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

Part 43

Newt looked out across the lake. There were of course many places that Theseus could have taken Queenie and Tina, but the most obvious one was the rocky outcropping that he and Salsify had been eying earlier. It would be just like Theseus to use his "position" to leapfrog over the better judgment of the rest of them. The air above the lake was wide open, and Newt wasn't sure he should follow them openly. While sneaking about was not his strong suit, Newt had to admit that he was very curious about what Theseus wanted to show Tina and Queenie, and even more about why.

He'd known that two well-connected MACUSA witches would be a draw for Theseus. Newt briefly entertained the idea that he was feeling jealous of Theseus, but that was not it exactly. Theseus was certainly not above using his very classic good looks to get whatever he wanted, but Newt had only ever heard of him being involved with anybody in the mildest of terms. He had never even begun courting anyone that Newt knew of. His name had been in the muggle society papers in connection with a few ladies whose brothers he'd gone to muggle university with, but Theseus had always laughed. As if he could become attached to a muggle. Of course he'd settle down and marry, he'd assured their mother, but it would have to be a witch. Otherwise there was too great a chance of the children being non-magical. Gloriana and George had looked at each other over the dinner table, but as usual they hadn't openly chastised Theseus.

Newt had half-wished that all Theseus' children turned out to be squibs, just to spite him, but that line of thinking would only come back to bite him, for then he'd be the heir, and suddenly become responsible for things that he had no interest in devoting his life to. Trade treaties and imports and exports were completely not his area, and to be confined to Blethering and never again allowed to travel would be awful. But still, he knew if there was truly no one else, he couldn't abandon the family duty completely. It was too important.

Looking below had yielded nothing, but when he crested a little bit of low-hanging cloud-cover, Corwin suddenly ducked back down. Newt looked up, and could see the silhouettes of three flying horses above him. The Aetherions that his mother bred were sleek and graceful. They were considered the classic mode of transport for elite wizarding families, but no winged horse was a match for a hippogriff in terms of strength or maneuverability. Corwin dropped back a few paces at Newt's urging, and then shot up, using an updraft of air to rise above the winged horses.

So far, their direction did seem to be taking them toward the rocky outcropping, but then they veered off. Newt caught a glimpse of the ground below, and realized that they'd reached the far side of the lake. At least Theseus was being sensible and dismounting before going up. Heaven knew she might not react well to seeing an aerial threat. Newt urged Corwin around the far side of the cloud cover, which conveniently touched down as mist in the stand of trees closest to Theseus and the girls. Corwin descended, and Newt thanked him for coming when he needed help. Corwin was ready to stand and stay with Newt, but he urged him to do what he liked, the next part would be fairly dodgy.

Newt looked out past a large pine and could see Tina and Queenie listening as Theseus expounded on something or other. Newt wished he had a listening spell at hand, but anything he knew would immediately be evident to Theseus. For all his bragging and scorn Theseus was a good wizard, and it would do not to forget it. Just because they had different talents didn't mean either of them was the better or worse magic user.

Growing up relatively isolated, as they had, had been hard on Theseus, and he'd made friends with the village boys in a way that Newt hadn't. But as soon as he'd been to Hogwarts, especially as soon as he'd been accepted into Slytherin, he would no longer meet his playmates in the village. His attitude changed completely, and he saw himself as above them, no matter how many times George and Gloriana made him muck out the stables without magic. He eventually learned to act as if he still enjoyed their company, to keep everyone happy. Indeed Theseus went out of his way to help wizards and muggles alike. George and Gloriana were relieved at this change in behavior, but Newt knew that inside Theseus still saw himself as a sort of benevolent ruler. And he certainly looked it as he spoke earnestly to the girls on the shore of the lake.

Tina was looking around herself, not seeming to attend Theseus at all. Newt watched her as she looked up at the craggy entrance, and felt a sudden hot rush. So maybe he was jealous after all. If should be him who was showing Tina their family's work—the only part of it he'd ever cared about—and not Theseus, who'd barely been able to take basic flight duties. He could rush in and interrupt them, but then he'd have to admit he'd been spying, and they'd know that he disapproved. It would once again set Theseus up as the open and reasonable one, and Newt as controlling and unhinged. How had this dynamic been reached so quickly?

Theseus seemed to have finished his grand speech, as he offered his arms to the Goldstein sisters. Oh, he was likely sidealong apparating them up to the top. The prohibition on apparation was absent in this part of the estate due to safety concerns. Newt looked back and saw that Corwin was still standing there. He would wait.

"Thank you," Newt said aloud. Then he thought of a place where he wouldn't be seen at the top of the hill. The whole thing looked like a pile of stones stacked haphazardly atop one another, but a little alcove off to the side offered some cover from the front, so he apparated. He had managed not to appear on top of the others, but it was a close thing. Newt peeked out and stared at Tina, feeling very silly for not revealing himself. But somehow he still didn't want to get caught. How far would Theseus go? What would he tell them about what was inside?

Tina was wearing a warm overcoat that may have belonged to Salsify, for while it fit at the top, it left her legs bare from the mid-thigh. Certainly it had been intended to be a little longer. She had mittens that she kept taking in and out of her pockets without actually putting them on. Newt hoped that someone had remembered to do a warming spell on her in the air, as he didn't know if that was something that she remembered. At least she was wearing a hat. This one was her own black cloche, which looked very well on her though Newt wasn't sure how warm it was. He wished Theseus would get on with things and get the girls out of the cold. Tina was standing on the side of Theseus closest to where he was and she her head swung around suddenly.

He ducked quickly, and she was distracted by Theseus' incantation to open the first level of enclosure spells. The way that he did it was very flashy, and very foolish, as he shouldn't ever speak a word of it aloud. Newt wanted to leap out and scold him, but he couldn't very well do that if he wanted to keep a low profile.

The place they were standing was a huge flat rock that they could stand on comfortably. It looked as though it stood before the entrance of a cave. That wasn't strictly true, as the rocky hills could not support a cavern large enough for the Scamander's purpose. But nevertheless, the entrance required them to stoop down and descend an uneven rocky stair. Theseus took the lead, then Queenie, who thank goodness was still wearing the necklace that his mother had found her, and then Tina, whose attention now seemed focused purely on what lay ahead.

Once they were a little further ahead, Newt stepped up to the entrance. He silently formed the words of the incantation in his mind, stepped through, and then neatly performed the charm to close the spell behind them. Had Theseus really been so careless or had he known Newt was there? He couldn't say, but stepping down into the rush of warm air, Newt couldn't help feeling excited. She'd scold him for taking so long to come see her. It had been over a year and now again he'd been at Blethering for days without coming up. Still, she'd always been unusually tolerant of him, and as uneasy as he felt about her favoritism when he stopped to think about it, being with her was always a pleasure.

They reached the landing where there was a kind of stone balcony that overlooked the the vast space. Theseus turned to the girls, raised his hands and said something theatrical, finishing up with an over-the-top, "Behold!" as they looked out across what had to be several quiddich pitches worth of space.

Newt nearly gave himself away by snorting aloud, but that was muffled by Queenie's squeak and Tina's indrawn breath as they saw what lay at the other side of the vastness of the space before them. It was a hollowed out depression in the rocky terrain, roofed by rock and lovingly filled with soft sand, the broader ceiling between here and there made entirely of the magic of generations of Scamanders. There was a bit of a rocky shelf to the back, but the entire area underneath was filled with glinting scales, that as one looked, slowly resolved themselves into two dragons, one nearly half again as large as the other, limbs and tails intertwined. The smaller one was bright gold and the size of one of the cottages in the village, while the larger one was much paler.

"I knew it was dragons!" Queenie exclaimed, laughing in wonder. "I just knew it!"

A/N: It's dragons! Please comment and vote if you can <3