...and just like that, nothing happened. The Summoning Charm had produced nothing.

At this point, Brent figured he was just being overly-cautious. If a surprise attack was going to happen, it'd have happened by now. He'd had the piano lid open for quite a few minutes now, and he could clearly see inside of it. The clue, which he now knew to be the Sorting Hat, was just fluttering about practically begging him to free it from it's piano prison.

Feeling much safer than he did minutes ago, Brent ended his protective shields and spells with "Finite!" then stowed his wand back into its holster. On that note, the only object he now held in his hands was the brooch, leaving one hand free to simply pick up the Sorting Hat...

...which he did.

Brent reached into the lid of the piano, grasped his fingers around the black material of the hat, and then he gently pulled it out. Success. There were both clues, right there in his hands.