Newt, feigning to bend down and pick something up, saw Duncan safe and sound, and his eyes lit up.
He quickly stood up, and when he reached Tina, he calmly nodded to her, intending to follow Duncan into the house.
But Tina quickly returned to her previous position, blocking his way.
Newt gave an awkward smile, his left hand rubbing back and forth on his coat unnaturally: "Tina, we're a bit late coming back today, it's because, it's because..."
"Because of what?" Tina asked, her voice calm and flat.
Newt's lips moved, but he couldn't find a suitable reason no matter how much he searched his mind. He could only sigh and honestly confess: "I received a letter when I went out today. Something happened in New York, so I took Duncan to have a look."
"Just to have a look?"
"And saved Two Venomous Horned Beasts," Newt said. "But don't worry, I didn't let Duncan go near them. He was in a safe place the whole time!"
Tina stared at Newt for several seconds before speaking: "Then why didn't you tell me earlier, so I could go with you? Or do you think I'm old and would hold you back?"
"No, no, I absolutely didn't mean that, it's just..." Newt said subconsciously.
Suddenly realizing something was off, he widened his eyes and tentatively asked: "You're not against me taking Duncan out anymore?"
"Is my opposition any use?" Tina snorted coldly. "Did either of you ever take what I said to heart before?"
Newt chuckled sheepishly without responding, as long as Tina wasn't angry about it.
"Alright, go eat," Tina said crossly. "Next time, remember not to be so reckless. Although the magical creatures in your case will protect Duncan, he is, after all, just a young Wizard who hasn't started school yet. Someone must be with him!"
"Mhm!" Newt repeatedly agreed, like a relentless nodding machine.
Duncan sat at the dining table, silently sighing, a little regretful that he hadn't witnessed Tina's dramatic scolding of Newt.
However, Newt, who was walking over, caught sight of this, earning him a cross glare.
After dinner, Newt and Duncan didn't speak or even make eye contact, but as if they had planned it long ago, they stood up almost simultaneously and, with great understanding, rushed towards a door in the corner of the room.
The scene inside could only be described as dirty, messy, and poor.
Broken brooms were leaning haphazardly against the wall, and the floor was piled with wooden planks of various sizes, looking as if they had been dismantled from some old cabinet. In the darkest corner at the very back, there were also many small, fragmented items that couldn't be clearly seen.
This seemed to be a long-abandoned, unused storeroom.
Newt skillfully moved the broom leaning against the left wall and, squinting, scanned the old wall in the dim light.
He raised his right hand, pressed his fingers firmly on the third wooden board from the bottom, and a rumbling sound immediately erupted. The wall in front of him suddenly began to shake, and a moment later, the wooden boards slid open to the left and right, revealing a dark staircase leading straight down.
This was a mechanism Newt had meticulously designed, primarily to guard against surprise inspections from the Ministry of Magic, fearing they would confiscate his magical creatures.
Duncan followed Newt, stepping onto the somewhat damp stone steps, descending all the way. Torches suspended on either side lit up one by one as they walked.
After turning a corner, the stairs became a flat passage, and after passing through it, the area ahead suddenly brightened.
They arrived at a single-story workshop built of neatly stacked stones.
Various tools hung on the walls. In the wooden cabinet to the left of the entrance were ropes, nets, and collecting jars. On the table to the right were an old typewriter, a pile of manuscripts, and a medieval animal encyclopedia. Notes, maps, and several animated pictures of exotic animals were pinned to the wall above the table, and a row of potted plants sat on the shelf nearby. Various pills, capsules, syringes, and potion bottles formed a medicine cabinet, adjacent to a swaying, dried corpse.
Looking out through the curved doorway at the front left of the workshop, one could see several paths leading into the distance, and looking far off, the scenery at the end of each path was different: some were shimmering lakes, some were dense, verdant forests, some had gathering dark clouds with lightning and thunder, and some had a blazing sun with clear skies.
As Duncan entered the workshop, he inadvertently spotted a small figure under the cabinet on the left.
A palm-sized Niffler, covered in black fur with a long snout, was vigorously scratching at something.
Duncan stopped, bent down to examine it, and saw the Niffler clutching a medicine bottle with a danger symbol printed on its side.
He immediately said in a deep voice: "Pro, quickly put that back. That's not your toy!"
Suddenly hearing Duncan's voice, the Niffler, in the midst of its mischief, shivered all over. Its round, black-pearl-like eyes stared at Duncan for a moment, then it hurriedly used its sharp claws to vigorously scratch at the metal cap of the medicine bottle, but it couldn't remove it after a long time.
But Duncan was already in front of him. Pro's eyes showed a sad expression, and with a push of his paw, the medicine bottle wobbled and rolled into the depths of the cabinet.
Pro turned and fled frantically into the distance, wanting to return and continue his grand thieving enterprise after Duncan and Newt left.
However, he had only taken a few steps when he felt an irresistible force at his neck, dragging him into the air.
"You little rascal, I only put you in the workshop for half a day, and you're already trying to turn everything upside down! You even dug out a locked medicine bottle. Do you know how dangerous the stuff inside is? One drop can melt your entire body!" Duncan said sternly, his face serious, adopting the posture of interrogating a serious offender. "Tell me, who helped you open the drawer?"
Pro's limbs dangled dejectedly, swaying back and forth in the air with Duncan's movements. He silently stared into the distance, looking like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, letting you do what you will, but he wouldn't say anything.
"Oh, so you're getting tough now?" Duncan's eyebrow twitched, and he lightly tapped Pro's head with his finger. "Even if you don't say, I know Pickett must have helped you open the lock!"
Pro's head shot up, and he blinked his round eyes in confusion, as if asking: How did you know?
"Hmph, besides him, which other Bowtruckle would be so daring as to help you pick a lock?"
After Duncan finished speaking, he suddenly remembered and looked around the room, "By the way, where's Pickett? Where did he hide?"
"Duncan, don't lecture them both yet. Let's go help the Erumpent with its wounds first."
Newt expertly rummaged through the medicine cabinet for several bottles of milky white ointment, waved his hand, and exited the curved door.
"Coming, coming." Duncan stuffed the struggling Pro into the side pocket of his coat, his finger hovering for a moment before gently tapping, just enough to push Pro's little head, which had stealthily poked out, back in. Then he quickly caught up with Newt.