Crescendo: A Fantastic Beasts Newtina Fanfiction

Chapter 34

       Newt ambled down the wide, gray path of the wizarding street. A shabby looking wandshop stood to his right, and curious, he entered the building, wondering if there was  a significant difference between American wands and British ones.

      The interior of the wandshop looked just as old as Ollivander's, and was set up in a similar way. Rows of boxed wands were stacked high on shelves, and along one wall was a number of wand care supplies. A wizened and disgruntled looking woman shuffled up to Newt from behind.

       "Need a wand?" she asked.

       "Oh – um, no, I was just...looking," Newt replied, caught off guard.

       He hurried off to the wall displaying the wand care items, and scanned through them for a lack of better things to do. A wand kit caught his eye, complete with a bottle of polish, shiner, and a fine cloth. Thinking that this would suit his brother, Theseus, since he was an Auror and did a fair amount of wandwork, Newt picked it up. He looked it over, and made his way back over to the witch.

       "I'd like to purchase this," he said.

      "Four Galleons and fourteen Sickles, then, laddie," the witch grunted. "Pay up, now, I haven't got all day."

       Newt, slight taken aback, dug the required amount of coins out of his pocket and poured them into the witch's open palm. Looking a great deal more cheerful, the witch hobbled off to deposit her profit behind the counter. Newt walked out of the store, considering whether he should have gotten something along the same line for Tina, as she was an Auror, too. But he had a feeling that it would be too insignificant. 

       The Magizoologist continued on down the street, and soon enough, he had found Chirstmas presents for everyone but Tina. For his mother, he went into a plant shop, where all sorts of magical herbs and fungi were swaying along, though there was no breeze. He'd avoided a few of the more dangerous plants, like the Devil's Snare and the Tentacula, since this was Florence Scamander he was shopping for. Remembering her complaint about the Lunascope he'd bought her last year, Newt decided on a rare Mimbulus Mimbletonia. He left the shop with much lighter pockets, and thought to himself that his mother had better enjoy the plant.

       For his father, who was a quiet and scholarly person, Newt decided on a simple book for him. The Flap of a Cape. It was fictional, and he'd seen it in the Goldstein's apartment. 

        Bunty and Jacob were relatively easy to shop for. Newt knew that his assistant had a fondness for brewing potions, so he entered the cauldron shop that he had seen earlier and purchased a small, gold cauldron. Jacob's present was a unique find. Newt had entered a shop that sold magical household items, and stumbled upon a set of enchanted baking utensils. The rolling pin would roll by itself, the whisk was self-stirring, and the baking pans would clean themselves. Newt bought the kit, figuring that Jacob could use it when he moved into an apartment with Queenie, since she would be the only other person there, and so he'd be able to use the magical appliances freely.

       The only person left that Newt still needed to get something for was Tina. He sighed as he exited a shop without finding anything suitable. After trying half a dozen more stores, and leaving them empty-handed, Newt thought that he would be lucky if he could find something for the American witch within the next century. 

       Everywhere he looked, nothing seemed right. The items were either too fancy for Tina's taste, or they simply just didn't fit her personality. Figuring that he was going about this in the wrong direction, Newt leaned against a nearby brick wall and focused his mind on everything he knew about Tina. She cherished her work, yes, but he'd already decided not to buy her something Auror-related. She was passionate, had a great instinct, and cared deeply for those around her, but Newt didn't see how that would help him think of what to buy her.