Safe in Your Arms

Chapter 8

It had been several weeks since Newt had shown Tina the Kelpie. Her dreams had gotten better again and every now and then, she was able to sleep peacefully, without any dreams at all. She had also spent less and less time in the basement. She and Nagini were currently in the living room, reading. Newt and Jacob were both downstairs.

Suddenly, Newt appeared in the entrance to the living room. 

"Nagini," he said. "Did you ever go to school, you know, to learn magic?"

Nagini looked startled but she shook her head. "No. I'm a Maledictus so I wasn't allowed to go to school."

"You don't even own a wand do you?"

The girl shook her head again.

Newt came further into the room and took a seat. "Would you like to?"

"I couldn't use it," Nagini said hesitantly. "I've never learned how."

"Tina and I could teach you," he said. He turned to Tina. "If that's okay with you."

Tina offered him a smile and nodded.

"Okay," Nagini said slowly. "How do I get one?"

"We'll go to the wand shop and Diagon Alley and buy you one," Newt declared. "In fact, we'll go right now. I've finished up in here and Bunty will be able to supervise the creatures. Besides, I think we all need a chance to get out of this house. We've been cooped up in here for weeks."

Everyone agreed and they left the house. Newt glanced up and down the street then signaled for them all to join hands. They did and he Disapparated. They appeared in an alley and Newt quickly released Tina's hand. She immediately missed the contact but she knew it would have been strange for them to continue holding hands. 

Newt led them across the street to a small pub called the Leaky Cauldron. They stopped right outside and he turned to Jacob. 

"We're about to go into a pub that you can't see right now. Come here and I'll . . ." he trailed off and glanced around. Then he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Jacob's forehead. Tina watched him carefully as he cast a spell. Jacob started and looked around, a surprised expression on his face. Newt quickly put his wand away.

"Come on."

They followed him into the pub and out a door in the back. They were in a narrow alley between the pub and a brick wall. Newt pulled out his wand again and tapped a brick three times. The wall opened up to reveal a street lined with colorful shops. He led them down the street to a narrow, slightly shallow shop with peeling gold letters over the door that read: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in a dusty window.

Newt took them inside. A bell sounded in the back of the shop. The walls were covered in narrow boxes pilled haphazardly. Otherwise, there were only a few chairs by the door. A dark-haired man that looked to be about Dumbledore's age appeared in the back.

"Newt Scamander," he said cheerfully and a little mysteriously. He approached them. "It's good to see you again. I remember your wand well: Cedar with a belemnite handle, unicorn hair core, eleven and a half inches, unyielding."

Newt nodded. He pulled out his wand and handed it to the man. He examined it and handed it back.

"I'm surprised they didn't snap it in half when you were expelled."

"That was Dumbledore. He fought for me not to be expelled but the best he could do was keep them from snapping my wand in half," Newt said. He was blushing slightly.

"Yes. I hear you've been getting into some trouble recently, first in New York, then in Paris." Newt blushed.

"Again, that was Dumbledore's fault."