Chapter 6
My mind was buzzingwith excitement by lunchtime. My morning classes had so much new content to learn and I couldn’t wait to put it into practice.
“Do you know what spell you want to try to build?” Aiden asked me while we waited in line to get our food.
“I was thinking maybe a time spell to see where Hazel went,” I said. “You remember how we looked in Apollo’s mirror last year?”
Aiden’s jaw clenched. Of course he remembered. We’d seen his grandmother murdered in it.
I nodded. “But we had to know where to look for that spell. I want to build one that will follow a person. Or maybe see where a person is now.”
“That’s a great idea, like a magical GPS,” he said in approval. “That could be very useful in missing-persons cases.”
“I thought so, too. I think I’ll stick with trying to find where a person is now. I think that could be more useful.” I chose pasta and a salad and put them on my tray.
“They’re both useful in different ways,” Aiden said. “Maybe work up both of them. They could tell you different information.”
I could see his point. “Yeah, all right.”
We found the table that the others had claimed for us and slid into seats between Lilia and Bruce.
“Any news?” I asked everyone.
They all shook their heads.
“Not unless you count the missing students,” Bruce said. “I’ve had at least one in each class.”
“Me too,” echoed Una and Rhiannon.
“Weird,” I said. “Anything linking them? Do you know names?”
“Brian, stitch witch,” Una said.
“Lincoln, healer, and Justin, camouflage,” Bruce put in.
“Paul, investigation,” Rhiannon added.
“All boys?” I asked, lifting my pen from the list I wrote down. “That’s weird.”
“All my type of beast, too,” Aiden put in. “You know, fire beasts.”
I frowned. “Is that common?” I hadn’t really looked into it.
He shrugged. “Common enough that I’m not closely related to any of those guys, at least that I’m aware of.”
“Huh.” I wrote that down as well. “I can’t think of anything that Hazel would have in common with these guys. She’s so different.”
“Maybe she was taken by someone else?” Lilia suggested.
“There are two people kidnapping people?” I shook my head. “That would be quite the coincidence.”
“We should ask around, see when those people were last seen,” Bruce suggested.
“The best people to ask about them would be their roommates,” I said thoughtfully. “Split up?”
I decided I would find Geoffrey, Richard’s roommate. Maybe he would have an idea about what motivation someone could have for killing the Dragon Polo star.
He was eating alone in a corner, his eyes furtively glancing around the cafeteria. When he saw me walking over to him, he looked panicked.
“Hey,” I said, sitting down across from him. “How are you holding up after, you know, everything?”
“I... I’m fine,” he muttered, poking at his food as if it were the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.
Someone else sat down next to me and leaned forward.
I glared at them for interrupting, and then almost snarled when I saw that it was Paige, the nosy b—witch who had accused Hazel of murder. “What do you want?” I snapped.
“The same thing you do, I expect. To find out why Geoffrey killed his roommate,” she replied blithely.
My jaw dropped. “What the fuck? You don’t go around accusing people of murder! I was hoping he could tell me if anything of interest happened the day they arrived.”
Paige rolled her eyes at me before refocusing her attention on the boy across from us. “Well? What did happen the day you got here?”
The poor boy looked absolutely terrified, twin spots of color high on his cheeks, eyes wide as he stared at Paige.
“Hey,” I said comfortingly, getting up from my seat and joining him on his side of the bench. I put my hand gently on his arm. “I’m just trying to solve this mystery. I’m sure you want answers as much as I do. I’m going to level with you…” I swallowed hard. “I’m trying to absolve my roommate, Hazel. She was last seen with Richard, and then she disappeared. So, I’m really hoping that you might have some piece of vital information that would help me clear her name.”
Geoffrey gave me a sympathetic smile. “I heard what happened to your friend. I’m sorry she’s missing. For what it’s worth, I don’t think she killed my roommate.”
“Thank you.” I beamed at him, and Paige scoffed from the other side of the table. “Now, what can you tell me about your arrival?”
“Well, I got here around lunchtime. Richard had already set up in our room, and was down on the pitch with his dragon,” he began.
“Do the dragons belong to the school or the student?” I asked, curious, thinking of how Lilia had carried Dip in a cat carrier. “Do they transport them in horse trailers?”
Geoffrey snorted a laugh. “Most of the dragons belong to the school. Richard’s was his, but he stables him here over the summer. I believe the dragons travel by portal, out in the stables, but I never asked.”
“Fascinating,” I said, leaning closer. “I only just learned that this sport even existed,” I confided in him.
His face twisted up in a half grimace. “You should try living with one of the team members. It’s literally all they talk about, other than their conquests off the field.” He shrugged. “Or maybe that was just Dick.”
I cocked my head at him. “It doesn’t sound like you two were all that close,” I said.
“We weren’t. His interests and mine differed greatly,” he said with a sigh.
“So you were paired randomly in your first year?” I asked.
“Yeah. I tried to switch rooms, but there wasn’t room for me anywhere else,” he said with a frown.
“Are your current roommates okay?”
“They’re fine.” He shrugged again. “I don’t know them very well. We keep to ourselves mostly. I haven’t seen Justin since we got here, actually.”
My ears perked up. “Justin... Is he in camouflage?”
“He is,” Geoffrey confirmed. “Do you know him?”
I shook my head. “No, but he’s one of the students that’s considered missing.”
“Missing?” Geoffrey’s eyebrows rose. “Like your roommate?”
“I’m not sure if they’re related, but yes.”
“Can we get back to the murder?” Paige drawled. “I want to know if you had a motive for killing Dick, as you call him.”
“Uhhh,” Geoffrey stammered, eyes flicking from Paige to me and back again.
“For— Ugh! That is not something you can ask someone!” I practically shouted. I took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Were you having any issues with him beyond not getting along very well?”
Geoffrey blushed. “He bullied me. There are records of the incidents in the office. It’s not common knowledge, I guess, but the staff all know about it.”
“And they continued to force you to live with him?” I said, outraged. “That’s... That’s...” I seethed for a second. “I can’t believe they did that to you!”
“Yeah, well,” he shrugged. “It was his word against mine, right?”
Paige squirmed excitedly in her seat. “His word against yours, but he can’t say anything now that he’s dead. Is that why you killed him?”
“Paige, knock it off!” I patted Geoffrey’s arm again, hoping to console him. All his color had blanched out of his face. “She’s just after everyone without a shred of proof. Don’t stress, please. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Geoffrey shook his head slightly. “I wish you luck in finding your friend. I’m sorry I can’t help. I didn’t see her at all the day we got here after the ferry.”
“You were on the ferry with her?” I asked eagerly. “Did she travel all right? I was so worried about her!”
“She had a miniature bonsai that she held the entire trip, her eyes closed and hands on the trunk,” Geoffrey said with a chuckle. “She looked pale, but managed to walk off the boat on her own two feet.”
“That’s a relief,” I said with a sigh. “I’m glad that trick works so well.” I stood up. “Sorry to have interrupted your lunch. I hope your afternoon goes well.”
I started to walk away and then noticed Paige was still sitting across from him. “Leave him alone,” I snapped.
Paige rolled her eyes but got to her feet and joined me. “We got a lot of information out of him. Now all we need is proof!” she said gleefully.
“I am taking no part in your so-called investigation,” I snapped. “You can’t just go around accusing everyone of murder and then find the proof afterward! It’s cruel.”
She shrugged. “It’s working so far.”
“Really,” I said dryly. “Where’s your proof that Hazel did it, then?”
“Oh, I don’t think she did any more. There wasn’t any proof. But Geoffrey... I wonder if we can sneak into his room to find the murder weapon?”
I scowled at her. “I don’t approve of your methods. Leave me out of it.” I stalked away from her back to our table, where Bruce was sitting with Una. “Any luck?” I asked them.
Bruce nodded. “Justin is roommates with Geoffrey.”
“Ugh, that’s right, he is!” I stomped my foot slightly. “I forgot to ask him when he was last seen.”
Bruce got to his feet. “No worries. I’ll go.”
“Thanks. I need to get to Herbology. I want to ask Professor Calderwood about Hazel.”