Lost and Found [Newt Scamander]

Prologue

Khelben 'Kel' Gideon Barnes was a little drunk when he first got the letter.

Not terribly so that he couldn't read or walk in a straight line. Just enough that his head felt a little lighter and his heart wasn't beating as hard.

They had just finished a job in Egypt, a dragon breeder raising an illegal litter and selling them off for the price of a meager owl.

Peruvian Vipertooths were smooth and copper-colored dragons. Venomous, small, and fast. They had no business being in Egypt and bred in a small countinghouse and just as equally had no business in being able to breathe fire.

It was clear the breeder hadn't known what she was doing or was simply too ignorant to realize it.

Kel walked away from the whole ordeal scorched and nursing an elixir as tall and wide as half his forearm, clutching it close to his lips as he stumbled forward to the tent he and the rest of his team had conjured weeks ago when first summoned.

"Another one already? We've just finished." Ellis Woodward commented, throwing back a Simison Steaming Stout, a beer that emitted smoke in wide puffs each time Ellis raised the bottle to his lips. He was equally as charred, a long black streak broke through and left a long jarred tear in his left sleeve, or rather— where the fabric of the sleeve had once been. The underneath exposed pale skin was still clean and untouched as a courtesy of the fire-resistant clothing they were provided with before they knew a dragon that was only supposed to be venomous could also set them alike like a match just as easily.

"Yeah," Kel said, brows knotting as he sat back down on one of the plethora of cushions and chairs within the tent, breaking the Ministry of Magic seal on the envelope and reading its contents. Sobriety hit him like a freight train and the words before him arranged themselves in their proper order as if there wasn't any world in which anyone wouldn't be able to read its stories.

"I can take that one for you, Kel. You rest, take the next one." Amandine Johnstown said, a head of vibrant red hair appearing as she entered the tent. She looked better than the rest of the men in the tent tenfold, having found the energy to change and wash as soon as they got back. She was perhaps one of the fiercest of them all and someone Kel held in high regard.

"No, no, I will," Kel said, muttering as he read and reread the letter, eyes scanning the elegant scrawl of the Minister.

"Are you sure? You look half-dead. I think the venom may be getting to you." The woman pressed like she was scolding him rather than looking for an argument.

Kel shook his head and brushed the stray locks of wavy black hair that had fallen into his eyes. "I'm fine." He said, tipping the elixir back and draining the rest of its components down his throat. He held his breath as he fought the sudden urge to throw it all up again. A foul thing it was. Worse that he had brewed it himself in haste, as he was the only one it seemed, who was proficient enough in potions to brew a cure for venom consumption. Agrippa, bouncing spider juice, dragon liver, mistletoe berry, and cinnamon.

He was the only one who had a thorough run-in with the beast's venom after his attempt to pull Ellis out of the way when he tripped over the dragon's tail proved to be unsuccessful.

"When do you leave?" Conwell McGiblry asked, the final member of their little crew. He was also the only one from London alongside Kel. Hogwarts. He had been two years above them but to this day they still got along well enough to tackle dragons and rogue Arours alike.

"Now, it seems," Kel said, setting the goal the elixir had been in on the table in front of them. He stood, his tall figure towering over the rest of them as they continued to sit. He was tall and had to duck just to enter the tent before it expanded within. "It has been a pleasure working with each and every one of you. I wish you all success in your future endeavors. May we see each other again." He spoke, addressing their hazardous assigned team, individuals- each with certain skills that made the Ministry believe they would best work with each other to solve the specific issue.

The letter this time did not mention anything about a team nor did it mention working individually. He assumed it would be best to hold his questions until he could return to the Ministry and then, to America.

He left his crew and the tent behind him, the letter in his hands open once more as he read the words a final third time to make sure the venom hadn't caused him to hallucinate.

Slowly, a small, nervous smile crept onto his face against his better control as he once more read the name of the man who was supposedly behind the new magical disturbances. His heart resumed its normal rhythm, quickening just as quickly as it did whatever it pleased in the new solidarity the outside offered him. His smile was small as he grinned at no one. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

And then he was gone, apparating away to headquarters and then, if all went well, to New York.

Behind him in his wake, the letter sat wedged in the hot sand where he had once stood, the edges catching fire as it slowly licked at the message, engulfing the words that adorned it.

Khelben Gideon Barnes
Level 5. International Magical Office of Law
British Ministry of Magic Headquarters, Whitehall, London, England, Great Britain

Following the termination of Peruvian Vipertooth Case and accompanying, report to level six Department of Magical Transportation for the event of travel to New York City, America.
Events pertaining to that of one Newton Artemis Fido Scamander.

Read- magical disturbance, magical animal disturbance, muggle interference.