Ethereal ━ Newt Scamander

iii. the intimidating glare of percival graves

03 | the intimidating glare of percival graves

IT ONLY TOOK a few moments for Newt to recollect himself, and by then, Dorothy was more than ready to leave. She helped bring him up, giving him a slight nod before the two began to walk down the alley and into the streets, just like where the no-maj had left.

As they walked, they began to pass another woman, one who Dorothy swore was familiar, but didn't have the time to examine since she was on the other side of Newt from where the woman was. Then, the woman grabbed Newt's elbow and he quickly grabbed onto Dorothy before they Disapparated to cramped, brick alleyway.

Dorothy could hear sirens of the police in the background when she asked incredulously, "Tina?"

"Who are you?" she asked, ignoring Dorothy's calling of her name, her eyes trained on Newt as she waited for an answer.

"I'm sorry?" Newt didn't meet Tina's eyes as he asked his own question, looking onto the alleyway instead of letting his gaze reach the two ladies.

"Who are you?" Tina asked again, this time more impatient. Dorothy tried to grab Tina away from him, but since she lacked the proper body strength, it was no use to Tina's. With a huff, she crossed her arms and waited for Newt to answer.

"Newt Scamander," for a moment his eyes went to the pouting Dorothy.

"The one I told you about," Dorothy supplied, still sulking, "Dumbledore asked me to babysit for money."

"And you are?" Newt asked, flickering his eyes to the tall, brunette woman in front of him.

"What's that thing in your case?" Tina dodged the question, instead looking at the leather case in which Newt was holding.

"That's my Niffler," he supplied, but it did not ease the confusion of the two ladies. As far as they knew, Nifflers did not exist, or at least, they had never heard of them before. Then Newt pointed to the mustard stain above Tina's lip, "Er, you've got something on your -"

"Why in the name of Deliverance Dane did you let that thing loose?" Tina asked, once again dodging something that Newt was going to say.

"I didn't mean to - he's incorrigible, you see, anything shiny, he's all over the place -" Newt tried to explain, but it was lost to Tina. Dorothy, on the other hand, was hanging onto every word, trying to understand the mischievous creature she had seen before.

"You didn't mean to?"

Newt opened his mouth before closing, thinking of the best words to use before deciding to go with a plain, "No."

"You could not have chosen a worse time to let that creature loose! We're in the middle of a situation here! I'm taking you in," Tina said, but only Dorothy could begin to understand what she was saying.

"Tina," Dorothy tried, "I don't think you need to do that. I can take care of him myself."

But her plead was ignored when Newt asked, "You're taking me where?"

Dorothy rolled her eyes as Tina got out of her ID card that had her picture and an American eagle, showing the word MACUSA on it.

"Magical Congress of the United States of America," Tina supplied, showing where she worked and where they were going.

Newt looked visibly nervous at this, and his words showed it as well, "So, you work for MACUSA? What are you, some kind of investigator?"

Dorothy saw the way Tina hesitated, and she knew why. The Goldstein girl was no longer an 'investigator', losing it to Mary Lou when she harmed the no-maj and then wiped her memory. "Uh-huh," Tina let out finally.