The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow II » Harry Potter

2.16 | Crimes of Grindelwald

Margaret wasn't someone to openly gawk at someone, always sure in what she was doing.

But yes, Margaret gawked at Newt Scamander in awe.

Newt was tall, his built slim like Dumbledore's, and was dressed in a soft yellow shirt, khaki pants and brown boots. His eyes were hazel behind a pair of golden spectacles that sat on the bridge of his nose; there were certainly more laugh lines on his face than defining wrinkles.

Newt slowly waved his hand in front of Margaret's face, breaking her out of her semi-petrified state. She pushed herself to her feet, dusting her pants. Meanwhile, Newt dug through his pocket and took out a familiar brown card with a tinkling golden symbol.

"I believe you should have a card from Dumbledore?"

"Oh, yes. Here it is."

Margaret took hers out and held it up against Newt's, watching as both the cards shone a faint yellow before merging into one. The symbols vanished, and in its place Dumbledore's familiar thin handwriting appeared, saying:

Margaret Xenakis

Newton Scamander

It was a clever little spell that proved both their identities. Only they had the matching pair of cards and only they could have known it was important. Dumbledore was truly a genius.

Newt pocketed the card before gesturing behind him at the empty plains of fields.

"Now, why don't you come inside?" he says. Noticing her perplexed expression, he did a double-take over his shoulder, muttering, "Oh!"

Newt waved his wand in a single horizontal motion, muttering a couple of spells under his breath, and the protective enchantments lifted.

It was exactly as what the card had shown Margaret, as a creation of Bob Ross – a rustic cottage with a chimney on top, a barn and a small farm on the left and forest full of tall pine trees in the far back.

"Come on, then," Newt says, motioning for her to follow. He waved his wand again, and Margaret's rucksack and water bottle levitated into the air as they began descending. "Sorry if you had trouble finding us, by the way, Margaret," he adds. "We were told you were supposed to arrive yesterday afternoon. The portkey left without you."

"Please don't apologise, Mr Scamander," she begins.

"Oh, please, call me Newt," he interrupts. "I'm not that old!"

Margaret raised her brows to humour him but Newt waved her off.

"Well, I would've got here on time but I got caught in some trouble."

"What sort of trouble?"

She glanced at Newt sideways, deciding in the spur of the moment that she was just going to say it.

"Would you believe me if I told you that the Ministry of Magical Affairs of France arrested me 'cause of some odd bit of misinformation?"

At this, Newt turned around fully to face her, looking half surprised and half-amused. Margaret shrugged nonchalantly.

"I see," Newt mutters, looking away, but she was pretty sure he was suppressing a smile. "Well, Margaret, in my experience, most ministries love arresting people for odd bits of misinformation."

Margaret snorted. If there was anyone who could relate to being an alleged criminal for weirdly illegal reasons, it was Newt Scamander.

"I suppose another portkey can be arranged for you," he says after a moment. "You can, of course, stay here till then."