"Can you imagine the odds of finding the stolen goods with him? He has a motive, but can't be, can it?" asked Tem, frowning.

"Is it a viable coincidence somebody else would steal from exactly these two students?" asked Nathan.

"Good point. I doubt he is so stupid to keep the contraband around. Eleanor's necklace is at least valuable and someone might think a watch is, too. Perhaps that is the only connection between these items and nothing else." Tem shrugged. "I'm very curious about what Jim has to say. I have to admit I'm intrigued to find out what happened to him in that ominous house."

"So, are we going to question him now? May I ask a question, if I think of one?" asked Nathan, avoiding to gaze at Tem.

"Sure. You could've said so with Eleanor and the girls, you know," said Tem.

"Ah, it's alright. You were doing a perfect job, nothing for me to add," he said quickly.

"Uhm, fine then," said Tem, one eyebrow raised. "I wonder if we should ask the other Gryffindors. It seems nothing was stolen from them so far, otherwise we'd probably heard of it. Oh, well. Let's talk to Jim."

The two boys went towards Jim's compartment and knocked at the doors, before entering. Jim was sitting in one corner of the compartment close to the window. His stature looked like he was freezing, a bit hunched, and hugging himself with his arms around his stomach, albeit the temperature was rather high. He peered out of the window but slowly turned around to look at the newcomers.

Other Slytherin students of various school years sat in this compartment. Two younger boys were whispering to each other when Tem and Nathan entered. As if on queue, they jumped up, mumbled some polite excuses, and squeezed themselves out through the doors. They surely wanted to miss the uncomfortable scene with Jim, or were dissatisfied to have won the seats within this particular compartment. He would've expected other students to stick around, only to have stuff to tell, but he preferred a bit more quiet.

"There you are," said Jim with a slightly slurred voice. "So, how much dirt was she able to pile onto me?"

"I can assure you, that my conversation with Ms Harris was as civilised as possible and she refrained, well, for the most part, from calling you names. Don't worry about it. I'm as unbiased towards this investigation as I can possibly be. I want to help you and establish the truth." Tem was careful to make sure he projected an optimistic air, but also remain firm on what would happen, if the examination unearthed Jim as the thief.

The girl sitting opposite of Jim, pulled up her book in front of her face, trying to make herself invisible.

Next to Jim, another boy with an acne problem, spoke up, "We will see about that. I'm keeping up with your investigation. I won't allow any false accusations towards my friend." The boy regarded Tem with open hostility. "It's bad enough those Gryffindors keep stomping all over Jim. We don't need a first-year playing detective to add to this."

"Give it a rest, Dale. Let's finish this," said Jim, before turning back to Tem. "Shoot."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr Krane. For the record, let's start with an obvious question. Have you committed the theft of Eleanor's necklace, and or, Mr Caervey's watch?" asked Tem.

"No," replied Jim flatly, no emotion showing on his face.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Did you leave this compartment at any point during this train ride?"

"Yes, I've been to the bathroom twice. I tend to have a nervous bladder and pumpkin juice is not helping. Other than that, I got out after hearing my name screamed all over this wagon. You saw me then," said Jim, continuing with his bored deameanor. Even while using strong words, he managed to pull any emotion out of these.

"I assume you don't know the exact moment you went to the bathroom?"

"No, not exactly. The first time was early after the train started and for the second time, I don't know, I'd say I was back in the compartment for about 5 minutes before Eleanor began screaming."

"Have you been to any other wagon than this?"

"No, only to the bathroom at the end of this wagon."

"Did you know of the sentimental value these items hold to their owners?"

"Not really. I guess I knew they wore them, considering they are reasonably prominent. I don't care about their stuff. By the way, did Caervey accuse me, too?"

"No, he didn't. I'm trying to be thorough in my investigation and ascertain if there is a connection between these two thefts," explained Tem.

"Pah," snorted Dale, "that wench made sure to put your name up for consideration, Jim." Jim inclined his head towards Dale but otherwise said nothing.

Tem didn't jump at Dale's comment but rather continued, "My investigation provided insight into last year's altercation between the victims of the theft and you..."

"Victims! Sure, call them that. The only victim here is Jim," Dale cried out, interrupting Tem.

"Please, refrain from interrupting this questioning. If you want to give testimony to any circumstances, you can do so afterwards or upon my prompt," said Tem, as calmly as possible, but unable to control his nostrils flaring in agitation for a moment.

Dale growled shortly, but nodded, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Yes, Eleanor and Damian were involved in multiple altercations towards me," replied Jim, using the first slight inflection in his speech that Tem could notice so far, "before that one involving the Shrieking Shack. Afterwards, they refrained from interacting with me altogether. As did the others of their clique.

"I was upset at first, and made sure they knew, but there was no point to dwell on this." Jim finished in his bored, monotone voice.

"Is it true, you threatened Eleanor afterwards?" asked Tem.

"As I said, I told them my opinion of them, but there was no need for me to continue defending myself."

"I see." So he did not deny any threats, which seemed to have a considerable effect on Damian and Eleanor. "Can you recount what you said to them?"

"No. I don't remember anymore. I'm sure you can imagine, I wasn't sleeping very well after the incident. I might have been slightly agitated," said Jim. "But I'm back to my chipper self." The boy looked blankly at Tem.

"Uhm, yes. I can see that." Tem scratched his head. At this point, he wasn't sure if Jim was just humouring him for some twisted idea of fun. This boy was indeed unsettling. But being a weirdo is no grounds to convict anybody, though it was harder not to lean towards assumptions. So far, he had a viable motive, a connection, and likely opportunities to conduct the deed, but no witnesses and hard evidence. It was all circumstantial.

"Are you able to cast the Summoning Charm?" asked Tem

"Yes. We learned that spell last year. I'm not that good at it. My marks in the exam weren't stellar, but I can cast it on close things."

"Would you be willing to subject your wand to a check of your last spell?"

"Yes, but it won't do you any good. I cast Lumos a few minutes ago, as some of my candy dropped to the floor and I collected it from underneath the seats."

"Solely your own sweets dropped to the floor?"

Jim nodded in response, and reminded of his sweets, pulled a drop out of his pocket, unwrapped it, and put it lazily in his mouth.

"I assume the occupants of this compartment can confirm your whereabouts coincide with your testimony?" Tem looked around to the others, who nodded in response. The girl dropped her book a bit for her reply, signalling to everyone she was following the conversation, but stuck to her chosen appearance by shifting her book back up again.

"He wasn't gone long. Pretty much for how long it takes to visit the bathroom," added Dale. Tem nodded.