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

Part 50

Several days passed, with each of the Scamanders charged with visiting and revisiting the enclosures of their largest creatures to make absolutely certain that all was secure. Theseus had been staying in London with a friend, but would there was little more than a week now until his guest would arrive and there was still much to be done. On a cold and windy afternoon, Newt was coming around the back garden at Blethering House from the stables when he ran into Tina as she stepped out of Salsify's garden. It felt strange to casually run into her since he'd been careful to make sure that she had company and entertainment and not to neglect her, but at the same time he had tried to only spend time with Tina in company. She lloked so herself this afternoon though, that Newt felt hopeful seeing Tina so engaged and purposeful and involved with family life at Blethering. Family life for the Scamanders was, of course, deeply tied to their charge to protect and care for the creatures they lived with, great and small. All the many interactions were part of their overall purpose. The winged horses and hippogriffs were of course very helpful for getting someone to ride point and cast any invisibility spell touch-ups on Reggie or her mate as they flew, while various creatures provided sustenance, protection, or ingredients. It was slightly brutal, as most farming life was, but it was functional.

Glorianna had been bulking up the stables with fliers since they would soon have to exercise not two dragons, but possibly up to ten, which boggled the mind. It might take as little as one year or as many as three before they would be able to return to the wilds of Eastern Europe with their father and fend for themselves. And of course one would be staying with Reggie to train up as the next White Dragon, at least, that was their hope.

But Theseus' little Christmas party was putting quite a damper on preparations. There should already be cousins flooding in, ready to work the moment that the hatchlings emerged from their shells. Instead, his mother was going over lavish dinner menus with Jacob and drilling Queenie on proper legillimency etiquette. Poor Queenie. She'd had almost a rougher time of it here than Tina, and that was saying something. At least Tina was free to roam around and had made something of a friend in Salsify. Queenie was too much in the house and the cabin to spend all that much time with Sal, who was tending her greenhouse or doing magical-creature-related chores most of the time. What with how she'd been worked over the past couple of years, Dumbledore might offer her the Care of Magical Creatures post, even if it wasn't her preference.

Newt waved at Tina and she smiled over at him, and hurried to his side.

"Salsify's got me trying to memorize all the uses of herbs on hippogriffs. I think she thinks you've been slacking off because of that poor guy who was injured and stuck in your case."

Newt grimaced. He was never going to live that one down, was he?

"If she really wants to teach you something useful, you could ask her to research some remedies for calming graphorns. I've got a male that I'm hoping to breed with the female Queenie's been calling Princess when she's old enough, but he's very cagey. Something must have happened to him to make him so mistrustful. I keep intending to spend more time with him but I'm just overwhelmed with all the tasks and as much as I love my work, being at home has also given me other obligations-"

"Like what?" Tina looked back at where he'd come from. "Where were you earlier?"

"I was riding one of the horses down to the village."

"Jeez that's crazy! You rode a flying horse right into a village of muggles? I know you said it's an exception to the Statute, but this place is insane-"

Tina's eyes were bulging out slightly, which made Newt laugh. Even if she didn't remember it, she had been suspended merely for saving a boy from pain in front of muggles. Even though all of them had been safely obliviated, she'd been demoted to wand registration permits, something that crushed her ambitions. When had Tina stopped caring about the appearance of things and become the bold witch that he had met in New York?