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

Part 41

Newt awoke the next morning with a start to a glowing golden orb that looked none too solid still managing to smack up against his forehead. Blearily he blinked and sat up and his mother's locator spell finally relented and stopped bopping him. Well, that was a nostalgic way to wake up. Newt yawned and realized that he'd spent the whole night sleeping with his face mashed against the hard surface of the ornate wooden desk they kept up in the owlery for posting letters. This was not at all how he intended to start the day, but at least he knew that he'd got that letter off to the midwife. He counted owls, just to be sure he actually had sent it. Yes, one was still gone. The location spell disappeared, and Newt realized that meant that his mother would know where he was, so he thought he ought to get moving.

He started to heft his case, but then thought better of it. The four owls still in the owlery were mostly sleeping, but they'd be sure to send up an alarm if anything happened to escape from his case. Also, noone but his mother knew he'd slept up here, and so they'd be far less likely to try to come and find his case. Tina especially wouldn't even know how to find the owlery, so she'd probably be far safer with it stowed up here. Looking around, Newt saw that there were a few sacks of feed in the corner. Carefully, he covered his case, and went downstairs in search of Tina and breakfast.

Newt went through the family corridor and knocked on the door of the Rose Room, but there was no answer. Downstairs he followed his nose to the kitchen where a pile of eggs and sausages was waiting in chafing dishes on the counter. Queenie and Jacob looked up from where they were finishing up what looked like a week's baking for the entire village. Neat rows of loafs levitated and slotted themselves into the oven after Jacob finished brushing them with melted butter.

"Good morning Newt!" chirped Queenie. "Coffee?" she held up a silver pot.

Newt blinked, and looked over to the table, where his mother and father sat, sharing sections of the Daily Prophet. Glorianna particularly looked pleased.

"Mother! You asked Queenie and Jacob to help with meals when Theseus' guests come." He frowned at her, but was not too proud to take a plate and fill it with the eggs and sausages on the counter. He'd only had a few bites of the suspicious pie the night before, after all. Newt accepted the cup that Queenie poured him and slumped into a chair at the breakfast table across from his parents. "You weren't to put them to work immediately."

Gloriana paused and gave him a look.

"I told them it wasn't necessary, but they insisted," she said. "And before you bolt all that sausage and run off looking for her, know that Salsify is showing Tina around the greenhouses. She'll be perfectly safe."

"And I don't think any of us are sorry to escape my turn for breakfast," said George, returning to the previous topic with a small smile. "No matter how much I try to tone down the broiling spell everything comes out at least a smidge crispier than I intend."

"We truly are lost without Mrs. Simmons and Katy. I can't tell you how fortunate we were to find them after we lost our house elves," said Gloriana.

"Lost your house elves?" asked Jacob, wiping his hands on a dish towel and turning toward the table. "How'd you do that?"

Newt focused his entire attention on his breakfast, rightly guessing that trying to give his own answer to that question would cause more trouble than hearing his mother's version of events for the umpteenth time.

Queenie sat down next to Newt and looked at Gloriana. "I didn't want to say, but with a place this size it's a little weird to be relying on no-maj help to take care of the place. I thought all the old castles in Europe came with at least a couple of house elves to keep them up."