On Christmas night, Tina had Shirley and Lilith over for a wonderful dinner, preparing all sorts of delicious dishes. The table was laden with fragrant smoked salmon, a golden-brown roasted turkey, and many other colorful entrées.
Considering Adam's appetite, Tina had also prepared a whole smoked ham. Next to the ham, the roasted turkey, which was supposed to be the main course, looked rather small. Everyone gathered around the table to toast the New Year. Adam was even granted a glass of eggnog by Tina, though it was, of course, the non-alcoholic version. It tasted quite good, which was a pleasant surprise.
The real star of the show for Adam, however, was the long-awaited Christmas pudding. A little brandy was poured over it, and with a flick of a wand, tiny flaming reindeer danced across the top. The cheese slowly melted, covering the pudding in a sweet, mouthwatering glaze.
After dinner, Adam and Shirley sat by the fireplace, listening to Tina read stories from The Tales of Beedle the Bard. She warned them that magic could solve many problems, but it could also create just as many. She looked pointedly at Adam when she said this, emphasizing the last two words.
Amy the cat was curled up lazily on Tina's lap. Nearby, a Niffler wearing an explorer's hat held a ruby aloft with one paw, looking very proud. It made the other Nifflers, who had been too busy to grab decorations from the Christmas tree, look at it with envy. The Bowtruckle also got a tiny sweater that Tina had knitted for it, and it held onto a little piece of dried meat, even as its eyes closed from sleepiness.
Late at night, after everyone had gone to bed, only the fire in the hearth remained burning. Adam, wearing a black trench coat, slipped out of the house and onto the street. He looked around to make sure no one was there, patted the little head that had poked out of his coat, and walked toward another cottage.
Shirley had been waiting by the window. As soon as she saw Adam, she climbed out, brushed the snow off his shoulder, and whispered, "How are we going to get there? I just looked at the map, and from Dorset to Paris, it's at least 247 miles as the crow flies..."
"Don't worry," Adam interrupted softly, raising his left hand. "We'll be there before dawn."
Shirley was confused. Why wasn't he using his wand to summon the Knight Bus? Then, the little creature she had seen that morning suddenly appeared. Its round body wobbled as it flapped its small wings, landing shakily on Adam's arm. This made the look of confusion on her face even more pronounced.
Adam then used a Levitation Charm to pull a spacious, round, black vessel out of a small suitcase. It looked a lot like the cockpit of the airship they had seen before. The inside was lined with soft fabric, and it had a cozy feel, much like the Hufflepuff common room. He murmured, "In honor of our first flight and as a thank-you to Madam Hufflepuff, I'll call it Hufflepuff Prototype One."
"A flight?" Shirley reached out and felt Adam's forehead, wondering if he was still half-asleep.
Adam pulled her into the pod and beckoned to the little creature on top. The creature took a deep breath, and to Shirley's astonishment, it puffed up into a huge, round balloon. Its long tail extended as well. With great effort, its small wings lifted its massive body, and it wobbled into the sky.
"Is that a... a Diricawl!?" Shirley finally recognized the magical creature.
"You got it right! Too bad I can't give Hufflepuff five points," Adam replied excitedly.
"Maybe we should go back now and apologize to Grandma Tina..." Shirley said, pulling on his sleeve, trying to get him to step out of the pod. But Adam stood his ground, completely still.
"Actually, Grandma Tina agreed to this. She was worried that Hogwarts would be too dangerous, so she gave me this Diricawl to look after," he explained. "Because Diricawls are gentle and excellent fliers, all I have to do is get it to spread its wings, and it can help me get out of danger quickly—like this..."
Before Adam had finished speaking, the huge, round shape in the sky suddenly compressed. Its streamlined wings spread out, and its long tail wrapped around the pod, fitting perfectly into the grooves on its surface.
The young witch, who was afraid of heights, turned pale. She grabbed Adam's sleeve, her breath catching in her throat as the ground began to recede. The next moment, the Diricawl flapped its wings, and with a shriek from the little witch, they shot into the clouds.
Unbeknownst to them, Tina saw everything from her window. Only when they had vanished into the sky did she turn to Newt and say, "It seems little Adam can't sit still after all. He's exactly like that Niffler of his."
"It's all right," Newt said with a smile. "When I was young and my visa was denied, and I couldn't get a Portkey, I flew a Diricawl all the way from Siberia, across the Bering Strait, and made it to North America."
"No wonder he was holding onto the Diricawl so tightly when I wanted him to take the Swooping Evil instead, saying something about how he'd learn Apparition eventually, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance with the Diricawl."
Tina's gaze grew sharp. Newt gave a dry laugh and turned to look elsewhere. "Well, at least I told him to hold onto that anti-jinx crystal if he gets into trouble. I can Apparate over at a moment's notice," she said. "The crystal also has a tracking charm on it that shows their location on a map. Back in North America, that little thing saved quite a few Aurors' lives."
"Let me see where they are..." Tina's voice trailed off. The smile on her face froze, and she stared at the map. The marker hadn't moved an inch.
As magic was poured into the map, a note popped out from the bottom. In a messy scrawl, it read: "We're out on an adventure. We'll be home around sunset. Don't worry, Grandma Tina." Newt saw the happy little face drawn in the bottom right corner and couldn't help but laugh out loud. Under Tina's dangerous glare, he forced his smile down and tried to comfort her.
"It's fine. Didn't you have Noami and Sigmund follow Adam?"
"I pretended not to see them this morning and let Adam take them with him, so they'll definitely be safe."
Tina's expression changed slightly, and she asked, "Are those two Swooping Evils named that?"
"...So you let Adam take the Swooping Evils," Newt said after a long moment of silence.
Tina sensed the strange tone in his voice and pressed, "He didn't take the three-headed dog, did he?"
Newt shook his head stiffly, explaining in a low voice, "Noami is the dragon Adam rescued, and Sigmund is that baby Swooping Evil who keeps flying into trees..."
After a long silence, Newt suddenly stood up, walked to his desk, grabbed a quill, and said with a somber look, "I need to write a letter to Nicolas right away. The last time he had to step in sixty years ago, it was also to save Paris."
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