Sophia Brandt and the Brooch of Isolt Sayre

The Brooch's Return

"Are we, uh, sure about this?"

Callum's voice trailed off and Sophia looked back at her friend to see that he was lagging a few steps behind the rest. Sure, this plan wasn't her first choice, but Rosie had insisted on it.

"This is the right way to do it," Rosie declared. "If we return it to my mom, she'll make sure the aurors don't ask any other questions."

"And we won't get caught with it," Noah added, his eyes looking around for any stray students.

Luckily, the hallway they were in was completely empty. All of the other students had gathered in the main hall for dinner. Sophia's stomach grumbled at the thought--was this the second meal she'd missed now?

"Right, right," Callum said, "but what if she asks questions? What's our story?"

Sophia looked to Rosie, raising an eyebrow. He did have a good point.

"We tell her the truth." Noah interjected. "We don't really know why Eustace stole it or if he was planning on doing anything with it at all."

"We just need to leave out his name," Rosie finished. "Right?"

"Right."

Rosie nodded authoritatively. "Okay, then let's go see my mom."

After coming to the end of the hallway, they took a quick turn and were soon standing in front of the Headmistress' door. Sophia didn't have very fond memories of the last time they had been there after getting caught listening in on her meeting with the aurors. She had a bad feeling that this meeting would go similarly.

Noah was first to the door, just like last time, and he raised his arm to knock loudly. They waited in silence for almost a minute, before the telltale click of a lock sounded.

He grasped the door knob and the door opened smoothly.

Once again, there were four seats magically placed for them in front of the Headmistress' desk. The Headmistress eyed the four of them suspiciously, but didn't say a word--she silently flicked her wand so the door shut firmly behind them.

"Err...hi, mom," Rosie began nervously.

"Don't stutter, dear," the Headmistress replied sternly. "What brings the four of you into my office tonight?"

Noah didn't waste any time. He reached into the depths of his cranberry robes and pulled out the necklace that Maeve had been wearing only a little while ago. At the end of the thin golden chain there was a golden knot, a gordian knot, that had unmistakably belonged to the legendary Isolt Sayre.

The Headmistress was silent as Noah placed the necklace on her desk, but she looked at each one of them, as if trying to understand what had happened from their eyes alone. She raised her wand once again and began to chant something very quietly. The necklace lifted from her desk, casting rays of light as it swayed.

Sophia watched this scene, completely entranced. She suddenly remembered something else Rosie had said to them when they were in the library together. The brooch wasn't just a historical keepsake, it had been listed as a magical artifact. Did their Headmistress know something they didn't about the brooch?

Suddenly, she stopped her incantation and the necklace dropped neatly into her palm. Still, without saying anything, she opened up a drawer in her desk and set the necklace out of sight.

Now, she turned her attention to the students in front of her. "The four of you have a lot of explaining to do."

Sophia gulped, but Noah was the one to speak up first. "We can't tell you who took the brooch, or why they took it. But it's returned now...so it's okay, right?"