"Hello." She yawned and turned her head to glance at Newt and Tina, who were staring intently at her.
The two, along with a unicorn, exchanged looks, unsure of who should speak first.
In the end, it was Newt who spoke first.
"Hello, I'm Newt." Newt extended his hand, "Newt Scamander, it's an honor to meet you, Miss Pabi."
He realized that standing before him was a unicorn and not a human, causing him to blush and retract his hand. "Sorry, Miss Pabi, I forgot you..."
"It's okay." Pabi lifted a front hoof, "Hello, Mr. Scamander, and Mrs. Scamander."
While speaking, Pabi appeared momentarily confused.
Scamander?
This surname... why does it seem so familiar?
Newt and Tina's eyes brightened, and after shaking hands with Pabi, Newt fired off a series of questions.
Pabi was bewildered by the onslaught of questions, her eyes starting to look like spirals, appearing less than intelligent.
Tina noticed Pabi's expression and quickly nudged Newt.
"Sorry..." Newt apologized awkwardly, "I just... I've never gotten close to a unicorn before, sorry, Miss Pabi."
"It's alright." Pabi smiled warmly, inexplicably feeling a sense of kinship with the old man in front of her.
This familiarity was strange, as if there was some sort of connection...
Newt nodded, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Miss Pabi, your name... um, do you know Miss Pabi Swedding?"
Upon hearing Newt's question, Mr. Leme spun his chair around with a look of curiosity.
Wow, who knew that Newt knew Miss Swedding too?
Though... it's not surprising, given Newt was born in 1897.
"Pabi Swedding?"
Upon hearing the name, Pabi stood upright.
"How do you know her?" Pabi's eyes glinted with caution.
She looked at Mr. Leme, puzzled.
Why does Mr. Scamander know my name?
"I, my mother, she has a sister." Newt said with a flushed face, "Her name is Linda Scamander... oh right, before she got married, it was Linda Swedding..."
Pabi was stunned.
She hadn't expected, after all these years, that there would still be family alive in the world.
It was then she recalled why the surname Scamander felt so familiar...
In 1887, her sister married a man named Scamander. At that time, she was still attending Hogwarts, but she attended their wedding.
"You... you are sister's son?" Pabi exclaimed.
"Sister?!"
Newt stood up abruptly, staring in shock at Pabi.
Tina was equally incredulous upon hearing Pabi's words.
She never imagined that the unicorn before her was... her husband's mother's sister? And thus her and her husband's aunt?
"You... you mean..." Newt stammered in disbelief, pointing at Pabi with a trembling hand, "You... you're Pabi Swedding? My aunt?"
But this was to be expected as anyone would react similarly when a unicorn claims, "I'm your aunt."
Pabi nodded, then realizing, exclaimed "Oh!" A flash of light enveloped her, and a beautiful teenage ghost wearing a Hufflepuff robe appeared.
"Oh, now you should believe." Pabi extended her hand, "Ta-da—getting acquainted again, my dear nephew... I'm your aunt, Pabi Swedding."
Newt mechanically extended his hand but grabbed nothing but air.
"What's going on with you?" Newt asked.
"Turned into a ghost." Pabi replied succinctly, "There were some issues while practicing Magic Mage, and this happened."
She clasped her hands behind her back, leaned in to look at Newt lowered his head, and smiled, "You're really not like your mom, Newt. Linda is quite outgoing—mind you, she loved hugging people, which you didn't inherit."
Newt shyly chuckled and said, "My brother, Theseus, inherited mom's outgoing nature; he's a hug monster—though I inherited mom's love for magical creatures."
"Indeed, Linda loved griffins." Pabi smiled and reminisced for a moment before saying, "Ah, Theseus, I remember him—if I recall correctly, he was born when I was in my third year; I even held him."
"Really?" Newt calculated briefly, "You were in third year in 1889?"
"Yes." Pabi twirled, "This is how I looked in seventh year; pretty youthful, right?"
Newt felt a tightness in his throat.
"Have you always looked like this? Always been a ghost?" he asked with emotion.
"Sometimes I'm also a unicorn." Pabi settled back on the couch, "Compared to being a ghost, I prefer being a carefree unicorn... un-i-corn."
Newt turned to Mr. Leme.
"Mr. Leme, may I have a talk with Theseus about Aunt Pabi?" he said, "I think he should know about something so significant."
Mr. Leme impatiently waved his frail hand, shuffled back to the computer, clearly indicating, "Go ahead with whatever you're doing, don't bother me while I'm gaming!"
Newt glanced at Tina, took a small card from his pocket, and turned to leave Mr. Leme's Alchemy Room.