Newt didn't know what had happened, but when he recovered a few minutes later from the stunning spell, panic struck him as soon as he noticed ______ was missing. "______!" Newt exclaimed, sitting up quickly. As he reached for his side, he noticed something else was missing too.

His case.

"No, no, no, no, no," he began looking around, not able to say or think much else. "This can't be happening, oh Merlin, where is anything, where is ______, where is my case where is-"

He turned around and met eyes with a small creature.

"Pickett!" Newt exclaimed, grabbing the small Bowtruckle. He could tell something had happened to him, Pickett looked hurt. Luckily, it wasn't too bad though. "What happened?" Newt asked, desperately confused. He was scared, and every second he spent not know what was going on was another second his fear of what may have happened deepened.

In a series of small noises and large gestures, Pickett was able to re-enact his version of what happened to Newt, hoping he'd understand. Newt was usually very good at understanding Pickett's storytelling. "So, a wizard stunned me, tried to take my case, ______ stepped in, you were attacked and they went where?" Newt asked, understanding the greater majority of the story. Picket made a large gesture with his arms, swishing one hand and spinning, trying to gesture someone apparating away.

"They disappeared? No, they apparated!" Newt exclaimed. That's just perfect, isn't it? No sign of ______, she gets sick apparating, and we have nothing to go off of. Newt thought. How am I going to find her?

Then, an idea popped into his head.

"We've got to get going," Newt said, and Pickett jumped onto his shoulder, just like old times. He was already developing his plan, but there was one problem.

It required a beast, and he had no case.

He stepped out of the car, running a hand through his hair. "Right then, where are we? I suppose we're still in England... middle of nowhere in the forest..." he began to think. There were magical beasts everywhere if you knew how to look for them, and boy, did Newt know how to look for them. That's all he's been doing for the past years. What kind of beast could help him track someone that would be in the forest of England?

As soon as he thought of that question, one beast came into mind: a Crup.

Though uncommon, they could sometimes be found in forest areas of England. Usually runaways or wild ones, as Crups are usually owned by wizards. Though he knew it was a long stretch, he thought it might be his only shot.

Newt cupped his hand around his mouth, and as best as he could remember, started doing the Crup's call. It had been a while since he came across one, so he was hoping his memory served him well. He walked around the forest, calling out for one. He just needed one, one would be enough to track her and find his case.

After what seemed like hours of searching (it was really ten minutes – but time passes painfully slow when you're worried), Newt thought he finally heard a call that didn't come from him. Before he knew it, a small Crup was running out of the forest, towards him. "Aha!" he exclaimed, and as he did, the Crup pounced on him. You see, Crups acted like domesticated muggle dogs, so they were really friendly. As much as Newt would usually sit there for a while and become friendly with him, he was in a hurry.

"Alright boy, I have a job for you," Newt began, taking off his coat. It still faintly smelt of ______ from when she had worn it overnight on the boat. Thank Merlin for that, Newt thought. He put the coat up to the Crup's nose. "I need you to smell out the girl who was wearing this. Do you think you can do that?"

The Crup smelt the jacket, and all the time, Newt was holding his breath. He was hoping she would be close, if she was too far away, this idea wouldn't work at all. For every second the Crup spent smelling the coat, he seemed to reach a new level of anxiety. Please be okay, Newt kept thinking in his head. Please, at the very least, please still be alive.

Dark wizards were never good, and the fact that one took ______ was even worse. While Britain was slacker when it came to laws with Muggle and Wizard relationships, that didn't mean every wizard was approving. A lot of wizards still had the "pureblood or no blood" ideals. Even half-bloods were looked down upon, and if you were a mudblod...

Your life was a living hell.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the Crup lifted his head from the jacket and barked, looking in a new direction. "Yes! Yes, you've got it!" Newt exclaimed happily. "Now, let's go! Lead me to her!"

As they began to ran, Newt had a new feeling: hope. Hope she was still alive, hope he'd find her, hope they could get out of all this...

He was so invested in thinking about ______'s safety, he almost forgot about the fact they took his case too.

What could he possibly want with my case? Newt thought. There were lots of things, and they all worried him, but he wasn't sure what he wanted with his case. Why lure them all the way out into the woods to take newt's case? Why not just take it once they were in the taxi and leave? Was there some sort of larger scheme to being all the way out here?

He ran alongside the Crup until he ran right through a gate with a sign on it. Newt slowed for a moment, reading the sign. "Enter at Your Own Risk!!!"

Well, there was no turning back. Too much at stake to even think about doing that.

The Crup led Newt to double doors of what looked like an abandoned castle. The Crup sat there, wagging his tail and looking at Newt. "Thank you," Newt told him, kneeling down and petting him. "You should probably get out of here. I have no idea if it's safe in there for you."

Standing up, newt turned to the doors, taking a deep breath and pushing them open.

The hallways were decorated with cobwebs and candles, looking like no one even lived there, or if they did, they didn't care about cleaning up. There was a large staircase that led to another level, and it looked expensive. The place was immense, and Newt wouldn't be surprised if it really was an abandoned castle.

Newt began walking, listening for any kind of sound. He didn't want to get lost in the castle, and if he just listened for a sign, everything would probably end up better. If he got lost, he might never find ______. He kept quiet, trying not to make his presence known. It would be better for everyone if he could sneak up and save her.

That idea, however, was tossed away seconds later when a distressing noise was made coming from a lower level.

He recognized the noise as a distorted, loud scream. He knew it had to be ______, and it broke his heart to hear her scream like that. The scream held so much pain inside it, and it was prolonged, not quick.

As he heard her scream, he yelled back, "______!" He dashed to where the noise was coming from, and as he made his way downstairs, he saw the most heart-breaking sight he's ever seen, or probably, he thought, ever will see.