Crescendo: A Fantastic Beasts Newtina Fanfiction

Chapter 15

       Newt raised his fist to knock on the wooden door in front of him. However, before he even touched the door, it swung open, and a woman with a head of curly orange hair appeared. Her name was Florence Scamander.

       "Newton!" she cried, pulling him into a strangling hug. "You're back!"

       "Mum, I've only been gone for a week!" Newt managed to choke out.

       Completely ignoring this, his mother took a step back and examined him from head to toe. A stream of questions flowed from her mouth. "How have you been? Have you been getting enough to eat? You look too skinny, Newton, if you'd just let me fatten you up some more...How was New York? I hope you didn't get arrested again? Was it too cold there? Was your girlfriend happy to see you? Did she like your book?"

       Newt blushed. "Mum...she's not my girlfriend!"

       His mother ignored this, too, and instead grabbed his arm and pulled him into the house. "Come, your father and Theseus will be so happy to see you!"

       They entered the living room, and an opened newspaper was lying on the coffee table. It was flipped open to a page that had Newt's moving picture on it, and the headline read 'Newt Scamander, author of the bestselling Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, loses Niffler in New York park'. 

       Newt's mother caught sight of it, and the maternal expression on her face was instantly replaced by one a disapproval. "Oh, and I've been meaning to send you a letter about that Niffler incident, Newton...", she began.

       Newt gulped and braced himself, knowing what was about to come.

       "NEWTON ARTEMIS FIDO SCAMANDER, HOW COULD YOU LOSE THAT NIFFLER, AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME? DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU GOT ARRESTED? AND HERE YOU GO AGAIN, LETTING THAT NIFFLER WREAK HAVOC IN A PARK FULL OF MUGGLES! DID YOU EVEN THINK OF YOUR POOR MOTHER'S FRAIL OLD HEART? I RAISED YOU TO KNOW BETTER, NEWTON! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF! I NEARLY HAD A HEART ATTACK WHEN I SAW YOUR FACE IN THE PAPER! AGAIN!"

       Newt, looking absolutely terrified, tried to sneak away. 

       "–OH NO YOU DON'T, MISTER! GET YOUR BUTTOCKS BACK HERE, I'M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET!"

       He winced, and looked around for help, but the room was empty. Ferocious, angry beasts he could deal with, but his angry mother? That was a whole other matter.

       "THESEUS HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS! BE MORE LIKE YOUR BROTHER, NEWT! Well, actually there was that one time where he almost burned down the Hippogriff stables," Florence muttered as an afterthought. "NEVER HAVE I BEEN SO EMBARRASED BY YOU, NEWTON, I HAVE HALF A MIND TO GIVE YOU A GOOD OLD FASHIONED SPANKING RIGHT NOW!"

       "Mum, I'm an adult, you can hardly–" he protested, but was interrupted by his mother again.

       "DO YOU KNOW WHAT MY FRIENDS SAID WHEN THEY SAW THE PAPER? DO YOU?!  THAT'S RIGHT, YOU DON'T! I NEVER THOUGHT THAT YOU WOULD TURN OUT TO BE LIKE THIS, NEWTON. YOU WERE SUCH A GOOD BABY, NEVER CRIED OR ANYTHING–except when Theseus stole Mr. Nibbles from you once–and when he broke your favorite pink pacifier–"

       Newt groaned in embarrassment. "Mum...please stop, you're embarrassing me. And Mr. Nibbles was a good teddy bear!" he added defensively.

       His mother's mood changed yet again. "Oh, I still have him! I can take him out of the attic so you can cuddle with him if you'd like."

       By this point, all Newt wanted to do was sink to the floor and never get up again. "Er– no thanks, Mum, I don't particularly feel like cuddling with my childhood teddy bear at the moment..." he muttered.