Sophia Brandt and the Brooch of Isolt Sayre

Maeve's Present

With their minds made up, the two second years walked back around the castle to where Eustace was waiting for them. When they finally reached him, Noah spoke first.

"We've decided," he said, drawing out their verdict.

Eustace jumped in his seat a little and turned to face them. "Uh, yes? What did you...decide?"

"We're not going to turn you in."

Almost instantly, the gloom lifted from Eustace's face and his eyes lit up. "You're serious? You won't turn me in?"

Sophia glanced at Noah, who only nodded. She still wasn't quite sure about this decision, but she trusted him a lot. "We are going to need you to get the brooch back from Maeve, still. We're going to return it to its rightful place at Ilvermorny."

"Right, of course," he said, nodding. "I only gave it to her to avoid the auror inspections, you know."

This was new information.

Eustace had seemed quite unwilling to talk to them earlier, but now he was rambling on as if they were friends. Sophia had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Because they checked the second year and then the third year dormitories," Noah mused aloud. "So it would be safe in her possession."

"Exactly!"

Sophia opened her mouth to remark something along the lines of, "you're lucky your girlfriend is such a dummy that she didn't recognize the brooch immediately," but Noah sneakily elbowed her in the chest to cut her off.

"You just gave it to her for safekeeping, then? You didn't steal it for her."

Eustace bit his lip and had the decency to look ashamed. "No, not for her."

Sophia and Noah shared a look--both of them realized that Eustace, as long as he didn't fully trust them, was never going to tell them why he really stole the brooch. They weren't aurors; they couldn't ruin his life or question him with veritaserum. Unless...

"Thanks for being honest with us," Noah said. "I think we should be getting back now, before anyone thinks we've all gone missing."

"When you've got the brooch, bring it here and leave it under this bench for us," Sophia said.

Eustace stood up, as if to walk with them back to the castle. "I can help you return it, if you want?"

"No, we can handle it," Noah replied. "Wouldn't want it coming back to you, right?"

The boy nodded vigorously. "Riiight."

Luckily, Sophia and Noah were able to slip away from him as they headed back to the castle. As they walked, her stomach began to grumble loudly--which made Noah laugh.

Though they had missed most of breakfast, they found Rosie and Callum still at their usual table with two laden plates of food waiting for them. Rosie's dark eyes followed them suspiciously. Before Sophia and Noah could even sit, she began questioning them.

"What were you two up to?"

Sophia looked around and, seeing that most of the tables around them had already been vacated, figured the coast was clear for them to fill in their friends on the surprising break in the case.

"We know who stole the brooch."

"You're kidding!" Callum exclaimed, a little too loudly. His eyes went wide and cheeks flushed. "Sorry," he said, whispering now. "Who was it?"

"Eustace Gaunt," Noah supplied, having already finished off one of his pancakes.

Rosie's dark eyes narrowed. "That kid? No way he stole the brooch."

"He confessed to us this morning," Sophia replied, "after I found it hanging around the neck of his girlfriend, Maeve."

"Maeve is dating that dolt?" Callum asked abruptly, which earned him a jab to the ribs from Rosie. "I mean, were both of them in on it?"

Sophia shook her head. "She's clueless, believe me."

"That's crazy," Rosie said, still not fully believing the story. "There's got to be a reason why he stole it."

Sophia and Noah shared a glance. "He wouldn't say," Noah said finally. "He probably doesn't trust us. But maybe..."

"So, what are you going to do?" Callum asked. "Turn him into the Headmistress? Give him up to the aurors?"

Sophia grimaced. "You're not going to like it."

"We're just going to return the brooch," Noah said. "Maybe someday he'll tell us why he stole it, but for now, we decided that the best course of action is to return it and keep him out of trouble."

Callum's jaw dropped open. "You're serious? That kid would never have even gone to trial, not with his daddy around. Eustace Gaunt is a sick, stuck-up brat!"

"Shh!" Rosie exclaimed. She didn't seem to disagree, though. "The aurors should be able to decide what to do with him. Not us."

Noah shook his head. "If we get him in trouble, everyone will find out that an Ilvermorny student was to blame for all this mess. And they'll just keep blaming us for the aurors and inspections. I think it's better that we return in anonymously so no one knows the truth about who stole it."

The other three were silent for a moment.

Then, Callum spoke. "You agree with him, Sophia?"

She nodded. "I trust him."

Noah's eyes met hers, an intensity to those green depths that she hadn't seen before. It was only fair that she return his trust after last year when they had all trusted her.

"Hmm...okay," Callum said, crossing his arms over his chest. It was his unspoken way of admitting that he trusted their judgement.

Sophia broke away from Noah's gaze to look at Rosie, who had remained quiet during most of this. Her friend sighed. "I trust both of you. But how are you going to return the brooch and make sure that they don't think you were the ones who stole it in the first place?"