Chapter 57: Red Herring
"You said it was a note, right?" Talbott said to Claire as she picked up the black quill from underneath the letter pile.
Claire nodded as she took out her wand and said, "Reparifarge!"
Instantly, the quill turned into a single note which Claire picked up.
"What does it say?" Talbott asked.
"'The meeting is on. Find me in the Artefact Room tonight after supper,'" Claire recited.
Talbott scratched his chin. "Any idea what that means?"
Reluctantly, Claire said, "Someone at Hogwarts isn't who they appear to be."
Afterwards, Claire sent a message to Corey through her own owl Eban to have him meet in the corridor near the Artefact Room after dinner was served in the Great Hall. She then left the Owlery and found him standing in the corridor she told him to meet at.
"Now you're absolutely sure Merula is going to meet someone here?" Corey said.
"Positive," Claire insisted.
"Sounds like Merula has a co-conspirator," Corey said after reading the note. "Now, what do we know about them? Think like a detective for a moment."
"Well, they can obviously come to Hogwarts without raising suspicion," Claire said as she pondered. "So it has to be a teacher or a student, but there are nearly three hundred witches and wizards here in Hogwarts alone."
"In times like this, I ask the age-old question: what would Conebush and Persimmons do?"
"But, I haven't read The Detective Files of Conebush and Persimmons."
"You definitely should! But while we're waiting for Merula and her co-conspirator in this stake-out, I'll tell you all about Conebush and Persimmons."
"Okay, maybe it'll help me figure out who Merula's co-conspirator will be."
As Claire put her invisibility cloak on, she listened to Corey explaining the typical plot of most Conebush and Persimmons novels. For instance, the culprit always appeared at the beginning of each book and the answer to each mystery was never simple.
"So in a detective story, the culprit is never the person you first suspect," Corey said after the sun had gone down leaving the stain-glass windows darkened. "For instance, Conebush and Persimmons thought the Niffler trainer stole the golden chalice but it was actually the auctioneer who reported the item as missing in the first place!"
"Then you're saying Merula's co-conspirator is someone I know that I would least suspect," Claire gathered.
Just then, Claire noticed movement near the stairs between her and the Artefact Room. Merula came down the stairs, and was followed by someone in a dark robe with a hood that covered their face. They walked over to the Artefact Room and closed the door behind them.
"Want to see what they're up to?" Corey asked.
"It's now or never!" Claire threw off the invisibility cloak and ran over to the Artefact Room with Corey keeping pace with her.
But before they could reach the Artefact Room, Mr. Filch blocked their way.
"Up to no good again?" Mr. Filch said, looking down at Claire.
"We're just doing our job as Head Boy and Girl and looking out for trouble," Corey claimed.
"That's right," Claire chimed in. "After all, two sets of eyes is better than one. You and Mrs. Norris should know that more than anybody."
"If you were looking out for trouble, you two wouldn't be loitering in the corridor," Mr. Filch claimed. "Now move along!"
Unable to argue, Claire and Corey reluctantly went further down the corridor until they were out of Mr. Filch's line of sight.
"We need to get back into the Artefact Room," Claire said. "Merula and her co-conspirator are still in there."
"True, but we need to wait for Filch to leave the area," Corey responded.
###
Later, Claire and Corey burst into the Artefact Room where Merula was standing alone.
"Krystal? Hayden? What are you doing here?" Merula demanded.
"We know all about your secret meeting," Claire said.
"I can explain," said another voice, which belonged to Badeea who stepped forward removing the hood from her plain black school robe. "Merula asked me to help her, and she didn't want anyone else to know about it. So we agreed to meet here in secret."
"Help Merula with what?" Claire asked.
"My Charms coursework," Merula reluctantly answered. "With the N.E.W.T.s coming up, I figured I should get some tutoring since I don't want to fail them. I'm currently falling behind, so Badeea agreed to help me catch up."
"There's no shame in asking for help," Badeea said. "We're in our seventh year, and classes are now more difficult than ever."
"But that doesn't explain the secrecy," Claire said.
"It's embarrassing, that's why!" Merula snapped. "You're always getting perfect grades in Charms, while I'm not despite being your equal in Dueling. But if either you or Hayden tell anyone about this, I'll make you regret it. Now why have you two been spying on me?"
"We…thought you've been acting suspicious lately," Claire responded nervously.
"Maybe we should go to bed," Badeea suggested. "Sleep is essential when it comes to casting good charms."
"You're right," Merula yawned.
Then after Merula and Badeea left, Corey beamed.
"Definitely wasn't expecting that to happen, but that makes this mystery all the more good!" Corey said excitedly. "It does leave the investigation hanging, though."
"Perhaps we should take Badeea's advice and sleep on it for now," Claire suggested. "I'll see you tomorrow at lunch, Corey."
Because the night sky was cloudy, Astronomy Class was cancelled. So instead, Claire went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom for another private lesson with Bill on Chameleon Ghouls, which was the same kind of Ghoul that Rakepick brought to class when she taught Defense Against the Dark Arts two years ago.
During lunch the following day after a Transfiguration lesson on turning toads into toadstools, Corey showed Claire several notes he had written in relation to the investigation so they could go over the facts and possibly uncover a connection they missed.
To be continued…