Chapter 124: The New Camp

After discussing it with Elise, we decided to go back, she started running and we appeared in our camp instantly. There we could see how Newt Scamander was carefully observing each of our things, without touching anything, but with his head too close to them, and with Hagrid next to him trying not to break anything and stop him.

"Hey!" I caught their attention

"They're back!" He turned to us, almost seeming to run to get closer "That exit was impressive, no unicorn capable of doing something like that has been recorded but apparently the magic to achieve it comes from her" He said to us referring to the strips of white mist coming out of Elise's hooves "Is it a new discovery, a mutation or a variation due to your coexistence?" He asked with great interest.

"One would think that being old you would be less energetic... Let's forget about that, we have talked and decided what to do with you"(Red)

"Is...?" (Newt)

"Let me finish! We don't like your presence, especially my partner, she hates them for taking us away from our home"(Red)

"It wasn't our intention, we just wanted…"(Hagrid)

"That doesn't matter anymore. Our idea was to bother you a bit before moving on from the place again, but we weren't expecting someone like Mr. Scamander. I know that his intentions are not bad and that he is someone who truly loves his job and the magical creatures, so we have decided to listen to you. What do they want with us?" (Red)

"It's good that we can talk, since I first saw you I got a little worried. I didn't know if you were a lost child or if you need help. We don't know how you got here or if you have a family..."(Hagrid)

"I have it and for the moment I don't need any more" I said patting Elise "We're fine, if you think that we're leaving here, forget it. Now you" (Red)

"I wanted to discover this great mystery, what is before my eyes is something I have not seen before... there may be relationships similar to yours but... you have something special that I cannot identify"(Newt)

"Thanks... I guess"(Red)

"I wish I could study them, see how you live, your history, how you got to be what you are... how you can be so close"(Newt)

"I understand that, and the truth is we are willing to be studied... in a controlled way and only within our camp" (Red)

"That's great!"(Newt)

"Wait, you can't stay here. Professor Dumbledore asked me to take you to…"(Hagrid)

"Dumbledore has no power here, I don't care what he says or his opinions, I won't go or leave Elise! You can say I'm fine in the forest, we won't leave" I made our position clear so that the conversation would no longer follow this course

"But you are a child…"(Hagrid)

"One who lived ten years in this forest, and the most difficult years in a more dangerous area. That topic is over, let's go back to the important thing" (Red)

"Yes! I'll immediately move here to get a more natural perspective on your lifestyle!" The old man said without hesitation.

"How long do you intend to stay?" (Red)

"Enough" (Newt)

"That you didn't have a wife?" (Red)

"Yeah, right, I have to let her know" (Newt)

"Don't you think he'd be mad if you came to live in the forest out of the blue? And you didn't think to ask us if we'd let you live here?" I questioned, as tried to explain what happened to Elise.

There was a discussion in the camp for a while. With Newt the problem of his residence here with us and with Hagrid our stay in the forest.

Not that we strongly disagree with the best magizoologist of the time studying us closely, since in a way it was necessary for what we wanted, but Elise and I would be inhibited in some of our intimate activities... mainly me, since Elise doesn't understand much about shame.

"Mr. Scamander, the reason we let you here is that we may need your help... We have certain problems that we would like you to help us solve, I want you to keep that in mind" (Red)

"I'm delighted to be able to help. What problem can they have that may require me? Does it have something to do with habitat, customs, needs...?"(Newt)

"I don't think it's possible to tell it so soon, trust still has to be earned... and even less in front of strangers" (Red)

"I am also willing to help in any way I can"(Hagrid)

"No need Hagrid, I know you're a good person, but honestly... the fewer people know the better. Mr. Newt might know it just because his work and experience can help, otherwise, we would have already kicked them out and left, never to return" (Red)

The talk continues for a while, where we organize how things would develop from here. We had some disagreements on some decisions but we would leave it at that for now.

First, we would move to our first camp, which was more secure. Although Newt Scamander was an expert, we didn't want something to happen to him in the middle of the process, so it was better to settle in a more suitable place.

Hagrid would report what happened to Dumbledore, but we made it clear that we didn't want him or anyone else in our camp and if we found an intruder we would attack him (for real this time) and/or disappear never to return.

Newt would go home, collect the necessary materials, finish his affairs, and notify his wife or whoever was necessary. He would owl us before he came.

...

After a few days, we were able to re-establish our old camp, once again moving things from one place to another. We also received a visit from Hagrid, who explained what happened with Dumbledore.

The old man wouldn't bother us or report to the Ministry or anything like that, at least not while Newt was with us and Hagrid was able to visit occasionally. We didn't reject it, it was a sacrifice we were willing to accept, at least until we get the results we wanted... then we would just disappear from here.

With Newt, there was a little problem. He was able to cancel or refer his pending, but with his wife, things were not so smooth. This seemed like a job that would take a long time and that created some conflicts.

I ended up using [Message] to communicate, even knowing that questions would abound.

"... Let's put aside how I do this and get back to what matters to us" (Red)

"Well, my wife doesn't want me to be gone for as long a time as I was in my youth"(Newt)

"Understandable, more than you think, I have to make up to Elise a lot when I do something similar" (Red)

"Really? You…?" (Newt)

"Focus on the topic!"(Red)

"Yeah, that... well, that's why I was asking if... I wanted to take her with me" (Newt)

"..."

There was another discussion on the subject, but we ended up giving in. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad at this point, it could give Elise a look at how it's a human couple... besides we've come a long way with this, and it wasn't worth discussing, we were tired of it.

...

A few days later, we received Newt and Hagrid, who accompanied him to our first camp. We had spruced up the place, some of the things we had left made it easy to renovate.

"I thought you would come with your wife?"(Red)

"She will come later, she has things to do so I came first, and later she will accompany us" (Newt)

"Well, you can settle in that free zone over there and then we'll discuss how we'll do this."(Red)

"No need to argue, if I want to get true data I need to see you in its natural state. Act like you normally would and I'll watch from a distance learning about you"(Newt)

"It's going to be hard for us to act as we did but we'll see what happens... First of all I want something in return for letting you stay in our camp"(Red)

"What do you need?" (Newt)

"I'll get some of your books from you and I'd like you to sign them"(Red)

"I have some with me, if you want I can…"(Red)

"Okay, thanks. Once you're done settling in, I'll tell you a few things about this place."(Newt)

...

An additional large tent was set up at the camp. It looked like it was his special travel tent, it had an expansion spell and everything anyone would want in a house. Considering the suitcase he's known for, it's nothing to be surprised at.

It was weird having someone else inside our home. Before it was just Elise and me, we did what we wanted no matter what, no matter how embarrassing or silly.

We kept some distance from our guest, but we could still feel his gaze everywhere. As he had said, he was constantly watching us in order to accumulate data.

During the night we gathered in front of the main fire to prepare dinner and at that moment, after being seen cooking for a while, he came over and started asking questions about us.

We answered most of the questions, but there were others with which we directly remained silent, it was not the time to reveal them. We wanted her to help us, but we didn't feel comfortable doing it right now, well, mostly me, Elise didn't care much.

...

It was two or three days like this where we tried to get used to it and it wasn't that difficult. Although Newt could be a little weird, he knew well what distance to take from us, maybe because of his experience with dealing with dangerous creatures.

There wouldn't be much to highlight. We stopped showing affection in visible places, which really upset Elise and she got mad at me... and then she wanted to kick Newt out for provoking it but I held her back.

It was also awkward that every time we left camp he wanted to follow us, which also reduced our alone time. We thought it would be difficult for him but he had a lot of ability and if we didn't work hard to lose him he wouldn't be far behind.

...

Marril also came to the camp these days, we had informed her of our change of location and she came with a basket of fruit.

We explained the situation to her and she went to meet Newt personally, she is someone truly curious for her age and quite open to strangers, understandable as she is a respected elder in our time.

She and Newt talked for a while, which time we used with Elise to sneak away and do our thing. When we got back, we found Marril taking care of the flowers and Newt writing at a desk outside his tent.

We met with our centauride friend and she gave us a summary of what happened. It seems that they talked about a bit of everything, about how we met and our relationship with the centaurs.

She understood a little why the magizoologist was in the forest and she actually liked him, he seemed like a nice person to her. She also informed us that through her words, Newt may have been able to tell that my relationship with Elise was somewhat peculiar, though not specifically in what.

Newt's gaze on us became more penetrating after that, as if he wanted to dig deeper into our secrets. Marril was right, Newt was more intrigued by us now than before, and that is already too much intrigue.

...

Hagrid also came to visit a couple of times, bringing rock cakes with him. With his visit, we realized that we did not like visitors. It's not like we hated everyone but ourselves, but we felt like our private place was invaded.

After some discussion, we accepted that in a sense it was a good thing for us. In the future, we would return to our world and there I had a life, with family and friends, we could no longer be just the two of us.

This would be an exercise so that Elise could have a sort of taster of the future. She didn't like it at first, knowing that it wouldn't be like before, but she accepted it and we both tried to live with each other. We also agreed that in the future, I would introduce her to the girls I'm seeing in this timeline.

...

After a week like this, Newt told us he was leaving for a short while. He left and we were left alone, the two of us again... just the two of us... and we exploded all the accumulated frustration.

I don't know if Newt Scamander will be able to help us, but what we did find out is that his presence here, and our inaction, made us grow closer now that we were alone.

It was a different look from what we knew. Being alone, we were always uninhibited and wild, now we understand what it is to hold back and a whole new lifestyle.