As Noelle hit the floor, she could only see the neverending vastness of pitch-black darkness. She became anxious and called out to Newt.
"Hey, Newt. It's pitch black down here," she stated. No response. "Hey, Newt! Where are you?" she called out. Her ears perked up at the sound of humming.
"Hey, Newt! Are you there?" she said excitedly, hoping for something to appear in the darkness that lay ahead. She waited patiently, paying close attention to the humming since it sounded like a song.
"What is he humming?" she thought, "Has he forgotten I'm here?" The concerning thoughts swirled around her like a shadow in the continuous gloom.
"My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I walk alone…"
The song that Newt was now singing and tapping his foot to bounced and echoed through the emptiness.
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams!" Noelle recognised it immediately. "What a sad song." she frowned, "Fits the darkness theme going on here."
As he continued humming, a little light was also visible, cast from Newt's wand, creating a silhouette around him. He held a creature in his hand. An unusual one. It had a faint cyan glow cast around it, and what appeared to be a few, long, gelatinous tentacles.
She followed the flashes blindly, hoping Newt would be awaiting her on the other side.
"Hey, it's alright." he reassured the creature, "You need to learn how to glow in the midnight zone. This is a test." It moaned unhappily and flailed about, "Hold still!" he gripped the creature even tighter, "It's for your own good, Octavia!" he continued, rocking his arms, wand in his mouth, resting the light above the animal's eyes.
"How peculiar!" Noelle whispered, drawing ever closer to him.
"Now glow!" he instructed. It finally seemed to comprehend, casting a large cyan glow.
"Good girl!" he said enthusiastically, petting its suction cups, which relaxed Octavia's muscles.
Noelle chuckled from behind Newt, continuing to watch his taming and instructions.
"He'll realise I'm here soon enough!" she whispered to herself.
"Noelle's here," he whispered, just in earshot of hearing her. "The light switch." The realisation hit him like a hammer to the head. His hands scurried around for the light switch, which was conveniently in front of him. The case was illuminated immediately, a wave of calm surging over Noelle.
"Newt!" she spoke with relief.
"Noelle!" he swung around and paused, noticing that she was staring at the creature resting on top of his head.
"I'm sorry, Noelle." Newt apologised. "This little girl needed some attention." he pointed to Octavia, who stuck a tentacle over Newt's left eye. "Stop it, Octavia! I need to see!"
Noelle giggled as he play-wrestled with the squid's tentacle. He then placed it back in its enclosure with the other squids, which squeaked joyously at Octavia's arrival.
"No worries!" Noelle said happily. "It looks fun to look after the creatures," she stated with interest.
"It is actually!" he replied, "Helps me take my mind off things…" his voice trailed off.
"What kind of things?" she questioned him kindly.
"Nothing much," he muttered, not incredibly willing to share. Noelle stared at him with curiosity, her hazel eyes telling the rest.
"Alright," he said. "Just the usual. Stress, struggles, anxiety, brothers," he chuckled to himself and acknowledged her.
"I should show you around!" Newt remembered, "That was the whole point of this endeavour!" he chuckled.
"Sure!" she replied, her mind journal activating itself.
"Well, over here is my shed." He pointed to a structure built out of light beige timber. There were shelves stacked with books, potting mixes, recipes and ingredients. "I often take notes in there and make medicines for the creatures," he commented.
"Wow! You make medicines for them! That's so nice of you!" she responded compassionately.
"Thanks…" he muttered to himself, finding it unusual to be the centre of attention. He found it more unusual for someone to be interested in his work, so he took the comment with gratitude.
"I rescue, nurture and protect them!" he said with a sudden surge of confidence, "Since they were hurt and most of them are being hunted by the most vicious creatures on the planet, humans." he sighed and looked up at Noelle, who stared back with puzzlement, "What?"
"Humans aren't evil!"
"Well, to them they are. Have you ever heard of deforestation?"
"Yes."
"Bowtruckles' trees are made of wand quality wood. Can you see the connection?"
"Oh… Right! Deforestation."
"Yes. The number of creatures here at the moment is quite small, but I hope to become a Magizoologist in the future, so that number can build," he said.
Noelle's mind journal scribbled down the words:
Future career - Magizoologist
Cares for the environment (greatly)
Medicine maker
Rescue, Nurture, Protect - should become his future company slogan
Does not want to be in the spotlight
"Alright, what's next?" she wondered aloud.
"There are a couple of enclosures I've made," he responded. Noelle held his hand gently, making Newt turn a shade of pink.
"R...Right this way…" he stuttered, the gesture impacting his speech.
"Over here are the Nifflers," he signalled to her, his cheeks still pink, "They are attracted to shiny things. They won't stop searching until they find something perfect, the reason why I've already stocked their cage with this kind of material." he gestured to the cage, which glowed brightly in gold and silver.
"Interesting," she nodded.
"It's all interconnected!" she thought, connecting the dots and writing them in her mind journal.
Shy
Patient
Kind
Loyal
Talented
Lyrics to Boulevard of Broken Dreams - literally asking for a partner
Raises creatures that are perfectionists
Impacted by my loving gestures
Conclusion - He's crushing on me. Hard!
As soon as she figured this out, she jumped up and down with excitement and laughed with joy. He noticed this and commented,
"I never thought you would be this interested! Or is it something else?"
"A combination of both." she smiled at the floor.
"Are you finding the creatures interesting?" he said confused, "Because if they aren't…" he paused.
"Oh, Newt! It's not that!" she replied.
"Then what is it, Noelle?" he questioned.
"I have just discovered the greatest feeling of all!" she twirled around on the spot, smiling wistfully.
"And what's that?" he asked, knowing full well what she was feeling.
"Um…" she hesitated, covering up her true feelings, "Joy!" she lied, smiling nervously.
"Haha. Very funny," he commented. "I'll leave it to you," he remarked, reflecting on his past experiences watching Leta and Theseus.
"Well," Noelle segwayed, "Since you are showing me your creatures, I'll show you mine!" she raced up the stairs of the suitcase before Newt could even reply.
"Just a heads up," Newt called out, "If it's a…" he was interrupted by Noelle racing back down the stairs, holding her feline companion.
"This is Mittenfudge!" she said as she introduced the grey cat with orange eyes, "Say hi!"
Newt backed away instantly, covering his mouth with one hand and waving out the other.
"Get back!" he responded instantly, with nervousness and force. "I... I..." before he could continue, he sneezed loudly.
"Achoo!" his face was puffing up now and his eyes were watering. "I'm allergic. Crazy allergic," he muttered.
"Oh good Lord!" Noelle muttered in shock.
"GRAB THE HOSPITAL STAFF!" he yelled, "Don't just stand there!" his face was growing redder by the minute. "Take the case with you," he instructed. At that moment, he fell unconscious.
Noelle instantly dropped Mittenfudge, who meowed pitifully and bolted over to the cage of Nifflers, which she thought were balls of wool.
"Stop! Mittenfudge!" she whispered, beckoning the cat to come to her.
Mittenfudge ignored her attempts and began scratching at the cage. The Nifflers, holding the jewellery surrounding them as a defence, huddled together making high-pitched squeaks. Mittenfudge continued striking the cage with great force, finally sending the Nifflers and the jewellery tumbling down to the ground.
"Crash!" The clusters of Nifflers scattered to Newt's shed, escaping from Mittenfudge��s grasp. The cat meowed angrily and plonked itself on the floor, resting.
"Good Mittenfudge!" Noelle whispered, glad that her feline companion stopped attacking Newt's creatures. Her eyes darted over to him, his eyes becoming more swollen.
"Oh Merlin!" she cried, distressed and concerned, rushing up the stairs.
Once Noelle was out of the case, she began sprinting to Dumbledore's office, as she did not know the direction to the hospital wing, continuously worrying if she was too late for him. She realised that she couldn't enter, the large phoenix statue blocking her path.
"Damn it!" she muttered, kicking the statue in frustration. The phoenix cawed with pain, shaking its head and wings. Noelle kicked even harder since Newt was on her priority list, not the dumb phoenix squealing in agony.
"Dumbledore!" she called out. No response.
"Dumbledore!" she repeated with urgency. She continued to knock the statue with great force.
"DUMBLEDORE!" she yelled. "Open up!" she continued with annoyance. "You know, one of your students is about to die if you don't open up!" she stated the facts, hoping they would change his mind.
"Which one?" his voice echoed.
"God! He clearly doesn't care for his students!" Her frustration bubbled and boiled.
"Your favourite. Newt Scamander," she smirked.
"Merlin's beard!" he came down at once, stretching out his hand. "Do you know what happened to him?" he asked, speaking quickly, still holding out his hand.
"HOSPITAL NOW! TALK LATER!" she yelled, a serious amount of annoyance and urgency written all over her face.
"My hand is here!" he enunciated sarcastically.
The pair eventually interlaced their hands, their shadows swirling through the air like smoke.