The Care of Magical Creatures Professor

Chapter 10

    The weeks after the Yule Ball seemed to pass by quicker than Newt could process. Every day was the usual slog of teaching, and it was starting to drain his energy. He missed Tina being around, since he had said goodbye to her soon after the holidays. He missed the teaching being new. He missed that spark of novelty.
    Even his case was beginning to feel drab and same old-same old for lack of a better term. Sam and Rose were currently in his classroom, spending their free time together. More specifically, Sam was attempting to catch a few minutes of sleep with his tiny girlfriend comfortably seated in his lap.
That was when he heard a loud crash from down the hall and a frustrated growl. The couple jolted, Rose almost falling backward onto the desk. Newt jumped up, his cat-like reflexes going for his wand. He was already on his way out the door when he crashed into Professor Winters.
    Newt rubbed his forehead. That was going to leave a bruise, no doubt. He looked to the other teacher, awkwardly making eye contact, "Wh-What was that?"
    "Thanks for that," Roger grumbled, tone dripping with sarcasm, "And I... Need your help with something."
    At first Newt was a bit unimpressed and apathetic towards the idea. Although... His area of expertise was creatures... If someone needed his help with something then there was probably a creature involved. He hadn't met a new creature in what felt like forever.
    "What with?" He tried to contain his excitement.
    "Some blasted cat got into my potion stores. Get it out of there."
    Newt's eyes widened with overwhelming excitement, "Lead the way!"
    He heard Sam and Rose shuffle a little before Rose spoke up, "Can we come, professor?"
    Newt glanced between them and Roger, "I don't see why not... It would give you an example of hands-on Magizoology... And maybe a bit of magiveterinary science..."
    Sam and Rose both nodded and followed him out the door. He began asking Roger all the routine questions he would ask anyone giving him work. Has anything been stolen or eaten? Do you have any poisons in there? Are any potential poisons missing or stolen? Is the cat crying, vomiting, or displaying any signs of illness?
    All negative, or at least what Newt perceived as a "no". Most of the information he received back was an unhearable grumble, a shrug or an "I don't know".
    When Newt arrived at the closet, he was immediately met with a small kitten. It seemed to be a misplaced pet (many students had cats, it wasn't out of the ordinary to see one wandering about), but the tall ears, lion-like tail, and the lack of a collar told Newt 2 things.
This was most certainly not a pet
This was a kneazle
    His eyes lit up even more, "... A kneazle."
    The kneazle baby made eye contact with Newt before mewling and flopping over on its back. Newt ran to it, narrowly avoiding very breakable test tubes and jars. He picked it up, quickly checking its vitals and details. Tabby-like in pattern, male, and...
    "... Roger?"
    "Yes?" The older man seemed to have appeared in the doorway, making Newt jump.
    "Uh... D-Did you have... any..." he snapped his fingers, the words coming to his mind, "... Nepeta cataria."
    Roger rolled his eyes, gesturing to a small spill of herbs, "I understand that we're both men of science, but you can just say catnip."
    "H-Hey..." Newt mumbled, "Y-You're saying that to the man who accidentally said England Water instead of tea last week..."
    That was the closest Newt had ever seen Roger to laughing. His chest visibly tightened, his lips pursed, and his eyes squeezed shut. The older man glanced back at him, "The American's been rubbing off on you."
"I'm wounded but you aren't wrong."
    Rose made a small squee noise, "Can Sam and I keep him, Professor?!"
    Newt took a moment to give the small creature a full examination. No lasting damage, but a broken paw. He furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm sorry, but not until he's fully recovered. His paw is broken... Likely from trying to get at the catnip..."
    "I keep it on the top shelf for a reason."
    Newt cocked his head, "That... being?"
    "It's not something I use very often, and I'm tall enough to reach it."

A/N:
I'm back!! Yes, I'm sorry it's been so long. I've been really busy with schoolwork and other stressful things, life's been tough, but I'm still alive. I've written out a few more chapters in my free time so I'll be back with weekly updates for a while! I actually have this story planned out until the end, so hopefully all will go as planned. A quick shoutout is due to @ClericalInsight for helping me sort my ideas as always. Stay tuned~.