Fantastic Beasts: Alone

13 - The Room We Require

"Well, here we are." Dumbledore said before opening the door and entering the Hog's Head. Edwin and I had been there a couple of times before on visits to Hogsmeade, so I knew the place.

"Brings back memories." Uncle Theseus said as we followed Dumbledore inside.

"Bunty! You're here!" Newt said, and I looked up to see that, yes, Bunty was indeed here. As was Newt's case (thank Merlin) and Aberforth was in the room too.

"Yes." Bunty said, smiling at Newt. I looked down to see the same baby Qilin as the one Newt found in the mountain that day.

"How is she?" Newt asked, smiling at the Qilin.

"Oh, she's fine." Bunty answered. I looked back at Newt to see Alfie, one of the baby Nifflers, run towards him. Newt bent down and picked him up.

"Woah, what's Alfie done now?" Newt asked as he stood back up. "You've not been biting Timothy's bottom again, have you?" I smiled and raised an eyebrow. That sounded exactly like something Alfie would do...

"Miss Broadacre. I trust my brother has been a gracious host?" Dumbledore asked Bunty, who turned to him and smiled.

"Oh, yes. Ever so gracious." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm delighted to hear." Dumbledore said, looking at Aberforth with a smile. He turned back to us. "So, rooms have been arranged for you in the village, and Aberforth here will prepare you a delicious dinner. His own recipe."

I smiled. Yes, Aberforth's dinners were good, even if they didn't look that way!

Aberforth handed us the dinner, a neutral look on his face. "There's more of that if you want it." He saw me and smiled a little. I smiled back, before he walked out of the room. He was stopped by Bunty.

"Thank you. Thanks." Bunty was sweet, but sometimes a little too sweet... Aberforth turned to her and gave her a short nod, before he walked out of the room and upstairs.

"Astonishing." Uncle Theseus said. Him, Bunty and I were the only ones actually eating the disgusting-looking dinner. Everyone else just stared down at it, clearly thinking it tasted how it looked. "Never has something that looked so repellent tasted so delicious."

That encouraged the others to actually eat it, instead of look down at it in disgust. Lally tapped my shoulder discreetly. I looked up at her. She pointed to where Dumbledore was gesturing for me to come. I stood up from my chair cautiously and walked over to where Aberforth and Dumbledore were stood together.

"Lia." I clicked my fingers and reappeared. "Come in." I walked over to them both. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, thank you, Professor."

Dumbledore smiled. "I won't keep you long, Lia. I imagine someone will come up soon and wonder what we're doing." Dumbledore took out his wand, and another mist-like illusion formed through a non-verbal spell. The illusion consisted of a circle and six cases.

"This is the set-up of the different cases." Dumbledore said, smiling.

"Cases?" I asked, confused.

"Of course, I haven't explained to you yet. Apologies. One of these cases is Newt's case, the one with the Qilin inside it. Presuming we all make it to tomorrow morning, there will be 7 cases laid out in this formation, around the circle. I want you to choose the case in front of me. You will be the last one through. Newt will think he has the case, I am certain of that, but your case will be the one with the Qilin inside it. It will make more sense tomorrow, but that is the basic layout. Any questions?"