The Mysterious Scott Highcross
The girls went down the stone steps and into the Halls of the Serpent. It was late in the afternoon, but most everyone was still in class. They went first to the Quidditch museum, but Robert was not there. "What do we do?" asked Pauline. "We can't go downstairs and look for him."
"Let's go to our study room," said Morwena.
She led them to the little room where they did their homework. From her purse, she pulled her quill and inkwell. She wrote on the parchment in her clear, flowing hand, "We have the Highcross file. Please come upstairs, so that we may share it with you." She drew her wand, tapped the parchment and whispered an incantation.
Pauline again watched in wonder as the parchment began to fold itself into a paper aeroplane. She asked, "Will that thing be able to find Kaufmann?"
"Yes," said Morwena, "and, if he lets it, it will lead him back to us."
Tess was still holding the folder tight against her chest. Slowly she set it on the desk. "Are we going to wait until he gets here?"
"I don't think that's necessary," said Morwena. "Open it up, and let's take a look."
The first page was the demographic data: Scott Highcross’ place of birth, hometown, and the name of his parents. A chill ran down Tess’ spine as she stared down at the paper. There, written in a thick black scrawl, was the name ‘Esther.’
Pauline: “His mother’s name was Esther? His mother and his girlfriend had the same name?”
Rhiannon gave a dismissive snort. Tess, hotly, “Obviously, I don’t look like his mother!”
Morwena and Pauline turned their eyes to Rhiannon. She was sitting apart from the other three, tall, as still and impassive as a statue, a cloud of orange hair around her head. She made no other comment.
Tess turned her eyes back to the paper. Next to both "Father" and "Mother" were the initials, "NMP." Tess pointed to it and asked, "Does that mean what I think it means?"
"Yes," said Morwena. "Non-Magical Parent. The politically correct term, proper for an official document."
Tess felt her heart leap. "Then, I can't be related to him! It must be a coincidence that I look like him a little."
Into the room flew the little aeroplane. Behind it, making a leisurely stroll with his long legs, looking fashionably disheveled with his tousled hair and his tie slightly askew, came Robert.
"Started the party without me, did you?" he asked, dryly. "Hope you didn't lose any papers coming down the stairs."
Morwena, matching Robert's understated delivery: "Tess has been guarding it with her life."
"Bloody good." Turning to Pauline, he said, "Fetch me a chair, will you, sweet?" Pauline shot out of her chair and left the room. "What have we learned so far?" asked Robert.
"That you were right!" said Morwena, eagerly. "NMP on both sides. Muggleborn."
Robert: “Good. That makes things easier.”
“His mother’s name was Esther!” said Tess.
“Hmm,” said Robert. “Another strange coincidence.”
When Pauline emerged in the doorway, a chair in front of her, he quickly took it from her. "Thank you, my dear." He sat down between Morwena and Tess. "All right," he said. "Let's get to work."
He browsed through the first few papers. They were all grade transcripts. He paused over the third-year transcript. "His electives were Arithmancy and Magical Creatures. Solid choices." He added sagely, "Your first sign of individuality, your first big step in your evolution as a student, is your selection of elective courses."
He flipped past the fourth-year transcript to the fifth. "Your fifth year is another important year. Some students crumple under the pressure of O.W.L.s, while others blossom." There was a paper listing Highcross' accomplishments. "This is the sort of thing the staff uses to write letters of recommendation. Prefect, we knew that . . . Captain of the Esoteric Club . . .."
Morwena interrupted, "Captain? Not President?" Kaufmann shrugged.
Tess asked, "What does Esoteric mean? It sounds like something my brother Devon would say."
"Indeed," said Robert with a smile. "If Devon Covenshire were here, he would tell us that Esoteric means 'belonging to a select few.'"
"Is there still an Esoteric Club?" asked Morwena. "Is it a Slytherin Club or a School Club?"
"Any secret society, really, could call themselves the Esoteric Club," answered Robert. "If there is such a club on campus now, it is likely to be quite different than the one that Highcross captained. Still, a point of interest, a line of further inquiry - he was in a secret society of some sort."
"Are his O.W.L.s there?" asked Morwena.
"Here." Robert passed to Morwena a slip of paper stamped with the logo of the Wizarding Examinations Authority.
Morwena reviewed the scores. "They're quite good."
There were no more papers. Robert, his brow furrowed, shuffled through the stack once more. Morwena asked, "How were his N.E.W.T.s?"
"They're not here," said Robert. "In fact, there's nothing here past Year Five." He turned to Tess and asked, "Are you sure you didn't lose any papers on the way downstairs?"
"I'm positive I didn't!" protested Tess, hotly. "I was as careful as I could be!"
Rhiannon, resigned to the corner of the room but still listening, asked, "Do you think certain papers were removed before McGonagall handed over the file?"
"Why, though?" asked Robert. "If there was something sensitive, something worth redacting, why give you the file at all? She was perfectly within her rights to refuse you altogether."
He closed the folder and gave it a firm tap with her hand. With a pompous air which reminded Tess strongly of her older brother, he said, "As historians, we must work from the documentary evidence. And that evidence currently leads us to believe that Highcross dropped out of school after his Fifth Year."
"But he was a Prefect!" cried Morwena. "This wasn't a lout, on his way to being expelled! Didn't you say the staff was writing him letters of recommendation?"
"Yes, I believe they were," said Kaufmann, thoughtfully. "He may have needed those letters of recommendation after Year Five. Perhaps he transferred schools."
"Do you think it had anything to do with him not being able to play Quidditch for Slytherin?" asked Tess.
Kaufmann shrugged. "Of course, I have no idea. '92-'93, that was the Year of the Basilisk. Maybe his parents pulled him out after that."
Morwena made a firm interjection. "My family says there was no basilisk. It was a school legend, nothing more."
Robert gave her a wry grin. When he spoke, his tone was as firm as hers had been. "I have researched the matter fully. I'm confident in my sources. There was a basilisk on campus, and Potter killed it."
Morwena bit her lip and flushed. Robert continued, "The basilisk was targeting Muggleborns, I'm told. There may have been other threats to Highcross that we are not aware of. He may have decided to get out while he still could."
Pauline, who had been quiet since Kaufmann asked her to fetch him a chair, spoke up. "Too bad we can't ask Highcross all our questions. I'm sorry he's dead. I'm sorry, too, that we have a picture and not a painting. It would save us all a lot of trouble if we could just talk to him."
"Part of the fun of a historical inquiry," said Robert, "is having to infer facts from too little evidence." He rose. To Morwena, he said, "Don't keep those papers too long. I wouldn't want anything to go missing. Review the file, take some notes, and then return it."
Morwena nodded.
"I will ask the Headmistress if the file was redacted," said Robert. "I'll let you know what she tells us." With a wave, he strode from the room.
Morwena sighed. "Well, I better get started on my note-taking." She spent the next hour sketching out her paper, making an outline, jotting down highlights from the interviews they had conducted, and listing which documents from the folder she planned to use.
At five o'clock, the girls went up the stairs to the Great Hall for dinner. A group of older boys passed them on the stairs, taking great, purposeful strides. Robert was among them. He paused and set a hand on Morwena's shoulder. "Don't write your concluding paragraph quite yet," he said softly. "I was able to set an appointment with McGonagall for this evening. I'll try to pry some more information out of her."
With a wave, he swept past them. Behind them, the girls heard Rebecca hiss, "Are you still caught up in Robert’s silly project?”
“It’s not silly,” answered Morwena. “We have already spoken to McGonagall about this. She said that as long as our scores were good, we could continue pursuing the matter.”
Rebecca still was visibly agitated. She doesn't like how Robert put his hand on Morwena's shoulder, thought Tess.But, it's not like he's hitting on us! He's acting like a big brother!
After dinner, Morwena worked on the extra-credit paper while the others sat on their loveseats and talked. When she had half a parchment page full, Morwena put her writing away and joined them. Robert found them there a little after eight.
"Good evening, girls," he said breezily.
"What did the Headmistress tell you?" asked Morwena, eagerly.
Robert ran his hand through his hair, a wry grin on his lips. "She was quite cagey with me, I must say. 'Yes, Highcross dropped out after his Fifth Year. No, the basilisk had nothing to do with it. It was a family matter.' I asked her what type of family matter, but it was like a door had shut in my face. I got the feeling that she knew, but she wouldn't tell me."
"We could go back and ask Meadows," suggested Tess.
Morwena shook her head. "No. We won’t catch Meadows off guard again. She will know by now what she's not supposed to tell us."
"I agree," said Kaufmann. "There's clearly some secret here that they don't want us to know. McGonagall must have ruled it beyond the nature of our inquiry. Expect the staff will form a united front from here on out. "
Rhiannon said, "When McGonagall gave us the file, she handed it specifically to Tess. Do you read any significance in that?"
Robert shrugged. "One brunette over the other? You two look close enough to me. She could have mixed you up."
"But there's no papers missing from the file?" pressed Morwena.
"No. She assured me that nothing was removed or redacted. He left school. That's why there aren't any more papers to his file."
Morwena continued writing. By eight o'clock, everything they knew about Scott Highcross was on that long scroll of parchment. When she finished, Morwena joined Tess on the loveseat in their little lounge. She seemed tired, so Tess reached out her arm. Morwena leaned into her shoulder.
"Can I read your paper?" Tess asked.
"In the morning," said Morwena, softly. "I have to re-copy it. It's messy right now."
When Rebecca came around an hour later, Morwena was still leaning into Tess's shoulder. "Kaufmann better not be running you ragged!" snapped the prefect.
Morwena sat up a little straighter. "He's not, honestly. I'm just a little tired after a long week. The project is actually quite fascinating."
"I still worry," said Rebecca. She set her hand on Morwena's shoulder. "All right, off to bed with all of you."
Saturday morning, after showers and breakfast, Morwena made a clean copy of her paper in a beautiful, clear, flowing hand. When she had finished, Tess read the essay through. The writing was as good as the penmanship. "This is really very good."
Pauline asked, "Can I read it?"
"Of course," said Morwena.
As Pauline curled up in a chair to read the paper, Tess said, "How much do you think the boys will give you?"
"I expect they'll be hard on me," said Morwena. "All I need is ten points. That'll pull me ahead of Cal, and get me an O in History instead of an E. But, I could certainly use more!"
When Pauline was finished, she handed it to Rhiannon. "You did so well, Wen!" said Pauline excitedly.
Morwena took the complement in stride. "I want to hear what Rhi has to say."
Rhiannon read the paper through, and then handed it back to Morwena. "You write well," said Rhiannon.
"What do you think about all this?" asked Morwena. "I sense an air of disapproval."
Rhiannon looked away, and her face darkened. "They answer our questions, but there's always a hole in the story that we can't fill. Kaufmann said a door shut in his face." Rhiannon turned back and gazed at Morwena. "There's something here they don't want us to know."
"What do you think it is?"
"I don't know. But, it's something to do with Tess." She spared Tess a quick glance, and trembled. "I . . . I've got a bad feeling about it." With her eyes on Morwena, she pleaded, "Get your points, and then, let's put this away. We know enough about the boy in the picture. Let's be done with it."
The girls had little homework to do that day. They whiled away their time talking. When it was time for lunch, they went to the entrance of the Halls and found Robert waiting impatiently for one of his friends.
"Oh!" cried Morwena, "I have that paper. Can I give it to you now?"
Stone, standing nearby, cracked, "I think these girls are a little young for you, Kauff."
The other boys laughed. Robert stayed calm. "I found a little research project for them to do." To Morwena, he added, "Go and fetch it."
She ran to the dormitory and back again. He took it from her with an amused look on his face. "I guess you haven't learned the Summoning Charm yet." He took the paper from her and glanced at its contents. With a tap of his wand, he sent it flying down the stairway. "I'll read it later."
Nothing of any importance happened the rest of the weekend. Monday morning, the girls sat at the Slytherin table, eagerly awaiting the owl post. Sure enough, an owl swooped down to their end of the table with letters for Tess and Rhiannon. The owl, however, took off again right away, without asking for a bit of bacon.
The envelopes were red. As Tess stared down at hers, it started to shake. "You had better open that," said Morwena, "before it blows up in your face."
Rhiannon, opposite Tess at the table, gave her a cross look. Tess tried to put a pleasant face on it. "Let's open them at the same time, shall we?"
Rhiannon nodded. The two girls picked up their envelopes and tore the seal with their fingers. Two voices erupted simultaneously from the envelopes. They blended into an eerie duet, the high shrill voice of Tess' mother and the low, foreboding voice of Rhiannon's Grandmother Ashfeld.
Despite the simultaneous eruptions, Tess heard her mother's voice loud and clear. WHAT'S THIS ABOUT YOU HELPING AN OLDER BOY WITH HIS RESEARCH PROJECT? YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO BE GATHERING FAVOURS, YOUNG LADY! I WANT TO WORKING ON YOUR OWN SCHOOLWORK AND NOT WASTING YOUR TIME, FLIRTING AND SOCIALISING! YOU HAD BETTER BE GETTING HIGH MARKS, OR BY MERLIN, I WILL COME UP THERE AND PERSONALLY WRING YOUR NECK!'
As the outburst concluded, the envelopes flared up and turned into ash. Pauline was wide-eyed with shock. Rebecca gazed at them with smug grin on her face. Delia looked down the table at them, too.
Tess was angry at her mother for embarrassing her, but Rhiannon was livid. Her face was deep red, her brow furrowed, and her glare could have withered houseplants. She blames me for this! thought Tess. It's not my fault that my mum overreacts to everything!
They finished their breakfast in silence. When they were finished, they left the Great Hall and went into the Entrance Hall. Morwena did not immediately join the throng going up the stairs, however. She led the others away from the foot of the stairs, to an open space near the Administrative Office.
"Why didn't I get a Howler?" Morwena asked. "I wrote the paper. It was my name on the form. Why are you two getting in trouble?"
Rhiannon exploded, her voice like a third howler. "Because we are digging around some buried Soulbridge secret! And everyone is getting pissed at us! They don't want us to know about this guy. We have to stop!"