Raven Book 1 (Fantastic beasts)

Dougal

"hey honey, time to wake up."

I opened my eyes. Mama was crouched just in front of me. "Mama!" jumped up and hugged her. She was still wearing the dress they took her in. It had patches all over some of the seams were different colours because of all the times she had to fix it.

"We've got to go now," she said standing up.

"But I have to say goodbye to Newt?" I said.

"He's not here. Come on we've got to go," she said pulling my hand. I followed her. Where was Newt? He said he'd wake me if he went anywhere.

We were back in the forest. Mama was poking a fire awake and she had a skinned rabbit sat on the tree stump beside her.

"when can we see Newt?" I asked.

"Not ever," Mama said.

"Why? I miss him," I said.

"We don't need him," she said. I needed him. I wanted him. "I want him!"

"Don't talk to me like that!" mama roared.

"Raven..." I opened my eyes. It was Newt I hugged him. I was worried he was gone for good.

"We have a lead on Dougal, I want you to stay here though ok?" he said softly.

"No," I muttered. "I'm staying with you." Newt sighed. "Ok lets go then,"

Dougal was hiding out in some shops. We crept in-between the Christmas decorations so we didn't startle him. Newt quietly explained to the other how demiguise work. They're mostly invisible and can see the future so they're really hard to catch when they don't want to be.

A handbag was floating along between the decorations. It stopped by a bowl of sweets and Dougal revealed himself. He picked out a few to put in his bag.

"You two head that way and try very hard not to be predicable," Newt said quietly to Jacob and Queenie. They shuffled round to the other side of the display. There was a roar from above us and Dougal looked up from where it came.

He hopped down from the display and walked over to the steps on the far side of the hall. I shifted and trotted after him. He looked back at me for a moment but gestured me to follow him.

Newt and the others followed loosely behind.

We went up all the stairs untill we were in the attic. There were shelves and shelves of junk but coiled up above it all was a huge occamy. Dougal took out a couple sweets, unwrapped them and offered them to the occamy. It lowered it's head and took them gently. Dougal unwrapped a couple more and gave them to me. Hazelnuts covered in chocolate and they were delicious.

Newt slowly walked over and crouched down next to us. He put the case down just in front but didn't open it yet.

"It was babysitting that?" Tina asked from behind a some shelves. "Occamies are choronanaptyxic, so they grow to fit the available space." Newt explained quietly. "Mum's here" he said reaching a hand out to the occamy.

A ball rolled across the floor behind us. The occamy shrieked and began backing away. Dougal ran back and jumped into Jacob's arms. Newt stood up to try and calm it but got caught on the occamy's feathers and ended up on it's back as it continued to panic.

I dodged the falling shelves and junk. Among the new mess were cockroaches. Occamies love bugs, we needed a bug!

"Right we need an insect, any kind of insect and a teapot! Find a teapot!" Newt called from the top of the attic. I tried to dive on a cockroach but it was fast. It was hard to find and pounce as well as dodge the falling mess.

"Teapot!" Tina shouted. The occamy reared up and screeched. It's tail whipped round a pinned us all to the walls. Everything was quiet. I shifted and had a little more room to breath.

The occamy had it's eyes on Jacob's hand. He had caught a bug! "Roach in teapot," Newt said quietly. Tina stood with the teapot on the other side of the room. No way he could throw it that far...

All eyes were on Jacob. He took a deep breath and then threw the bug as far as he could. As it flew the occamy went to chase it. Tina leaped over it's coils and ran to where the roach would land.

She caught it and the occamy rose above her before diving down. It shrank and slipped into the teapot. As soon as it's tail was past the lip, Newt ran over and slammed a lid on it. "Chronanatyxic. They also shrink to fit the available space," Newt panted.

"Tell me the truth...was that everything?" Tina asked.

"That's everything and that's the truth," Newt said.

We took the case up to a nearby roof top before we all went inside toput everyone back in it's place.

Newt showed Tina around and Jacob had made a new friend with Dougal. I was telling Fank about everything we'd just done.

"And everything was a mess!" I giggled. Frank stopped the happy caws and stood still watching someone. I turned it was Tina. "Who's this?" she asked.

"Frank," I said. "He's a thunder bird and we're taking him home to Arizona."

"That's a long way," she said. "You seem pretty close though."

"Yeah he's been with us a long long time but now he get's to go home," I said sadly. He pushed his beak lightly into my back and I stroked the feathers on his head. "And one day its going to be my turn and I'm going to go home." I smiled. 

"Where's home?" She asked. 

"Where ever mama is," I answered. "She's out there and when I'm big I can go search on my own. Newt can only do so much while helping everyone else." I paused. "Why'd you turn us in?" I asked.

"I was scared," Tina said. "I though that if I turned you in I would get my faverite job back but that didn't happen. I'm sorry."

"Who is Grindelwald?" I asked. Tina smiled awkwardly. "I forgot how curious kids can be, um Grindelald is a very bad wizard. He wants to rule the wizarding world and thinks wizards are better than muggles but their not. We're all just a bit different."

"So he's like the bad men?"

"Yeah, he probably controls a lot of the bad men," Tina said. Could he know where mama is? Could he have been the one who took her? "Have you ever met bad men?" I asked. Tina Nodded. "Yeah, my old job used to be catching them."

"Newt said ministry workers don't know who's good and bad and that they think I'm bad but Im not," I said walking back over to Newt.

He was picking out grain for the smaller birds and talking to Queenie. Tina followed me, "what are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Newt said. "School," Queenie said a moment later.

"Did you say school?" Jacob came over looking exited. "Is there a school? A wizardry school here? In America?" Queenie laughed a bit. "Of course Ilvermorny! It's the best wizardry school in the world,"

"I think you'll find the best wizarding school in the world is Hogwarts," Newt added.

"Hogwash," Queenie snapped back. It was all rubbish. Sat at a desk all day every day never getting to play. Hogwarts was a boarding school too so you don't get to go home when you get bored either.

Frank suddenly startled and began flapping about and squawking making a storm in the exhibit above him. "He says there's danger," I said.