Tina Goldstein led Newt Scamander, Jacob Kowalski, and Aiden through narrow Manhattan streets to her apartment building. The city's distant hum faded behind them as they approached her door.
"Oh, listen," Tina said as she fumbled with her keys. "I probably shouldn't have brought you all here."
"Wait," Aiden interrupted smoothly. "We need to be careful not to be discovered by Mrs. Esposito, right?" He finished Tina's thought before she could speak.
"Do not read my thoughts." Tina lightly tapped Aiden's forehead, half amused, half exasperated.
"There is no need for such trouble. I will take care of it." Aiden stepped forward, winking at Newt before enveloping the group in a shimmering veil of mental invisibility. They passed the suspicious landlord two feet away, and not a soul batted an eye.
"How did you do that?" Tina stared at Aiden in astonishment once they were safely inside.
"It seems to be an ability that affects consciousness," Newt added as he reached out to pat Aiden's silver hair. "Can dragon-men do this sort of thing?"
Aiden smiled at Newt. "You always were perceptive. No wonder we felt like old friends the first time we met."
"First time meeting?" Newt cocked his head in genuine puzzlement.
"I am from the future, stranded here due to certain… complications," Aiden said with a careless shrug.
"The future?" Tina and Newt echoed in disbelief.
"What about the future?" Jacob muttered from his sofa, still dazed.
"I cannot reveal too much. What I am doing now is all part of completing history. That is the special nature of time travel," Aiden explained, eyes full of secret purpose.
"Are you an Unspeakable?" Newt ventured, but Aiden shook his head, warning him not to ask any more questions.
Tina led the group into her Art Deco–style living room. A fire burned in the hearth, gentle household charms dried clothes on a line, and a tall, scantily dressed woman leaned against the doorframe.
"Oh, Teenie, you brought company home," Tina's sister, Queenie Goldstein, purred as she approached Aiden and scratched his chin. "And what a cute little fellow."
"Ladies, this is our sister," Tina said with mock admonishment. "Queenie, perhaps a bit more clothing?"
Queenie waved her wand. A silk gown drifted onto her curves with a graceful swirl.
"Can you please not be so casual? I am not a child." Aiden tried to straighten his robes.
"Really? How old are you exactly?" Tina stepped to the phonograph and changed the record, filling the room with soft jazz.
"Uh… fourteen," Aiden admitted, his voice catching on the last syllable.
"Ha," Queenie laughed. Jacob on the sofa joined in until he caught her stare. Aiden's eyes glinted with dragon might, and for a moment Jacob could not move.
"So, who are they?" Queenie asked, shaking off her surprise.
"Mr. Scamander and Mr. Prewett," Tina answered crisply. "British wizards who have seriously violated American wizarding secrecy laws."
"Criminals, then," Queenie said with a mischievous lift of her brow, eyeing Aiden over.
"This gentleman is Mr. Kowalski," Tina added, nodding toward the No-Maj. "He is our unwitting guest."
"Teenie, what are you doing? This is…" Queenie began, but Tina laid a firm hand on her sister's arm.
"It is a long story. Mr. Kowalski is unwell." Tina's cheeks warmed at her own excuse.
Newt stood by the window, staring into the rain-washed street. Aiden felt the wizard's worry almost breaking through the mental barrier.
"Oh, you poor thing. He has not eaten all day," Queenie said as she knelt beside Jacob, examining his bandaged neck. "And he didn't get the loan to open his bakery."
"As for you," Queenie turned to Aiden but froze when his heterochromatic vertical pupils met her gaze.
"You're also a Legilimens?" she whispered.
"No," Aiden replied with a wry wink. "My lineage is rather special."
"Can you read my thoughts?" Jacob asked softly from the sofa.
"Don't worry," Queenie said with a playful grin. "Most men think exactly the same when they first lay eyes on me." She tapped Jacob gently with her wand. "Now, what you need is food." With a swirl of lavender silk, she rose and swept from the room.
Newt turned back to Aiden. He placed a hand on Aiden's shoulder and projected the question into his mind: Can you use your gift to spirit us away?
Aiden sent a virtual personality along the mental link with ease. A quiet message drifted into Newt's thoughts: You have not yet learned Occlumency. Do you realize there is another Legilimens present?
"Oh, Mr. Scamander, Mr. Prewett, do you prefer pie or strudel?" Queenie returned with a flourish of her wand, fruit fillings and pastries flying through the air to roll and bake themselves right before Jacob.
"I have no particular preference," Newt answered.
"I like pie," Aiden said as he drew up a chair.
He tapped the tabletop with his fingertip, and the surface rippled outward, expanding into a grand dining table worthy of a royal feast.
"Mercy Lewis," Tina whispered, marveling at Aiden's wandless magic. "Are you really only fourteen?"
"If Hogwarts did not make a mistake, I just finished my third year." Aiden shrugged again, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"You like strudel, right, honey?" Queenie asked Jacob, offering a warm smile as she floated him a sweet pastry.
"Please, gentlemen, sit," Tina said, leaning against a chair back. "We have no intention of poisoning you."
At the table, Queenie chatted brightly with Jacob while Tina and Newt fell into an awkward silence. Aiden tore into a meat pie with such gusto that crumbs flew across the table.
Then he paused, looking around at the four faces.
Two couples and a lone dog eating dog food. The system's mental quip popped into his mind.
"Indeed," Aiden agreed aloud. "I must eat enough to get my money's worth." He was entirely immune to the system's teasing.
"The work at MACUSA is truly dreadful," he added around a mouthful. "I am either serving tea or scrubbing washrooms."
Queenie laughed and continued her chat with Jacob, but he barely spoke. Tina and Newt exchanged glances that said more than words.
"Miss Goldstein, I believe Mr. Kowalski and the young wizard need rest," Newt said, rising from the table. "We must also track down my runaway Niffler tomorrow morning."
"What is a Niffler?" Queenie asked in genuine confusion.
"Do not ask," Tina replied with a weary shake of her head. Then she looked at their guests and offered, "You may stay here for one night."
That night the four were settled into a cozy back room. Aiden snuffed the lights and patted his robes—threads spun themselves into comfortable pajamas.
A soft knock came at the door. Tina entered carrying steaming mugs of cocoa. "I thought you might need this."
Aiden took the cup and drained it in two long draughts. Jacob followed suit, pride dancing in his bleary eyes.
Newt lay on the bed, pulled tightly under the covers, staring at the ceiling in troubled thought.
"What is wrong with him?" Jacob asked Aiden in confusion.
"He is probably worried," Aiden said gently.
"Worried about what?" Jacob pressed.
"About the creatures you let escape and the time and energy it will take to deal with the fallout," Aiden said, his voice quiet with genuine concern.