"Alright," Harry Potter agreed. "So what do we do now?"
"In general? Study," Richard replied. "But if you mean right now, there's an idea I've been meaning to test for quite some time."
"What sort of idea?"
Harry was bored and ready for any adventure whatsoever, so long as it helped relieve the monotony.
"Tell me, Harry — does the living portrait actually control the opening of your dormitory door?"
"Well, yeah," Potter shrugged. "Why?"
A broad smile spread across Richard's face.
"Magnificent!" he exclaimed delightedly. "Absolutely brilliant! I'd had this nagging feeling for ages that I'd overlooked something. But this means the portraits are genuinely intelligent and capable of interacting with their surroundings somehow — opening doors, for instance."
"So what?" Harry asked in confusion, already too accustomed to the routine of entering the Gryffindor common room to think much of it.
"A sentient portrait, Harry!"
"Well, obviously. They're paintings of wizards," Potter replied with another shrug. "I don't see where you're going with this, Richie."
"Come along, my friend. Let's find ourselves a living portrait."
Harry nodded his agreement and followed after Richard. The castle corridor was cold and full of draughts that made the boys shiver. Before long, they stopped in front of a portrait depicting a man dressed in an elegant dark-green sixteenth-century doublet. The man's chestnut hair was thin and cropped short, his face gaunt, and his chin sharp. A massive cross hung around his neck.
"Good afternoon, sir," Richard addressed the portrait politely. "Would you happen to have a few moments to spare for conversation?"
"Young gentlemen," the man in the portrait replied with a courteous bow. "Poderick Crookshank, at your service."
"Count Grosvenor, Richard," Richard answered with an equally polite bow. "And Mister Harry Potter. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir."
"Oh, a Count!" Poderick brightened immediately. "The honour is entirely mine. Do you have questions for me?"
"Yes, Mister Crookshank," Richard said beneath Harry's bewildered stare. "If you do not mind, I would like to conduct a small test. Would you answer a few questions?"
"A test?" Poderick looked surprised. "Count, you do not strike me as a Ravenclaw. Still, go ahead and ask."
"Are you a wizard?"
"Indeed I am, Count. What reason could there possibly be to doubt it?" Poderick replied indignantly.
After that, a flood of questions poured from Richard. Some the man in the portrait answered willingly; others, rather less so. Roughly half an hour later, Harry Potter completely lost interest in the substance of the discussion. He stood there absent-mindedly counting the stones in the castle wall. He had remained in one place for so long that his legs had grown numb with cold and fatigue.
Suddenly Richard shook him by the shoulder.
"Harry, what are you zoning out for? Or have you found something interesting there?"
"Huh?" Potter turned towards his friend. "No, nothing. Are you finished?"
Richard was positively glowing with happiness. He nodded.
"Richie, what was all that about?" Potter asked. "Did you just want to chat with a portrait?"
"Harry, did you seriously not understand what just happened?"
"I'm hoping you're about to explain," Harry muttered, unwilling to admit that he neither understood nor particularly wanted to.
"Gladly!" Richard replied. "I just conducted the Turing Test on the esteemed portrait of Poderick Crookshank. And he passed all three stages!"
"Huh?!"
Confusion was written plainly across Harry Potter's glassy eyes.
"The Turing Test, Harry!"
"Er… what's that?"
Potter's question made Richard roll his eyes dramatically towards the ceiling and take a deep breath.
"Put simply, it's a test for artificial intelligence. And the portrait passed it. Do you realise what that means?"
"No…" Harry frowned thoughtfully and grabbed at his unruly hair. "The portrait's intelligent, right?"
"Yes, Harry, the portrait is sentient. Though it doesn't possess all the memories of the original person. But that's irrelevant. The important thing is that living portraits can make decisions and, through specialised enchantments, interact with reality. This is a breakthrough, Harry! All that remains is finding information about creating living portraits, and I'll have artificial intelligence in the palm of my hand."
Richard himself did not bother searching the library for information. That would have been a waste of time. Instead, he took the path of least resistance: he approached several older Hufflepuff students and announced that he would pay fifty Galleons for copies of books containing information on the creation of magical portraits.
Within just three days, five sixth- and seventh-year students had brought him an entire stack of literature. After copying the books, Richie sent them to Arthur Weasley with instructions to devise ways of creating an AI and using it to control magical artefacts.
As luck would have it, the very next day Hermione called him.
"Hello, I'm listening."
The girl's voice sounded excited and thrilled. She spoke quietly, almost in a whisper.
"Richie, I found it!"
"You found it?"
Hermione lowered her voice even further until she was barely audible through the receiver.
"Yes, I found the book we need."
Richard understood at once what she meant. He tensed like a cat preparing to pounce on a sparrow.
"Hermione, delight of my heart, meet me by the greenhouses after supper."
"Erm… the book isn't with me," Granger said sadly. "The charms… they didn't work on it. I think the book's enchanted."
"I see. In that case, we meet by the greenhouses anyway."
(End of Chapter)
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