Old Scamander Had a Farm, Ee I Ee I O
By the end of the next day, the whole school knew what happened with the stone. Percy grabs Neville and Hermione by their shoulders and steers them toward the library the morning after, the look he gives me makes my shoulders slump as I trail behind them. Hermione was dragging her feet so I take a few big steps to take her hand to offer her some strength.
“What were you thinking?” Percy hisses as soon as we were past the muffliato barrier, the rest of the groups waiting for us.
“Why would you keep this from us?” Draco’s face was paler than normal and Pansy wasn’t looking too much better.
“You would’ve wanted to help and with Ron being Ron that wasn’t an option,” Hermione whispered, leaning into Pansy on the couch as I played with her frizzy hair behind them.
“Merlin’s Beard! Of course, we would want to help!” Cedric raised his voice as his forehead furrowed in frustration.
“What would Tonks think? Or Bill? You could have been seriously hurt!” Percy was staring me down, his arms folded across his chest.
“They aren’t here Perc! And they wouldn’t have known about it either, I didn’t even know until Trevor found me and Neville was able to tell me what was going on,” I huff, gently tugging on the hair in my hands to remind Hermione of my displeasure at being left out of the loop.
“We told the professors but they didn’t believe us. We thought it was Snape going after the philosophers stone so we couldn’t tell him, McGonagall didn’t believe us when we told her, and it seemed like Snape was pressuring Quirrell.” Hermione explained.
“Even if they didn’t believe you we would have,” Draco sits forward to grab Hermione’s hand. “Is Harry going to be okay?”
“They believe Harry is going to be fine, he hasn’t woken up yet so they can’t be sure until then,” Hermione squeezed the boy's hand before dropping it so he could sit back.
“Tell us next time something happens,”
“We are somewhat known as being masterminds!” The twins grin. I roll my eyes with a disbelieving laugh.
“And yet you get caught,” I remind them only to be shooed off in favor of hearing what exactly happened last night. I continue braiding the frizzy hair in front of me as the Gryffindor bookworm retold everything that happened this year. I tap Hermione’s shoulder and she holds up her wrist for me to take the hair tie off of her wrist. I step back to run a critical eye over my work and nod with a smile at how it turned out.
“Wait, there was a three-headed dog in the castle all year and no one noticed?” Cedric looked skeptical about the whole thing.
“Fluffy usually stays in the forbidden forest, but he was probably Hagrid’s part in guarding the stone. The devil’s snare must have been Aunt Pomona, the flying keys Uncle Filius, the giant chess set would be Mamaidh, and Uncle Sev had his potions puzzle. I wonder if Quirrell was asked to help with the protection or if it was only the house heads.” I muse, my gaze unfocusing as I ran over all the details of the different chambers protecting the stone.
“Don’t get lost up there.” I flinch away at a sudden presence next to me, turning to find Percy with a worried look. “We need to get to lunch.” I nod and follow the others as we split up to go down to the Great Hall. I grab Hermione’s hand as all eyes turn to our Gryffindor group, the two first-years getting an infinitely bigger amount of attention than they usually do.
“Do you think everyone knows?” Neville whispered and I rub his back in an attempt to comfort him.
“The paintings gossip, I would be surprised if at least eighty percent of the school didn’t know.” I roll my eyes at George’s blasé attitude. Ron was at the table and lit up when he saw us approaching, only to scowl a bit when he noticed me with them.
“What are you doing here?” He asked around his mouthful of chicken. I recoil from the bits of poultry falling from his mouth before giving him a look that revealed how stupid I think that question was.
“My best friend, my first friend, was almost killed last night and you wonder why I’m sitting with her for lunch?” The level of expectations I have for the boy just managed to drop lower.
“She didn’t do anything dangerous, I don’t see why you are making such a fuss.” Ron shrugged and I saw red. I grip Hermione’s wand in her pocket with the intent to curse him, only to be stalled by a soft hand wrapping around my wrist.
“I did the same things as you did, Ron. You just sacrificed yourself for the chess game,” Hermione reminded him. He gains a squished look on his face that I have come to associate with him being sympathetic to others. Or at least he thinks he is, he just looks gassy in my opinion. After the meal was over, I followed Neville to the greenhouses while the other two first-years went to visit Harry.
I spent time starting to look ahead to fifth-year material in the library to avoid being caught in the large groups of students who flock around Ron and Hermione. I felt bad for my soulmate, but not bad enough to brave that with her. I was left alone for three days before the bookworm came to the library with her hand clasped around her necklace. I raise a brow at her as she grabs my arm and tugs me up from my seat.
“Mia, what are you doing?” I manage to swipe the book I was reading from the table before letting the excited girl drag me down the corridors.
“Harry woke up! Dumbledore is in to see him right now and I was hoping that we could see him after they were done,” She turned to beam at me and I had to redirect her to avoid a collision with a Ravenclaw, their nose stuck in a book. Ron was waiting outside the doors of the hospital wing, his foot tapping and his arms crossed.
“Dumbledore just left, but Pomfrey isn’t wanting to let us in,” The Weasley whined. I roll my eyes at the childish behavior.
“Maybe there is a good reason, Harry could still be recovering from whatever happened to him.” I frown at his lack of care, stepping closer to the doors to see if I could hear what was going on.
“You need rest.” Madam Pomfrey was saying.
“I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey…”
“Oh, very well.” She sighs and I push the doors open with a cheeky grin as she fondly shakes her head at me, “But five minutes only .”
“Harry!” I grab Hermione’s arm when she goes to attack Harry with a hug. I rake my eyes over the bedridden boy to take stock of his injuries.
“Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to - Dumbledore was so worried - “
“The whole school’s talking about it.” Ron cuts Hermione off and I have to bite my tongue to stop from pointing out that he was one of the main sources of gossip. “What really happened?”
Harry told us about his experience after sending Hermione back to take care of Ron. Hearing about Quirrell looking for the stone sent me on high alert, was this somehow related to the curse on the DADA teaching position? Hermione and Ron both were gasping and awing throughout the retelling and Harry was eating it up, but I only felt sick. When Harry revealed that Voldemort had been living on the back of the professor’s head, I shivered in disgust at him leaching off of another person. Hermione’s scream at the reveal felt accurate to what I was feeling.
“So the stones gone?” Ron looked a bit put out, making me think that he wanted the stone for himself. I shake my head at his question as I stand from my seat to give the Boy Who Lived a gentle hug.
“I’ll tell the others and give Draco and Pansy your cloak. Draco was worried about you, you prat. Don’t scare us like that again,” I whisper, feeling him nod against my shoulder. I hug Hermione around her shoulders and slip out of the hospital wing. Finding the twins first would give me the map to find the others, so I go in search of the pranksters. I found them planting dung bombs in Filch’s office. I don’t interfere with their prank as I take the map out of George’s bag.
“Why do you insist on torturing the poor man?” I ask once they had set everything up. I didn’t want them to accidentally set something off.
“Because it’s fun,” Fred smirks, handing over his wand for me to open the map. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
“Who’re you looking for?” George leans over to rest his head on top of mine, his arms resting on my shoulders.
“Harry woke up, I was going to gather everyone in the library for an update,” I note that our two Slytherins were with Cedric and their buddies in the courtyard. Can you go get Perc and Nev? Harry also said to give his cloak to the Slytherins so they can go visit him. I can get the Slytherpuff group,” I receive salutes from the two and we split off, map back in George’s bag.
The sight of the three boys tossing a quaffle around while Pansy and Hannah were reading under the tree brought a smile to my face. Pansy looked up as I left the castle, her lips twitching in a smile.
“Hey, Pipsqueak! What has you emerging from your cave?” Cedric tossed the quaffle to me when he saw me.
“I wanted to see if you three could come to help me with something, the twins are making a mess and I need some extra wand power to clean it up,” I throw the ball to Cass.
“Sure, let me know what you think of the book,” Pansy gracefully stands and hands the book she was holding to the Hufflepuff. Draco and Cedric gave Cass pats on the back before they jogged over to where Pansy and I were waiting for them.
“Is everything on for tomorrow still? Or are we having to cancel because Potter did something stupid?” Cass called after us.
“It's still on, why would we cancel now that the problem has been taken care of?” I throw over my shoulder.
“What’s happening tomorrow? I’ve heard a few conversations about it now but no one actually said what was happening,” Draco was messing with his tie, starting to retie it only to leave it hanging.
“After breakfast, everyone spends the day at the lake,” Cedric informed them.
“Everyone?” Pansy looked unsure.
“Well, it started as an idea for our group to hang out because Bill was graduating. Be we made the mistake of saying Eva could invite whoever she wanted. Next thing we know, the whole school was playing games and having fun by the lake. Sort of became a tradition,” I blush at the memory, picking up my stride so they didn’t see the color in my cheeks. I lead the three to the library where we find the Gryffindors already waiting for us. Draco lights up when Fred handed Harry’s cloak to him.
“Is Harry awake?!” Draco turned to me and I nod before telling them what Harry had told us while I was there.
“He’s back?” Pansy’s voice shook in fear at the end of the story, “And he has been here the entire year?” I pull the girl into a hug as I try to comfort her. Draco on the other hand looked furious.
“What was Dumbledore doing this entire time? Surely he knew that something was wrong with this situation, Quirrell had been casting a jinx on Harry’s broom for crying out loud!” The Malfoy heir was pacing back and forth in our space, the others having varying looks of agreement on their faces.
“We can’t trust the professors to help if something like this happens again,” Everyone was surprised that Percy was the one to say it.
“Harry and Hermione shouldn’t have to go through this alone with only Ron for help, next time we need to insist that they tell us everything so we can help.” Cedric looked up from where he had been staring at the table. We all agree and slowly leave to process in our own ways. Pansy was still unresponsive to her surroundings, a dull look in her eyes that betrayed her fear.
“My parents are going to want me to join their side of the fight,” She finally whispered.
“You don’t need to, we can get you somewhere safe.” I was overcome with a need to protect her, keep her away from anyone wanting to do her harm or force her to do something she didn’t want.
“Mhamó has me staying with her most of the time I’m home anyway, but eventually they are going to want me there to meet their associates, not just for parties.” She has given up, I could see it in the slump of her shoulders.
“I can have Flower come and get you, take you to France,” Hermione sat on the other side of the Slytherin making us both jump in surprise.
“No, He isn’t really back so there isn’t any harm in staying with Mhamó.” Pansy pulled the Gryffindor to lean against her side, sandwiching her between us. We sit there and let everything that had been revealed today ruminate in our minds.
“Come on, it’s time for dinner,” Hermione’s whisper broke me out of my circling thoughts. Pansy giggled and I noticed that the girl had tear tracks on her cheeks. How long was I checked out?
“You barely beat them,” Pansy stopped me from falling back into my mind. Someone must be coming then. I was proven right when Draco and Neville walk into our spot with concerned looks.
“Come on, we aren’t asking,” Draco grabs Pansy’s hands and pulls her out of her seat, making Hermione fall against me.
“You three missed lunch, you need to eat a little dinner at least.” Neville holds a hand out to help Hermione up.
“You could have asked in a nicer way,” Pansy pushes Draco’s shoulder before offering her hand out to help me up off the couch.
“Who are you going to sit with tonight?” Hermione asked as we walk out of the deserted library.
“I was going to sit with the twins, but I’ll walk with Pansy and Draco. I walked with you last time,” I hug Hermione and link my arm through Pansy’s as we leave the two Gryffindors to wait a few minutes to follow.
“Is Harry going to be able to join the lake day tomorrow?” Draco rounded to walk on my other side.
“He will be lucky if Aunt Poppy lets him out for the End-of-Year Feast,” I smile fondly at the caution of the Matron.
“Shame, I was looking forward to beating him in everything,” Draco sneered as we pass by a group of Slytherins. They ask me about the other activities offered tomorrow and I happily talk about the now annual event. I give each of them a hug before approaching the twins who scoot over to give me barely enough room to get on the bench of the table. When I was seated they scooted closer and I grabbed Fred’s hand to play with his fingers.
“Hello Eva, have a good day?” Angelina had a kind smile on her face that I return.
“Yes, I did. How was your day? Did you get to play quidditch?” I listen to the third-year start talking about a game that they had set up where they mixed the houses to make all-new teams. Katie Bell leaned forward to join in the conversation as the food appeared on the table. I pick at the food available, letting the twins add more fruit and bits of chicken to my plate since I wasn’t feeling the heavier food. I eventually pulled a quill out of a Weasley bag and start drawing on Fred’s hand.
I drew an idea I had for a logo for their eventual joke shop. There wasn’t anything else I could see them putting effort into, their idea for the candy box was only one in a long line of things they had thought of. I reach for my goblet at the same time Katie grabbed a pumpkin pastry and stare at her hand.
“You’re -” I gasp, pointing to her hand. Katie pauses to look at the design, letting Angelina lean over to see it.
“Looks good Pip, all it needs is some color,” Fred holds his hand out for George to see.
“I think it would look good in purple and orange,” Angelina throws in her opinion and I manage to pause in my freaking out to consider the suggestion.
“That would look good,” I make a note of those colors before shaking my head and rounding on Fred. “Why didn’t you tell me that you found your soulmate?! Do you know how often your siblings ask for updates? Every single letter!”
“Fred! You said that you told them,” Katie reprimed with a disappointed look.
“We were going to tell them over the summer! We didn’t think that this was something to tell over a letter,” George comes to his brother's defense and I turn my glare on him.
“George Gideon Weasley, you also know who your soulmate is?” His eyes dart over the table and I follow his graze to the slightly amused senior chaser.
“What did I tell you? I wanted to tell them our first year,” Angelina shrugs and I let my head fall on the table with a thud.
“Unbelievable,” I groan and then proceed to give the twins the silent treatment for the rest of dinner. I hug the two girls goodnight with a wish of luck in dealing with their soulmates. I bounce around the chambers as I collect things that will be needed for tomorrow and lay out my swimsuit to put on in the morning.
I lay in bed that night as I stared at the ceiling. The details that have been told to me flash in disturbing images my mind created. I slip out of bed and tip-toe across the hall to Minnie’s room. I slowly open the door to find her sitting up in bed with a book. Akira raises her head from where she was laying, letting out a soft meow. Minnie doesn’t say anything, just pulling the blanket back for me to get under. I settle in against her side and she starts to read out loud, her voice soothing me to sleep.
The next morning had me skipping to the kitchen to ask about a picnic by the lakeside like I have done every year. After Pokey reassured me that it would be the same and that it would be no problem she shooed me out of the room with a bag of snacks to give to the bedridden boy in the hospital wing. I make a quick stop at the hospital wing where Harry was softly talking to himself.
“Eva said it was a lake day. Everyone will be there getting along, house rivalry set aside in favor of having fun.” I smile as I get closer, plopping down on the boy under the invisibility cloak.
“Hiya Harry! Since you can’t come to the lake with us I brought you some goodies for you.” I ignore the annoyed muttering from below me and hand the amused boy his snacks.
“Why would you sit on me when there is a perfectly good chair right there?” Draco whined, shoving me off.
“Where would the fun in that be?” I giggle before giving them both a hug and jogging out of the room to get some breakfast. I sit with Pansy since the other two will have the older Gryffindors to show them where our is.
“Excited for today?” I bump my shoulder against hers as we eat.
“Not really. I burn easily in the sun,” Pansy frowns and I laugh.
“You can use my sunscreen,” I promise, getting confused looks from the first-years around us.
“Sunscreen? What’s that?” A blonde girl on Pansy’s other side spoke up.
“It protects you from the sun,” I explain. She nods even with confusion still clear on her face. Down the table, I notice Cassius and another of his friends discussing a plan to throw the first-years into the lake as a sort of initiation to lake day. They were using sign language since the first years weren’t fluent in the language yet. I take a sip from my cup to cover my grin.
“Did you wear your swimsuit?” I ask as Draco finally graces us with his presence.
“I brought it, I don’t think it would be proper to wear it around the castle,” Draco gave me a weird look.
“I just put mine on under my clothes,” I shrug, smirking at the grumbling boy.
“Then hurry up and eat so you can go change. I want you guys to hang out with my other friends, maybe get to know them and hang out with us?” I hear a scoff from one of the other first-years but ignore them in favor of pouting at Pansy and Draco.
“You can’t be serious,” Blaise denies, “She hangs out with the mudblood and blood traitors!”
“Don’t say that word!” I round on him, ignoring the hand being placed on my knee.
“I think it would be best if you listen to her, mate.” Theo’s voice held a hint of warning to it.
“What is the freak going to do? The blood traitors probably sent her over here to get rid of her,” Blaise smirks. Anger was riling up my magic enough to fight against the soothing blanket of Pansy’s magic.
“You need to stop Zabini. Even I know the first rule of Hogwarts is to not get Eva mad,” Millicent warned.
“Oh come on! Her parents didn’t even want her, why do you think she’s here? And it’s not like she has a wand,” I had tried so hard all year to ignore the boy but with everything, he has put my friends through, and now this. This, something that brought back memories I had shoved away, was the final straw.
“I don’t need a wand thu mac na galla!” I lunge across the table to grab a hold of his shirt, pulling him closer so I could deliver a stronger punch.
“Whoa! Calm down! You get into a fight and McGonagall isn’t going to let you participate today, he’s not worth it.” Arms pulled me away from the table, holding me up off the ground as I clawed at the restraints. The arms tightened around me and I fall limp in the hold, squeezing my eyes shut as I try to get his voice out of my head.
“What is going on here?” Snape’s voice drawled as his sweeping cloak drew closer.
“Nothing professor, Eva and I were just leaving,” Cedric answered as I was transferred to a different set of arms.
“She bloody attacked me!” Blaise shrilly denied.
“I didn’t see her attack you, did anyone else see Eva attack him?” Cassius’ voice raised in volume to reach everyone in the hall. No one spoke up.
“Making false accusations is unbecoming of a Slytherin Mister Zabini, see that you do not continue the practice.” Snape swished away and I press my forehead to the shoulder it was resting on.
“Let’s go claim our spot, the shouldn’t be long before everyone starts coming out,” Cedric’s voice was quiet as he started to ramble on about the plans he and his dad were making for the summer. Focusing on his words helped shove the words back in the box I had locked them in. I added chains and padlocks to the box to stop them from ever getting out again.
“Alright there Pip?” I look up from the shoulder I had been resting on the see the rest of our group standing a bit away, Pansy and Draco separate from the group to keep up appearances.
“I will be. Can we forget this happened and enjoy our day in the sun?” I stand up and strip my shirt off to reveal my one-piece swimsuit underneath. Leaving my shorts on I run off the dock and jump into the lake, swimming as far down as I can before having to resurface for air.
“Look out below!” I watch as the third-years throw the three first-year Gryffindors into the lake. The other houses were also throwing in their first-years as well and soon there wasn’t a dry first year to be seen.
“What the bloody hell was that for?!” Ron yelled at his brothers who were still on the dock.
“Initiation! Welcome to the annual Hogwarts Lake Day!” A cheer rose from the rest of the students and soon the majority of them were swimming in the lake. I make a big show of asking Pansy and Draco to play nice with my Gryffindor friends much to the amusement of everyone who was watching. They caved quickly when I gave them my puppy eyes. The day was a success and soon it was time for everyone to go get cleaned up for the end-of-year feast.
I sat up with Minnie at the head table in my Slytherin green shirt. The Slytherin table was filled with excitement at the fact that they won the house cup for the second year in a row. I wave excitedly at Harry when he walked in right before the food was going to appear. He looked disappointed at all the green decorations around the hall. He was ignoring the attention he got as he sat with Ron and Hermione. A hush falls over the students as Dumbledore finally arrived and approached his chair.
“Another year gone!” Dumbledore said cheerfully. “And I must trouble you with an old man’s wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were…you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts…
“Now as I understand it, the House Cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two.”
The cheer from the green table had me beaming as I cheer with them. Draco banged his goblet on the table to add to the chaos as the other tables reluctantly clapped for them, still having a truce from the day.
“Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin,” Dumbledore raised a hand to get the noise back under control. “However, recent events must be taken into account.”
Confusion filled the room, Slytherin's smiles dimming. I narrow my eyes at the headmaster, surely he wouldn’t.
“Ahem, I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes…
“First - to Mister Ronald Weasley…”
I turn to the Gryffindor table to see a purple Ron. He looked like a radish trying to be a leprechaun.
“...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor House fifty points.”
The house exploded in cheers that filled the room, making me flinch at the sudden level of volume.
“My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall’s giant chess set!” Percy was heard bragging. No matter what people said about him, he loved his family.
“Second - to Miss Hermione Granger…for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points.”
Hermione hid her face in her arms as her shoulders shook a tiny bit. He was giving them points for breaking the rules. Slytherin looked devastated. They worked hard all year for this and now they were watching it slip through their fingers.
“Third - to Mister Harry Potter…” Dumbledore said. The room went deadly quiet, everyone wanted to know what the golden boy had done. “...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House sixty points.”
The room was deafening, Gryffindor was now tied with Slytherin. Dumbledore wasn’t done yet, though he was letting the roaring cheer last a while. The twinkle in his eyes had me remembering the night. Neville was the only other Gryffindor to be involved in any way. His hand raised and the room gradually fell into silence.
“There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies,” Dumbledore was smiling “but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mister Neville Longbottom.”
The Gryffindor table exploded in cheers as people piled on Neville to hug him for winning them the House Cup. Some of the first-year Slytherins looked like they were about to cry, having their success ripped out from under them.
“Why did he do this now?” I mutter, “There were four days that he could have done this. Why change it last minute and crush the Slytherins spirit?” I fold my arms and sit back in my chair. Snape ran a hand over my hair as Minnie took one of my hands.
“I don’t understand either,” Snape sneered.
“I agree that he should have done this sooner, but I believe he wanted everyone to hear the reason for the change. That man loves his dramatics,” Minnie muttered.
“Which means,” Dumbledore called over the noise as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw joined in the celebration, “we need a little change of decoration.” He clapped his hands and instantly the green and silver faded to red and gold. Snakes morphed into lions and I was horrified to see that my shirt had changed to Gryffindor red as well. Snape shakes Minnie’s hand with a forced smile before changing my shirt back to its original color.
The somber mood of the Slytherin House carried over to the next day, only to get worse for some people when the exam scores arrived. I refuse to sit at the green table to avoid Zabini, and instead sit with Cho at the Ravenclaw table.
“Everyone managed to pass this year,” Cho informed me, “Though Flitwick threatened to fail us if we had another explosion in the common room. They just found an abandoned room to set up in.”
“There is never a dull moment in Ravenclaw is there?” I giggle along with the witch.
“Never, but it would be even better if you join us next year.” Cho teased.
“What house has the biggest group for where I end up?” I sigh, a small smile on my face.
“I think it’s tied between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Most agree you will either be sorted based on your smarts or your mum,” Padma leans forward with a cheeky grin on her face. “I put money on Ravenclaw, you’re too smart to be one of those self-sacrificing Neanderthals.”
I laugh with them for a bit before saying goodbye to everyone with plans to meet somewhere during the summer. I watch them leave from the main entrance, bouncing with excitement as I think about everything I was going to be doing in the next few months.
Settling back in the manor was a quick affair and it wasn’t long before I was out tending to the garden. My dirigible plum tree was growing nicely, fruit developing on it for the first time. I smile as I thought of Pandora, she would be pleased that I had managed to help the plant thrive. The next day was spent with Ginny and Luna as we made plans for our first year of Hogwarts. I also helped the twins in making their first batch of laced candies and played quidditch with the boys. Going into the menagerie to help Agate happened on Wednesday and I spent the entire time we restocked the shelves talking about what had happened and my new friends, Yukina wrapped snuggly around my shoulders. Then Saturday came and I woke up early in my excitement so I made breakfast for everyone.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Minnie guessed when she entered the kitchen.
“I needed something to keep me occupied or else I would convince myself that this is a bad idea,” I shrug and finish setting the table.
“You will do wonderfully, leòmhann beag. Mister Scamander will not regret inviting you to his farm.” Minnie reassured me and I felt some of my worries ease. Next thing I know we were walking through the floo into a cozy-looking cabin.
“Minerva! So good to see you again, dear,” an older woman came into the room her white hair pulled back into a bun.
“Tina, it has been a while. This is my wee magizoologist, Eva.” Minnie welcomed the hug from Tina.
“Newt is outside tracking down the niffler babies, the little pests keep getting out of their cage.” Tina huffs as she leads us through the house. A reflection of light catches my eye and I take a step back to blink the white dot out of my vision. I look for the source and see a prism hanging in a window. There, climbing the curtain, was a light blue baby niffler. I watch it climb for a few seconds before reaching up and grabbing the scruff on its neck. It instantly lets go of the curtain and becomes limp in my hold. I cradle the little creature in my arm and use one hand to gently scratch where its bill meets skin. The niffler makes soft sounds of pleasure as I quickly catch back up with the conversing witches.
“He has been out here for an hour already, we aren’t as young as we used to be so your help around the farm will be greatly appreciated.” Tina turns to look at me. Her eyes widen in surprise when she sees my new passenger.
“Silvanus isn’t exaggerating when he says Eva has a way with creatures.” Minnie smiled fondly as she pets the niffler’s head with a finger. “I best be off, I have plans with an old friend. Lovely seeing you again Tina, give Newt my best.” Minnie presses a kiss to my head with a muttered stay out of trouble before retreating to the fireplace.
“Where even was she? We had checked the house earlier,” Tina sighs as she motions for me to follow her down the path. I keep an eye out for runaway niffler babies and manage to catch two more before we see an older man struggling to keep a hold of two baby nifflers while trying to catch a third.
“Newt, Eva is here and we found three more nifflers on the way here,” Tina scoops up the troublesome niffler from her husband's arm which allowed him to finally catch the third.
“Little buggers keep getting out, need to fix the lock again,” Newt signs as he turns to face us. “Hullo, thank you for catching those three. We’ve been looking for them for a couple of hours and other chores need to be done.” I follow behind him as he starts walking away. Tina hands me her niffler and motions for me to catch up with her husband. I cradle all four of the creatures in my arms and take bigger steps to keep up with the magizoologist. He was fast for someone his age.
“Tell me about yourself, Silvanus’ description didn’t do you justice if you were able to handle three nifflers on your own.” Newt looks at me out of the corner of his eye and I carefully reach out to help him with his two nifflers. A scratch under their bill had them both calming down to a sedated state.
“Fascinating,” Newt muttered as he paused in the middle of the path. “I never remember that spot.”
“I help Uncle Silvanus with his twelve nifflers all the time. Mamaidh has forbidden him from giving me one though,” I blush under his gaze, having to jog to keep up with him once he starts walking again. We settle the babies in their cage and Newt casts a sticking charm on the lock to try and keep them in this time.
“Now, the moon calves need to be washed, they ran through some mud earlier. Then we need to get started on preparing dinner for everyone.” I follow the wizard to a fenced-off slab of cement where a herd of moon calves were waiting. I was handed a brush and directed on how to best accomplish the task as Newt used his wand to clean them. We talked about the different creatures he has on his farm as we worked. I asked all the questions I could think of and Newt had no problem answering all of them.
“Hagrid hatched a dragon, in his hut?” Newt gives me a surprised look as I finished washing the last calf and he spelled it dry.
“Yeah, Norbert. She’s a Norwegian Ridgeback. We had to send a letter to Ron’s brother Charlie to come and pick her up and take her to the sanctuary he works at in Romania.” I begin telling him everything I learned about her while Norbert had lived with us. We started trading facts as he had me help him check the sick creatures. The facts turned into explanations about what we were doing and why what we gave them worked.
“You have the gift,” Newt comments as he watched me calm a murtlap down so it would accept its shot.
“Agate mentioned that when she hired me to work at her shop. Uncle Silvanus says it too,” I smile up at him, finally relaxed after a few hours of being on the farm.
“Is that what drew you to magizoology? The connection you have with animals?” Newt stepped back to discard the needle.
“It has a part to play,” I put the murtlap back in her cage, “I think it mostly came from me reading all the fantasy books I could get my hands on when I was in the foster system. The thought of dragons and pixies being my friends when I was too weird for people gave me an escape.”
“I knew a boy once. He was an orphan that got adopted by a religious woman who hated witches. It was the same time I met Tina. Credence, that was his name, was an obscurial. His mother would beat him for his mistakes.” Newt got a far-off look in his eyes as he remembered that time. “I wish he had an escape as you did.”
I didn’t know what to say. What do you say to something like that? A wispy horse with wings appeared in front of us.
“Lunch is ready. You have been at it for hours, give Eva a break, dear.” The horse dispersed as soon as its message was delivered and I was left shocked.
“Was that-” I was at a loss for words.
“Tina’s patronus, we better get going or she will come to get us herself.” Newt led the way out of the infirmary and back to the house. After lunch, we prepped the food for the different animal dinners that night. I was chopping vegetables until Minnie came to pick me up.
“Thank you again for letting me come visit!” I hug the couple tightly in farewell.
“Visit any time you like.” Tina told me, “I would feel better if he had young help out there.”
“The help is appreciated,” Newt smiles at me and I was given one last hug before stepping into the fireplace. This summer is going has the potential to be the best one yet!