Forever Forgotten [Book Two]

Chapter 4

"Come on, Credence... Cheer up." Newt said, putting a hand on the man's shoulder and placing a freshly made cup of coffee on the table next to him.

Credence just stayed staring into nothingness. He had been ignoring Newt for the past hour, and he didn't intend on cooperating any time soon.

"Come on, we should do something fun. Do you want to read?"

Silence.

"Go for a walk?"

A short pause. "Mr Graves wouldn't be happy with that. He wouldn't consider entertainment a good enough reason to risk death." Credence replied coldly.

"Hey, what ever happened to 'Percy'?" Newt sighed. "He has your best interests at heart, you know."

"I know, I'm just..."

"Feeling angry? Confused? Scared?"

"Guilty." He looked up, and stared into Newt's eyes. "We're both suffering because of me."

"No, if there's anyone to blame, it's Grindelwald... And your mother." He thought for a second. "... And Picquery."

"She's just doing her job. All she wants to do is protect Wizards and Witches."

"You're a Wizard too, she should be trying to protect you as well."

"That's what Percival said the first time he helped me. He said that it was his job to protect magical people, and that that included me as well." He smiled softly at the memory. "But I'm not really a Wizard am I? I have magic, but it's in the form of the Obscurus."

"Yes, well... That is the main problem isn't it?" Newt sighed.

- - - - -

"Why are we sat here doing nothing?" Graves cried out in frustration. "We should be out there, searching for Grindelwald and yet here we are: sat doing nothing."

"Calm down, Graves." Tina said, looking up from her desk to see him pacing the room. "Picquery said that she'll tell us when we are needed in the field."

"She's doing this on purpose."

"That woman always has a purpose for what she does."

"No- well I mean yes- but that's not what I mean. I mean she's purposefully dragging this out. She wants me to fail."

"You do realise how ridiculous that sounds?"

"She's always hated me and Credence." He grumbled.

"She doesn't even know Credence. And she doesn't hate you, she just doesn't like you. And even if she did hate you, she wouldn't hate you to the extent that she would allow the most evil wizard ever known to be free for longer than possible so that she could make sure that you died."

"... Yeah, maybe you're right." Graves sighed, collapsing into a chair in the corner of the room.

"I know it's frustrating, Graves, but we'll get through this. No one's going to die and Grindelwald's going to go back to Azkaban. It'll all be over in a few weeks, mark my words."

"What are you even doing?" He suddenly asked, sidetracked when he caught a glimpse of the book open on her desk.

"I'm using this time to my advantage, which is what you should be doing."

"I should be with Credence."

"But you're not, that's the point." Tina started to get annoyed. "I should be with my husband right now. Instead, I'm sat here trying to search for a way to cure an Obscurial while my husband is currently babysitting your boyfriend!"

Graves groaned. "I know. I'm sorry Tina..."

"So do you want me to explain what I'm doing or not?"

"Yes. Of course. Please, go ahead."

"Alright then." She cleared her throat. "It says here that an Obscurus forms when a Witch or Wizard suppresses their magical abilities, creating a parasitic dark force within themselves. These people are then know as Obscurials. It also says that Obscurials can only survive up to the age of ten, but we know that that isn't true-"

"Have we ever looked into that?" Graves interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"Why has Credence managed to live almost three times that long? What makes him different from other Obscurials?"

"He has to be very powerful Wizard. A descendent of a power Witch or Wizard."

"Like who?"

"Well..." Tina started, pulling out a piece of paper from the top drawer of her desk. "I did a bit of research a while ago, because I was actually quite curious about this myself. This is a family tree." She said pointing to the piece of paper. "It's Credence's family, on his mother's side, and it trails all the way back to Salazar Slytherin himself."

Graves paused for a second. "You researched my boyfriend... And didn't tell us when you found out that he's related to one of the most powerful Wizards known."

She shrugged. "No one else seemed bothered in finding it out."

"Whatever." Graves sighed. "Carry on with what you were saying before."

"Ah, yes." Tina said, putting the piece of paper away again and looking back at the open book. "So, if an Obscurus forms when magic is repressed, surely, it would make sense if an Obscurial was cured if they managed to learn how to harness their power and use it for what it was always intended for."

"You mean... Teach Credence to be a Wizard?"

"Precisely."

- - - - -

Credence almost ran into the wall trying to grab ahold of the niffler. Newt had had the great idea of setting him loose for a bit of fun: whoever managed to catch him (named "Harry" by Queenie) and put him back in the suitcase won bragging rights.

Newt pulled out his wand but Credence rushed over to him and took it out of his hand, tucking it into his belt.

"That's cheating!" He cried before making another attempt at cornering the creature. The niffler had already stuffed every bit of jewellery and every shiny object in the house into its pouch, and was now searching for something else to pilfer.

Its eyes glinted as they landed on the Deathly Hallows pendent fastened around Credence's neck. It made a run for him and snatched it before Credence knew what was going on.

"Hey!" He cried. "Give that back, it's important!" He tried to sound serious but couldn't help laughing.

Newt leapt forward and managed to grab ahold of the niffler by its front paws, and Credence grabbed hold of the pendent and tugged the necklace back, out of its reach.

A second later there was a cracking sound and Graves was suddenly stood in front of them, glaring.

"What's the matter Credence?" He said, turning to face his boyfriend. "Why did you call on me?"

"Oh no, I didn't." Credence began. "It was an accident, you see, the niffler-"

"Do you think this is a game?" Graves cried. "This is serious!" He turned to Newt and saw the niffler stuggling in his arms. "Put that thing back in your suitcase or so help me God-"

"Alright, alright, it's going back, see?" Newt said, putting it back in the suitcase carefully before closing the lid.

"You had me worried, Credence. Don't touch the necklace unless you're in trouble." Graves took a step forward and brushed a stray piece of hair out of Credence's face. "Be more careful from now on." And with that, he disapparated.

Newt and Credence stood frozen for a second, before the latter turned to the former saying, "That didn't count, you have no bragging rights."