Revelations
"You ate faster than I thought you would," He smiled gently down at the child.
Normally, Y/N knew they would return the grin, but their lips stood still as they look up at him, and gently nodded.
Ignoring their reaction, Newt nodded then opened the door. He turned, awaiting for the child to follow him. Y/N only stood in their spot, looking up at him in expectation.
"Aren't you coming, Y/N?" He asked, adding a slight teasing tone.
They flinched, but nodded once again, and slowly approached him. Newt smiled at them again, and moved into the living room; Y/N now following. He made his way to the table with his case on top, and pulled it off and set it on the floor. He took a deep breath, then unlatched the locks. Y/N held their breath as he carefully pulled the top of the case up, anticipating what must have been inside.
A hole. It was dark, gaping hole.
The child stared down at the case in confusion. There was obviously nothing in there, so why on earth should they tell him their secret when there isn't anything jaw dropping about the case?
"Pardon," Newt said gently, and Y/N instantly moved way. The man took one step into the case, then another, and another; he was now standing inside the case, Y/N only being able to see his knees and up.
Their eyes grew, and their mouth slightly parted at the sheer amazement. Newt held a hand out to them. "Come on then, I can't have already scared you away."
Y/N stared at his hand, then up to his smiling face, it was comforting; so comforting Y/N's lips pulled upward, but sadly not into even a shy grin. Still, the child grabbed onto his hand, and he nodded.
"Alright, please watch your step, and don't let go of my hand." He informed as the two gently walked down the steps. Y/N's breath was quickening as the entrance of he case grew farther away, and it got darker and darker.
Thankfully, Newt soon took notice of this. He turned his head back to the cowering child, and he spoke softly. "We're almost there, we're almost there. You're okay,"
Their hand that held his gripped it tighter, and they covered their mouth with the other to stifle their crying. Newt looked down at the small child with sympathy flooding his face, but he kept pushing forward.
A light was seen down below as they slowly and carefully treaded down the steps. After stepping off the final step, Y/N removed their hand from their mouth, but it was still held wide open. Their gaze traveled around the room at high speed, trying their best to take in every single detail of the room.
It was completely wooden, and the tables were covered with vials of different shapes and sizes, multiple sheets of paper with neat writing on every line, more books than Y/N has ever seen in their life (besides the library, of course), and odd objects were not only on the tables, but also hanging from the ceiling.
Their breath shook, and they began mumbling to themselves. "We were...up there. And now we're...what?"
Newt couldn't help but smile at their confusion. "Yes, you are correct. We are indeed still in the case, not in another world. I'm not that powerful, unfortunately."
"Powerful?" They questioned.
"Yes," He nodded, and paused for a few seconds. He then knelt down to Y/N's height. "Now, I know you won't believe me, but you are not dreaming. Everything you see, everything you can touch, is real."
Their eyes softened at his tone, but still held the fear and confusion they have grown accustomed to. "How?"
Newt looked away, and took a deep breath. "I am a wizard, Y/N. That is how."
Y/N's eyes grew slightly, but not as big they imagined. Surprisingly, it felt as if they knew for a while. "Magic?"
"Yes, I posses magical abilities."
"I-," They stopped themselves before they could say another word.
This caught the man's attention, and he returned his gaze in their direction. "Yes?"
Y/N stared at him, their mind rushing at what to say next. Thankfully, they whispered "What kind?"
A smile pulled onto his lips, and he stood up from his kneeling position. "There is too much to tell you," He then took off his jacket, and threw it onto a small bed in the corner before turning back to face them. "So, that means I must show you. Come on." He sauntered over to another door, and pressed all his weight on it, opening it.
The child stood in the room, clutching the door's frame tightly as they gazed at the wonders around them. True, there were only perhaps two huge beetles working together to push a boulder, but that alone was enough for the young one to gasp in shock. Newt smiled at their surprised expression.
"There's not that much to look at if you ask me." He said, gazing down at their small stature.
Y/N looked up at him, and they could have sworn they felt their lips starting to perk up; yet, they still did not smile. Instead, they glanced up at the sheets surrounding some of the case. "Why is that there?" They pointed.
Newt looked behind him at where they pointed. "Oh, that's where one of my creatures used to live. It was a Thunderbird, do you know what that is?"
The child shook their head as their eyes traveled around the room.
He chuckled. "Of course you don't, silly me. A Thunderbird is an abnormally humongous bird, like an eagle, that can control thunderstorms. I was in America for a few days to set him free in Arizona where he belonged."
Y/N's eyes fell on him as his story ended. "You let him go?"
Newt sighed sadly. "Yes, I only bring magical creatures into my case when they are injured or sick. When they have recovered, I release them."
"Do you ever miss them?"
"Everyday," he gave the child a sad smile. "but, I am more relieved that they were healthy enough to live by themselves."
They scrunched their eyes. "What was his name?"
He smiled again. "Frank. I found him in another country, chained up."
Y/N didn't say anything this time. Instead, they only clung onto the door frame tighter, and leaned against it, a sullen look on their face. Newt shook his head, then approached them carefully. "But that was a while ago. Now, do you want me to show you the rest?"
"There's more?" They questioned, eyes growing.
Newt chuckled. "Of course, there always is." He then walked past the child, and climbed up a set of red stairs. He glanced over his shoulder when he didn't hear them behind him. "Are you going to follow, or do you want me to carry you?"
Flinching in response, Y/N rushed to his side and shook their head when they stood beside him. He nodded, then led the way into what looked like a small tunnel.
Y/N looked around in amazement at the cavernous look of the tunnel, and the countless amount of odd looking creatures that either flew past their head or gently pushed them aside to move in front of them. Newt's smile only grew at Y/N's look of amazement at everything in sight. They didn't look fearful, but somewhat hesitant at their surroundings.
"Alright, come out Pickett. I'm not taking no for an answer." Newt slightly scolded, reaching for the stubborn bowtruckle in his pocket. Pickett clung onto his finger, as they walked through the tunnel. Soon, they were met with a forest of bamboo.
The Magizoologist turned to the child lagging behind him. "Stay close to me, you'll get lost if you aren't careful." Y/N nodded, and followed close behind him as Pickett rested on one of his hands, and the other was hung at his side, as if he was expecting Y/N to take it; they did not.
"Finn, Marlow, Poppy, Titus, Tom." He called up ahead. The three stood before a small habitat with many other bowtruckles climbing a small tree.
Y/N cocked her head to the side. "Why isn't Pickett there?"
"He had a cold, and needed some body warmth a while back." He explained, holding Pickett out to the rest. The bowtruckle clung onto him again, refusing to leave.
"He's not going back," The little one spoke quietly.
Newt nodded. "He has some attachment issues. I keep telling him they aren't going to bully him, but it seems he doesn't believe me. Come on Pickett, please?" He begged the tiny creature.
Pickett only responded with crossing his arms in agitation, and furrowed his eyes at him. Newt couldn't help but slightly grin at the face, and he sighed. "You do know this is the reason why your brothers and sister accuse me of favoritism, right?"
The tiniest of giggles caused him to glance over his shoulder, and see small Y/N smiling at the bowtruckles with light in their eyes. Newt's mouth grew into a wider smile, feeling a huge weight fall off his chest seeing them finally smile.
His eyes then fell to a hanging basket above a nest filled with occamies. He smiled, and turned to face them. "Dougal, come on out now. I want you to meet someone." He called gently.
Y/N furrowed their eyes in confusion. "Dougal?"
"Yes, Dougal." Newt walked ahead, and began his search. "A Demiguise that is able to turn invisible, see the near future, and also be a little babysitter to the occamies. Dougal, come here!"
"Occamies?"
He nodded, then shrugged off his searching. "These little ones," Newt grinned as he and Y/N slowly walked to the nest; the child in particular. Their face betrayed anxiety as they came closer to the snake like creatures.
The occamies chirped in excitement at the sight of Newt, and he squatted down to them. "Alright, alright, settle down, mummy's here, mum's here."
Y/N took their eyes off the creatures, and to Newt. "Mummy?"
The Magizoologist's heart dropped at their question, and immediately scolded himself for even bringing the subject up. He swallowed as he stood. "Yes, I care for them greatly. Like-like a mother does."
"But..." Newt bit his tongue in anticipation of their response. "you're a boy."
Sighing in relief, laughter from Newt followed. "Yes, I certainly am. But, I still take care of them, and love them."
Another rare smile spread across their mouth. "I like them too."
He returned the gesture, then fully sat down next to the nest, and looked back at Y/N. "Would you like to hold one?"
Their face instantly fell at the question, and they shook their heads rapidly. Instead of pressuring them, Newt simply shrugged, and turned back to the occamies. He gently smiled down at them, and carefully scooped one up in his hands. The child felt a pang of jealousy of the creature smiling at him. But it's their own fault; isn't it?
"I don't want to hurt them."
Newt turned around at the sound of their voice. Y/N's eyes were filled with a dreadful mix of fear and sadness; a mix he unconsciously swore to himself he'd never want to see on them again.
"That's why I don't want to hold one."
Instead of ignoring them again, a kind smile pulled onto his mouth. "Come here,"
With hesitance, the child stepped slowly to the nest, than sat down in front of him. Newt still wore the gentle smile as he held the occamy out in front of him. "There's no need to be afraid; they only are stressed if you give them a reason to be. They also aren't hostile unless you provoke them, or pet them."
Not taking their eyes off the occamy, Y/N sighed. "Okay,"
Newt gave them another encouraging smile, and slowly lowered the creature into their cupped hands. The child continued their attempt at calming themselves as they felt the scales touch their skin. The instantly shut their eyes and whimpered as they heard it chirp close to their ear.
"Shh, you're alright, don't panic." Newt comforted.
The child listened to him, and caught their breath, muffling their whimpering. Slowly they opened their eyes, to be met with smaller, innocent ones staring back. The occamy pulled away, and chirped happily at Y/N.
An odd looking smile pulled onto their lips, and they giggled. "It's cute."
Newt grinned, and nodded. "He,"
"Oh, he's so small." Y/N commented, now holding the occamy with more confidence.
"Indeed he is. That one's Jacob." He ushered to the occamy they were holding.
"Do they all have names?"
"Yes. There's Lucinda, Malachi, Aaliyah, and then Jacob." He pointed to them individually, then back to the one they were holding.
Y/N slightly frowned. "Can I name one next time?"
He nodded. "Of course, if you find an egg."
"What do they look like?"
"Silver, you'll know it when you see it. But I must warn you not to touch it, they're trained to defend themselves almost at birth."
The child nodded, still looking at the occamy they held. He seemed to warm up to them quickly, and they could have sworn he smiled up at them. Soon, a sudden presence from right next to them caused the child to slightly jump.
It was a different creature, one with fur as white as winter's snow, and its hands were like a monkey's. It looked over them as if they were preparing an attack. Y/N was shaking in their skin as they nearly sunk their nails into Jacob's scales.
"Dougal," Newt warned tenderly. "settle down. Y/N is our friend, and you will treat them as such. See? They aren't hurting him." He said to the creature.
Dougal gazed back at Y/N, and looked over them again. This time, he reached his hand toward their face, ignoring how the child's breath hitching loudly. But, the creature only softly pushed a strand of hair out of their eyes, and smiled slightly.
Y/N wore a face filled with shock, but soon pulled it into a shy smile. They placed Jacob back in the nest with his siblings, and turned back to Newt and Dougal, an even happier grin on their mouth.
"Niffler's gone again," they heard Newt sigh as he turned to a small, empty hole in a hill.
"Niffler?" Y/N asked.
He nodded. "They look similar to what muggles call a platypus. But, this creature has a peculiar obsession with shiny objects."
"Muggle?"
"Yes, non magical people in the world. People like-." He stopped himself, not wanting to instantly single them out. "-people like, your friend Thomas."
Y/N nodded in understanding, then asked. "Why do you only call the niffler 'niffler'? Doesn't he have a name?"
He shook his head. "No, I've never really thought of a name for him."
The child grinned in response. "I'll name him."
Newt arched an eyebrow in amusement at the child's confidence. "Oh you will? What is his name?"
Their face morphed into a frown, and they glared down at the grass in thought; until, they darted their eyes up in a flash. "Niffy,"
The wizard laughed. "Not a very creative name."
"Well," They began. "you're named after a lizard."
He nodded, still smiling. "I suppose that is true. Now, would you like to help me feed the graphorns?" He stood up.
"What are graphorns?"
Newt held out his hand to the child. "I'll show you."
This time, they took it.
As the two sauntered to the graphorns, Newt had a bit more trust to let Y/N follow him farther behind, instead of constantly needing them by his side. The child's smile never left their face as they continuously watched all different sorts of creatures walk or fly past them.
The child promptly stopped as their eyes fell on a smaller creature crawl gently towards them. Y/N's face lit up at the sight. "You're Niffy." They smiled.
Niffy stopped as he came close to their shoes, and Y/N kneeled down to get a better look. "Oh, you're so much cuter than I thought you would be; and smaller." Soon, they lied down on their stomach, and was now face to face with the Niffler.
The words of the tiny child speaking to him were silenced as he could only stare down at the necklace around their neck. It was silver, but it was almost the shiniest silver Niffy must have ever seen; and the creature had just been in a bank in America of all places.
"...I wonder where did you come from-?"
Y/N was cut short as the Niffler snatched their locker from around their neck, and pulled it off with no hesitation. Y/N gasped, and lied in shock as the Niffler ran off. Soon, they snapped out of their surprise, and jumped up. "Come back!"
They ran after the small creature with their locket. "That doesn't belong to you!" They yelled again, forcing themselves to run faster. It certainly didn't help that there were so many creatures and habitats that they could knock over.
"Please give it back!" They shouted again, hoping to appease him. That was the only thing they would remember their mother by; they would die before letting anyone take it away from them.
The faster they ran, the harder it was to dodge the obstacles in their path. Which was the reason why Y/N tripped over a sharp rock, and collapsed onto the ground face first. They pulled themselves in a huff, watching the Niffler getting away. A sudden flood of anger overtook them.
"STOP!" They shrieked.
Niffy was tossed against a nearby tree by an unseen force. Sure enough, he dropped the locket, and, after getting up to glance around in confusion, ran off. Leaving Y/N on the ground, completely frozen.
With their eyes grown wide, and trembling hands, they crawled over to the locket, and immediately clutched it tight to their chest; curling themselves into a ball and beginning to cry.
After hearing the loud 'stop!', Newt Scamander's heart sank as he turned to not see Y/N behind him anymore. Instead, he rushed to the area where he heard the shout. He was met with a few creatures beginning to crowd around a shaking Y/N, on the ground, holding themselves.
He quickly made his way to the child, and knelt down, speaking to his creatures. "Give them room, give them room. Clear out." They instantly obeyed, and watched from a distance. Y/N's face was red with tears, and only more kept flooding from their eyes as if it would never end.
As the child's vision cleared up through the tears, they instantly shuddered at Newt's form, and turned away, all the while mumbling and begging. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt him."
Newt felt sympathy rush through him at the child's state, and he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket as snot ran down their nose, and moved to wipe it. "Quiet down, I can't make out a word you're saying-."
"Don't!" They cried, jumping away from him as the cloth touch their nose.
The wizard pulled away from them, and sat down next to them. "Alright, I won't touch you. But, I'm not going to leave you."
Y/N didn't even nod in response, they only stared up above them in a daze.
It felt as if hours had gone by as they just lied their, staring up at the sky. Many of the creatures soon cleared away from the two since nothing dramatic happened after a few minutes. As the child lied down, Newt himself was simply off in his own world, sometimes playing with Pickett but mostly daydreaming.
Finally, it was almost relief for him when he heard Y/N speak quietly.
"I want to go home,"
Newt glanced down at the child now staring at him. Their face was still red, but now only silent tears fell. He nodded. "I'll take you back up, and I'll make you whatever you want for supper-."
"No," they interrupted quietly. "home with mama."
The magizologist only stared down at them with tenderness in his eyes. "Come on, Y/N." He said, standing up, and held out his hand again for them, to take.
They didn't. They pushed themselves up, and waited for him to lead the way. The walk was silent melancholy; he addressed that they needed to stick close to him as they walked. Their only response was a slight nod as they looked down at the ground in sadness.
Even as the two made it back to the shack, they did not thank him when he opened the door for them, or when he offered to walk them up the stairs again. They climbed up the steep steps on their own, and exited the case.
Newt followed suit, but did not see them the moment he stepped out of his case. But, he concluded that they made it out safely when he saw the bedroom door shut gently.
He sighed as he locked his case, and nearly collapsed onto the small couch. What could have possibly gone wrong? The child seemed to be enjoying themselves down there; they were laughing, what could have happened?
All he knew for sure, was that he could not push them into telling him the truth. Eilis described them to be a self-destructive child, so applying stress to them would not be a good idea. As he tried his best to think of a way to help them, he drifted off into much needed sleep.
Y/N turned on their side and stared off into space, thinking. They know that they shouldn't have snapped at Newt; he's doing so much for them already. And for the past hour, they've been reprimanding themselves for using their power.
Newt showed them his secret, they owe him theirs.
So, finally gathering the courage and will, Y/N pulled themselves out of the bed. They wrapped a blanket around their shoulders for warmth, and took a deep breath before walking out of their room.
The child tiptoed down the hall until they were in the main room of the flat. Expecting Newt to still be in his case, they carefully treaded to the living room area. To their surprise, there was Newt, napping tenderly on the couch. Instead of taking the opportunity to retreat, Y/N stuck their hand out and shoved him.
Newt stirred in his sleep, and slowly opened his eyes. When he say the small child looking at him, he didn't jump in surprise, but let out a sigh. "Are you alright?"
Y/N nodded, not taking their eyes off him. Newt let out a small groan as he pushed himself up, and looked around. "What time is it?"
"Night time," Y/N whispered just as he finished. The two looked out the nearby window, and saw only the pitch black of the night, with a few lights on in the building across the road.
The man turned to the child. "What on earth are you doing up at this time?"
This time, Y/N avoided her gaze and spoke softly. "I want to show you my secret."
Newt tilted his head to his side. "Are you sure-?"
"You'll hate me," The two of them spoke at the same time.
The wizard grew alarmed at their words, and he spoke softly. "Why would I?"
Y/N rubbed their eye, as if trying to wipe away nonexistent tears. "I hurt Niffy with it."
"Did you mean to?"
"He took my locket, and wouldn't give it back. I didn't want to hurt him." Their voice cracked, and a single tear rolled down their cheek.
Newt shook his head. "Listen to me," Y/N snapped their eyes to the ground in shame. "Y/N, please look at me." He told, then gently placed his hand on the side of their face so they could look at him. "Accidents happen, and sometimes there is no way we can prevent anything bad happening. You need to know that, okay?"
They continued to stare at him, and nodded. Newt smiled at the child, then let go of them. The little one took another deep breath, then turned away from him to look around the room. Quickly, their eyes fell onto a small stack of books. Perfect.
Y/N stuck their hand out in front of them towards the books, then closed their eyes. They focused on every single breath they took, each one getting slower and slower in their ears. They felt a tingle in their palm after a short while, and they sighed.
Newt's breath hitched in his throat as he witnessed the books, his books, floating several feet off the ground. "Merlin's Beard," he whispered.