"What are we going to do now?" asked Ashley after they had gone a few paces.

"What's there to do? Getting back to the prefects, surely, we do as they ask and wait for the train to arrive at the station," said Nathan, resignation in his voice.

"No!" said Tem, just a moment later.

"No? No, what?" Nathan looked incredulously at Tem.

"I have got to get into that storage wagon. The thief is in there, I know it. I need to catch him," said Tem, eyes strained with conviction.

"Yeah, that's what I like to hear," said Ashley raising her fist in the air.

"But, but how? And for that matter, why? Aren't we going to get into trouble?" asked Nathan, his voice trembling.

"I don't care. My first year at Hogwarts needs to start off better than that," said Tem. "If I give up now, nobody will take me seriously. I need to solve this case, but I understand, if you don't want to. I don't want to put you at any risk." Tem stared back at his frightened assistant, and his features got more gentle.

A curious thought came to him. Why was he so persistent to see Nathan as his assistant? He had thought about how he received support from a friend, rather than an associate. While he meant what he said, he hoped to count on further help from Nathan.

Thinking back over the course of the investigation, a realisation hit him. He had taken Nathan's presence for granted, ignored valuable input by him, and kept talking about how he himself needed to solve the case. He'd have to blame only himself if Nathan wanted to leave the investigation and go back to their comfortable compartment.

Nathan stared back at Tem. Thoughts were racing through his head from the looks of it. He fiddled with his notepad, a huge frown on his face.

"I'm totally on board. For the record, in case anyone is wondering," Ashley interrupted the silence, still smiling. "But if you two have a moment there, I certainly won't tell you that time is of the essence. We won't be riding this train for that much longer."

"Thanks, Ashley," said Tem, visibly relaxing a little, pleased that somebody was sharing his opinion. Except for one tiny detail. "Why do you want to help, though? You have made no stupid claims to solve this mess? You could leave and nobody would bat an eye..."

"Nah, that's not how my Mum raised me," said Ashley grinning. "Plus, I'm sure you two need my help!"

At that, Tem remembered Nathan hadn't decided yet what he was going to do. He hardly dared to look back at him.

"I'm in," whispered Nathan, "I told you I'd be your assistant and I stand by it. Sorry, I hesitated. It's all so new to me. And for whatever reason, I thought we'd sit it out now."

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Tem's face lit up, and smiled at his two companions. The emotional weight that had lifted from his shoulders surprised him. Astonished that it had been there, without him noticing.

"Thank you, Nathan. I'm glad. I apologise for every time I ignored your input.”

"Don't worry about it. You'd better come up with a plan on how we can get into the storage wagon," said Nathan, changing the subject, as his face changed to red again.

"Right. Let's get there first. Perhaps some insight will strike then," said Tem, not entirely hopeful.

The three investigators jogged down the corridor towards the storage room.

The door towered in front of them, again. In Tem's mind, this was the only real challenge left. Getting past it would solve all their problems. They'd be able to catch the thief, get all the stolen items back to their owners, apologise to Jim Krane and close this case. If it wasn’t for some magically closed gate, impossible to get through.

A normal locked door could be opened by using the Alohomora spell. But as this slab of wall had no key, handle, or other means of opening, that was no option.

Nevertheless, Tem surveyed the door one more time, touching it softly, he traced his hand along its full width, looking for any clues or imperfections. Maybe there was another way to open it that the prefects didn't know or told them.

While he investigated the outline of the door, Nathan said in a whisper, "Any idea yet?"

"Psht, let him work," whispered Ashley back, standing on the other end of the outlined door, tapping it gently with her wand.

"Well, it appears to be a solid door, with no discernable way to open it. As prominent as it looks, it's singlehandedly a source of frustration trying to open it," said Tem, his hand back in his accustomed thinking position.

Silence stretched between the three investigators.

"To prepare for this trip, I read more about trains, such as this one. There might be a way to get into the storage hold from the outside," said Nathan cautiously.

"So, you want to climb around on a train while it's moving? I like your thinking!" beamed Ashley.

"Uh, as fun as that sounds," said Tem with a sarcastic undertone, "I doubt this will be a successful endeavour. From what I gathered there is no way into the hold, not only limited to this door. I heard it's impossible to leave this train while on the move. I guess the same problems remain."

"Sorry," said Nathan, looking down at the floor, "it was just a thought."

"Don't be sorry. It was a decent idea. Never hold back, we need every idea we can think of," said Tem. "It seems, providing some kind of emergency to trick the door into letting us in remains the best approach."

"But what?" asked Ashley. "What does count as an emergency the doors would accept and open up?"

"Another good question. Let's try something simple," said Tem.

Temsivar approached the door squarely and with a very clear voice, and as much theatrical drama as he could muster, cried, "Oh no! How could that happen? I forgot to take a truly important school book out of my trunk that I need right now. It's a matter of life and, uh, death!"

The three friends were standing still, forgetting to breathe, trying to listen to any sound, any change at all they might ascertain coming from the door.

Moments passed by and the singular noise they landed back onto was the rhythmic rumble of the train as it continued its voyage. Nothing happened. The door remained solid with no sign of an effect Tem's words might have had.

"That doesn't seem to be enough of an emergency." Tem scratched his head, frowning.

"Let me try," said Ashley. Tem made space for her.

She moved in front of the door, took a deep breath, and screamed.

"Ah, it hurts so much!" Ashley held her stomach. "I forgot my potion in my trunk against my, er, stomach ulcers! I need to get to my trunk!" She leaned against the door, hammering against it with one fist, winding her body in mock fits of pain. The girl kept up with this charade for a few more moments, before listening once again for any change in the door.