Saving F.

Chapter 7

Dipping his burned hand in Murtlap Essence, Newt felt the pain lessen instantly as the cold solution came into contact with his skin. They were back at Farida's house, and with no more pain to distract him, Newt's curiosity regarding the man, Makram Ibrahim, had reached its peak.

Farida had opened the file and was scanning it with her eyes. Newt watched as her expression changed during the few moments of her silent reading. Her eyebrows were raised, knitted in a frown, then raised again, but somehow it was different from the first time. She had such an expressive face, Newt thought.

"Well?" said Newt, turning his hand in the bowl. "What does it say?"

"An interesting man," said Farida, "but quite dangerous, it seems. Your teacher was not wrong about him."

Newt was about to ask her to elaborate, but she did so on her own.

"You see," she held out the file for Newt to see and began to trace the words written upon with her forefinger. "Makram Nazmy Ibrahim, born in eighteen-seventy-two, in Cairo... worked for the Ministry, Department of International Magical Cooperation, for three years, but then resigned... the rest is just personal information, really — marital status and this sort of thing. And that's him, in the picture."

Newt's gaze landed at the photograph pinned on the first page. Makram had a craggy face, and his features showed a general lack of emotion and an air of apathy, both so evident that he seemed like an exceptionally realistic waxwork. His eyes, on the contrary, were shrewd and full of life, and the more Newt stared at them, the more he had the uneasy feeling of being blatantly judged.

Farida then turned the page and continued to translate aloud. "Here they recorded all his travels. In the last two years alone, he has been to France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, China, Japan, America and India. And below you find the dates of departure and entry, and the means of travel he used. Now I wonder, are there interesting creatures in these places?"

"Plenty of them." Newt nodded. "Thunderbirds, for example, are native to North America. That could be where he found the Thunderbird he has."

"That might explain it, then, "said Farida in a thoughtful tone. "Of course as a Ministry official, he got to travel a lot, but as it says here, he resigned a long time ago. So I think the reason he continued to travel was to find creatures. Now look here," she flipped another page, "that's his criminal record."

Newt shifted in his seat as he became more alert.

"He was expelled from Iunu in his fifth year for endangering human life," said Farida. Newt wasn't sure if her tone had really changed, or if he was simply imagining that. "After that, he was caught by the Aurors for performing some illegal spells, but since he wasn't an adult, he didn't end up in prison. That's why I think he's a dangerous man. If he was that young and could do these spells, which even adults struggle with, then you can only imagine how powerful he is now. But wait — I'm sorry, Newt — I didn't mean to make you worry."

The change in Newt's expression wasn't because he was worried. His mind was merely lingering on the similarity between him and Ibrahim, as he, too, had been expelled from Hogwarts for the same reason. Newt couldn't help but wonder if Ibrahim had been innocent like him, but the injustice he had faced was what caused him to become a criminal.

"No, I am all right," Newt answered. "What else is there?"

"In his criminal record? Nothing that has to do with beasts or magical creatures. So if it's true that this man is in this trade, then he's doing a good job at not being caught."

"The file is not of much use then," Newt said, a little grudgingly.

Farida's gaze turned to him. "Who said that? I haven't finished yet. Look here... his property." She flipped the page again. "Let me tell you, the man is rich. He inherited not just money from his family, but also ten acres of land in the south, and a very large house here in Cairo. Do you know what this means?"