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Instead of meeting up with his friends right away in Hogsmeade, Milo decided the best time to go into the Forbidden Forest was going to be when he didn't have any distractions around him. He knew Paden was safe with Cedric, Heidi, and Max, probably enjoying himself a nice butterbeer, which freed Milo up from all responsibilities besides himself. Harry was taken care of with the map, Milo hoping that the boy would use it to keep himself safe rather than looking for trouble but that was asking for a lot especially with his little brother. But Milo had all the faith in the world in Harry as he headed down one of the secret passageways that opened up near the entrance of the Forbidden Forest.
Making sure to keep low to the ground, while keeping an eye out for dementors, Milo quickly made his way to the edge of the forest and ducked into the darkness as even in the coldness of the harsher nights and snow, many of the trees still held their fullness. It grew darker as he entered further leaving him to pull out his wand early so that he didn't trip over any roots. As he walked along carefully, Milo prayed that he wouldn't run into Sirius right away because while he needed to speak with him, he also needed to collect the dew. The twins and Lee were counting on him for the ingredient as they had pulled their own weight with the potion-making and it was up to Milo to pull through.
Yet, Milo's thoughts trailed back to what Sirius had said about his attempt of breaking into the Gryffindor Common Room, he mentioned someone being in there, but who? He normally addressed Harry and Silas by their names, so it didn't make sense that he wouldn't mention which person he was talking about. Why would he be so vague in his answering?
"No, Milo, focus," he muttered to himself as he trudged along in the forest. Already he had stumbled several times over something that had collected itself on the forest floor. The boy nearly fell twice but managed to balance himself out yet again as he tried to remember the specific path to reach the dark tulips.
As he came upon unfamiliar scenery, Milo bit down on his lower lip and scratched the top of his head."Was I supposed to take a left back there?"
"A right, actually," a voice called out, bringing Milo to cry out in a panic.
With a jump and spin, the boy's wand was placed out in front of him, illuminating the scene only to see Newt Scamander making his way towards him. The older gentleman was climbing over a massive log of a dead tree that seemed to have fallen in the recent storms. Milo's heart was racing at the equivalent speed of a hummingbird flapping its wings, partially due to being startled and the rest due to the fact that he was standing in the presence of his idol yet again.
"Mr. S-S-Scamander," he stammered out, "what are you doing here?"
Milo truly didn't care what the reasoning was, extremely happy to be in the man's company once more, but he was curious as he didn't anticipate another visit being so soon.
"Can't seem to stay out of the forest and by the looks of it, I think it's safe to say it's the same for you, isn't it?" Newt smiled at the lad. "Hunting tulips again or are you on another mission?"
The twinkle in the man's green eyes as he grew closer to Milo, the light of the boy's wand bringing his appearance to become clearer. Feeling a jolt of jitters, Milo swallowed, hoping that Newt wasn't going to catch on to what his true intentions were every time he ventured into the forest.
"Er...you caught me," Milo attempted to go along with it casually, although, with his shaky voice, it wasn't convincing at all. "I simply can't get enough of those tulips. Wait a second, why are you here? Is there some sort of business that you are attending to or do you just make random visits to the forest?"
The twins had taught Milo well, when the pressure was on, immediately try to redirect the conversation and place the attention on something or someone else. He had seen it numerous times in action, normally when the twins were caught by some professor in the school, and it was time for Milo to test it out and hope that it worked.
"Actually, you're right, I was called to Hogwarts on business," Newt informed him, "it was last minute really. I'm afraid there was an incident involving a hippogriff, but I'm sure you've heard all about that. Nothing ever truly remains a secret in Hogwarts, does it?"
Milo nodded his head. "Buckbeak," he said, "you're here because of Buckbeak. What are they going to do with him? Do you think they'll try and put him down? You can't let them do that!"
"I have no intentions of letting it happen, Milo," Newt replied as he sat down to rest on the log, "unfortunately, the only thing I can do though, is give my opinion as an expert on hippogriff behaviour. I'm sure that Buckbeak did not attack unprovoked, it's highly unlikely that a hippogriff would do such a thing. Were you there as a witness?"
"No, Sir," Milo replied, he walked over to sit beside the man. "But my brother was, he could tell you all about it. He said that Draco Malfoy disrespected Buckbeak, insulted him and that's why he attacked, although I would hardly call it that."
"I figured it was something along those lines," Newt sighed, "it was the only fear that I had when Hagrid claimed he wanted to use hippogriffs in a lesson. I assumed the age group would be appropriate and they would be able to grasp the concept of offering respect, it appears as though I was wrong."
The last thing Milo wanted was for people like Newt and Hagrid blaming themselves over a matter that was nowhere near their fault. It was Draco's fault for being a git and not listening to what he was told. The boy thought he was above everything and everyone and while Milo wouldn't say that it was an act of karma, he hoped that it would be a lesson to Draco to develop a sense of respect not only towards people but towards creatures as well.
"They cannot punish Buckbeak, it's not fair. Our school motto is Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus. Never tickle a sleeping dragon. Common sense would say if we shouldn't tickle a dragon then we shouldn't disrespect a hippogriff either."
"The only problem with that, Milo, is common sense is not so common anymore."
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Newt agreed to bring the boy back to the tulips, questioning if Milo had plans to give the flowers to someone special for the upcoming holiday. Milo had never been more thankful for the darkness as he concealed the blush on his face. He claimed that he wasn't sure, he just enjoyed the flowers so much and it was a shame that they didn't have them in the greenhouses.
If Sirius was around, the man was not going to make the mistake of approaching Milo with someone else in his company. So the chances of speaking with him declined drastically as Milo walked alongside Newt.
"So, have you thought about the internship? Given it any extra thought?" Newt asked as they were getting close. It was getting darker and darker and even the light from the wands of the two was barely a match against the darkness.
"Oh yes, of course!" Milo blurted out excitedly, peeling his gaze away from the forest ground, which proved to be a poor decision. In a matter of seconds, he tripped and fell right down, nearly knocking the wind out of him. Newt made his way over quickly to help the boy, but by the time he reached Milo's side, the teen had rolled himself onto his back so that he was staring upward. "It would be an honour, Sir. Truly."
New offered his hand which Milo took, pulling him back up to his feet. Milo proceeded to brush himself off, feeling like a complete dunce in front of his hero. Only he could trip and stumble to make a complete fool out of himself in the presence of the man.
"Well, that's fantastic-" Newt exclaimed but he was suddenly cut off by Milo.
"...beasts and where to find them," Milo said with a laugh until he heard his laugh echo through the forest and realised he was alone with finding it humorous. "I'm sorry! I just...I can imagine that gets really old, doesn't it?"
"Just a smidge," Newt winked at him. "But it's alright. I was going to say that is was fantastic news. I was telling my wife about it and this summer would be absolutely perfect. We'll be heading to Brazil, I think you'll love it. Have you been to Castelobruxo?"
"No, Sir, but I have heard great things about it. They study Herbology and Magizoology as their speciality if I'm correct?"
"Yes, indeed they do. My son attended there and my grandson attends the school now as well. You and Rolf are around the same age, I'm sure you'll get along just fine. He's actually been looking forward to meeting you since I showed him the Basilisk skin. But if you join us this summer, you two will have plenty to talk about. I can talk to your mother once we get back to the castle-"
"Uh, well, I ...about that. I'm supposed to be in Hogsmeade right now," Milo said with a guilty expression as he looked down. "I'm supposed to be meeting up with my friends as well, I'm just running a bit behind schedule."
"Well, that means we should get a move on, shouldn't we? No worries, I can talk to your mother myself and also, I won't tell her about us meeting up in the forest. That will be our little secret, alright?"
Fortunately, everything ran smoothly from that point on as Newt brought Milo to the area where the flowers were and even better for Milo, there was plenty of dew to collect. As Newt became distracted by some curious bowtruckles watching them from a tree, Milo used the distraction to his advantage and quickly collected as much dew as he possibly could before slipping it into his bag. He then proceeded to collect a couple of flowers as well and placed them in there as well before pushing himself up.
"Ready!"
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Newt left the boy with the promise that they would stay in contact to discuss the details of the summer plans and Milo hoped that his mother would say yes once Newt approached her about it. The boy had to run the entire way to Hogsmeade to make up for lost time and not show up any later than he already was. Just as he arrived, he could see Cedric, Heidi, and Max coming out of Honeydukes with bags full of sweets. They didn't notice Milo right away, but Paden certainly did as he gave a shrill chirp to alert the group of Milo's arrival.
They all looked happy to see him, although confused as to why he was so late. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," he told them as he approached, "I got caught up. Mr. Scamander is in the castle today and well, once I recovered from fainting I had to talk to him."
"Be careful, Cedric," Heidi nudged the boy's ribs, " if Scamander proposes to this one, you're going to be out of luck."
"Shut up, Heidi, that's not funny."
"Oh, wow, Diggory, never played you out to be the jealous type!" She laughed. "Maybe it's Newt that better watch his back with you around."
Milo had every intention of enjoying himself in Hogsmeade and he was hoping that Harry was doing the same in the company of Ron and Hermione as he assumed his brother had snuck out of the castle. But he stopped at one point as he was enjoying himself to see his mother and Hagrid making their way with Rosmerta heading right into the Three Broomsticks. He wondered if they had any news about Buckbeak and he wondered if Newt had asked his mother about the internship as he told his friends he would be right back.
But as he noticed, Cornelius Fudge was there too and beside him was a very distraught looking Elspeth that looked as though she did not want to be in the man's company. Now he was more confused than ever before he made his way into the Three Broomsticks. He saw Ron and Hermione in the corner, they looked nervous and below the table, he could see an extra pair of shoes sticking out that showed that Harry was in there.
It was Hermione who pulled out her wand and moved Christmas tree to hide behind. Milo quickly made his way over as he watched the adults approach the bar and call out their drinks.
Milo crouched down next to the three and listened as Rosmerta spoke first.
"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?"
"What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?" Fudge questioned in return and instantly, Milo was feeling sick to his stomach again.
"I did hear a rumour," the woman answered as she leaned against the back of the bar. Milo peeked out to see his mother turn to Hagrid, who sat beside her.
"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" Minerva questioned him sharply.
Rosmerta leaned in to whisper to Fudge. "Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?"
Milo could see Elspeth's face become deathly pale, she looked ill as if she were about to fall over at any given point. But instead, she stood quietly at the Minister's side like an obedient guard dog. Fudge looked up from his drink, giving a side glance in the Auror's direction before turning back to the beautiful woman behind the counter.
"I'm sure of it."