Fantastic Beasts 3

Ariana Dumbledore

HOGWARTS, NIGHT

Queenie cautiously walked behind Abernathy as she and the acolytes followed him to another room to search for the cloak. As they walked along the corridor, she tried her hardest to hear what Abernathy was thinking. She could hear some parts of it; it was as if she were listening to a radio with a bad signal. However, she couldn't piece together the few words that slipped past his occulmency.

She saw his body tense as they continued; he must have been able to feel her searching his mind, scanning his thoughts, and he turned around to glance at her.

They both knew that occulmency only works when one can shut out all emotions, but when Abernathy looked at her, frowning, emotions came flooding back to him from when he was infatuated with her in New York. His occulmency faltered.

What a shame such a pretty woman will die at Grindelwald's hands.

Queenie turned and was about to run, but he cast a freezing charm at her. She fell to the hard floor, paralyzed, and Abernathy lifted her up by her shoulders.

"Trying to run away from us?" He asked softly.

She tried to give him pleading eyes through the charm, but he said nothing more as he murmured, "Wingardium Leviosa," and lead her floating body through the corridor. She faced the ceiling, so she couldn't see the acolytes. But she could hear them.

I wonder what Grindelwald will do with her...

Grindelwald's going to kill her...

Queenie felt tears welling in her frozen eyes and she could not have been more distressed at that moment. All she wanted to do was to put her hands to her ears and block out their thoughts. But even as she lay in mid-air, trying her hardest to move an inch, she knew they were right; he would kill her.

"You found Queenie?" She heard Grindelwald ask.

"Yes. No sign of the cloak, though," Abernathy replied.

Suddenly, the freezing charm was removed from her. So was the levitating charm. She crashed to the ground and stood up, but she was surrounded by acolytes.

Grindelwald stood in front of her. He stowed his wand away and narrowed his eyes at her.

"What brings you here?"

Deciding to use the same story she used on Abernathy, she began, "I came back to–"

"She tried to escape," Abernathy interrupted her. 

"Break her wand," Grindelwald instructed.

"No– stop–"

Two acolytes grabbed her wrists and forced them behind her back while a third grabbed her wand out of her hand. She held back a scream when she heard the sound of wood splintering.

"Please, don't kill me," She sobbed, "Please. I won't leave again, I promise–"

"Three years ago, I promised you I wasn't going to hurt you, Queenie," Grindelwald said in his eerily calm manner. Queenie searched his eyes and his mind, but he was using occulmency to block her out.

"I'm going to keep that promise," He answered for her.

The acolytes watched him aghast.

"You're not going to kill her?" Abernathy asked.

"I won't kill her." He turned to look at Queenie. "In fact, I could use her help."

From his coat pocket, he withdrew a small bottle of murky potion. He uncapped the cork and waved it in her face.