Fantastic Beasts: Storm of the Thunderbird

Chapter 4

Upon touching the portkey, Tina and the others were all whisked away, landing in the middle of a forest. Upon further inspection, Tina discovered a cabin several yards away.

"That must be it." She said. They all walked over, and to Tina's surprise, the door swung open. As it did, a cloud of dust rose from the rug just inside the door. It grew bigger and clustered together until it formed the shape of Albus Dumbledore.

"Welcome to your first safe house." Dumbledore's voice said. "You may have noticed that you landed in the forest rather than the cabin. That is because the whole area around the cabin has been protected. This will be the case for all of the locations. You are currently on the Aripi de Dragoni Dragon Reserve in Romania. I'm sure Mr. Scamander will take pleasure in exploring." With that, the dust dispersed. Sure enough, Newt's eyes lit up.

"A dragon reserve?" This might not be so bad!" He said.

"Why don't we go out looking now? Dusk is the best time to see most species." Bunty asked, smiling up at Newt in a way that made Tina sick.

"That would be wonderful!" Newt agreed. "Tina, would you like to come?" Newt was such a sweetheart. Even though Tina was dreading having Bunty come along, she couldn't turn him down.

"I would love to." She said. The three of them headed out into the woods, following Newt's lead. He walked so carefully, placing every footstep in a deliberately quiet way. Tina had never seen him truly in his element before, out in nature. That's when Newt froze, and Tina immediately saw why. It was an enormous dragon laying sprawled out on the ground. Tina felt a mixture of fear and awe. It had beautiful pearly scales, with shades of white and silver and blue. But something was wrong. As they inched closer, Tina noticed that it was completely still.

"Is it...is it breathing?" Tina asked. Newt approached the head, then shook his head, pointing at the eyes. They were glazed over.

"She's dead." Newt said. "But I'm not quite sure how. She doesn't have a scar on her."

"Should we look around for an egg?" Bunty asked.

"Definitely! Good thinking!" Newt replied. Mercy Lewis, this was the worst. Tina wasn't quite sure what to look for, but she decided to take a look around. Not ten feet away from the dragon, Tina nearly fell as she tripped over what she thought was a rock, but when she caught herself and turned back around, she saw a smooth oval shape in the leaves.

"Newt! I think I might have found an egg!" Tina called. Newt hurried over, and lifted the egg off the ground.

"Merlin's beard, it is!" He placed his palm flat on the egg for a moment. "It's still alive!" He gasped. "We have to get back to the cabin before it gets too cold!" Without another word, Newt raced back to the cabin, with Tina and Bunty following close behind. Tina is stunned. A real dragon egg! At the cabin, Newt hurried to his case, not giving the others any explanation. Tina would've stayed and told the others about the egg, but she didn't want to miss the excitement. She descended the ladder last, closing the lid of the suitcase behind her. Newt was rushing around, gathering supplies. He had placed the egg on top of a pile of blankets while he hoisted a cauldron of water into the fireplace that seemed to have appeared for the first time. Tina was momentarily distracted wondering what kind of spells Newt had used to either release the smoke elsewhere or disperse it completely. Once the water was actively boiling, Newt carefully lowered the egg into the pot and placed the lid on top. He took a step back and let out a breath.

"That should do it well. Bunty, would you mind telling the others about the egg? I wouldn't want them to worry." Bunty hesitated.

"Do you need my help down here?" She asked.

"I'll be fine." Newt replied, and Tina noticed that Bunty's face fell slightly as she turned to climb the ladder back up to the cabin. Even though she had just wished to be alone with Newt, now that she actually was, she felt surprisingly awkward. She noticed that Newt was fidgeting with the buttons on the ends of his sleeves.

"Um..." Well, it was nice to know she wasn't alone in feeling strange. "I...I've been wanting to ask you something." He finally managed to say. Tina began to feel nervous. Is he going to ask me about...all of this?

"Why were you asleep in the Mooncalves' enclosure this morning? I mean, not that I mind that you were there, you can visit my creatures any time you want, I just-"

"It's okay. I just...couldn't sleep, so I thought it might be calming to watch some of your creatures. Then the mooncalves were waiting for me, and I ended up under their tree with them, and I guess I just ended up falling asleep." She avoided bringing up her dream. Then he would just worry.

"Oh, that's...um....that's good that they helped you." There was an awkward pause, then there was a commotion upstairs. Despite knowing it was safe here, Tina still felt her stomach drop. She locked eyes with Newt before he turned and hurried up the ladder. Tina quickly followed. When she emerged, she saw everyone huddled around a tall, dark figure. His back was to her, and Tina saw he had long black hair. When he turned, Tina gasped.

"Credence?"