Newt's Assistant: A Newt Scamander FanFic

Chapter Two

Eleanor and Newt entered into the Leaky Cauldron, ordered their food, and sat down at a quiet table in the corner. Dougal was still holding onto her and wouldn't budge, but looked at the food that was in front of him.

"So Mr. Scamander, tell me about the kind of work you do," Eleanor said while biting into her ham and cheese sandwich. She was curious about this new man, he looked to be around the same age as her or older, but she couldn't tell. Newt cleared his throat as he wiped his mouth with a cloth. 

"I erm, well you can call me Newt and I um... work in the Beast Division in the Ministry right now, but I was um... commissioned to write a book and now I study my creatures and write about them in my book. It's um.. a lot of work, but it's coming together. It's just missing a few things," Newt fumbled with his words a bit, but it was honestly kind of cute, Eleanor thought. 

"Wow, that's incredible! I didn't realize that the ministry offered positions like that out?" Eleanor asked it as a question and wondered why this never crossed her mind as a career.

"It's not really. My brother helped me out a bit to get the commission. They think I'm writing a book about how to exterminate certain creatures, but I'm trying to educate the world about them and how important and precious they are to us." Newt smiled shyly and looked down at his plate and then back at Eleanor's and his eyes got wide.

"Dougal!" Eleanor giggled realizing that the demiguise had eaten the other half of her sandwich.

"I promise he gets fed regularly. I'm so sorry I don't know what's gotten into him." Newt said stuttering a bit."I didn't even think he would like that."

"Well they are very unpredictable creatures," Eleanor laughed. "My mom used to tell me about them when I was younger. Actually, she told me a lot about so many different creatures that I had to start a journal with drawings and notes of them so I could remember."

Newt smiled at that and seeing Newt smile made Eleanor smile. Dougal let out a huge yawn and closed his eyes and rested against Eleanor's chest. 

"Maybe I can get him back into his home now that he's tired," Newt said while standing up. He went to look under the table and suddenly shot up, hitting his head against the table.

"My case is missing. I just had it, didn't I? Did you see it Eleanor?" Newt was rubbing the back of his head and looking in every direction. "I can't believe this. I never lose my case. How could I have been so stupid. Are you sure you didn't see anyone?"

"No, I'm sorry. You had it when we got our food though, I swear. You put it down on the floor for sure. You put it right on my foot and it kind of hurt and I didn't say anything, but that's how I know it was right here." Eleanor rambled a bit and Newt turned a little pink, but was panicking now.

"I need to find it. It has all of my creatures in it. I need to find it now." Newt said pushing his chair in and sprinting out the door. Eleanor looked down at the sleepy Dougal in her lap and nudged him a bit, waking him up. 

"Newt's case is missing. Can you help find it?" Eleanor asked Dougal and he just blinked at her. Slowly he got up, stretched, and jumped to the ground. He grabbed her hand and walked her outside to Diagon Alley. Newt was gone. Actually gone, he wasn't anywhere in sight. 

"Where should we start?" Dougal dragged her a couple feet back into the alley and looked at her. 

"I wish I knew what you were trying to tell me," Eleanor mumbled. Suddenly, there was a large crash from the street Eleanor even heard a scream. She ran out to see Madam Malkin chasing a small creature out with buttons and coins falling behind it. Eleanor gasped and ran to Madam Malkin.

"What happened?" Eleanor yelled while jogging up to her side. She saw the little creature scurry away underneath a bench and began to admire his new buttons.

"Someone dropped this case off to my shop and when I opened it, that thing came out and took all of my silver and gold buttons! I think he even got some coins of mine." Madam Malkin said all out of breath while holding up a brown leather case that clearly belonged to Newt. Eleanor's eyes lit up when she saw the case, but made sure to keep an eye on the little guy across the street counting his buttons.

"Madam Malkin, may I ask how much you want for that case? It would be lovely for travel." Eleanor said about to reach into her pockets. She didn't have much, but it was worth a shot.

"Oh this thing? You can have it for free. I never want to see that thing again in my life. Be careful when you open it, something else might fly out of it!" She squeaked and threw the case into Eleanor's hands and ran back into her shop. Eleanor ran to the other side of the street and looked under the bench.

"A niffler?" Eleanor said out loud when she made eye contact with the little thing. It immediately ran up to her and scurried into the palm of her hand and laid in her arms. She looked at the niffler and then back at Dougal and laughed.

"Why do you guys like me so much?" She whispered to herself while motioning for Dougal to get onto her back. He did as she wanted and they head back towards the Leaky Cauldron hoping Newt would be there when she got back. He wasn't.

He must be worried sick, Eleanor thought while setting his case on the table. She looked around and wondered where he could've gone. Nearly two hours went by and still nothing. Eleanor was tired and finished up her third cup of tea, but didn't dare take her eyes off that case or the creatures. She stood up and stretched her legs, walked over to the man sweeping and handed him a note.

"I was waiting for a friend, but it's getting late. If he shows up can you please give this to him?" She handed the note over. It was just a note with her address on it. She didn't like being at this place so late and was worried about losing Newt's case again.

"Sure thing sweetheart," the man said and put it in his pocket. 

"He's got brown curly hair and has a blue jacket on. Just in case. Thank you." She grabbed the case and walked out to the street one last time in search for Newt, but there was not a soul in sight. She sighed and apparated to her flat.

It wasn't much, but it was home. Her flat consisted of one bedroom and one bathroom, a small kitchen, and a living room with just a couch and a whole lot of book shelves that were overflowing with books. She turned the light on and placed the case on the floor by the couch. She was curious, but didn't want to betray Newt by opening something she shouldn't. He said that's where his creatures are and the niffler came out of here. Eleanor let curiosity win over her and she unlatched the case and opened it. Dougal looked in and pointed and climbed onto Eleanor's back again.

Eleanor sighed and stuck her hand in. It went straight down, but she could feel something. Stairs? Dougal pointed again and got off her back, jumped into the case, and disappeared. Eleanor groaned and stood up, placed one foot into the case, and then another, and another. She looked around and was shocked at what she saw. 

She was in a whole different room. She walked around and saw different drawings of creatures; most of which she could recognize right off the bat. Diricawls, Nundus, and an Erumpent. She saw journals upon journals and flipped through some of the pages, careful not to mess anything up. They were each for a different creature and were mostly filled to the brim with information. She moved along and saw that there was a bed in the corner and a bathroom as well. Dougal had grabbed her hand again and dragged her towards a door.

"Dougal, I know you're trying to help, but I don't think Newt would want me going through his closet." As Eleanor said the words, Dougal opened the door and it was as if she were stepping outside.

 "Oh my gosh."