The trio quietly walked to the direction of the records room atrium, but they had to get through the receptionist first. They turned a corner into a beautiful atrium area in front of towering Art Nouveau doors carved to resemble trees. A very old woman named Melusine behind the desk was in the way of them entering.
"Puis-je vous aider?" Melusine asked.
"Er - yes, this is Leta Lestrange." Newt gestured to Neeki, his hand on his back. "And - I'm her fiancé..."
Neeki did not understand what fiancé meant.
"This is his sister and my sister-in-law," Tina added.
It had to work, right? Neeki was a person of color, while Tina and Newt were both white. Melusine lifted an ancient book onto the desk and opened it. Her finger trailed through lines of the book, searching for Leta Lestrange. Finally, she pointed to the door.
"Allez-y."
"Merci," Tina whispered timidly.
"Merci," Neeki repeated, the word sounding robotic.
"Thank you," Newt whispered.
Newt grabbed Neeki's hand and pulled her toward the doors to the records room. Melusine eyed them suspiciously as they passed by. The doors to the records office opened. They entered briskly. The doors closed behind them, plunging them into darkness.
"Lumos," Tina whispered.
A race of shelves stretched away from them, all carved to look like trees, disguised as the edge of a forest. Pickett poked his head out of Newt's pocket and squealed in excitement. Tina walked in front of the pair. Newt looked down at Pickett and nudged him with his finger. Pickett put his hand on Newt's finger and climbed up.
They weaved in and out of the carved shelves that were filled with rolled-up parchment, the occasional prophecy, and other mysterious trunks and boxes.
"What does fiance mean?" Neeki asked.
"Fiancé," Newt corrected.
Her eyebrows furrowed in as she murmured the word under her breath. "Fiancé."
"The female counterpart is fiancée. It's a woman to whom someone is engaged to be married," he described.
"Married..."
Newt briefly explained what the term meant after Queenie ran away from Jacob.
"Are you going to marry me?" she asked.
Newt abruptly stopped walking and looked at her with wide eyes.
"What?" she questioned.
He nervously chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Merlin... Neeki, getting married is between two people who love each other. It is a sacred thing to do."
"You don't love me?" she questioned.
"What? I - I - you're one of my bea - "
She gave him a look, urging him to finish his sentence. He coughed and looked away.
"You've been a great partner to be around, Neeki. I've never really thought about you as...my partner."
Her eyebrows furrowed in. "But you just said I was your partner."
"Um - to answer your previous question; I'll think about marrying you," he replied.
Neeki clearly wanted to hear yes, but she was okay with letting it go for now. After all, she lived with him, so he couldn't exactly run away from her - especially since she'd just chase him down.
Tina slowed her pace down so that Newt and Neeki could catch up.
"What did you mean when you said three women could control Theseus?" Tina asked.
"Oh - well, our mother, Niya, our childhood friend, and Leta," Newt said. "To be fair, I think Niya can control Theseus better than Leta ever can."
The doors to the records room flew open with a bang. The trio jumped in shock. They pressed their bodies against the shelves. Leta walked inside. It was her last chance to hide evidence about Corvus's death. The doors closed behind her. She raised her wand.
"Lestrange," she said.
The shelves were moving around, rearranging themselves. Melusine was watching through doors of the room records.
The giant trees were shifting all around them. The trio was almost crushed as the Lestrange tree flew toward them. The towering stack stopped in front of Leta. She stared at an empty shelf. There was a mark in the dust where a box once sat, a slip of parchment in its place. She picked up the slip and read it aloud.
"Records moved to Lestrange family tomb at Père Lachaise." Then, she looked up to see Pickett hanging on the shelf. "Circumrota."
The record tower turned, revealing the trio clinging to the shelves.
"Hello, Newt," she whispered.
"Hello, Leta," Newt greeted.
"Hi," Tina awkwardly greeted.
"Hi," Neeki greeted.
At that moment, Melusine walked into the records room, surrounded by growling Matagots.
"Oh - no," Newt whispered.
"What kind of cats are those?" Leta retorted.
"These aren't cats, they're Matagots. They're spirit familiars. They guard the Ministry, but they won't
hurt you unless you - "
Panicking, Leta fired a spell at one of the cats. "Stupefy!"
The spell hit the cat, but it only caused the Matagots to multiply and become even more aggressive.
" - unless you attack them!" Newt shouted angrily.
"Oops."
Leta climbed over the balustrade to join the trio on the shelf stack. "Reverte!" she shouted.
The towering stack flew backward as the Matagots pounced in a with their sharp teeth and claws. The other "trees" of the records room spun and moved as the four ran through the room chased by the attacking Matagots. But just as the Matagots seemingly lose the trail, all of the records room towers retract into the floor, leaving the room empty. The Matagots prowled around, only to find Newt's case.
The Zouwu burst out of the case with a loud explosion that resembled the sound of firecrackers setting off. Newt was clinging to her back. She roared and slashed at the Matagots.
"Accio!"
Newt's case flew into his hand. The Zouwu and Newt fought off the Matagots. The Zouwu was much stronger. Newt pointed his wand at the ceiling.
"Ascendio!"
Towers rose from the floor, lifting Newt and the Zouwu high up into the air. However, they were still fighting the dangerous cats. The stacks tipped and fell beneath the sheer weight. The Zouwu clambered across to the balcony to the main level on the French ministry. The Matagots still chased the Zouwu, even with her immense speed. She carved a path of the typing pool, then leaped over and her magical power propelled her up and out through the glass roof.
Newt and the Zouwu landed in the cemetery. It was pitch black, but there were lanterns scattered across the cemetery. The few Matagots that followed them, growled, then shrunk. Reduced to the size of domestic cats in the Muggle environment, they meowed pitifully. Newt opened his case as the Zouwu nudged him with affection. She began playing with him as if he was a toy. She brought him in for a hug and nuzzled against him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, wait. Hold it there, please. Come on. All right, okay, wait. Okay."
The girls climbed out of the case to observe Newt coaxing the Zouwu. Neeki pouted at how much affection Newt was giving the Zouwu. Though, in reality, it was the other way around. She walked over to the Zouwu and rubbed her cheek against its huge face.
"Hello," she whispered, scratching under the Zouwu's chin.
The Zouwu long forgot about Newt. She liked Neeki's feline scent. She suddenly wrapped her tail around Neeki and slammed her against Newt's chest. The Zouwu purred happily about having her favorite two people in her vicinity. Neeki seemed to think the same, cuddling right into his arms. Newt's arms wrapped around Neeki's body, his cheek pressed against the side of her forehead.
"Neeki, love, we still have business to take care of."
She pouted.
Tina shook a bird-like toy with a bell on it that she found in the case. The Zouwu's eyes lit up in adoration. Her eyes grew doe-like and wide. Unnoticed by Newt and Tina, Leta ran away into the darkness - but Neeki noticed. Her eyes narrowed into slits and her nose flared in disgust. Tina threw the toy into the case and the Zouwu followed it, getting sucked in.