"Uhm, sure," said Brian, looking around the mess of a compartment, trying to find a foothold for his explanation. "Uhm, we were sitting here, swapping stories. The usual, I guess. Where we come from, what we like doing, and such. Football is my thing, you know? So, I kept telling my mates here about where I've been playing. Had a chance at climbing to the higher-up teams. The scouts had an eye on me, I was telling them. So, naturally, I had to show them proof of that, which is when I grabbed my bag from underneath the seat to pull out my winnings." He held up his sports bag, right in front of Tems face, who enjoyed a whiff of Brian's physical efforts.

Judging from the clothes and other items strewn all over the floor and seats, this bag must've contained mostly the gear necessary for that particular type of sport. While he didn't know the details of this Muggle sport, the concept of trophies and medals was universal. He'd ask Nathan about football later.

"What exactly is missing from your bag, Mr Holl?"

"Ah, call me Brian, would ya? First, my trophy as I got voted MVP, you know, most valuable player, at the Liverpool Foundation Tournament. I won it four months ago. It would've been my ticket to the top teams, and I was bound to go, but then my letter arrived," said Brian with a tinge of sorrow in his voice.

"Yes, alright. Uhm, well done, Brian. What else was stolen?" asked Tem, slightly impatient.

Brian Holl counted down his medals, including the tournaments he won or placed well with his team. After what seemed ages he finished his recounting. A couple of spectating students had decided to find something more exciting to do with their time and left.

"Okay, so 12 medals from various tournaments, of which 8 bear your name. Nathan, did you get all the supporting information down?" asked Tem. He couldn't help himself and had to grin. Nathan was still jotting down words feverishly but nodded.

"Good. I will try to inspect the scene, but it's harder to find anything because of your attempt at finding the considerable amount of metal that got stolen." Tem tried to state this as neutrally as possible. "You said, your bag was underneath that seat?" He pointed at one particular seat.

After Brian Holl nodded, Tem went down to his knees and inspected the floor and walls around the seat. A shoe with some weird knobbles instead of a normal sole was lying there, next to some more jerseys. Even though he was certain investigating this clutter would lead to nothing, he decided to show his best effort. He partly disappeared crawling underneath the seat.

"Nathan, could you lend me some light?"

Nathan hurried forward, saying "Lumos!" and held his wand low. Tem continued rummaging around, pulling out a few of his evidence bags from his pockets. After a while, he reappeared and looked thoughtful at two evidence bags.

"What is it, Tem," asked Nathan?

"I'm not sure. I found some bits of fur and a splinter of metal, could be from one medal," explained Tem.

"Has anybody here a pet with black fur?" asked Tem, looking around at the boys.

"Yes," said a small, Indian boy hesitantly, "My Mom let me take our cat, Chandra. She was hiding underneath the seats. Some time ago she started hissing like mad, so I let her out."

"Do you know when exactly the hissing started?"

"No, sorry. She does that often enough. I swear, that cat has the third eye or something. Gives me fits sometimes."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The other boys shook their heads when Tem peered around. A frog was sitting in between a wild assortment of gear on one seat, where another student must have emptied his bag. The frog seemed unperturbed by the situation.

"Before you ask, none of the others has my medals. They all helped to search and emptied their bags. Except for Milton over there, we don't have much experience with magic. He suggested that maybe some magic swapped my precious medals around. So we looked everywhere," explained Brian Holl, nearly tripping over his own words.

"Uhm, not impossible I guess. Would've been nice to see an unperturbed, uhm, crime scene, but no matter. At least we can check these hairs against your cat when she comes back," said Tem. "Did you see anything out of the ordinary? Perhaps the door opening on its own, or any suspicious noises? Seen any rats lately?"

The other boys looked confused at Tem's question, but they all shook their heads.

"We were preoccupied talking and having fun. The trolley lady came by at some point, so we bought some food. I guess the door was open for some time then. We had the window open. There are rats on this train? It looks so nice and clean..." said Brian, his voice trailing off as he suspiciously eyed the floor.

"Students may own a rat as pets. You shouldn't see any wild rats on the train, don't worry," said Tem.

"I'm not worried," said Brian hastily, looking unconvinced. "Anyway, how is a rat supposed to nick a small trophy and 12 medals?"

"That's not what I mean. The rat... ugh, never mind. It's very unlikely, anyway. Do you know anybody else here? Anybody you could imagine who'd want to steal your medals?" asked Tem.

"Uhm, no. This makes no sense to me. I mean you could pawn them, I guess, but I doubt you'd get many pounds out of it. Especially, from what I understand, where we are going it's useless. With all the Galleons and such," said Brian, a miserable frown on his face. He was trying hard to keep from crying.

Tem was sure the boy opposite him knew that would make this unsatisfactory situation worse for his future at Hogwarts. But he was right in his assessment. This mess made even less sense than the other two, maybe three thefts. At this point, Tem was unsure if there were thefts that people hadn't realised yet. Somebody was mightily proficient at stealing items with nobody noticing a thing.

At that, his head gave a little jerk and his frown intensified. "Is any of you missing any coins?"

The first years looked questioningly at Tem but started checking their purses and pockets. The jingling of coins reverberated quietly throughout the cabin whenever a student pulled out his purse or pouch.

"Hey, I had a few sickles and knuts in my robe pocket. They are gone. All of them!" cried Milton.

"My money is all there," said Brian, showing Tem his purse. Some weird-looking coins were sticking out between some peculiar-looking paper strips.

Tem focused on Milton and said, "Can you remember when was the last time you had your money?"

"Just after we bought food from the trolley. That was my change I stuffed in my pocket," replied Milton. "I wanted to get more soon and now I can't." The boy looked miffed.

"Have you left the compartment after your purchase?

"Uhm...," the boy thought for a second, "No, I haven't."

"It must have been stolen from you in the time between your purchases and a moment ago when we arrived, around the same time the medals were stolen. This indicates the thief was not directly targeting your medals, Mr Holl."

"That helps us how?" asked Brian, still frowning.

"The investigation I conducted regarding other thefts on this train implied one specific culprit, out to harm people that had slighted him before. Your situation implies a random theft for the sole purpose of enrichment, if arguably low," explained Tem, pacing a few steps, holding his chin in thought. "Still, the thief acts on opportunity, in order to minimise the risk of discovery, as you haven't been emptied of all your valuables."

"I... I still don't see how this helps...," said Brian.

"It doesn't," said Tem, "but it makes it clear how we need to continue with our investigation."

The surrounding boys stared at Tem in disbelief. Brian carefully closed his purse again, which he was still holding in his hands, and stuffed it as deep into the front pockets of his jeans as possible. The other boys still with money reacted similarly. Only Milton remained, a sad expression on his face.

"Please, let me know when your cat comes back, otherwise remain calm. Thank you for your cooperation. I will be back in case I have further questions for you. In the meantime, I will work on a plan to remedy this situation." Tem nodded curtly, turned, and strode out of the compartment.

Tem tried not to look in any of the faces of the remaining spectators, who undoubtedly were thinking his words contained only hot air if even that much. He wasn't sure about whether they were right, but he couldn't succumb to desperation. He needed a plan. Some kind of approach to, if anything, stop further thefts.

Was a general announcement to all students to keep a close eye on their belongings the best thing they could do for now?