Chapter 7
Newt watched as Harry examined the ground for any trace of the animal they were looking for, and felt no small amount of pride. It had been days since the event that had sent them running, and they’d found themselves in Africa. They were outside of Burkina Faso, as Newt was aware of the unplottable forests specific for the continued survival of the 3 headed snake.
As Harry was a Parselmouth, however, they’d decided together it could be an interesting venture to see what they could learn.
Since it had managed to distract Harry from how upset he was at being hidden away, Newt could only be grateful.
“Newt!” Came the excited whisper, and Newt crouched down next to where Harry was looking. Harry just gestured towards a low fern, and Newt saw just what had caught his attention; there was a snakeskin there, and if he wasn’t mistaken, it branched off in 3 directions. Careful, and aware of the fact that Runespore’s, while not overly aggressive were very venomous, they slowly moved closer, eventually sure enough that the snake wasn’t nearby and moving the foliage to observe the skin.
“It’s about 4 feet long!” Harry exclaimed, voice still a low whisper, though the excitement was clear. “That’s unusual right? Usually by the time it gets this big the left and middle head have bitten off the right, haven’t they?”
“You’re absolutely right.” Newt confirmed, pleased with his knowledge, and then reached out to pick up the skin. It was only Harry’s quick reflexes that stopped him and he froze as Harry slapped a hand on his arm.
“There’s - there’s a trap.”
Now that he was looking for it, Newt saw it too, and realized that if Harry hadn’t noticed, he might’ve been injured.
There was a spring under the skin for a disillusioned cage, big enough for the snake in question, but not big enough for Newt, and he would’ve been lucky if all it had done was break his wrist.
Frown in place now, Newt drew his wand, and with a wave, disarmed the trap. He looked at Harry, who’d grown surprisingly quiet, and saw by the scrunch of his brow that he was rather unhappy.
“What is it?”
“This was left by poachers, wasn’t it?”
Newt hesitated, because on one hand, he didn’t want to lie to Harry, but on the other, he knew where this would lead. Even as he hesitated, Harry turned to meet his gaze, eyes solemn.
“We have to stop them. Who knows how many animals they’ve hurt already.”
The problem was - Newt agreed. He was never one to suffer the continued torture or abuse of animals, magical or not - but he was worried about Harry. He knew, just as well, what the sort of light in the youth’s gaze could mean, and was nervous about potentially putting both of them in danger.
Then he sighed.
It didn’t matter.
At the end of the day, neither of them could knowingly ignore someone, or something else’s pain.
“Alright then, but we must be careful, and you must listen very carefully to everything I say.” Newt instructed, frown forming as he started to think of a plan. Harry nodded eagerly, eyes alight, and Newt wondered if anyone had noticed yet that when Harry’s magic manifested emotionally his eyes became nearly luminescent.
Since it wasn’t important at the moment, Newt pushed it aside. He glanced at the trap, and now that he knew what he was looking for, could see the sighs of the poachers.
“Right then. Stay close, and stay quiet. We’re going to try and get into their camp without being seen. If someone sees you, promise me, you’ll run. Alright? These people, they won’t care that you’re a child. They only care about money and threats to that, do you understand?”
Harry nodded, and though his expression reflected the gravity of the situation, there was a buzzing energy to him that spoke of his excitement to be doing something.
Since it was something he was familiar with himself, he just turned to follow the tracks.
They found the camp well hidden but only for those who didn’t know what to look for. As someone who’d spent many years dealing with poachers, Newt knew exactly what to look for, and therefore exactly how to get in.
They stopped just inside the wards after Newt successfully got them through, and together they crouched, taking stock.
This was clearly the end of a run, as every cage they could see was filled with creatures. What Newt found the most concerning was what looking like a greenhouse off to the left, because he couldn’t imagine what kind of creature would push people such as these to actually create an appropriate habitat.
He shook the thought off, dealing with the problem at hand first.
There were 12 cages he could see housing an erumpet, a handful of fwoopers, a pair of nundu’s, a streeler of all things, and a tebo and what he assumed were her little piglets.
As the fwooper’s were the only thing Newt considered safe for anyone but himself, he found himself hesitating. Not because he wasn’t planning on saving these creatures, but because he would’ve preferred not having to put Harry in any sort of danger to accomplish the task.
“Alright, you’re going to release the fwooper’s first. Then, return the tebo’s piglets to her, which should endear her to you enough to get them into the case if they won’t run.”
Harry nodded, mouth set in a firm line before he set out. Newt didn’t bother hesitating. He knew it would be best to move as quickly and quietly as possible.
He’d managed to get the nundu’s into his case, furious when he’d realized the female was pregnant, when he heard it. It was the panicked squealing of one of the piglets, followed by the guttural response of the mother, and he saw peaked around in time to see the seemingly empty cage door swing open, followed by a rush of air and the man who’d been grabbing at the piglets go flying.
He saw Harry at the same time - leaping out of hiding to catch the small creature before it could be injured, gently setting it back on the ground.
Newt was up and out of hiding between one second and the next, wand already brandished and spells flying.
The moment Harry had shown himself, the gig had been up, and there were already shouts as spells were shot back towards them.
“Harry, run!” Newt ordered, but even as he turned to track the boy, he saw the spell collide with his shoulder. “Harry!” He dashed forward but his path was cut off, a ring of flames surrounding the teen.
Newt apparated without even breaking stride, but sometime between his disappearance and reappearance someone else had entered the ring with Harry.
They had a muggle weapon in hand, but Newt had spent enough time in this world to know what it was; let alone the time he’d spent with Harry’s family. He knew how dangerous a gun could be.
“Lower your wand, or we’ll kill him.”
It wasn’t even a choice.
>>>
The moment they were tossed into the greenhouse, Newt knew whatever was in here had to be terrible.
There was an oppressive magic here - and even with all his skill and experience, he felt the fatigue of the sleeping curse creeping over him.
“Harry,” he called out, shuffling over to the boy and giving him a shake. Harry groaned, but blinked up at him.
“Newt - what-?”
“Shhh, it’s alright. We’re going to be alright. Can you stand up?”
Harry nodded and Newt felt a wave of relief. At least he hadn’t been too hurt in the altercation. He glanced at his wand holster, and though it wasn’t returned yet, knew it was only a matter of minutes before his wand would be returned to him. Not for the first time, he appreciated the gift.
While he waited for the wand to return to its holster, he focused on helping Harry stand, worried as the boy gave a wide yawn.
“Newt - I’m so tired.” Harry complained, leaning into him, nearly a dead weight.
“I know, Harry, but you’ve got to stay awake, we’re not safe here.”
At the words, Harry tried to push to stand on his own, but he couldn’t manage, and he slumped back into Newt. That’s when the fear starting creeping in.
“What - what’s happening to us?”
“It’s a sleeping spell, Harry.” Newt told him honestly, “And I fear we’re not alone in here.”
“We’re not.” His voice was a near whisper then, fear turning to panic as he raised a shaky hand to point.
Newt’s stomach dropped.
In the dim light of the greenhouse, he could just make out the shape in the far corner, hiding amongst the trees. At first glance it was just a shadowed corner, but after Harry had brought it to his attention he realized the truth. It also made it quite clear just why the poachers had bothered with a habitat.
It was a Lethifold.
Eyes glued to the shadowed form, Newt eased Harry back, looking back to his holster. With still no sign of his wand, Newt’s mind was racing.
“Do you have your wand?” He asked, not removing his gaze from the cloud, and he tensed when he actually saw it move.
“I have it.” Harry acknowledged on another yawn. Newt saw him struggle to raise his wand hand out of the corner of his eye and felt his own eyes droop.
He thought he’d only blinked but the ground was far closer than it should have been when he opened his eyes and his knees hit the ground hard. He looked to his left and saw Harry slumped on the ground, green eyes dull and for a moment panic shot through Newt until those eyes focused on him.
“How-” Harry trailed off, eyes sliding closed, and Newt lurched towards him, shaking his shoulder.
“Patronus.” He managed to gasp, and when he looked back to see where the creature had ended up he gasped seeing it much closer - much too close.
He shifted to cover Harry with his own body, and felt Harry shift behind him.
“Harry, stay-” He began, and was silenced when he saw Harry push to his feet, bracing on Newt’s shoulder, teeth gritted.
“Expecto Patronum!”He bit out, wand hand shaking but jaw set.
Newt watched in awe as the lion burst from the tip of his wand, baring its teeth and letting out a ferocious roar.
Newt glanced down at his wrist and saw his wand. Without any hesitation he grasped onto Harry, and without a thought apparated them out.
He also knew without a doubt that he’d be dealing with these poachers one way or another. They couldn’t be allowed to keep such a dangerous creature and use it as a tool for murder.