She was a wounded beast, ridiculed by Second Salemers. He was a simple passerby, just wanting to help. She never expected to be helped by anyone for that matter, let alone an expert of what she was. And he . . . He never expected to find the love of...
We sat in a holding cell. I kept my head in my hands, still thinking about my creatures.
Tina finally broke the silence. "I am so sorry about your creatures, Mr. Scamander." I remained silent.
"Can someone please tell me what this Obscurial, Obscurius thing is? Please?" asked Jacob.
"There hasn't been one for centuries . . ." said Tina.
"I met one in Sundan three months ago," I said. "There used to be more of them but they still exist. Before wizards went underground, when we were still being hunted by Muggles, young wizards and witches sometimes tried to suppress their magic to avoid persecution. Instead of learning to harness or to control their powers, they developed what was called an Obscurus," I explained.
"It's an unstable, uncontrollable, dark force that busts out and attacks . . . and then vanishes," Tina said. "Obscurials can't survive long, can they?"
"There's no documented case of any Obscurial surviving past the age of ten," I said. "The one I met in Africa was eight when she- she was eight when she died."
"What are you telling me here?" Jacob asked. "That Senator Shaw was killed by a- by a kid?" I nodded quietly.
~~~
Two executioners in white coats lead Tina and I in shackles. I turned and looked back at Jacob who looked through the cell bars at us worriedly.
"It was good to make your acquaintance, Jacob," I called over my shoulder. "And I hope you get your bakery." Jacob clutched the bars of the cell and waved forlornly.
I was lead into a small, bare room with plain black walls and no windows. Graves sat opposite of me across the table with a file open in front of him.
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Tina stood behind me, held back by two executioners.
"You're an interesting man, Mr. Scamander," started Graves.
"Mr. Graves-" Tina interrupted. Graves held a finger to his lips, signaling for Tina to be silent. The gesture was patronizing, but authoritative. Tina looked kowtowed. She obeyed, stepping back into the shadows.
Graves examined the file on the desk. "You were thrown out of Hogwarts for endangering human life-"
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"That was an accident!" I protested.
"-with a beast," Graves finished. "Yet one of your teachers argued strongly against your expulsion. Now, what makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?"
"I really couldn't say."
Graves continued. "So setting a pack of dangerous creatures loose here was just another accident, is that right?"
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"Why would I do it deliberately?" I asked rhetorically.
"To expose wizardkind," answered Graves. "To provoke war between the magical and non-magical worlds."
"Mass slaughtered for the greater good, you mean?" I challenged.
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"Yes, quite."
"I am not one of Grindelwald's fanatics, Mr. Graves," I said. A tiny change of Graves' expression showed I had scored a hit. Graves looked more menacing.
"I wonder what you can tell me about this, Mr. Scamander?" With a slow move of his hand, Graves raised up the Obscurus from my case. He lowered it onto the desk, it swirling, pulsing, and hissing.
I turned to Tina because I wanted to convince her for reasons I couldn't explain. "It's an Obscurus," I said. "But it's not what you think. I managed to separate it from a Sundanese girl as I tried to save her. I wanted to take it home, to study it. But it cannot survival outside that box, it could not hurt anyone, Tina!"
"So it's useless without a host?" asked Graves.
"Useless? Useless?" I nearly shouted. "That is a parasitical magical force that killed a child! What on earth would you use it for?" I stared at Graves in disbelief. I could see Graves realized his mistake.
"You fool nobody, Mr. Scamander," Graves said. "You brought this Obscurus into the city of New York in the hope of causing mass disruption: therefore, breaking the Statute of Secrecy and revealing the magical world."
"You know that can't hurt anyone," I protested. "You know that!"
Graves continued. "You are therefore guilty of a treasonous betrayal of your fellow wizards and are sentenced to death. Miss Goldstein, who has aided and abetted you-"
"No," I interrupted. "She's done nothing of the kind."
"-she receives the same sentence," Graves finished.
