Raven Book 1 (Fantastic beasts)

Into the case

Newt followed close behind me and hung his coat up on the back of the door. The work surfaces were crowded with bottles. All the shelves and cupboards were full and overflowing with the nectars and various toxins and remedies we'd found so far.

It wasn't long before Jacob fell down the ladder, crashing thought the cages that hung from the ceiling and landing on his feet in. A billywig buzzed around his head. The poor mad didn't know where to look. "Sit down," Newt said without looking back at either of us."

I sat licking my teeth, wining at the ready plucked chicken on one of the benches. Newt was too busy looking for the cure to the murtlap venom. Jacob looked around before sitting on a box by the ladder.

Newt came over to inspect the bite. "That's definitely the murtlap." He muttered before returning to the many shelves to find the remedy. "You must be particularly susceptible." He explained. "See, you're a muggle so our physiologies are subtly different." Newt had found what he needed and carried a few pills and squished leaves back over to Jacob. I wined more as he walked past but he ignored me.

Jacob was discussed when Newt rubbed the leaves on the bite. He gestured the pills and mug or water he'd left on the side. "That should sort the sweating and one of those should sort the twitch." Jacob shrugged before taking the pills.

I gave up waiting for Newt and jumped onto the work surface where the meat was, knocking over a few bottles as I did. "Hey you can have that in a minute!" Newt laughed gently pushing me off the table. I growled as I jumped back onto the floor but Newt brushed it off.

He didn't care what I did anymore. There was a time when if I growled I got what I wanted, but Newt wasn't scared of me anymore. There's a respect that comes from working with wild animals, especially those with teeth, but I had lost that with Newt. He knew I was too young and little to do anything.

Jacob still had that respect though. I could see when he looked at me he thought I was dangerous.

I yapped at him and nodded my head up to the meat on the work surface. "Ignore her," Newt said with a smile before Jacob got up. "She does this every night don't worry, once I've finished getting everyone else's food, I'll put the supplements in hers." Why couldn't be just give it to me now? I was hungry and the extra bits tasted gross.

But Newt was getting venom from the Swooping Evil. It glowed blue in the vile. "Watcha got there?" Jacob asked.

"This, the locals call swooping evil." Newt explained. "Not the friendliest of names. It's quite an agile fella." Newt let him hang from his fingers to show Jacob. It was like a little yoyo. "I've been studying him, and I'm pretty sure that his venom could be quite useful if properly diluted. Just to remove bad memories, you know?" Newt turned as if putting him away but then let him go. He grew to full size, bigger than me, and he flew up to Jacob and squawked a few times in his face before Newt called him back and he tucked himself back up in his hand. "Probably shouldn't let him loose in here, though." Newt smiled before putting the swooping evil back in his coat pocket.

Finally Newt started on my food. He poured a powder on the meat. It made it taste bad but Newt said I needed it if I wanted to grow.

I jumped around at his feet anyway. Then when he finished he picked it up and opened the door. I liked playing this game. He was going to chuck it and then I would get to catch it.

He did and I ran as fast as I could after it and caught it with a little jump. The chicken barely fit in my mouth. So I had to pin it between my from paws and rip pieces off it. Jacob looked disgusted but he was quickly distracted by the fake sun on Frank's golden feathers.

The thunderbird was kept right next to the house because he was being released when we got to Arizona. I didn't really want him to go, he'd been teaching me how to fly and I hadn't got it yet. His wings were made out of feathers though not skin and scales like mine so I think he had an advantage.

Newt continued giving Jacob a tour of all the creatures. Most of them were coming home with us and then Newt would give them to friends or release them once he found good places. Most of them were like me anyway and needed time to recover from injuries given by poachers. Or like me and the occamies, needed to grow up a bit before we could go home. They didn't know what home was though.

I did. I remembered playing with mama in the forests, basking in the sun together and her telling stories by a campfire. Newt said he wouldn't stop looking for her but it's been years now and I think she's gone. We must've walked all over Wales, she just wasn't there anymore. The bad men probably turned her into wand cores and dragon hide clothes or they're using her as a circus act. There had to be a reason we hadn't found her yet. Either she's stuck or dead and I didn't know which one was worse.

I finished the chicken and shook away all the bad thoughts.

It didn't take long to find Newt. He was heading to the obscuial. It was the one zone I wasn't allowed in. Obscurials are created when wizard kids try to suppress their magic. Then it slowly takes over untill it destroys the child. Newt managed to catch this one from a girl, she still died and Newt was worried it would attach itself to me if I got to close.

He walked out of the zone with Jacob following behind. Newt had defiantly told him off. I trotted close behind him. "I need to find everyone before they get hurt," Newt said walking quickly.

"Before they get hurt?" Jacob really didn't get it. Maybe he would learn one day. "Yes Mr. Kowalski," Newt explained. "So they're currently in alien terrain surrounded by millions of the most vicious creatures on the planet. Humans."

We stopped at an empty zone that had once held the erumpent.

"So where would you say that a medium sized creature, who likes broad open plains, trees , waterholes, that sort of thing. Where might she go?" Newt asked Jacob. He stood there stunned for a second. "In New York City?" Newt nodded. Jacob tried not to laugh. "Plains? Er Central Park."

"And where is that exactly?" Newt asked.

"Where is Central Park?" Jacob was making it sound as though Newt was the stupid one. He didn't even know dragons existed. "Well, look," Jacob continued after a sigh. "I would come and show you, but don't you think it's kind of a double-cross? The girls take us in, they brink us hot cocoa-"

"Now you do realize that one they see that you stopped sweating they will obliviate in a heartbeat?" Newt cut him off.

"What's bliviate mean?" Jacob asked looking worried he should. Being obliviated doesn't sound very nice. "It'll be like you wake up and" Newt made a 'thp' sound with his tongue. " and all memory of magic gone." I shifted and made a 'thp' sound too. Newt smiled and stroked my hair.

Jacob looked around. "I won't remember any of this?" he stammered.

"No."

Jacob looked around and breathed heavily for a moment. "All right, yeah, okay" he stammered. "I'll help you."