. If Dumbledore took the bait, then everything would be settled. In six days, this would all be over. Albus was too soft-hearted; of course, he would try to get Newt back, at all costs. Grindelwald had lied about giving him back, even if Albus declared him Supreme Mugwump. Newt was powerful and useful. Why would you give away something like that?
He walk down the cold, stone halls, his boots made tapping sounds every time he stepped. Vinda followed closely. She was a good acolyte, as where the Carrows. But unlike the Carrows, Vinda would do everything without question, and she did it well. Gellert enjoyed having her around, she was witty and intelligent, not like all the other knuckleheads that blindly followed orders. Perhaps, though, someone else would come along soon enough…
Turing around abruptly, Grindelwald faced Vinda, who also had stopped a few feet behind him. "Sir?" She asked, one eyebrow slightly raised.
Grindelwald smiled, "Are you feeling up for a trip?" He asked.
Vinda now smirked, her dark eyes lighting up with mischievous intent. "I'd love to go, sir."
"Good. Grab the prisoner, he'll be playing a large role in this."
If Vinda was confused at this command, she hid it well. She tilted her head in a small bow and walked stiffly down the hall again.
Gellert continued forward, and to his study. He opened the heavy, dark oak door. His study was dimly lit. There was a fireplace, where a fire danced about. His desk was also made of dark oak; quills stood in the respective ink bottles, paper was organized cleanly on his desk, and where also some books laying neatly on the desk. The carpet was made of a rich red color, with gold bindings and intricate details. Cabinets stood at the walls, holding more books and queer objects which twirled or made little buzzing noises. At the very end of the room was windows, which displayed a spectacular view of the German Alps, and the moon shone brightly; dark green curtains hung on the wall. Underneath the window sat tables with potions brewing and ingredients. The walls were painted with dark blue.
Walking to his desk, the carpet muffling his footsteps, Gellert sat down. He filed through some papers, organizing and re-organizing while he waited. Soon he heard someone knock smartly at the door. "Come in," he called loftily.
Vinda entered the room, one hand holding her wand, and her other hand holding Newt's forearm tightly. Newt was paler than before, and his left leg seemed to be limbing more than usually. He was also bleeding and bruised. And yet, through all the pain Newt went through, he still held a determined and resolute look in his prostrate eyes.
Once again, Gellert was astounded at the display of strength Newt showed. Grindelwald raised an eyebrow tauntingly, daring Newt to talk to him. Newt looked at him calmly, still struggling to stand. Grindelwald broke the silence, "I must say, Mr. Scamander. I am quite surprised at how you have stayed strong for so long. Even Auror's, who suffered less than you, broke easily."
Newt glanced at the ground before answering, "I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not." He said quietly.
Grindelwald let out a cold laugh. "My dear boy, that is a compliment." Newt didn't laugh, instead he just stood there, shaking. "But enough of the mannerisms. I have sent your beloved Professor a message. He has two choices, the first to declare me Supreme Mugwump, and I would give you back to him, or second, to not say anything and you will die. I want to know your opinion."
Newt found it tempting to accept the first option, but the goodness in his heart outweighed the selfishness. "I'd rather him not to do anything. It would be better for the world."
Grindelwald raised his eyebrows. "No wonder Albus is so fond of you," he spoke thoughtfully, "You have a pure heart Mr. Scamander. I wonder if it you kill you to know that your friends are headed for danger?"
Newt's head jerked up; eyes widened. Grindelwald had pulled a candle near him and was now lighting a letter on fire. He watched the flame devore the parchment before elaborating what he meant. "I allowed the letter I sent to be traced back to where it came from, France. Of course, knowing Albus, he would do anything to find his favorite student. He doesn't know that it's a trap. If things go as planned, which they usually do, your group of friends should be dead by morning."
Grindelwald watched Newt's face intently, looking for any type of reaction. At first a flash a fear crossed his eyes but was soon replaced with anger. "Dumbledore is an intelligent man; he would never do such a thing as that."
"Oh, but he has done it. I just got word from a friend of mine in France that they arrived not five hours ago." Grindelwald smiled, "He must miss you very much to be risking a lot."
Newt took a sharp intake of breath, jerking his forearm out of Vinda's grip. He staggered to Grindelwald's desk. "Then I will stop you if it's the last thing I do." Before anyone could react, Newt had spined on his heal and Apparated away.
Grindelwald cursed, jumping up. How could he be so daft? He should have remembered to put the spells back on his room. "Vinda, gather the people and get a search team out. Now!" He growled furiously. Vinda nodded quickly, her face taking on a serious form. She pointed her wand at the ceiling, muttering an incantation, then rushed from the room.
Grindelwald placed his hands on the desk, fuming. Taking a deep, calming breath, Grindelwald walked out of the room with a steely face. Although he seemed to be calm, anger seemed to radiate off him. Everyone was gathered in the courtyard, looking up at him obediently.
Grindelwald placed his hands on the railing in front of him and pointed his wand at his throat. "Sonorus." He muttered; his voice magically magnified. "My good people and allies. An important prisoner of mine has escaped from our clutches, due to a slight mistake, he is the key to winning this war. Find him and bring him to me. He shouldn't have been able to get too far, he was a bit weak. Although I warn you to not underestimate him; he his extremely powerful. Go." The wizards and witches nodded, and the moment Grindelwald had finished giving instructions, they all immediately Apparated or rushed from the castle. The hunt had begun.
