04 | to all the creatures I've never met before

THE THREE WIZARDS soon left MACUSA. Tina was determined to find the case with the creatures to prove she was worthy of being an Auror again, and the other two simply had no choice in the matter. Dorothy knew that Tina didn't want to send her best friend to prison, she just wanted to protect people and have her dream job. And in a way, Dorothy didn't blame her.

Newt, too, wanted to find his case. His creatures, his poor creatures were with a stranger and in a strange territory that they didn't know. But he also felt bad for Dorothy, who was being dragged along like a rag doll because of him, so he kept close to the strawberry blonde, who just walked the streets with her lip in between her teeth as she looked around.

They passed an old bookstore, and Newt saw as Dorothy sucked in a breath and bowed her head down, a painted look of sadness on her face. He looked up to see the name, Les Livres de Belle, and then saw Tina looking back at Dorothy in regret for a second.

He had heard of the bookshop before, gone into it even, and seen how young witches and wizards' faces light up when they saw the elegant place. It was located in Hogsmeade, where he used to go during school when there were Saturday trips.

Sadly, he didn't know the connection Dorothy had with the shop, and felt that it would be quite rude to ask, so he kept walking, leaving Dorothy to wallow in her own sadness. They turned another corner or two before they saw a messed up building.

"I can't believe you didn't Obliviate that man! If there's an inquiry, I'm finished!" Tina said, on the verge of tears, "Especially you, Dorothy, I thought you know better."

Dorothy sighed, lowering her head again and Newt brought himself to squeeze her arm for a second before letting go. Everything became worth it when he saw the strawberry blonde sending him a small smile of gratitude in return.

"So why would you be finished?" Newt returned his attention to Tina, "I'm the one that's -"

"I'm not supposed to go near the Second Salemers!" Tina exploded, but it wasn't very loud, just loud enough that Dorothy took a step back, landing in Newt's grasp.

Dorothy blushed when she realized what happened, moving away in embarrassment, which he found the tiniest bit cute.

Just then, something flew over their head, and Newt spun, a little horrified of what he saw, something that Tina didn't miss.

"What was that?"

Tina's eyes narrowed at Newt, who sputtered out, "Er - moth, I think. Big moth."

Tina continued to stare him for a second more before spinning around to see all of the commotion of the police. Dorothy, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at him, which he responded with putting a finger to his mouth as if saying to please be quiet. She nodded in return, giving him a look of 'tell me later', which he nodded at.

Then, the three of them moved to the outskirts of the crowd, who had gathered by the crumbling building that apparently held the no-maj that they were looking for.

"Hey...Hey - quiet down - I'm trying to get a statement..." a policeman addressed the crowd, but it did nothing to stop their conversations.

"...I'm telling you it's a gas explosion again, I ain't taking the kids back up there until it's safe," a woman told the policeman, and Dorothy continued to look around, trying to find out what exactly happened.

"Sorry, ma'am - there ain't no smell of gas," the policeman said to the complaining woman, who huffed in response.

"It warn't gas - hey, Officer, I seen it! - it wuzza - a gigantic - a huge hippopotto -" a drunk hobo tried to say, and Dorothy narrowed her eyes at him. Really, she wasn't sure what happened, but she wanted to know before the three of them entered the building, and the drunk man wasn't helping.

Dorothy barely missed how Newt slipped out his wand and pressed it to the hobo's head, changing what the man was saying. "- gas. It was gas."

Then, hearing it, she turned to see an innocent-looking Newt slip his wand back into his sleeve, and she raised an eyebrow at him again. "I saw what you did," she told him, "That's illegal, Mr. Britain."

"If no one saw it," he countered, "then I won't get caught, and I have a feeling that you won't tell anyone else, Miss America."

Dorothy smiled at him, "Miss America...I like it."

Just when Newt was about to respond, they heard the crowd saying, "Gas...It was gas!" The two let out a small breath, the crowd had believed the homeless man and his lies, there would be no need for further suspicion.

Tina looked up at the 'moth' again, still confused by it, and Newt took the chance to hop up the metal steps and inside the ruined building to his case and the no-maj, Dorothy and Tina following after him.

"Mr. Scamander!" Tina yelled after the man as Dorothy screamed, "Newt!"

When the two women reach the room, they saw Newt sitting on the bed with his case, shifting his eyes away from them and trying to play an innocent look as the no-maj from before was left in the corner, unconscious.

"It was open?" Tina asked incredulously as she saw the wizard close the hatch calmly.

"Just a smidge..." Newt tried to make it seem less of a big deal than it was, causing Dorothy to roll her eyes at him.

"That crazy Niffler thing's on the loose again?" Tina asked, but she felt as if she already knew the answer.

"Er - it might be -"

"Then look for it!" Tina order him, then looked at Dorothy, who was still standing in the doorway, "Look!"

Dorothy jumped in surprise at the tone of her friend's voice, and the fact that it was directed at her. She looked around, but thought it helpless and decided not to do anything. Plus, it wasn't her job.

Then, they heard the no-maj groan, causing Tina to drop his case and rush towards him.

"His neck's bleeding, he's hurt!" Tina yelled, worried about the man. "Wake up, Mr. No-Maj..."

Dorothy, too, walked towards him, seeing the puncture marks on his neck and then looked at Newt. "What do we do?" she asked him, but he didn't have time to respond.

Tina emitted a scream when another creature of Newt's attacked her, causing Newt to spin and catch the creature by its tail, forcing it into the case.

"Mercy Lewis, what is that?" Tina asked, a little out of breath as Dorothy went to hold her in comfort.

"Are you alright?" the strawberry blonde asked, looking at her friend in worry as she continued to check her face.

Tina nodded as Newt answered the brunette's question, "Nothing to worry about. That is a Murtlap."

"What else have you got in there?" Tina asked him, her tone sharp and cold.

"You!" the no-maj screamed as he awoke, startling Dorothy as she jumped back, closer to Newt.

"Hello." Newt said back, looking away from the scene and to Dorothy, who was trying not to be seen by the no-maj.

"Easy, Mr. -"

"Kowalski...Jacob..." the man said, a little dazed and confused about what was happening and out of it because of the creature that attacked him.

Tina took his hand and shook it. Newt then turned to raise his wand to Jacob, who cowered in fear, as Tina stood in front of him protectively.

"You can't Obliviate him!" Tina looked at him, "We need him as a witness."

"I'm sorry - you've just yelled at me the length of Newt York for not doing it in the first place..." Newt told her.

"He's hurt! He looks ill!" Tina took to saying to him, and Dorothy just stood in the corner, watching the whole scene and feeling completely useless.

Dorothy James had always felt completely useless to some extent. Growing up, she never felt like she could help herself from her parents, who were certain that she was a curse from God...that she was unholy. They believed that the devil was in her, believed that if the public ever knew of her strangeness that they would be ruined, so they locked her away.

And then, in school, she felt helpless to Richard Birch, her old friend, as he turned on her and decided that he could do much better than her and Diana. He held power, started rumors and made everyone hate her more, and she felt like she could do nothing.

Then the world came along, and she had to brave it with just Diana and herself. She had an apartment, but no one to come home to. Dorothy never felt like she belonged in the world, and maybe it was because she was witch and no one else was. Or maybe it was because the world hated her kind and wanted them to burn.

And, standing next to Tina, she never felt like she had power. Tina worked at MACUSA, she used to be an Auror, while Dorothy just worked at a simple bookshop and didn't do anything important. It was easy for Dorothy to feel unimportant and small, to feel helpless in situations.

"I admit that is a slightly more severe reaction than I've ever seen," Newt's voice broke her from her thoughts, "but if it was really serious - he'd have..."

"What?"

"Well, the first symptom would be flames out of his anus -" Newt started to explain and Jacob, terrified, started feeling his pants.

"This is balled up!" Tina exclaimed.

"It'll last forty-eight hours at most!" Newt told them, "I can keep him if you want me to -"

"Oh, keep him?" Tina rhetorically asked. "We don't keep them! Mr. Scamander, do you know anything about the wizarding community in America?"

"I do know a few things, actually. I know you have rather backwards laws about relations with non-magic people. That you're not meant to befriend them, that you can't marry them, which seems mildly absurd to me."

"I actually agree with that," Dorothy said, "My best friend growing up wasn't magical...then again, she was my maid."

Tina rolled her eyes at her friend, "Who's going to marry him?"

"I don't know," Dorothy broke in again, "Maybe a very nice no-maj who cares more about personality than looks."

"That doesn't matter," Tina shook her head, "You're all coming with me -"

"I don't see why I need to come with you -" Newt tried to talk, but what cut off when he saw Tina trying to lift Jacob by herself.

"Help me!"

Newt, who felt obligated to help, did. Dorothy, on the other hand, did nothing but watch them, taking Newt's case as her way of helping.

"I'm...I'm dreaming, right?" Jacob asked himself. "Yeah...I'm tired, I never went to the bank. This is all just some big nightmare, right?"

"For the both of us, Mr. Kowalski," Tina muttered, but everyone in the group heard her.

Then, the four of them Disapparated to Tina's apartment, and Dorothy mentally prepared herself for the lecture that she would receive from Diana.

•••

finally! another chapter! sorry that this one is incredibly late, but I've been having writers block for this story. today, though, I made myself write for it and finished the chapter!

also, sorry that it's shorter than the rest, but next chapter will probably be a lot longer because we're tackling a lot next chapter.

dedicated to peggyscarter for her amazing newt scamander fanfic, Two Stones.

question of the day,
werewolf or seer?

answer of the day,
seer all the way! (but I do love me some werewolves)