Niagara ▸ Newt Scamander

scamander the stunning

"This is the entrance to our dormitories," Thalia Gallagher informed Niagara, gesturing her wand to the entrance that was nestled in a pile of round wooden barrels near the kitchens of Hogwarts, after descending a cold stone staircase. Professor Beery, Niagara's new Head of House, had informed her of her new arrangements, which were special due to her being a new fifth year.

Niagara said nothing in response to Thalia, yet internally was experiencing a bit of sensory overload to be plain. It had been a long evening, from trying to find her way to the absolutely beautiful castle that was Hogwarts from the train station without speaking to anyone, to getting sorted into her new house which was to be her home for the next three years.

It had been a very long evening indeed, and Niagara was exhausted.

Thalia explained how to actually get into the dormitories, through a tapping a series in a specific rhythm.

"If you get it wrong, you'll be doused in vinegar." Thalia added, drawing her wand. "It goes like this."

The young witch tapped her dark wand against the barrel two from the top of the stack twice, then the bottom left barrel three times. Seemed simple enough. The round, wooden door swung open with a creak, and together they stepped inside the space.

It was considerably warmer inside the common room than the corridor, which brought a little smile to Niagara's face as she looked around. The room seemed quite cozy, perhaps it was the light from the various lit fireplaces around, or how toasty it was in there, Niagara wasn't sure. Maybe it was all of it.

"Welcome to Hufflepuff, Miss Dryden." Thalia's rosy lips curved smoothly into a tiny, genuine grin.

"Please, call me Niagara."

Thalia chuckled and led Niagara up the steps to their new living space; Thalia had mentioned the younger students slept on the lower level whilst the older ones were up the single flight of stairs. This was not an issue for either  of the girls.

"Our year has only enough female Hufflepuffs to fill three of the dorm rooms fully," Thalia explained, turning to the right at the top of the small staircase, before opening the first door. "And we've got the one with only two."

Niagara hummed contentedly, stepping into the room after Thalia, observing the two extra, four-poster beds, in addition to theirs, covered in black and yellow duvets that should've had occupants. Her minimal baggage was off next to one of the beds, and Niagara assumed it was put there by the house elves Hogwarts employed. A fire was lit in the hearth, casting a warm glow across the room, which almost made it feel smaller; cosier.

"It's just us, then?"

"Uh-huh." Thalia murmured, flopping down on the mattress closest to the fireplace on the left side, and Niagara figured she would take the one on the right, assuming the fire wasn't too hot at night.

The bag Niagara had with her on the train was sitting on top of her trunk and holdall, in a small pile. She was proud to have such few things. It was less to keep track of. She made her way across the room and sat on the foot of the bed, snapping the holdall open before pulling out her sketchbook and a pencil. Normally, witches and wizards used quills at all times but seeing as Niagara loved to draw, ink was really not the best mode.

"Ah, it's good to be back." Thalia murmured blissfully, causing Niagara to look up from her lap and come out of her thoughts. Thalia proceeded to brush her long-fingered hand across her mattress, nuzzling her cheek into it as well, very cat-like. Her thick blonde hair spread across the bed like ferns, a few locks just barely over the edge of it and shining in the light of the flames near her.

Niagara hoped that one day she would feel just as at home in the old castle. She didn't feel that she was acquainted well enough with her new, more immediate home of the Hufflepuff dormitories as of yet. She'd deal with the rest of the castle later. With that, the girl rose to her feet and made for the door; off to explore with her sketchbook still in hand.

Out in the hall it was relatively quiet, save for her fellow housemates in the common room, likely catching up after their summers, down the wide flight of stone stairs. There were three students, two girls and a boy, around the chairs in front of a fire; the lighting against their smiling faces absolutely pristine.

It would make a really good drawing.

So instead of following her original plan of exploration, Niagara ended up plopping down on the steps and whipped out her pencil once again, beginning to etch dark lines in the paper. The girl sitting closest to the fire was especially beautiful; warm, dark skin with perfectly matching eyes glowing along with her smile.

Nothing made Niagara look away from either the scene or her sketch for quite some time, until she her arm was nudged violently by someone descending the stairs. The brunette gasped and out of instinct pulled her utensil away from the page quickly in an attempt to save the drawing from an unwanted jagged line.

"I'm sorry!" The person gushed immediately, Niagara glancing up to look him in the eyes. Her chest tightened, realised it was the same boy she'd been seeing all day.

The one with the cheekbones.

Normally that wouldn't be a distinctive feature in a school full of extremely British people, but when compared to this boy, it was. His green and blue eyes were extremely wide as he stared at her for a moment, silently.

Just as soon as he's entered Niagara's field of vision, he was gone before she had a chance to say anything. He left the common room, the round door swinging shut behind him as he went.

"Oh." She huffed, secretly hoping to hear him talk. He probably had a great voice like his great everything else. Perhaps he was shy, and perhaps Thalia knew the answer.

When Niagara pushed the door open to their bedroom, Thalia was just as Niagara'd left her; lying on her bed, her hair all fluffed out.

"Hello again." She greeted with a smile, upside down.

"Do you know who the boy with the really nice cheekbones is?"

Thalia sat up, blinking, rubbing the side of her head. "You're going to have to be more specific."

"He's in Hufflepuff, but he sat alone at dinner for whatever reason. He has this sort of fluffy copper-ish hair--" Niagara illustrated with animated hand movements around the top of her head, Thalia's eyes narrowing.

"Got nothing?" Niagara prompted, knowing it was better for her to get the information from someone she'd have to talk to anyway over confronting the boy herself.

"Uh..." Thalia murmured, resting her chin in the palm of her hand, gears turning.

"He also sat on the train with someone from Slytherin, I think."

Thalia looked up that time.

"Newt Scamander?"

"I haven't the slightest. I don't know what he's called."

"Sounds like you're talking about Newt Scamander." Thalia declared, getting up. "I don't know that much about him. He sorta keeps to himself. I do know, though, that his brother Theseus, is an absolute smoke show. He'll burn down Gyffindor Tower one of these days if he's not careful." The tall girl smirked, heading toward their bathroom, as she called over her shoulder, "The girls in Gryffindor call him Scamander the Stunning."

As the door to the bathroom shut, Niagara couldn't help but think this Newt Scamander boy was pretty stunning too.

A/N: I'm well aware girls in the 1910s probably didn't talk like this about boys, but I liked the line about burning down Gyffindor Tower too much to leave it out.

Thanks for reading!

Does anyone have any head canons about Theseus Scamander?

- TAAF_