Beasts Within Us | Newt Scamander

11. One of Us.

  Footsteps echo in the chambers that they're locked in. Three MACUSA officials in white coats approach the cell. Keys jingle as they unlock the door and pull the wizards from it. Their shackles clank together as they are led to a basement away from the cell.

  Newt turns looking back at his friend, Jacob. "It was good to make your acquaintance, Jacob. I hope you get your bakery." He says his last words to the no-maj.

  Jacob stands by the door, clutching the cold iron bars staring at them until the darkness engulfs them. He's afraid for his life, in a cell of a magical prison. All alone. He waves at the wizard with sorrow in his eyes.

"What are they gonna do to me?" He thinks to himself.

————- ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  They're pushed into a cramped room with empty and lifeless walls with no windows. There's a table and chairs in the middle of the room with Officer Graves occupying one of them. Newt is forced to sit in the chair opposite of him. A blinding light shines over his face. He squints, adjusting to look at Graves with multi-colored spots skewing his vision. Esther and Tina stand against a wall with the other two executioners on either side of them.

Silence.

  "You're an interesting man, Mr.Scamander." Graves starts, flipping the pages of the wizard's criminal file.

  "Mr.Graves," Tina interjects stepping forward to him.

  Graves presses a finger to his lips, signaling silence of the former auror. She finds the authoritative gesture patronizing but bows her head looking at the floor submissively, stepping back into the shadows next to Esther.

  "You were removed from Hogwarts for endangering human life-" "It was an accident!" Newt shouts at the officer's words, " -With a beast. But, one of the professors argued strongly against your expulsion. So, what makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you? " he asks the wizard in question.

  Newt ponders the thought. "Why is he?" He thinks. "I wish I could tell you, but I don't have the slightest idea, " he answers.

  "So setting a pack of dangerous creatures loose here was just another accident, is that right?"

  The wizard's eyes narrow, turning his head to the side. "Why would I do it deliberately?"

  Esther steps forward, shrugging Tina's arm back from withdrawing her. "He would never do that. His creatures could get seriously-" "Officer Burns!" Graves shouts at her before she could finish.

  She recoils in fear. She covers her ears to muffle his booming voice and forces her eyes shut. Tina pulls the witch back as Esther desperately grabs for the aurors hand. The auror winces at the sharp pain from her friend's nails piercing her skin.

  "So, you didn't release them to expose the wizardkind? To provoke a war between the magical and non-magical worlds?" The officer suggests.

  The wizard's eyes brows raise. "Mass slaughter... For the greater good, you mean?" He emphasizes.

  "Yes. Exactly. " the officer nods.

  "I'm not one of Grindelwald's fanatics, Mr.Graves." He responds shaking his head profusely.

  Newt's words brush the officer the wrong way. His demeanor changes to aggression.

  "What can you tell me about this, Mr.Scamander?" Graves asks.

  He lifts his hand from under the table to reveal an oily sphere. An obscurus. It belongs in Newt's case. The officer places it on the desk. It pulses as the ribbons swirl from its clear encasement. It hisses at the light shining above it.