Masterpiece - Newt Scamander

Chapter 2

   In the Hufflepuff basement Newt was pulling Lillian by the wrist to the boy's dormitories. She was stumbling after him, tripping over the feet of chairs and tables. He led them through the open barrel door and to the forth door on the right.

" We better hurry before my roommates get back." He said, rushing over to his bed. Lillian raised an eyebrow, wondering where he keeps all of his creatures. If they were such a secret, he couldn't just have them running around like animals in his dorm.

Newt crouched down and swiftly pulled a large brown brief case from under his bed. Lillian tilted her head to the side to get a better look at it. He unlatched it and looked back at her. He looked at Lillian expectantly, motioning her over. With hesitation, she made her way behind him. Before she even knew what he was doing, he lifted his leg and stepped inside of the case, startling her. She watched in shock as he disappeared completely inside of his case. She honestly shouldn't be so surprised, since they were at a school of magic, but they we're only second years and didn't know this kind of magic yet. 

After a few seconds of her not following him in, the head of Newt popped back out. He blinked a few times, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he stared at her. "Well.. come on then." He told her, a smile spreading on his freckled cheeks. Newt held out his hand for her and she took it slowly. He led her into the case, helping her down the ladder. When she stepped onto the solid wooden floor, she turned around to take in her surroundings.

It seemed to be a small shed where someone could live. All different kinds of plants grew around the area, and if you looked carefully, you could spot a small creature or two scurrying around. There were shelves full of books and on the wall, photos of people and creatures were all hanging  with notes tacked onto them. "This place used to be my fathers work space before he gave it to me for my birthday. Said I needed it more than him if I was planning on taking care of beasts." Newt laughed slightly, "Maybe in the future I can make it bigger so I can help larger creatures, but I only have enough room for bowtruckles, puffskeins, and horklumps." He told her.

While he talked though,Lillian walked up to one of the photos on the wall. It seemed to be of a young woman who stood next to a giant beast that was half bird but stood on all four legs.

"That's my mum." Came a soft voice behind her. Lillian looked back at the boy for a second before observing the photo again.

"What kind of creature is that?" She asked, standing on her toes to get a better look.

"It's a Hippogriff. Half eagle, half horse. My mum is a breeder of them and we're just starting to really learn about them. They're quite beautiful but have a big thing for pride. If you offend them they'll attack you." He went on explaining, rambling off again. "I've gotten to ride one last summer and it was breath taking."

Lillian was so amazed at everything the boy had. For a whole year and a half now, she had only seen him as a quiet awkward boy who sat next to her in Charms class. And now here he was, showing her a whole new side of himself that she'd never imagined he had. How excited he got over just this simplest of creatures. It was very adorable if she must admit it.

Pulling her bag to her side, she took out her leather bound sketch book again. "Do you mind if I sketched your bowtruckle now then. It won't take long, I promise." She asked to make sure.

His awkward self stuttered for a second, "N-no, of course not." He replied. She waited for a moment, looking at him expectantly, her eyes flicking down to the bowtruckle. He was clawing in his pocket waiting for Newt to pick him up.  "Oh- oh right."Newt sprung away from his trance, pulling the small creature from his pocket and setting him on the desk. "Sorry about that, I'm very forgetful."

Lillian chuckled, shaking her head. "It's alright." She flipped her book open, the open pages revealing some of her past works.

"Wow, you really are a very talented artist."Newt complemented her, standing behind her as she sat down on his stool.

"Thank you. I've been drawing for years now. It's a very relaxing hobby." Lillian explained, flipping to the next clean page. Taking out a wooden pencil, she looked at the twigy figure before her. " Why, what a handsome fellow you are." She told the bowtruckle on the table who became bashful under her words. "Now hold still for me, would you?"

The small creature had struck a pose on the board and it made Newt shake his head. He knew how attention seeking this bowtruckle was and how much he was loving this. "Oh look, he's modeling for you now." He sighed.

" It's adorable." Lillian laughed , quickly sketching his figure. They both sat in silence as the girl let her work flow onto her paper. Newt was amazed at her art and how realistic it looked. It seemed so easy to the girl to draw the creature when he could barely produce a neat circle.

While she continued to draw multiple poses the bowtruckle gave her, Newt pulled himself away as another creature came up to him. On his shoulder a round furry golden ball appeared, with large blue eyes, a small button nose and two small ears. Holding his hand out to it, it jumped onto it and he lowered it onto the table. Lillian was distracted for a moment to look at the puff ball. "That there is a Puffskein. They're pretty common pets for kids since they're easy to maintain."

"Does it even have legs?"

"Nope, it's just a ball of fur with eyes." He pet it with his thumb.  Lillian reached out to pet it too but the bowtruckle had other plans. It pulled Lillian's hand away from the Puffskein so she would go back to drawing . He didn't like the attention being directed away from him. "Sorry about him. " Newt apologized again, rubbing the back of his neck.

"There's no need too. He's right, I might need to hurry up. It's really late and past curfew." She focused again, finishing up the last sketch. Standing up, she closed her book and placed it back into her bag with her pencil.

Turning to look up at the lanky Hufflepuff, she smiled sweetly again. "Thank you Newt, I hope I could do this again sometime." She spoke softly.

"Of course." He told her enthusiastically. " Any time." He rocked back and forth on his feet.

"I'll see you in Charms then?" She asked. He nodded in response, looking off to the side because he couldn't make eye contact. He finds it hard to look someone in the eye for so long. "Bye then Newt." She said finally, turning and making her way back up the ladder.

Newt looked after her and with a slight wave of his hand he got out a small ," Bye."