Fantastic Beasts 3

Admonitor Bracelets

 NEWT'S BASEMENT, 1930 – EVENING

"Come on out."

Newt slipped on some gloves and held a dead ferret up in the air. He was standing in what to be an empty cave inside his basement, stalactites hanging from above. He was here to inspect his runespoor; Bunty had told him that morning that it seemed to have a toothache.

At the smell of blood, the runespoor uncoiled itself and moved into the light. Newt watched as the giant three-headed serpent glided towards him, weaving between stalagmites, one of the heads running a forked tongue over its lips in hunger.

Then there was a hissing noise. It didn't sound as if it was coming from a snake, it sounded like some odd hissing language that he had never heard before. The runespoor turned its attention from Newt and he followed its gaze to the door at the end of the cave. Then the hissing stopped and the door creaked open.

Newt ran. He bolted towards the door in pursuit, withdrawing his wand as he did so. He hurried through, then halted, scanning the giant basement and the many enclosures for something or someone he hadn't seen before. Nothing seemed out of place. He frowned. Perhaps he was just imagining things.

Suddenly, he heard a spell cast from his house above, and he saw a figure slip out of the basement. He continued the pursuit.

After rushing up the staircase leading out of his basement, he heard a scream from the corridor; a scream that sounded awfully familiar.

"Newt!"

He rushed through the corridor into the living room to find Tina Goldstein duelling a stranger, Jacob beside her.

"Expelliarmus!" Newt cried, aiming his wand at the stranger. The wand flew out of the man's hand and he was thrown into the wall from the force of the charm. He reached for his wand, which was lying a metre from him. Newt wasn't quick enough. The man grabbed his wand and disapparated.

There was a long moment of silence where Newt, Tina and Jacob stood in the room, panting. After a while, Newt's gaze met Tina's and he found himself staring at the woman who he had been hoping to see for the past three years but hadn't been allowed to.

"A-are you hurt?" He asked her after a while.

"I'm – I'm fine," She replied breathlessly.

Tina paused, then ran forward and threw her arms around him. Their embrace was very short, however, for he remembered the man she had been seeing, three years ago; Achilles. He assumed that they were still together, as she had not mentioned him in her letters. His arms fell to his sides and she reluctantly let go.

"Hey, Newt," Jacob said, and the two shared a hug that lasted longer than his embrace with Tina. Afterwards, Newt found himself facing the two and questioned, "What brings you here?"

"It's a long story," Tina responded. Jacob nodded in agreement.

–––––

Tina stared around at the enormous basement, crowded with hundreds of enclosures and creatures. An augurey swept past her and landed on a table beside Newt's suitcase. As she made her way down the stairs, gazing around in awe, her gaze landed on a picture of herself, pinned to the open lid of the case.

She realised that she had stopped in her tracks, for Jacob pushed past her. She cast an annoyed look at him, but he wasn't paying attention.

Newt watched the two in confusion. Before she could follow Jacob, he said, "Um– Tina?"

"Yes?" She asked, turning to face him.

"What's going on between you and Jacob?"

"What? Oh, nothing."