Mnemosyne [ Newt Scamander ~ NewTina ~ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ]

Part 29

Gloriana Scamander said nothing, but stood tight-lipped, surveying the group on her lawn. She turned on her heel.

"Come along. I need to put up my tack, then I'll join you and your guests in the drawing room."

Newt's mouth dropped open to object—he wanted to speak with her privately—but then he realized how futile his objections would be and merely said,

"Yes, Mother."

She strode away in the direction of the tackroom and Newt was left to gesture nervously at his friends. Finally he coaxed them up the gravel drive toward the house. Although it had looked familiar from the air, as they drew closer Newt joined his friends in their overwhelm at the huge facade and how it dwarfed them as they approached.

The red sandstone of the building stood out starkly against the pale gray of the sky and the brown lawn to either side of the drive. Two tall towers flanked the huge front door. Several more echoed down either side of the building, breaking up the bulk.

"This—you call this a house?" Jacob asked.

"It looks more like a—" Queenie hesitated.

"A castle," Tina finished for her. "You grew up here?"

Newt ducked his head.

"Yes—and you're not wrong exactly. The house has never been a fortress, that is, it's never been under attack. At least, not in its present form. But you'll see—we don't use the entire house. It's really much less impressive inside."

They reached the stairs that lead up to the wide pointed arch of the doorway. The heavy dark wooden door, studded with dull metal, creaked open to admit them.

Newt held out his hand to Tina, and she just barely brushed his palm with her fingertips. Her eyes were still wide, trying to take in all the sights around her. Newt stayed perfectly still until he had her attention. Queenie and Jacob stopped two stairs below Tina and looked around up at the parapets, back at the stables, barely visible across the lawn, down the drive in the direction they came to where one could make out a huge wrought iron gate set in a high stone wall that stretched off into the woods on either side of the lawn.

"Tina," Newt said, once her eyes found his face. "I know it all looks very grand. And there's a reason for all that. But we really are just— people. You'll see. If it's hard it's not going to be because of the grounds or the hall—it's because of the people. So stay on guard, and please follow my lead. We don't need to tell them everything right away, alright?"

Tina looked troubled, but she nodded.

Newt lead them through the high entry hall which contained a grand stair leading up to the second story. There were huge portraits on the walls. Queenie walked up to one, a portly man with a red handlebar mustache in full military dress complete with sash and medals.

"They're still!" she said. "Are all these nomaj paintings?"

The man with the mustache winked at her, but then the portrait returned to stillness.

"Some of them were painted by muggles, yes," said Newt. "But as you can see they seem to have gained a little wizarding character from hanging in the house so long. We have regular portraits in the family gallery, but it's kept separate from this front part of the house."

Newt led them past a library, a dining room, two sitting rooms and a kitchen. There was a small pointed arch door set into the wall, half-covered with a tapestry of a knight confronting a dragon with an undersized sword. Newt pulled this back far enough to open the door with his wand. He motioned the others to go through the door ahead of him. Even the ladies had to duck their heads down to get through the door, which Newt closed securely after he'd stepped through.