"What kind of rubbish are you talking about?!" he exclaimed nervously.
"Quiet, Ron," Richie hissed.
The soldier approached the boys and gave them an openly disapproving once-over.
"Sir," he addressed Richie, "the password and countersign are correct. We are now under your command, sir."
"I need three men," Richard ordered in a firm, commanding tone. "Get down into the cellar immediately."
The soldier moved his right hand behind his back and flashed several hand signals. A moment later, two more bushes took human shape and rapidly approached the boys.
Harry and Ron watched the entire scene with enormous interest mixed with sheer amazement.
"Are those Muggles?!" Ron whispered into Richard's ear in immeasurable shock.
"Forget it, Ron. You never saw anyone," the young earl replied pointedly.
The soldiers swiftly descended into the cellar of Honeydukes. The boys followed them, and soon they all entered the underground passage.
Richard immediately began issuing instructions to the soldiers.
"Gentlemen, you have no doubt already been briefed, though I suspect you did not believe everything you were told. Just in case, I shall repeat it. You are about to change out of your clothes and take a special potion. For exactly one hour, your appearance will be altered beyond recognition. Keep track of the time. In precisely fifty-eight minutes, you must take a second dose. The same applies to the third dose, though I hope it will not be necessary.
"Your task is to provide us with an alibi. Remain visible to the students, but do not interact with them, so that no one suspects a substitution. On my signal, or in two hours and forty minutes if no signal comes, we rendezvous at the statue of the One-Eyed Witch."
"Your radio, sir."
The first soldier handed Richard a walkie-talkie.
While the improvised briefing continued, the soldiers efficiently stripped down. Richie pulled nine vials of Polyjuice Potion from his bag.
"Harry, Ron, I need some of your hair. A few strands will do."
"What's that?"
Harry Potter's question was entirely reasonable. The soldiers themselves were clearly curious about what they were expected to drink, but did not dare ask.
Richie answered:
"Polyjuice Potion. It temporarily changes your appearance to match that of whoever's hair is added to the mixture."
Without hesitation, the burly, naked men each downed a vial of potion containing one of the boys' hairs. Their faces immediately contorted in disgust, as though they had swallowed something utterly revolting. Then their bodies began to ripple and shrink dramatically. By the time the transformation was complete, the tunnel contained two Harry Potters, two Ronald Weasleys, and two Richard Grosvenors.
The doubles quickly dressed themselves in the school uniforms and robes Richie handed out from his bag.
Richie began removing his own robes, then paused for a moment beneath the astonished stares of Ron and Harry.
"And what are you waiting for?" he asked. "You did put on the ninja outfits, I hope?"
"Yes," Harry confirmed with a nod.
"Me too. It's very convenient that you don't feel hot in them," Ron remarked. "Though it's a strange feeling in summer — like wearing long johns."
Soon, the six boys emerged from the underground passage. Three looked like perfectly ordinary Hogwarts students, while the other three resembled miniature ninjas.
Richie turned to the doubles.
"Everyone studied the map of the castle and surrounding grounds?"
"Yes, sir," Ron's double replied smartly.
"Move out."
Harry, Ron, and Richie put on thermal-vision goggles. Harry had to awkwardly fit them over his regular glasses. Their doubles, looking somewhat tense, headed at a measured pace towards the stairwell.
"Activate invisibility, lads," Richard commanded.
"Richie, what about our bags?" Harry asked.
"Mine carries the same enchantment," Richie replied.
"So does mine," Ron added. "Dad has them made at work. He got one for all my brothers."
And indeed, all three vanished from sight. The earl's bag and Ron's likewise disappeared from the visible spectrum.
Using their thermal vision to navigate, the boys quickly made their way towards the forbidden corridor.
They had barely reached the staircase when the caretaker's cat appeared in their path.
"Think I should give her a kick? I've been wanting to do that for years," Ron whispered to his friends.
Harry shook his head firmly, while Richie gave Ron a light smack on the back of the head.
The three boys carefully crept past Mrs Norris. Though she neither saw them nor heard their footsteps, she followed their movement attentively with her head, apparently sensing them through smell and the twitching of her nose and whiskers.
They encountered no one else and soon reached the door behind which the Cerberus was hidden.
"No one's here. We can drop the invisibility," Richie said as he became visible again.
After slipping the goggles into one of the many pockets sewn into his outfit, he pointed at the door for Harry, who had also shed his invisibility.
Potter nodded and used his signature spell.
"Alohomora!"
Something clicked inside the lock. Ron reached for the handle, only to be stopped by Richard.
"Wait," Grosvenor said, then suddenly widened his eyes in astonishment.
Harry thought it odd when Ron began rummaging through his bag. What surprised him even more was that his fellow Gryffindor pulled an owl out of it.
"What?" Ron looked at his friends defensively. "It's an owl."
"An owl?" Harry stared at the ruffled bird in disbelief.
"An owl?!" Richard looked no less stunned.
"Well, yeah, an owl," Ron snapped. "What, have you never seen one before?"
"Why do you have an owl, Ron?" Potter asked.
"What if there are traps?" Ron countered. "Or the Cerberus itself… Worst comes to worst, we feed it the owl while we make a run for it. And if there are traps, are you going to be the ones disabling them?"
"Poor bird," Richard said sympathetically, glancing at the owl struggling in the redhead's grip. If not for the tape wrapped around its beak and Ron's firm hold, he would already have been pecked bloody.
"It's Malfoy's owl!" Ron replied with malicious delight gleaming in his eyes. "So I don't feel sorry for it."
(End of Chapter)
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