- Your radio, sir.
The first soldier handed Richard a walkie-talkie.
While the impromptu briefing was underway, the soldiers quickly unmasked. Richie pulled nine vials of Polyjuice Potion from his bag.
"Harry, Ron, I need your hair. A few strands will be enough."
- What is this?
Harry Potter's question was perfectly pertinent. The soldiers themselves would have been glad to know what they would have to drink, but they didn't dare ask.
Richie replied:
- Polyjuice potion, it allows you to temporarily change your appearance to that of the person whose hair you add to the base.
The naked, muscular men drank a vial of the potion, laced with boys' hair, without hesitation. Their faces twisted, as if they'd been forced to drink something vile. Afterward, their bodies began to liquefy and shrink considerably. The resulting transformation left two Harry Potters, two Ronald Weasleys, and two Richard Richs in the tunnel.
The doubles quickly donned the school uniforms and robes that Richie handed them from his bag.
Richie began to take off his cloak and froze for a moment under the astonished gaze of Ron and Harry.
"What are you waiting for?" he asked. "I hope everyone's wearing their ninja suits?"
"Yes," Harry confirmed with a nod.
"Me too. It's really nice not to feel the heat," Ron said. "It just feels weird for summer, like I'm wearing long johns."
Soon, six boys emerged from the underground passage. Three looked like ordinary Hogwarts students, and three looked like miniature ninjas.
Richie addressed the doubles:
- Have you all studied the map of the castle and the surrounding area?
"Yes sir," Ron's double replied.
- We broke up.
Harry, Ron, and Richie donned thermal imaging goggles. Harry had to pull them over his regular glasses. The doppelgangers, slightly tense, set off at a measured pace toward the stairwell.
"Activate invisibility, guys," Richard commanded.
"Richie, what about our bags?" Harry asked.
"Mine has a similar enchantment," Richie said.
"I have the same one," Ron replied. "They make them at my dad's work; he made them for all my brothers."
And indeed, the entire trio disappeared from the visual spectrum, and the Count and Ron's bags likewise became invisible.
The boys relied on thermal vision and quickly moved towards the forbidden corridor.
Before they had time to reach the stairs, they came across the caretaker's cat.
"Maybe I should kick her? I've been dreaming about this for a long time," Ron whispered to his comrades.
Harry shook his head, and Richie gave Ron a light slap on the back of the head.
The three boys crept carefully past Mrs. Norris. Although she couldn't see them or hear their footsteps, she followed them closely with her head, apparently sensing the scents and the movement of her nose and whiskers.
They didn't meet anyone else and calmly reached the door behind which the Cerberus was hiding.
"There's no one here, you can remove the invisibility," Richie said and became visible.
Putting his glasses in one of his many pockets, he pointed to the door for Harry, who had also dropped his invisibility.
Potter nodded and used his signature spell:
- Alohomora!
There was a click in the lock. Ron reached for the door handle, but was stopped by Richard.
"Wait," Rich said, then his eyes widened in surprise.
Harry found Ron's rummaging through his bag odd. He was even more surprised when his Gryffindor friend pulled out an owl.
"What?!" Ron looked at his comrades. "It's an owl."
"An owl?" Harry looked at the ruffled bird in amazement.
"An owl?!" Richard looked no less stunned.
"Yeah, right, an owl," Ron snapped. "Haven't you ever seen one?"
"Why do you need an owl, Ron?" Potter asked.
"What if there are traps?" Ron asked. "Or that Cerberus... If worst comes to worst, we'll feed her to the dog and escape while she's distracted. And again, you'll be deactivating the traps yourself?"
"It's a shame about the bird," Richard said, looking sympathetically at the bird struggling in the boy's grasp. If it hadn't been for the taped-up beak and the boy's firm grip, he would have been pecked to death.
"It's Malfoy's owl!" Ron replied, with malicious delight in his eyes. "So no big deal."
"Oh, well, if it was Malfoy..." Harry drawled. "Although I do feel sorry for the bird. It's not her fault that her owner is a jerk."
"Never mind the owl," Richard said, no longer paying attention to the bird. He pulled a small pistol with a very wide magazine from his bag and handed it to Potter. "Harry, you're the only one of us who knows how to shoot."