One last time the group of first years marched through the corridors towards the prefect's compartment. This time with featherlight legs, cheerful smiles, and joking all along their way. The odd student poked out his head between compartment doors, trying to discern what all the fuss was about once again.

Most of the students looked quizzically at the Niffler in Stuart's hands, but some faces brightened in realisation who the probable culprit for this ride's excitement had been.

Tem was unsure if he was happier about the solved case or that he finally managed an actual spell. He never thought the leg locking jinx would be his first but it would come in handy in the future. As he was planning to solve many a case, surely one or two culprits might attempt to get away from him. He had increased his chances they wouldn't.

Unless, a thought crept into the back of his mind, this was just a fluke. He felt the urge to try the jinx on somebody else but held back for now. He might ask Nathan later if he could reaffirm his spell-casting ability.

Knocking on the prefect's door never felt easier and with a beaming face he stepped in.

"Oh, it's you again," said Graham Pritchard, the Slytherin prefect. "What is it this time?"

"We solved the case and caught the culprit," said Tem, exultation in his voice.

"Oh really? Did you now? Who is it this time? Another innocent Slytherin?" asked Pritchard.

"Give it a rest, Graham," said Sherwood Martens, but kept frowning at Tem, nonetheless.

In response, Tem took a step to the side and let Stuart into the compartment, who held his Niffler tightly to his stomach, dangling a galleon in front of Norbs to keep him occupied.

"This little Niffler was the reason for all the thefts," disclaimed Tem triumphantly.

"Who was so utterly stupid to bring a Niffler on this train?" asked Martens, his face a surprised grimace.

A moment passed as Stuart continued staring at the floor until Nathan gently poked him in the back.

"Er, that'd be me. Sorry. Uhm, believe me, I am," stuttered Stuart, his face flushed red. "I was sure he couldn't leave his bag, but I guess I was mistaken."

"Ok, follow up question. Why would anybody be so stupid as to bring a Niffler on this train?" cried the Gryffindor prefect.

"Well, uhm, I couldn't leave him at home. Norbs is a fine Niffler. And, look at him. Look how cute he is!" Stuart extended his arms towards the prefect, holding the Niffler in his hands.

Norbs snivelled around with interest and made quiet teetering noises. Sherwood Martens grimaced at first, but his face got softer. A tiny smile appeared on his face until he had to turn away again because the Niffler stretched out his grubby hands to grab hold of his sparkling prefect's badge.

"Make sure you don't lose your cute menace again until we get to Hogwarts," said the prefect.

"What will happen to Stuart and his Niffler?" asked Ashley.

"I don't know what the teachers will have in store for Stuart," said Sherwood, raising one eyebrow, "As for the Niffler it might be possible to be cared for by the groundskeeper. I think there are other Nifflers in his care."

Stuart winced a little but decided not to argue. He didn't look like he was eager to meet the teachers soon.

"So, what about the stolen items? Did you find them?" asked the Slytherin prefect.

"We did," replied Tem and explained about the storage wagon and the state it was in, which was met with more frowns by the prefects but not much more. They seemed not to worry about the students getting their possessions back.

They decided to send another owl informing the teachers of the resolved situation and were sure the staff could clean up the mess caused by the magical creature. The investigators went through the train to inform the victims of the resolved circumstances. Stuart gave Marc Ander his money back and apologised profusely.

Temsivar apologised to Jim Krane himself, sending the others back to their compartment. But, as he expected, the reaction by Krane was as muted as he had been before. "Told you, I stole nothing," was the only comment Tem got from him. Nevertheless, it was the right thing to do, though Tem remained unhappy about falsely accusing him. Either way, he couldn't shake the feeling, there was still more to the story behind last year's occurrences. But not for this case.

Back in their compartment, the four first-year students could now enjoy the rest of their ride, eating sweets, and having fun with newfound friends. Tem could not wish for a better start, already having met nice people that were sharing his idea of time well spent. He was sure Nathan would be an exceptional assistant, or maybe even the second investigator. Ashley might have been intimidating in the beginning, but he was certain they could not have solved this case without her unique skill set.

He'd have to keep an eye on Stuart, though. This boy might just stumble into other cases without knowing how it happened, but he seemed a nice enough guy, after all, ignoring his attempts at derailing them from the Niffler's trail.

Tem sighed contentedly and smiled at his new friends. He looked forward to a magical year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hopefully the source of many more cases to solve.

Case Closed.