he's a hugger
When Newt Scamander finally woke up on the ferry back to London it was almost noon. Granted, he’d gone to bed a little late and his adventures in new York had tired him but as soon as the disorientated feeling of waking up somewhere that wasn’t the case had past, he began to feel an intense worry about how long Credence had been down in the case on his own. He practically threw himself down the ladder of the case, grabbing his waistcoat from the chair and pulling it on as he went.
“Credence?” he called out into the darkness… No reply. He ran frantically from section to section shouting Credence’s name, but each time there was no answer. Occasionally he stopped to ask the more helpful beasts in the case if they had seen him but none of the bowtruckles knew where he was and the young acromantula that he’d collected in Asia apparently hadn’t seen him all.
Newt began to panic.
He shouldn’t have left Credence alone - he should have stayed and kept him safe.
By the time he had gotten to the part of the case where the Niffler slept he’d almost lost hope. Newt quietly asked him if it had seen any sign of Credence. To his surprise, it didn’t shake its head. After a moment of deliberation it finally gave in and nodded towards the far corner of the case where the Occamys and Demiguise lived.
The Demiguise, of course! If anyone could help find Credence, it would be Dougal. Dougal was a particularly gentle Demiguise and certainly one of the most helpful beasts in the case. The strange thing was though that his nest was empty and Dougal was nowhere to be found.
When Newt finally found Credence he was resting against a tree not far from the Occamy nest. At some point he must have felt tired and drifted off again. He’d been covered in a blanket and was resting on the pillow Newt kept on the little bed in the case – Newt got the feeling that Credence hadn’t put that there himself. He probably could have deduced that from Credence’s nature but it was further proved by Dougal, who’s little furry arms were draped across Credence’s shoulder.
“Found him like that did you?” Newt asked quietly to the creature who cocked his head indignantly at the question and remained wound tightly around the broken boy. Satisfied that Credence was safe (and in good company) Newt went about his morning business, he decided to tend to the Occamys last so that they wouldn’t wake Credence with their squawking.
Newt made the fatal mistake of coming to check on Credence in the middle of feeding his beasts. On seeing him, the Occamys kicked up an almighty fuss. Newt spun around to look and them and raised his hands. “Alright… Shhh… Mum’s here,” but by the time he’d gone to get the bucket of food to keep them quiet, they had already woken Credence up.
His eyes fluttered open just as Newt turned the corner. For a moment he rubbed his eyes, looked confusedly around himself, saw the Demiguise and jumped a mile. He cried out in fear and whimpered away from it (to which the demiguise skittered quickly back off to it’s nest… Somehow Newt knew he hadn’t seen that coming).
“Easy,” Newt said to the boy who was still cowering away like he’d been mortally wounded, not hugged and taken care of. “That’s just Dougal… He’s a hugger. He didn’t mean any harm.”
Newt crouched to sit by Credence who slowly dragged his eyes up to look at him. After a moment of just sitting beside the man he carefully put a hand up to his shoulder. To his surprise Credence leant into the touch, seeking comfort from him in a way Newt had never seen him do before. The Occamays were still shouting in their nest, the bucket of food sat awkwardly by Newt’s side. Right now though, he had a more immediate problem to deal with, how on earth was he going to help this man.
“You see?” He whispered soothingly, “nothing’s going to hurt you, not them or me. It’s alright… it’s okay.” Then he slowly convinced Credence to stop cowering and give him a look that was somewhere between pain and confusion.
After a while of sitting like this he finally gave up. “I’ve got to feed the Occamys, just give me a second.” He got up slowly and Credence pulled himself up a little bit so he could watch - he was much taller than he made himself look.
“Alright” Newt muttered to the beasts “quiet now” he was distracted and more than a little nervous with Credence watching him. He got a little too close to one of the Occamys and it nearly took off his hand, Newt winced and muttered under his breath, “sorry. I’m sorry.”
Credence, who had seen the whole affair was looking at the creatures with a newly terrified look. “You said they wouldn’t hurt anyone” he said quietly, which filled Newt with guilt.
“That was my fault,” he admitted. “Occamys learn to protect themselves early. Their eggs are pure silver, they get poached and abused in all sorts of nasty ways, so that’s their defence. They don’t like sudden movement and their apprehensive if you get to close. But they are quite wonderful creatures when you come to understand them.”
The similarities between the beasts and the boy hit Newt quite suddenly, he thought to himself, rather like someone else I know.