Sophia Brandt and the Brooch of Isolt Sayre

Caught

The four second-years were now standing in front of the Headmistress' office, but none of them dared to knock on the door. 

"I should've known your plan was going to turn out like this!" Rosie exclaimed angrily, jabbing Callum in the chest with her finger. "My mom is going to kill me!" 

The blonde haired boy didn't say a word in his defense, but Sophia felt obliged to. "We all agreed to it, Rosie." 

This didn't seem to help. 

"We shouldn't have!"

Sophia opened her mouth to defend Callum, but Noah spoke first. "Let's just go in and see what she says." 

He reached his arm out and grasped the door knob, which opened smoothly--it had already been unlocked for them. Noah walked in first, proving once again that he was the most fearless of the four. 

Sophia nearly had to drag Rosie, but once they were inside, she didn't feel as scared as she had before. The office hadn't changed a bit since last year: the Headmistress had an impressive collection of books and magical objects lining the walls. There were also beautiful spinning vanes hanging from the ceiling, which scattered colored light across the office. Sophia's favorite part of the office, though, were the photographs of Rosie's family scattered throughout. 

She'd often wondered what it would have been like to have her parents around. Would they have gone on vacations to Egypt, like Rosie's family, and take photographs in front of the pyramids? Her parents had been missing for so long that she had few photographs to remember them by. 

I miss them, she thought to herself as she took a seat in front of Headmistress Calderon-Boot. 

For almost a minute, no one spoke. The Headmistress' dark eyes looked from Rosie to Noah, then Callum to Sophia. She didn't look happy.

"I'll be confiscating the ears," the Headmistress began. 

The tips of Callum's ears turned bright red as he withdrew the extendable ears from his pocket and handed them over. The Headmistress put them in one of her desk drawers and closed it with a wandless spell. 

"Now...tell me what you heard." 

Sophia looked over at Rosie, who appeared to be too embarrassed to speak. So she spoke up first. "We heard the aurors talking about their investigation so far. They don't have any suspects." 

"And you do?" 

The four students were silent. 

Headmistress Calderon-Boot tapped her fingers on her desk. "I expect the four of you have been conducting your own investigation on the missing brooch." Once again, the four were silent, which was enough to answer her question. "You will do no more investigating." 

"Headmistress," Sophia began, "they don't have any suspects!" Their only suspect is you, she wanted to say. 

"I understand." 

Callum recovered from his embarrassment to plead their case. "Besides, we understand the other students better than the aurors do. No one wants to talk to them, not after they searched our stuff and how they treated us." 

The Headmistress shook her head. "You will not continue to investigate this matter, and this decision is final. If I suspect you have not heeded my wishes, I will be forced to suspend you from Ilvermorny until the aurors have concluded their investigation." 

Sophia's eyes went wide--she'd never expected the Headmistress to be this angry with them, especially considering how they'd saved everyone from Professor Leon last year! Rosie, however, looked as though she'd been expecting this from the beginning. Her friends eyes were cast down and she was nervously picking at her nails. 

"The aurors are professionals and will continue their investigation without interference. Am I understood?" 

A chorus of "yes, ma'am" came from the four students. Headmistress Calderon-Boot let out a loud sigh, and Sophia thought she looked tired--like she was responsible for holding everything together, but it was becoming too much for one to handle. 

"You are dismissed."

Sophia felt like she could finally breathe again when they left the office. It was the first time she'd ever gotten in trouble--really gotten in trouble--and she hated the feeling. All they'd been doing was trying to help. How could the Headmistress punish them for that? 

"I'm sorry, Rosie," Callum said as they walked out of earshot. "Really sorry." 

"It's not your fault," she replied. Rosie's eyes looked misty and Sophia realized her friend was on the verge of crying. "It's my fault. I should've known it was going to end like this." 

Sophia frowned, taking Rosie's hand and squeezing. "None of this is your fault. If anything, blame Callum and me. We're the ones who dragged you all into this." 

Callum's blue eyes went wide. "Hey, I'm a victim here too! Michael's going to be so mad if he finds out I lost the extendable ears he gave me." 

"I think that's the least of our problems," Noah said with a wry grin. 

Sophia heard Rosie softly, and knew that her friend would be alright. 

"If anything, I don't think your mom's mad at you," Noah continued. "I think she's trying to protect you." 

"She's trying to protect me?" Rosie asked incredulously, stopping in place. "How is his supposed to protect me?" 

Sophia quickly caught onto Noah's reasoning. "He's right. The aurors are going to be watching your mom closely now, which means that they'll be watching you too. If you start digging around for information in the library, they'll have reasons to take you in as a suspect." 

"That's ridiculous!" Callum huffed. Rosie, on the other hand, looked like something had clicked in her mind. 

"She's a smart woman," Noah said. 

Sophia gave Rosie's hand one last gentle squeeze before letting go. "Your mom is looking out for you and for us." 

The four of them stood in silence for a moment longer while the truth sunk in. 

"So..." Callum started nervously. "What now?"