Evelyn (Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them)

Chapter 6

I couldn't understand what I was feeling at that moment. There she was, sitting in the sidelines, next to a man who she seemed rather comfortable with. They were conversing as if they had known each other for long, she was even laughing at something he said. Her bright smile had returned. She looked so happy with him. I wanted to be happy for her but I felt strange, I felt irritated and...very much upset.

"Mr. Scamander, do you know which of your creatures did this?" the president asked me and my eyes left Evelyn and followed her gaze. There was an image of a dead muggle floating over us. The markings on his body weren't made by any creature of mine. "No creature did this...don't pretend. He was killed by an Obscurus" I replied and gasps erupted in the entire room. "You go too far Mr. Scamander, there are no Obscurus in America. Impound that case, Graves!" my case was ripped from my hands with one order and I was held back. 

"Wait!" Tina suddenly said. "Evelyn! You're a Magizoologist too. Tell them that this is all a misunderstanding!" she said. Evelyn...became a Magizoologist?

She stood up from her spot next to Mr. Graves but her eyes weren't hers. They weren't kind, they were sinister. That woman was not Evelyn. "I don't know what you mean, Ms. Goldstein. It was definitely a creature that did this. As madam Piquery said, there are no Obscurus in America" she said with a sinister smile. "Take them away" the president said and Evelyn giggled while Mr. Graves' hand snaked around her waist. The sight made my blood boil. What did he do to Evelyn?

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"Evelyn...I can't believe she would do this. I never thought...I'm sorry about your creatures, Mr. Scamander" Tina muttered under her breath. She was close to tears. "That...that was not Evelyn. I have known her since we were children, Evelyn would never betray her friends, she would never do something so devious. Evelyn is the kindest, most caring person I know. A living angel, she would never do this. They had done something to her" I said, more to myself than to her. I knew Evelyn, I believed in her. No matter what, she would never do anything like this. My words were more for convincing myself than for convincing her. They had done something to her, that man, he had a look in his eyes, a look that was conniving. He had done something to her and I will not stand for it. 

How dare he corrupt her pure image. How dare he sully her good name. How dare he manipulate her. I will not stand for it!

We were both taken to an interrogation room of sorts and I was seated right across from the man I loathed the most. "You're an interesting man, Mr. Scamander" he said, I was livid to the point of thinking that even the sound of his voice was irritating. "You were thrown out of Hogwarts for endangering human life...with a beast, yet one of your teachers argued strongly against your expulsion, now...what makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?" he asked, leaning more on the table, seemingly interested in my answer.

"I really couldn't say" I simply replied, more out of spite than my own cluelessness, although I really didn't know the answer to that question. "So setting a pack of dangerous creatures loose here was just...another accident, is that right?" 

"Why would I do it deliberately?"

"Well to expose wizard-kind, provoke war between magical and non magical worlds"

"Mass slaughter for the greater good, you mean..."

"Yes...quite"

I looked at him straight in the eyes and made sure that he saw the fury in my eyes. I didn't care if he was accusing me of something, what I cared about was that this man before me had done something to Evelyn, had manipulated her, and every word that came out of his mouth only fueled my anger towards him. "I am not one of Grindelwald's fanatics, Mr. Graves" I replied, lacing my voice with as much venom as I could muster. 

"I wonder what you can tell me about this, Mr. Scamander" he suddenly said with a smirk as he brought in something within a bubble. "That's an Obscurus" I quickly told Tina. "but it's not what you think. I managed to separate it from the sudanese girl. I tried to save her. I wanted to bring it home to study it but it cannot survive outside that bubble, it could not hurt anyone, Tina"

"So it's useless without the host" he suddenly said and that irked me. "Useless? Useless? That is a parasitical magical force that killed a child, what on earth would you use it for?" 

"You fool nobody, Mr. Scamander. You brought this thing to New York city in the hopes of causing mass destruction, breaking the statute of secrecy and revealing the magical world"

"You know that can't hurt anyone, you know that and yet...you lie. You manipulate people, twist their words in favour of your own. Was that what you did to Evelyn? Did you take control of her as well? What have you done to Evelyn?!" I was beyond livid. This man was despicable and he was hiding something worse than tricks. 

"I don't know what you are talking about, Mr. Scamander. I have not manipulated anyone and I certainly didn't do anything to Ms. Mirabelle. You are the one with the silver tongue, Mr. Scamander. You are therefore guilty of a treasonous betrayal of your fellow wizards and are sentenced to death. Ms. Goldstein who has aided and abetted you will receive the same sentence. I will inform President Piquery myself"

"No! She has done nothing wrong" I argued. "As for the matter of Ms. Mirabelle-"

"No! Don't you dare do anything to harm her!" I screamed until my throat felt raw. "I will deal with her personally" he said with a devious smirk. "No! Stay away from her! Don't you dare hurt her! She has nothing to do with this!"

"I will see for myself if she has anything to do with this..."