Sophia Brandt and the Brooch of Isolt Sayre

The Unusual Suspects

This short chapter is dedicated to @Paigehart who has been an amazing reader! Thank you for motivating me to finish this story!

Sophia awoke early the next morning with a sudden idea. She'd been dreaming about the second competition the day before and it had come to her. She hurried down to the Thunderbird common room and took a seat in one of the lounge chairs by the fireplace. The magical fire crackled and sparked and Sophia patiently waited for Noah to come down for breakfast, eager to tell someone about her idea.

About a half hour later, she finally saw him emerge from the staircase with some of his friends from Thunderbird. They were talking loudly about the competition, and Sophia caught Noah's eye as he walked down. He said something to one of his friends, then wandered over to talk to her.

"Why are you here so early?" He asked, his breath minty from brushing his teeth. "Have you been studying for the history quiz?" 

Sophia blushed. "I forgot about that." 

"Well, it's on Tuesday so you've still got plenty of time to study for it," Noah said. "What are you waiting here for, then?"

She gestured for him to sit in the chair next to hers, close enough that they could talk quietly. "I figured out something important this morning. Do you remember what Rosie and Callum were saying yesterday at the competition?"

"Go Ilvermorny?" Noah asked, a skeptical expression on his face. 

"Rosie was upset because she didn't know a lot of the spells that the teams were using. She didn't know what those plants were, and she usually knows everything." Sophia explained slowly. "And Callum was annoyed because all of these competitions are only for the older students. They're the ones who get to play quidditch and compete against the other wizarding schools." 

Noah slowly nodded, thinking back to what they'd said yesterday. "I remember. What's it got to do with anything, though?" 

"Callum and I have been thinking too broadly about the missing brooch," Sophia said. "I've been forgetting something this whole time."

He looked confused. "What?"

Sophia looked at her friend directly in the eye. "We've been thinking that anyone could've stolen the brooch. But that's not true. It was one of us."

Callum's blue eyes widened. "You think it was someone from our class?" 

"Not necessarily from our year," Sophia said, looking around just in case someone could be listening. But it was only them and the plants in the greenhouse. Rosie had insisted they go somewhere secluded so that no one could hear them, still worried that her mom might find out that she was investigating.

Sophia crossed her arms over her chest and continued. "All of the older students were at the dance the night that the brooch was stolen, which means they couldn't have taken it."

"And most of the professors were there too," Rosie added. "Which means that you can take them off your list of suspects as well." 

Callum's bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement. "That's great!"

"I thought you were against the idea of investigating?" Noah asked Rosie. "Weren't you worried about your mother?"

Rosie sighed. "I didn't want my mom to find out about us investigating, but now that you guys have a better idea of who could've taken it...I think we might have a chance at finding it. I'm willing to help now."

Sophia's face split into a slow smile, and she wondered how she'd ever thought she could figure out this mystery without the help of her best friend. "We'd love your help."

"We need it," Callum said. "There's still a lot of people who could have taken the brooch. All of the students from the first years to the fourth years stayed in the castle during the ball. That's hundreds of students to investigate." 

"It's better than investigating the entire school," Rosie pointed out. 

Noah held up a hand. "Wait. What about the younger students from the other schools?"

"They're staying down in Mayflower Landing," Sophia mused, thinking out loud. "Which means that they would've had to take the gondola sometime that night."

"We can ask the operator and ask if someone took the gondola down, because all of the older students would've taken it back up to the castle." Callum said. 

Sophia sighed. "I still think we can assume they didn't take the brooch."

"But they're the competition! Why wouldn't they take it to throw us off our game?" 

"We were losing after the first competition," Noah said. "Badly."

"So they'd have no reason to steal it anyway," Rosie concluded. "But why would anyone from Ilvermorny steal the brooch?" 

Sophia pursed her lips. That was one question that she didn't have the answer to yet. But she was sure she'd have one soon enough.