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“Would he like a cup of tea?” Dumbledore asked, looking at the Niffler.“He’ll have some milk,” Newt paused and then added quickly: “Hide the teaspoons”.The others noticed that and started to walk slowly after Albus and Newt.“It’s so strange to return here, after so many years,” Newt said, looking at the castle. The Niffler was crawling toward the entrance.Newt remembered Leta, of course. His first best friend. His Leta. The girl who…Albus recalled Leta’s face too, and the last conversation they had, but he didn’t tell Newt about it.Both of them kept walking in silence, lost in their thoughts.When Scamander and Dumbledore reached the doors, Newt noticed a young woman who was waiting for them. He had never met her before. The witch glanced at Albus and looked relieved when she saw no Admonitors on Dumbledore’s wrists.“In the name of Merlin, they needed to do it a long time ago,” she said.Albus smiled.“It’s over, Minerva. You don’t have to worry about it now,” he glanced at Newt. “Oh, I’m so rude. Please, excuse me. I think you have never met yet…”Newt hung his head shyly.“Newt, this is Minerva McGonagall, my colleague. She’ll soon become one of the best Hogwarts teachers. Minerva, this is Newt Scamander, the great wizard and one of the best students of mine...”“I’m not great,” Newt added in a quiet voice. “And I’m afraid that I’ve never been your best student…”Albus smiled, his smile a bit sad. He recalled Leta again.“Well, it’s not true! Don’t underestimate yourself. I’ve always been proud to be your teacher.”“Scamander?” Minerva asked in astonishment. “I have just read your book! I have to say that magical creatures are not my area, but the book is so good written. I couldn’t tear myself away from it!”Newt smiled. He still didn’t know how to accept compliments, so he just nodded and looked down. The Niffler was there, staring uninterruptedly at Minerva’s brooch.Newt sighed, grasped the Niffler and hid it in his suitcase.Albus turned, looking at the others.“Minerva, I’m afraid, I have to request a favor of you… Could you take care of our guests while Mr. Scamander and I have tea in my office?”“They can have a snack in the Great Hall. I’m sure that the house-elves have something eatable at the kitchen.”Dumbledore nodded.“Sounds great. Thank you, Minerva.”“Oh, I think that I need to tell you something,” Newt turned his head, staring at Jacob. “One of these people is Jacob, Jacob Kowalski, he’s my friend. He’s a muggle. I think that visit to a wizardry school can be a bit stressful for him. And Jacob had such a bad day…”“What’s happened to him?” Minerva asked. She was very serious, actually.Newt switched the suitcase to his other hand. The Niffler was scratching inside, but Scamander ignored it.“Tina’s sister… Queenie… Queenie loves Jacob. As you know, America has very strange laws about relations with Muggles... Nobody would let Queenie marry Jacob. She didn’t want to deal with it, so she... she…”Newt sighed.“She joined Grindelwald’s side,” Albus finished his thoughts.Scamander nodded.Dumbledore tried to pull himself together, but he was pale as a Hogwarts ghost. Every mentioning of Grindelwald hurt his soul.“I’ll take care of him,” Minerva said. Her voice sounded confidently.Albus’s face softened. He smiled at her and nodded too.“Thank you, Minerva.”Albus and Newt continued their way to Professor’s office.“Don’t worry about your friend, Newt,” Dumbledore said in a comforting tone. He calmed down a little. “Professor McGonagall will take care of Mr. Kowalski. She takes his pain to her heart.”He couldn’t explain why he was saying that. Minerva trusted Albus, and he promised to keep her secret, but they both remembered her grief when Newt started to talk about his friend. Minerva and Jacob had a lot in common – much more than others could ever imagine.When they entered the room, the tea was ready.“Minerva did a great job,” Dumbledore hummed.Newt smiled, noticing a saucer with milk. McGonagall guessed that the Niffler would like to drink something too. And she knew what nifflers actually liked. She really read the book.They sat at the table. Newt took the Niffler out of the case.“Did you change your mind about tea, Newt?” Albus asked. He was staring at the Niffler, his glance full of love. Unlike Gellert, he always knew true value of magical creatures…“Oh, no,” Scamander said, still holding the Niffler. “You have a golden tea strainer. We need to be careful.”Albus laughed. They both watched the Niffler drinking milk.“I’m glad that you chose your side, Newt. Dark times are coming. The world needs such a wonderful wizard like you.”Newt’s face darkened. Leta’s image flashed before his eyes. It was too painful.
I love you! GO! GO!
Albus’s noticed that too. He looked down, searching for right words.“I know that, probably, you’ll find my words to be useless, but… You couldn’t save Leta. Grindelwald is too strong. Nobody can fight with him and win.”“You can,” Newt answered immediately, his voice suddenly sharp. He wasn’t angry with Albus, but he was almost offended. He lost a friend. His brother lost the girl he loved. The Scamander family was half-empty now.Albus look down again, ashamed. He wasn’t perfect too.“Promise me that you’ll fight with him one day,” Newt added, looking Dumbledore in the eyes. “Promise me, Albus. If you do it, Leta’s sacrifice will have some meaning.”Of course, it had some meaning. Leta did it because of love, but Newt also meant something else. The war had just begun, and other people would die soon. It’s unfair.“I need to break the vial first. But I promise that I’ll do everything trying to break it. I made my choice too, Newt. Don’t worry. We’re on the same side.”Newt nodded, satisfied. It was strange for him – to speak with a former teacher like that, but Albus wasn’t his teacher, and Newt wasn’t his student. They were grownups now.Lost in their pain and grief, the wizards completely forgot about the Niffler. Unnoticed, it looked around and sneaked quietly into Albus’s private room.Dumbledore suddenly smiled and looked back at Newt.“You know, I didn’t lie when I said that you were one of the best students I ever had…”The Niffler turned, listening to Newt’s voice.“Then I should remind you about my expulsion,” Scamander said, smiling.Relieved, the Niffler turned back and examined an empty room. The table became its first aim.“Well, “Albus said, smiling too, “we all make mistakes, don’t we?”Dumbledore looked out of the window.The Niffler jumped on the table, and a few rolls of the parchment fell on the floor. An inkpot turned over. The ink spilled all over the table.“You really love your job, my dear Newt. But your passion is too strong. You needed to learn how to keep it under control…”After a short search, the Niffler found Albus’s ring, took it and then paid attention to Dumbledore’s gold-rimmed glasses.“Besides, your book is really great,’ Dumbledore smiled again. “To be frank, it would be nice if Hogwarts had somebody who could tell kids about magical creatures. Somebody who could pass them his passion, somebody like…”The Niffler jumped on the windowsill, leaving ink stains. There was an improvised bookshelf set on it, and the Niffler examined it carefully. After finding an old silvered edition, the Niffler took it too.“…me? Are you offering me a job, Professor?” Newt asked.The Niffler bit another book’s back off, added it to its growing collection and threw away remains. The bookshelf twitched. A polished latch on the window was shining, and the Niffler decided to take it. The window opened, and books fell out of it.“We both know that the time is wrong. You have got a lot to do… And I also think that you won’t have a desire to stay here. Still, I just want to say something...” Albus continued.The Niffler looked up, noticing a chandelier. It was so shiny…“I’d like to think that the help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it {1}. I don’t know what our future brings, but if you need help one day, if you have nowhere to go, you can always come back to Hogwarts, Newt…”A loud noise was heard. Newt looked around and whispered:“My Niffler…”Dumbledore and Scamander rushed to Albus’s room.A broken chandelier was lying on the floor, its shiny parts missed. The rolls of parchment and torn books scattered across the room, the window open, its latch ripped off. The floor, the walls and even the ceiling were mudded. The Niffler’s footprints seemed to be everywhere. Newt touched the mud and tasted it.“Ink…” Albus guessed, looking at the empty inkpot. He was smiling.Newt nodded.“Speaking of your invitation…” Scamander said. “If you want to take it back, I understand it.”The Niffler was sitting on a perch, happy and satisfied. Newt sighed, shook his head and stepped closer to it.“What have you done, Niffler? Shame on you!”Dumbledore laughed.“We all will be glad to see you at Hogwarts, Newt. Any time! And please, don’t be mad at the Niffler. I have been planning to tidy up my room a long time ago, our little friend just reminded me about it, that’s all.”He waved his wand, returning everything to its normal condition.Newt was shaking the Niffler.“Why do you keep an empty perch here, by the way?” he asked, suddenly curious.“Oh, it’s nice that you have asked me about it,” Albus said. “The perch was here before I began living in this room. To be frank, I was going to write you about it and ask to find me a phoenix, but I thought that you wouldn’t help me after that story with a Thunderbird…”“Phoenixes are very rare birds, Professor,” Newt felt guilty even if he shouldn’t have felt it.Albus smiled. He knew about it too.“I know. But if one day…”Newt nodded.“I got it. I’ll do it. Just… warn me about the next trouble you plan, okay?”Dumbledore laughed without promising anything.“Well, I think, that’s it.”They examined the Niffler’s treasures.“Oh, look, the tea strainer!” Albus picked it up. “We’ve missed it too!”Newt smiled shyly.Still holding the strainer, Albus passed it to… the Niffler.“What are you doing?” Newt asked. “Dumbledore, please, don’t…”But Albus didn’t listen to Scamander. He was talking to the Niffler.“I’m sorry that I had to take that shiny pendant from you, but I really needed it… How’s about a small present from me? It’s golden, and it shines too.”The Niffler looked at Newt, waiting for his answer.Scamander rolled his eyes.“Okay, take it, mister! But you won’t be able to fool me again, do you hear me?”The Niffler took the strainer and hid it inside of its pouch.