Year 1: Star Gazer
Chapter 3: November 2015
"Pass me that protractor," Caleb requested.
Louis grabbed the measuring instrument and handed it to his astronomy club mentor. "Here you go," he said.
"Alright, and… there," Caleb said, marking down the final measurement. "That should do it."
"What's next?" Louis wondered eagerly. He and Caleb had been working hard to make sure that all their measurements and calculations were perfect before putting anything together for the astronomy club telescope. If their measurements were off by even a fraction of an inch, they would have to take much of the telescope apart and start all over.
"That's it," Caleb declared. "Now we have to wait for Melody and Ben to finish the basic body of the tube before we can think about starting to fasten the mirrors inside it."
"Oh," Louis said, disappointed. "So I guess there's no reason to meet until they finished their parts then, is there?"
"I guess not," Caleb shrugged. "It actually works out well anyway, because Hufflepuff have a Quidditch game coming up, so I should really spend some extra time down at the pitch."
"Yeah," Louis nodded. "I'll see you at the next meeting then."
"See you little buddy," Caleb confirmed, bumping Louis on the shoulder before packing up his things and then leaving the library.
Disappointedly, Louis started to pack up his own things. He'd enjoyed these past weeks of working on the telescope mathematics with Caleb, and he would miss it in the weeks to come while they waited for their turn to come around again. Louis wondered what he would do with his free time. Normally, he spent much of his leisure time with Justin, but Justin would be busy helping Ben with the telescope project, leaving Louis to his own devices.
Louis found his way up to the seventh floor and to Gryffindor Tower and then up to his dorm where he dumped his bag and stretched out on his bed. It was early yet – he hadn't even had dinner – but he was bored. He was up to date on his homework; had written all his essays and completed all his assignments and readings. He supposed he could read ahead again, like he had back in September before joining the astronomy club, but the thought of turning into his cousin Molly crept into his head and he shuddered at the thought.
He wasn't tired, which only made things more difficult. If he were tired, he could simply take a nap. Unfortunately, he was wide awake. Finally, he decided that he might as well take a walk over to the astronomy club room and see how the telescope was looking when all of a sudden, one of his dorm mates burst into the room.
"Louis?" his roommate, Philip Carter, called out.
"What is it?" Louis asked, sitting up to make himself visible.
"Some fourth year chick is down in the common room insisting that she needs to talk to you," Philip shrugged.
"A fourth year girl?" Louis frowned. Victoire was a fifth year and Dominique a third year. Who else would be interested in talking to him?
"That's what I said, isn't it?" Philip asked, shaking his head.
"Well what does she want?" Louis wondered.
"I'm just the messenger," Philip replied. "If you want to know more, you'll have to ask her yourself."
Curious, Louis got up and pushed his way past Philip and down the stairs to the common room, where he discovered that the fourth year girl who was looking for him was Kelsey Olsen from astronomy club.
"Oh, hey Kelsey," Louis said. "What did you need me for?"
"I think it's best if you just come with me," Kelsey said, gesturing for Louis to follow her out into the common room.
"Is this about astronomy club?" Louis asked, unable to imagine any other reason the girl would have need of him. "Is there a meeting I didn't know about?"
"It's sort of an impromptu meeting," Kelsey explained. "Come on, you'll see when we get there."
There was something off about Kelsey's tone that made Louis wonder if something was wrong.
"Should I be worried?" he asked.
Kelsey hesitated. "Maybe," she finally said. "But then I think you'd already know that if it were the case."
This only served to confused Louis more, but Kelsey refused to speak any more on the subject until the reached the astronomy club meeting room.
Kelsey indicated that Louis should go in first, which he did. Once he passed through the door, he found himself faced with a roomful of very sour-faced clubmates and an even more sour-faced Professor Brunwell.
"What's going on?" Louis frowned, even more confused. He looked around the room, noticing almost immediately that something was missing. "Where's the telescope? Did someone take it up to the astronomy classroom? I thought it wasn't ready to use yet. Caleb and I certainly haven't put in the mirrors yet, so I can't imagine it would be functional."
"Why don't you take a seat, Louis," Professor Brunwell said.
The chairs weren't arranged in a circle this time, but rather in three rows of four, all facing the front where Professor Brunwell stood with Melody Wellman, the club president.
Now feeling complete bewilderment, Louis did as instructed and took a seat next to Justin, whose face was as morose as the rest of the club members.
"Justin," Louis whispered under his breath. "What's going on?"
Justin leaned closer to whisper back. "Someone stole the telescope."
"Someone did what?" Louis gasped.
Justin didn't have time to answer, because Professor Brunwell began to speak.
"Now that you're all here, we can address the very serious issue that has befallen us," he said. "Somehow, as I'm sure you've noticed, the telescope that you have all been working on has gone missing."
"It's got to be one of the new kids," Melody spoke up. Louis immediately felt his stomach drop out of his chest. He was a suspect? They really thought he'd stolen the telescope?
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Professor Brunwell said. "Mr. Filch and Mr. Clarke are presently doing a full sweep of the castle, with the help of the prefects, in the hopes of locating the telescope."
"Shouldn't be too hard," Arnold muttered from behind Louis and Justin. "The thing's enormous."
"As for the culprit," Professor Brunwell continued. "I hate to accuse anyone in this club, seeing as you are all here due to a love of astronomy. However, the door to this room is kept locked when not in use by club members, making it exceptionally more difficult for someone not in this club to have stolen it."
"But couldn't someone just use an unlocking spell?" Abby pointed out.
"Hogwarts does of course keep doors locked with anti-unlocking spells to keep students out of rooms they shouldn't be going in," Professor Brunwell replied. "Ever since some students found their way inside a room with a three-headed dog back in '92 that is."
"So you're saying it had to be one of us?" Trent demanded.
"I'm saying that as of right now, everyone in this room is a suspect," Professor Brunwell declared.
"Okay, seriously?" Makayla cried. "You're treating this like it's some big crime. It's only a telescope."
"It's not just some telescope!" Melody cried angrily. "This was our telescope. We've spent months working on it. See Professor Brunwell? The new kids don't get it. We've put our blood and sweat into this project, and she calls it only a telescope."
"Thank you Miss Wellman," Professor Brunwell said curtly. "I will take your comments under advisement. As for your comment Miss Higgins, the telescope which the astronomy club has been working on represents over a thousand galleons of school funds. The faculty is taking this very seriously."
"I say we question everyone individually with veritaserum," Melody declared. "It's the only way to find out the truth."
"Melody, why don't you sit down?" Professor Brunwell suggested. "As you very well know, veritaserum is forbidden to be used against students, or against anyone unless they are being questioned in a court of law."
"And this isn't as serious as some of those petty crimes that they try at the Ministry?" Melody demanded.
"Would everyone please wait in the corridor please?" Professor Brunwell requested. "I would like to ask each of you a few questions on your own. Without veritaserum," he added specifically for Melody.
Melody rolled her eyes. "You heard him, everyone out into the corridor," Melody demanded, ushering everyone out of their chairs and towards the door. "Who do you want to question first, Professor Brunwell?"
"Perhaps it would be best if we spoke first," Professor Brunwell said as Louis waited to file out of the room.
"Me?" Melody cried. "You don't mean to say that I'm a suspect too?"
Before Louis could hear Professor Brunwell's response, he was out in the hall and the door was shut behind him. With a sigh, Louis crossed to the other side of the corridor and slid down onto the floor to wait to be called for interrogation.
"We're being treated like criminals!" Makayla exclaimed angrily. "This is completely ridiculous."
"Just sit down and wait your turn, Makayla," Caleb instructed, leaning tiredly against the wall. "It's just a formality, Professor Brunwell has to question each of us if he's going to find out who did this."
"Why don't they call in the Aurors?" Makayla cried sarcastically. "Better yet, the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement!"
"Someone's overreacting," Justin muttered, taking a seat next to Louis.
"Do you blame her?" Louis asked. "I mean, obviously we didn't do it."
"Well…" Justin said slowly. "We know that we didn't do it. But we barely know the others in this hallway. Any of them could have done it."
"But why would they?" Louis demanded. "Steal their own telescope? And for what purpose?"
"Sell it for parts?" Justin suggested.
"I can't imagine they'd be able to manage that. They'd be caught almost immediately," Louis shook his head.
"So it was an outside job," Justin said. "Someone who's not in the club stole it."
"But why?" Louis asked, desperate to understand why someone would steal such a big telescope, of all things.
"Maybe someone just really hates the astronomy club," Justin suggested.
"What kind of person puts so much effort into hating the astronomy club?" Louis wondered.
Just then, Teddy appeared from around the corner with a Ravenclaw girl Louis recognized as the Hogwarts Head Girl.
"Teddy, Marina," Caleb said, immediately walking over to join them. "Did they find anything?"
"We should really speak to Professor Brunwell first," the girl, Marina, said.
"Teddy?" Louis called out.
"Louis?" Teddy asked, diverting his attention away from Caleb and turning to his cousin. "Don't tell me you're caught up in this too."
Louis shrugged. "I'm in the astronomy club," he said. "We're all involved now. Did you find the telescope?"
Teddy looked torn over whether to say anything or not, and Louis felt bad for putting his cousin in such a position. He'd already told Caleb he wanted to talk to Professor Brunwell before anything else.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have…"
"We did," Teddy nodded, causing everyone to let out a sigh of relief.
"Teddy!" Marina cried angrily.
"We found it. But now we should really talk to Professor Brunwell," Teddy continued.
"He's in there with Melody," Caleb said, gesturing to the closed door of the astronomy club room.
Teddy walked up to the door and knocked three times. "Professor Brunwell? This is Teddy Lupin and Marina Mitchell. We have information about the telescope."
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the door opened and Melody emerged into the hallway.
"You can go inside," she said. Her eyes were bloodshot and her voice was raw. Louis wondered what had gone on in there during her questioning. "The rest of you are to wait for Professor Brunwell," she added.
"Mel," Caleb said, walking over and extending his hand to her shoulder.
"No," Melody said, shaking him off and stepping away. "I need to go and lie down."
Melody left then and Teddy and Marina disappeared inside the classroom, leaving the rest of the astronomy club waiting out in the hall once again.
"What's the problem now?" Louis frowned. "If they found the telescope, then shouldn't everything be alright?"
"Well…" Justin hesitated. "Just because they found the telescope doesn't mean they know who took it in the first place."
"But why does it matter, if they found it?" Louis wondered.
Justin shrugged. "Look, I know as much as you do right now," he said. "I don't know why you seem to think I have all the answers."
Teddy and Marina emerged a few minutes later, faces grim.
"Caleb, he'd like to speak to you," Teddy said, holding the door open for Caleb to enter the room and shutting it once he had passed through. "He should be with the rest of you shortly. Marina and I have some business to take care of."
Louis waved goodbye as Teddy and Marina disappeared around the corner once more.
"Well I guess that proves that they're still looking for the culprit," Justin noted. "Or else they'd have let us all go."
The wait was excruciating. Louis was starving and wished he could go down to dinner, but Professor Brunwell had been clear that nobody was to leave until questioned. The astronomy Professor seemed to be questioning the older students first and working his way down to the younger students, which meant that after a while, Justin and Louis were the only ones left waiting in the corridor.
"You can go in, Louis," Makayla said, emerging from the room, having finished her own interrogation.
"Good luck man," Justin said, clapping Louis on the back as he stood.
"What do I need luck for?" Louis frowned.
"I don't know," Justin shrugged. "I just figured… never mind I guess."
Taking a deep breath, Louis walked over to the door and entered the club room, closing the door behind him and slowly walking over to the front desk where Professor Brunwell sat.
"So… am I in trouble?" Louis asked nervously.
Professor Brunwell shook his head. "No Louis, you're not in trouble," he said. "I just have a few questions to ask, that's all."
"Alright," Louis nodded, taking a seat.
"As I'm sure you're aware," Professor Brunwell began, "the telescope has been located."
"Yes," Louis nodded. "Teddy mentioned that."
"What you don't know is that it was found in the dungeons and appears to have undergone some serious damage since it was stolen," Professor Brunwell said.
"Damage?" Louis frowned. "Someone stole it to destroy it?"
Professor Brunwell nodded. "Do you know of anyone who dislikes the astronomy club?"
"Not enough to want to steal a telescope," Louis shook his head.
"What about you?" Professor Brunwell asked. "Has anyone at Hogwarts singled you out in any way? Does anyone dislike you? Have you experienced any bullying or negative comments?"
Louis immediately thought of his run-in with David Flint and his buddies from Slytherin. They didn't seem to like Louis much, and they did know that Louis was in the astronomy club. But would they really go to so much trouble to steal the telescope they were working on?
"I haven't really been here long enough to make any enemies, Professor Brunwell," Louis replied, deciding to forgo mentioning Flint. He didn't want to open a can of worms that didn't need to be opened. More likely if someone was doing this out of hate, it was because of one of the older students, who'd been in the club longer than a month and a half.
"Are you sure?" Professor Brunwell asked. "I hate to be discriminatory, but the telescope was found in the dungeons, so I have to ask… can you think of any Slytherins who might want to hurt either you or another member of the astronomy club?"
Again, Louis replied in the negative.
Professor Brunwell considered Louis for a moment and then dismissed him.
"You may send your friend Justin in," he added as Louis neared the door.
Louis nodded and stepped out into the hallway.
"So?" Justin asked, immediately scrambling to his feet. "What'd he ask you?"
Louis shrugged. "Just a couple questions, that's all," he replied. "Nothing to worry about."
Justin nodded. "I'll meet you down in the Great Hall as soon as I'm done here," he said.
Louis smiled. "Good," he said. "I'm starving."
LlLlLlLlLlL
Justin's interrogation didn't take long. Almost as soon as Louis had started eating, his friend had joined him and was piling his plate high with mashed potatoes and roast beef.
"Did you name anyone?" Justin wondered curiously.
Louis shook his head. "No," he said. "Did you?"
Justin also shook his head. "It wouldn't be about either of us," he said. "It's gotta be about Melody or Caleb or Ben. One of the leaders for sure."
"That's what I thought," Louis nodded. "The telescope is way more important to them than us. Messing it up hurts them more than us."
"I wonder who it could have been," Justin said, turning around and gazing at the Slytherin table.
"Hey," Louis said. "It could have been anyone. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff… even Gryffindor."
"It was found in the dungeons," Justin stressed. "What do you think that means?"
"It could have been planted," Louis pointed out. "Maybe someone's trying to frame someone else."
"You should be an Auror," Justin said.
Louis laughed at that. "Yeah right," he said. "There's no way."
"Isn't your uncle like, Head of the Auror Department?" Justin asked. "I bet he could get you in."
"Uncle Harry isn't going to do me any favors," Louis replied. "And even if he would, I don't want to be an Auror."
"It's a shame," Justin said. "The world will never know your amazing sleuthing skills."
"Now you're just making fun of me," Louis accused.
"True," Justin admitted, unashamed.
Louis laughed and rolled his eyes at his friend before digging into his own dinner. Whatever had happened, the Professors would figure it out eventually.
LlLlLlLlLlL
It turned out that Louis and Justin were right. A seventh year Slytherin had stolen the telescope after Melody broke up with him out of revenge. Overcome with guilt at being the reason it was destroyed, Melody refused to come to astronomy club meetings, leaving Caleb in charge.
Since the telescope was damaged, all current projects were put on hold while everyone pitched in to repair the damage. According to Ben, almost everything was easily reversible, and they would only have to re-order a few parts that were beyond repair.
"Melody should really forgive herself and come back," Louis commented one day while he and Caleb were working on mending parts of the base that seemed to have been bashed in with some kind of heavy metal object. "It's not her fault, what happened."
"I've been trying to convince her of that," Caleb nodded. "But she's still pretty upset. She just needs some time and eventually she'll get over it."
Louis nodded. "We should try and get the telescope all fixed up before she comes back," he said. "She won't want to see the damage. It'll make her feel worse."
"Then you'd better stop talking about it and get in here and help me," Caleb insisted. "Hold this piece while I mend it."
Louis did as he was told, taking hold of the piece in question and waiting while Caleb waved his wand and uttered the mending spell. Slowly, the metal bent back into shape, and as it did, Louis let go and allowed it to settle into it's correct position.
"There," Caleb said. "Only a thousand more of these to go."