Chapter Text
It started out as an accident. Tina Goldstein never paid much mind when signing up for classes, simply checking off the ones she wanted to take the following semester and not giving it a second thought. Ilvermorny administration was more than competent enough to get it right the first time, and after nearly six years at the school Tina was more than confident in their abilities. Or so she thought.
Going home for the summer was rather awkward for the Goldstein sisters, mostly because they didn’t really have a home to go to. Just a quiet, mostly empty little apartment in New York provided to them by the state, and they dreaded going back every time. Tina could always tell as the days drew closer, how anxious Queenie would get, anticipating their return to Ilvermorny. The crowds of people, peers and teachers alike, and the bustle of school work and responsibilities did much to curb their sadness over the years, and they built a home in their beloved school.
Needless to say, Tina had full confidence in her school, and as such did not bother ripping open her time sheet and scanning her classes for the following day until after she was mostly settled back in her shared dorm room inside Thunderbird tower. Queenie sat at the foot of her bed, chatting away aimlessly to Tina’s roommates, asking about their summer. As much as she liked Pukwudgie Tower, she enjoyed her sister’s company more. Still, Queenie went on, oblivious for the most part to her sister’s growing despair.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Tina groaned, staring down at the schedule in her hand. The whole thing was a mess, with classes at the wrong times, a few repeats that she had taken years before, and even classes she most definitely remembered notsigning up for. Why on earth would she ever want to take Care of Magical Creatures? Of all the classes that the school had to offer, that was probably the most underdeveloped one, and Tina wasn’t about to get her hands dirty with some random and potentially dangerous magical creatures.
Queenie looked over at her sister, prodding her mind and humming in sympathy. “Well isn’t that strange,” she huffed, pulling the paper from her sister’s hands, “They’re usually pretty good about getting these things right. Guess you’ll have to make a trip down to admin tomorrow mornin’.”
“Fat chance,” Tina heard one of her roomies laugh before she could open her mouth, “They’ve been backed up for weeks, you’d be lucky to get an appointment by next week.”
“Just great,” she growled, flopping back against her bed. “I’ve to spend two hours tomorrow in a third year potions class and Care of Magical Creatures of all things,” Tina whined, pressing her face into her pillow.
“Aww c’mon Teenie,” Queenie hummed, pulling at her sister’s arm while the others giggled at Tina’s melodrama, “It’s not all bad, we’ll get it fixed in a jiff.” Queenie gave her exasperated sister a quick wink before dragging Tina up and out of the bed. “C’mon guys, let’s get something to eat. I’m famished,” the younger sister laughed, beckoning the other girls up and towards the door, arms still liked with Tina’s. “And while we’re at it, Abby can tell us all about that cute farmer boy she spent all summer with,” Queenie teased.
“Queenie get out of my head!” the girl shrieked, going so red in the face she was nearly purple. The other’s laughed at her expense, and even Tina let out a little chuckle.
“Hey, Tina,” another girl whispered, tugging at her sleeve. She had short, curly red hear and a soft smile, hiding behind thick glasses. One of Queenies friends from her house. “It won’t be all bad. Ah-I mean I have Magical Creates with you…tomorrow, so yeah. At least you won’t be so alone,” she mumbled, tugging at her heavy frames.
Tina tried her best to smile back at the awkward girl. “Thanks Bunty, I hope you’re right,” she answered honestly, but deep down she still had a feeling she was wrong.
Tina rested her head down on the heavy wooden desk before her, groaning internally. She had dreaded this class all morning, and spent half an hour before arguing with one of the teachers about her messed up schedule. Apparently some new rule was just being implemented and all major schedule changes were to go directly through to the headmistress, who just so happened to be out of the country now. The unsympathetic professor had, in not so many words, told her to suck it up and carry on with her classes till then.
She stormed her way towards the eastern tower, wincing at the heavy smell of manure and animal feed. The east was where the greenhouse was and the magical creatures were kept, and Tina had made it a point to wander over here as little as possible over the past few years. She threw her quill and heavy leather notebooks down on the table next to Bunty, making the squirrely girl jump, before laying her head down in defeat. She ignored the nervous girl’s quiet hello. This day couldn’t get any worse.
The profess wandered in about five minutes past when class was supposed to start. If Tina were honest he looked about three seconds away from croaking it right there. He was hunched over terribly, with mousy grey hair, and his robes hung off of him like heavy rags, slowing his movements considerably. Tina rolled her eyes annoyed as the man turned towards the board, and nearly screamed when he grabbed a piece of chalk from the holder and proceeded to slowly, so painfully slowly, manually write his name on the board in shaky, but surprisingly neat cursive. Merlin, couldn’t he have just used his wand?
“Hello, class,” he started just as he was finishing his name, “My name is Professor Trumble, and hopefully you are all in the right place.” Tina nearly wanted to cry at the irony of it all. “Welcome to the first day of Care of Magical Creatures.”
He continued to drone on for what felt like forever, his harsh and croaking voice barely traveling the expanse of the classroom. Tina busied herself with the foggy expanse outside the window. She really had no interest in what the man had to say. Once the Headmistress returned, Tina would be the first one knocking on her door to get this mess fixed. She had no interest in staying much longer than she needed to.
“Now,” he started, leaning heavily against the desk and sifting through a couple of papers, “As many of you know, I have been the sole instructor for this course for many years. The Wizarding World’s interest in magical creatures has never been that great, and as such I have taken it upon myself to educate young minds such as yourselves of the wonderful creatures that we live amongst.”
Tina let out a huff, rolling her eyes once again. Wonderful creatures my ass. They’re nothing but pests. She thought to herself. They were dangerous and unpredictable and carried diseased that could very well kill a grown man. In her mind they would all do better with an extermination guide than a class like this. Too caught up in her brooding thoughts, Tina missed the next part of his statement.
“It brings me great joy to inform you all that this year will be a bit different. After many long years I can finally loosen the reigns on this class and act as observer. A young up in coming Magizoologist has come all the way from Hogwarts mind you, to conduct research and aid me in teaching you all about magical creatures. If you would, Mr. Scamander, you may come in now.”
Beside her Tina heard Bunty inhale sharply, a quiet stutter escaping her lips. She peered over at the girl, who had suddenly gone red in the face, body visibly trembling as she stared wide-eyed in front of her. Curious, Tina directed her gaze to where Bunty was looking, and in an instant Tina knew what had Bunty so hot and flustered all of a sudden.
“Mercy Lewis,” she cursed, louder than she anticipated. There were snickers from the people around her and the man at the front of the room turn to look at her. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments before Tina went pink in the face and quickly ducked her head down. She murmured a small hex under her breath and the other students around her yelped in surprise before grumbling at her.
“Quiet down now children,” Professor Trumble croaked, and silence quickly spread across the room, “Now Mr. Scamander, if you would…”
“Ah, yes- of course sir,” her fumbled, propping up a worn briefcase onto the table. Dear god, he had an accent. Tina felt she might combust any moment now. Clearing his throat, the young man reached up to straighten his tie- a bowtie? Really?- before starting again. “Hello, all of you. It’s very nice to see so many of you so interested in magical creatures. My name is Newton Scamander, and I was originally educated at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”
He went on to explain a little more about himself, how he primarily focuses on research, and took the internship opportunity in hopes of educating the newer generations. Newer generation? He can’t be much older than us. Three years topsTina scoffed, but still she drank in every word he spoke. The heat in her cheeks never dissipated, but then again neither had Bunty’s, and she was grateful for the poor girl next to her to distract from Tina’s own flustered state. Never in her life had she had such a strong response to another person, much less a stranger she could barely say she met. He was the teaching assistant for Merlin’s sakes.
The sound of books being pulled out and shuffled through drew her out of her thoughts, and Tina silently curse. She hadn’t bothered to get the book for this class, for most of her classes really, in an act of angry rebellion, which in hindsight was quite foolish. Still, she didn’t think they would be starting lessons on the first day.
“I’m sorry Miss…Miss…?” It suddenly occurred to Tina that she was being spoken to and her head snapped up. Mr. Scamander was standing in front of her desk, looking down at her quizzically, and beside her Tina could practically hear the steam coming out of Bunty’s ears. Slack-jawed, it took Tina a moment to compose herself before stuttering out an answer.
“Tina! Ah, I mean, Por- er…Tina Goldstein, Mr. Scamander, sir,” she trailed off, wincing as she almost gave him her full name. Queenie had gotten off much better than her, who in their right mind names their kid Porpentina in this day and age.
He smiled down awkwardly at her, not meeting her eyes, but instead landing somewhere on her shoulder. “I don’t suppose you have your book with you today, Miss Goldstein?”
She winced. “No I don’t, Mr. Scamander, sir,” she mumbled, going redder, but this time from embarrassment. The class around her began to laugh at her expense, but before she could shoot them a nasty glare Mr. Scamander spoke up.
“Now, everyone. It’s only the first day of class, and I’m sure no one really expected to actually be learning on introduction day,” he spoke quickly, before turning back to Tina. “Here you are, Miss Goldstein, you may borrow my copy until you can get your own,” he said, placing a well-worn copy of The Monster Book of Monsters on her desk with a soft smile before turning back to the front of the class. Tina gently pried the book open, marveling at the delicately scrawled notes adorning the edges of nearly every page. His handwriting was neat and loopy, detailing off-handed observations and the occasional sketch. She was captivated by his intense eye for detail.
“Now, class, as we all know, before we can work with magical creatures, we must be conscious of their behaviors and potential dangers. The right precautions can be the difference between a scratch and a missing limb. Please turn to page 43 section a…” he droned on, and Tina was torn between giving him her undivided attention and digesting every note he had written in the book before her. Heart racing, Tina began to think that this was going to be a very long few weeks indeed.
The day had gone by in a blur, and before she knew it Tina was seated in the dining hall between Queenie and one of her friends at the Pukwudgie table. Her ever popular sister chattered loudly, commanding the attention of nearly everyone in the immediate vicinity as they waited for speeches to be made and dinner to be served. Some days Tina found herself envying Queenie, who wore her femininity with ease, unlike Tina who more or less had puberty thrust upon her in one heaping mess. Tonight was not one of those nights though, and Tina quietly thanked the gods for her sister’s natural spotlight while she stewed in contemplation over what had happened today.
The beat of her heart hadn’t slowed down till the end of class, and Tina made a mad dash towards the door once the bells chimed, signaling the transfer period. She brushed past Bunty without so much as a glance, making a quick note to apologize to the poor girl later at dinner. She almost made her perfect escape, but made the mistake of glancing back just once more, and damnit, he’s looking at me, she cursed as their eyes met once more. A worried expression crossed his face as she turned red once more, before dashing out the room in a hurry. She could still feel his eyes on her as she retreated, and Tina didn’t notice that she was clutching his book to her chest until she was halfway to her next class.
It was Queenie who pulled her out of her thoughts. “Teenie! Helloooo, Earth to Tina! Is anyone home in there,” she cried, knocking her fist against the older girl’s head much in the same way one would knock on a door. Tina winced and grabbed her sister’s wrist, glaring at the grinning blonde.
“What?” she snapped, and felt a little bad when a pout crossed her sister’s lips.
“We were just askin’ how your first day went,” she huffed, and the others around her nodded. She felt a little bad, tuning out her sister like that then snapping at her. Curious, Queenie narrowed her eyes, and Tina could feel the gentle prod of her sister shifting through her mind trying to figure out what was wrong.
“Stop that,” she hissed, before pushing Queenie out. It was getting harder these days. Queenie seemed to grow stronger by the day and what was once a forceful push through her head much like a headache was now nothing more than a soft nudges, almost undetectable if she wasn’t paying good enough attention. Add the fact that it was getting harder to force Queenie out as her powers got stronger, it was clear that she would soon be a force to reckon with.
“What, I’m just trying to figure out what’s wrong! You’ve been quiet all day,” Queenie huffed. Try as she may, Tina couldn’t bring herself to continue to be mad at her. It wasn’t Queenie’s fault that Tina couldn’t deal with her own emotions, so she sucked it up and slung an arm around her sister’s shoulders before giving her a halfhearted grin.
“I’m sorry, Queenie. You know how it is, just… these classes. I dunno how they could have screwed up this bad, honestly,” she huffed, giving her a half-baked excuse. It wasn’t the entire truth, but Queenie took it anyways, wrapping her own arms around Tina’s waist.
“It’s okay, Teen. When the headmistress comes back we’ll get this all sorted out just you wait. No more third year potions class and boring astrology classes for you!” Queenie chirped. Tina gave a dry laugh.
“Yeah, honestly. Third year potions? Really? It’s like they weren’t even trying,” Tina huffed and the table nodded in unison. “I’d like to learn something more interesting with professors that actually care. There’s just something about lower year classes that suck the life out of them honestly,” Tina said, and the people around her giggled in approval.
“Hey speaking of which,” another girl spoke up; someone form Queenie’s house that Tina didn’t recognize, “I heard we got a new professor here on campus. I heard he teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
“No I heard he teaches Divination!”
“Nu-uh, its Herbology! I heard Professor Picquery talking about how the old one’s on maternity leave for the next six months!”
“I thought we were getting a new head groundskeeper?”
“What? No way, that was last semester. Get with the program, Astrid!”
“Well, never mind that! I heard that he’s a total hottie!”
Tina felt her face heat up, and suddenly she could feel the weight of Mr. Scamander’s textbook press heavy against her side as it lay in her knapsack. Were they talking about him? Surely news couldn’t spread that fast, yet still Tina felt something well up inside her, angry and green at this girl’s choice of words. Thankfully Queenie was too engrossed in the gossip to notice her sister’s change in demeanor.
“Ooh, tell me more,” Queenie chirped, leaning across the table with a devilish smirk. Before they could continue their discussion, the candle lights dimmed and the professors filled in quickly, with Professor Picquery falling into the spot where the headmistress usually stood. She cleared her throat, and brought her wand up to her throat, the tip glowing a soft light blue.
Silence hushed across the dining hall as she scanned the room carefully. “Hello students, new and old. As many of you may know, our Headmistress could not be here tonight, having been called urgently across seas to deal with some pressing matters. As such, I have taken it upon myself to conduct this year’s entrance ceremony. Will those of you who are currently out of place please make your way back to your respective house seats. There will be plenty of time to mingle once the sorting process has concluded.”
Tina quickly stood up, quickly giving her sister a hug before scurry off to the other side of the hall where her table stood. Professor Picquery carried on with the ceremony, giving the required speech that Tina had heard six times over now and calling each new student up to be sorted into their respective houses. Sure it was exciting when she had done it, and continued to be the first couple years after, but now it was tiresome, and she largely ignored the roaring of the crowds as each person was sorted one by one. Just as she began to wonder when this whole thing would be over as her stomach growled impatiently, Professor Picquery cleared her throat once more, wand once again pressed to her throat to project her voice loud and clear.
“Before we commence the feast, I have just one more thing to announce. As many of you may have heard, we will be having a new Professor on campus. In actuality, he is more of an assistant professor working under Professor Trumble in the Care of Magical Creatures, but regardless I would like all of you to treat him with the utmost respect as you would any other professor. May I proudly introduce Professor Newton Scamander,” she concluded with a warm smile, and Tina caught sight of the man from earlier today. His curly auburn hair hung messily against his forehead and the awkward smile he donned clearly stated that he was not use to being to center of attention. He mumbled a few words about how great it was to be here, and how he hoped for a prosperous year for those of whom were in his class. He finished with an awkward half bow before retreating behind Professor Picquery and to his spot next to Professor Trumble. Next to her Tina could hear the murmurs of the people around her.
“Wow, what a cutie.”
“Eh, I thought he would be more fit. People were way over-hyping him.”
“What? Are you kidding, he’s a total babe! And that accent though, man it makes me want to transfer to Hogwarts just hearing it.”
Tina’s eyebrows knit together and a scowl crossed here face. Really? She expected this from Queenie’s friends, but it seemed like the whole school was fluttering with talk of their new assistant professor. She made an effort to stand up and cross the hall back to Queenie’s table once the food began to lay itself out before them, but as she did she chance a glance over at Mr. Scamander and found him staring intently at her. They locked eyes for a moment, and a part of her wished she wasn’t so far away so that she could tell if his eyes were blue or green. She bit her bottom lip between her teeth, and he smiled at her, hand raising up just a bit to wiggle his fingers in a faint hello. She felt that familiar feeling in her chest from before, warm, erratic pounding that caused heat to slowly creep into her face. Before he could catch her deer-in-the-headlights expression, she ducked down quickly, before grabbing her bag and scurrying off across the room, missing his own downturned expression.
Mercy Lewis, she needed to get out of that class. It was going to be a long few weeks.