Muggled

12. Be a Better Witch

The three decided to split their paths. It was best that aunt Rosie would remain near the tree house in case that Katie would come back. Isabella and Newt walked towards the Jack's nest.

"You mentioned Azkaban. The last time your sister, I mean, Katie visited." Newt said as they searched the forest on their way to the hippogriff nest.

Isabella jerked her head towards her fellow and inhaled deeply.

"I am sorry. I don't mean to upset you. It's not an interrogation." Newt said in defence.

"You're right. It's not an interrogation," Isabella made a short pause, "when I think about it, I really do overreact sometimes," she added more to herself.

Newt slightly grinned but remained quiet.

"It's about Katie, she's not a witch, you see," Isabella started explaining, "you must've known it all along."

When Newt didn't respond, she continued: "Our parents, grandparents, as far as I know, great grandparents as well, all muggles. It's just Aunt Rosie and me."

"I don't know anything about being from a non-wizard family to be illegal." Newt opposed.

"But bringing a muggle into the wizarding world via vanishing cabinets is not far from it." Isabella exhaled and inhaled again, "Katie loves magic so much! I couldn't just leave her out of it." She sighed and muttered to herself: "I bet she would be a better witch than I am."

"Don't say that," Newt replied, "it's about the choices you make, not about who you were born."

Just before Isabella could overthink every word Newt said, a screaming voice echoed in the forest and interrupted their conversation. Aunt Rosie.

Both rushed after the voice.

On their way, Newt noticed an unusual vapour in the air. He stopped and observed the space around him. The mist floating in the air had peculiar colour. He softly sniffed the air and coughed. A residue vapour almost dispersed in the air. Newt took out an empty vial from his suitcase and captured the substance before it disappeared completely.

***

Amrosine was kneeling over a body trying to bring Katherine back to life: "Her pulse is very weak!"

Isabella had never seen such a pale face. Katie lost the colour in her cheeks completely. Her legs couldn't hold her body, so she fell to her knees.

"Katie, Katie! Wake up! Please just wake up!" Isabella begged.

"I've seen this before," Ambrosine's voice was dark, but she could not say anything else but keep repeating the former.

Newt run up to the women: "We need to get her out of here, she needs fresh air!"

Isabella could not understand a thing they said. Nothing made sense. All the voices around her were dimmed into an indistinct mutter. The only voice she was able to hear crystal clear in her head kept saying: It's all my fault, it's all my fault!

She wiped away her tears, and with a grave expression on her face stood up and took out her wand. For once in her life she wanted to make the right decision. Newt realised what Isabella was about to do, but before he could stop her she pointed the wand towards the sky and the red light flashed out of its tip.

In a few seconds, they were surrounded by the Aurors, together five of them. Two men dressed in dark coats and hats got hold of aunt Rosie. The old lady protested, but ended up with her arms tied behind her back. A nice French lady turned into a furious creature, trying to relieve herself of the strong grip.

Isabella stared at the men in disbelief. She couldn't hold it in anymore and told the Aurors everything full of hope that they would help her, that they would help Katie, that they would understand.

But once she mentioned the cabinets, another Auror took her wand and tied her arms behind her back as well.

Newt was the only one left free. But since the Aurors were dealing with much more serious issues – violation of Hogwarts' security and breaching the Statute of Secrecy – Katie was left behind.

Isabella glared at the figure lying on the ground. Aurors've been dragging her away, leaving Katie on the cold ground. At last, she tried to catch Newt's attention. The desperate look in her eyes was enough for Newt to understand. He will take care of Katie, no matter what are the costs.