Hogwarts: A Mystery

Chapter Three:

"Katie, did you hear anyone enter your dormitory last night?"

The young Gryffindor shook her head, her braids shaking side-to-side. "No. I thought I lost it. My mum is going to be so mad at me."

Sherlock was crouching before the tiny first year, stone-faced and scribbling notes in a tiny book. "Most likely. Wands are fairly expensive."

"Hey!" I sat down next to Katie, resting my hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay."

"I have a big Charms exam coming up and I don't know how I'll get through it without a wand." She rubbed the heel of her shoe against her ankle nervously and looked at me.

"I'm sure Professor Flitwick will understand." I looked at Sherlock, who tucked his notebook into his back pocket and stood.

"Well, Miss Bell, thank you for your time. It's possible that even you weren't absent-minded enough to lose a witch's most important possession. There may be a wand-thief on the loose in this castle and I intend to apprehend him." He scanned the rest of the Great Hall as if the culprit would present himself to us.

Lestrade, who had been watching Holmes' interrogation silently finally spoke up. "That's the sixth student we've talked to this morning. And all have lost their wands in the last week. That's a pretty high rate, don't you think?"

"Unusually high," Holmes replied, taking his own wand from his pocket. "And no one heard or saw anything." He flicked his wrist, levitating a spoon from the table and watching it slowly twirl on an invisible axis. "So far, all of the victims have been first-years."

"If anyone wanted to steal a wand, first-years would be the best target," I added, hoping to contribute something useful to the investigation.

"Obviously," said Holmes curtly. "Dozens of wands are lost every year at Hogwarts, most of them misplaced by first-years." He flicked his wand again and a fork now joined in a dance with the spoon. "Like Lestrade said, none of the professors think it's anything to be worried about – it's simply students misplacing their wands."

"Only it's not," Lestrade interjected. "Someone is taking them."

"But what would you want with someone else's wand? The wand chooses the wizard, right?" I was beginning to doubt whether this really was a case of robbery, or if this year's new students were just unusually absent-minded.

"We have to investigate the scenes of the crimes." Sherlock flicked his wand again, sending the cutlery clattering to the table. He abruptly turned on his heel and headed to the doors of the Hall.

"But Sherlock, we can't come with you." Lestrade and I quickly followed the lanky Ravenclaw out of the Hall. "We're all from separate houses."

"Good." Sherlock's brisk pace didn't falter. "I'll finally be allowed to think."

"Lestrade!" Just before we reached the end of the Hall, a voice called to us from the direction of the Ravenclaw table. A thin dark-haired boy approached us followed by a short dark girl from Hufflepuff.

"Lestrade, we've been looking for you everywhere," the girl said. I recognized her as Sally Donovan, a fourth-year. The boy whom she followed was called Anderson – a Ravenclaw. His first name had slipped my mind. Donovan continued. "Anderson's wand's been stolen."

Sherlock stopped in his tracks, wheeling about to face the two of them, yet saying nothing.

"Are you sure?" Lestrade looked at the boy gravely.

"You've not left it in the bathroom again, have you, Anderson?" Sherlock sneered at his fellow Ravenclaw. "I'd hate to see Peeves get a hold of it again."

Anderson shot a glare at Sherlock. "No, Holmes, I'm certain I had it when I went to bed last night. I used it to reduce the blister on the bottom of my foot." Donovan looked at him in disgust. "What? It was really giving me trouble."

Without asking, Sherlock grabbed the bag from Anderson's shoulder.

"Hey!"

Sherlock opened the bag and peered inside. "You've used an extension charm on this, haven't you, Anderson?"

The boy nodded. "Y-yes. Give me back my bag, Holmes."

After rummaging around in Anderson's bag for a moment, Sherlock drew his wand from his pocket. "Accio wand." Immediately several items burst forth from Anderson's bag – a few chocolate frogs, some tiny dinosaur figurines and, finally, his wand, which hit the floor with a loud clatter.

Anderson's face turned beet red as he quickly snatched up his wand, jamming it into the pocket of his cloak.

Lestrade looked at the floor. "What's with the dinosaurs?"

"I'm researching their anatomic relation to various species of modern dragon," the boy said, swiping the tiny reptiles off the floor.

Sherlock glared down at him. "Next time, Anderson, save us all the trouble and cast a summoning charm before you go sounding the alarm. You lower the IQ of the whole Hall."

"Ease up, Sherlock." I attempted to come to Anderson's rescue, as he packed the last of his things in his bag, handing me a chocolate frog as he did so.

"Where are you all heading?" He asked.

"We're investigating the robberies," Lestrade replied. "We've interviewed some of the students, but now we have to investigate the crime scenes."

Anderson grinned. "Well, we've already done that!"

Sherlock raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? And what did you find?"

The grin faded. "Well, nothing, actually."

"I'm beginning to doubt whether it's really theft at all," Donovan stated, mirroring my earlier opinion.

Sherlock shook his head and started out of the Hall once more. "Really, Anderson, the fact that you are a Ravenclaw never ceases to make me doubt my faith in the Sorting Hat."

"What?"

"What have you observed? What did you see?" We reached the center of the entryway and Sherlock stopped once again, addressing all of us. "I have to ask you all to stop following me. Everyone go back to your own common rooms, investigate on your own. Be thorough. We'll all meet in the library once we've gathered as much data as possible."

"What about Sally and I?"

"Sally, you can come with me." Lestrade took her by the arm. "We'll see you all later."

Sherlock, Anderson and I stood in the entryway for a moment. Anderson turned to Sherlock expectantly. "Well, I guess this means it's-"

"You are not following me." Sherlock and I both headed for the staircase, leaving Anderson to stand alone in the entryway.

"That may have been a bit rude," I whispered once we had gotten out of ear-shot.

"It was true, so I said it."

"Well, in your case, honesty might not always be the best policy."

The first year dormitory was smaller than I had remembered it four years ago. Four years. It seemed like forever ago that I thought magic was only something that happened in fairy-tales. Before a strange visitor showed up at my door with some surprising news for my parents and I.

I looked around the room, but nothing jumped out at me right away. It was a typical first-year's room – robes strewn about the floor, liquorice wand wrappers scattered here and there. A giant copy of Hogwarts: A History sat open on one of the beds revealing a picture of a young Albus Dumbledore, smiling and waving from the pages of the book.

"This is it." Young Cormac McLaggen led me to his trunk, which had clearly been given a thorough rummaging through.

"I see you've already been through it." I looked down at the trunk, feeling a bit discouraged. If there had been any evidence here, it may well be gone by now.

"I can't find it anywhere, it must have been stolen." The young boy gritted his teeth. "I didn't lose it! I never lose anything."

"Well, would you mind if I have a poke around?" I asked, already scanning the room for any clue of the perpetrator.

"Not at all." He shook his blonde head. "I'll bet you it was that Lee Jordan. Always running around with those Weasley boys pulling pranks on the first-years." He crossed his arms and sat on the edge of his bed. I tried not to let his pouting distract me from my purpose.

I scoured the area around McLaggen's trunk for any signs of trespassing. The boy had obviously been rifling through it, tossing items aside in search of his missing wand. However, somehow something caught my eye amidst the pile of clothes and books. A glint of light from just under the bed. I reached out and took in my hand a small blue stone, polished and seeming to glow with a light from within.

"What's this?" I handed the stone to McLaggen who inspected it for a moment.

He shrugged. "No idea. It might be Rupert's – he's always leaving his stuff about." He dropped the stone into his pocket. "I'll be sure to give it to him later."

I resumed my search of the room. The windows were all secure and there seemed to be no signs of anyone breaking in. Perhaps it really had been one of the other first-years.

"Did you hear anything last night, McLaggen?"

He shook his head. "No, but I'm a pretty hard sleeper. I've missed a few classes this year because of it."

I sighed, scanning the room a final time. I didn't know what Sherlock had expected me to find, but I felt there was little else I could do. "Well, thanks."

I crossed the room to the door feeling as though my search had been in vain. I had found no evidence that could lead us to the wand thief. Hopefully Holmes and the others had had better luck than I.