James ignored him, still studying the wizard with the mustache and spectacles, who merely stared back at him silently. It occurred to James that the wizard only seemed familiar because, somehow, he looked like the rest of the paintings that had been watching him. But that was obviously ridiculous, wasn't it? There was the fat man with the bald head, and the thin wizard in the portrait of the portrait who'd had a great bushy blonde beard. All of the paintings he'd caught watching him were utterly different. A few had even been rather ugly women. Still, there was something about the eyes and the shape of the face. James shook his head. He felt so close to figuring it out, yet it remained beyond his grasp.
"Come on," Ralph finally said, grabbing James' arm. "Argue with the paintings later. It's steak and kidney night."
That weekend, James gave his new Thunderstreak a test ride on the Quidditch pitch. It was indeed an entirely different experience than riding any of the house brooms. The Thunderstreak was noticeably faster, but more importantly, it responded to James' direction with an accuracy and ease that bordered on precognition. James would merely think that perhaps he'd like to dip or turn, and suddenly, he'd find that it was happening. Ted explained, rather breathlessly, that the Thunderstreak was equipped with an option called 'Extra-Gestural Enhancement'.
"Basically," he said in an awed voice, "the broom can read its owner's mind, just enough that it only needs the slightest touch to go where you want it to go. It already knows what you want, so the moment you steer, you're already there."
James offered to let Ted ride the broom, but Ted shook his head sadly. "It's bonded with you. You're the owner. If anybody else tried to fly it, it'd go all wonky. It's a drawback of the E.G.E. option. Or a plus, if you're worried about people trying to steal it."
"Me wantee," Zane said in a low voice. "How much are they?"
"How much do you have?" Ted asked.
Zane thought for a moment. "Since I gave my last five to the house-elf doorman, er, nothing."
"It costs more than that," Ted said, nodding.
On the way back to the castle, Zane told James that he'd had an idea about how to swap the relic robe with Ralph's dress cloak.
"Meet me tonight in the Ravenclaw common room," he said. "Tell Ralph to come, too, when you see him. I'll meet you both at the door at nine."
That night, the Ravenclaw common room was unusually empty. Zane explained that there was a wizard chess tournament going on in the Great Hall. "Horace Birch is playing Professor Franklyn for the title of grand wizard chess champion of the universe or something. Unofficial, I'm thinking. Anyway, everybody's down there cheering him on. So have either of you come up with a way to get the robe relic from Jackson yet?"
"I thought you said you had a plan?" James said.
"I do, but it's pretty iffy. I thought I'd listen to your ideas first, in case they were better."
James shook his head. Ralph said, "I've been watching Professor Jackson. He never lets that briefcase out of his sight."
"Actually," Zane said, settling into a chair by the fire, "that's not entirely true."
Ralph and James sat on the sofa. James said, "Ralph's right. He even takes it to Quidditch matches. He sets it between his feet at meals. He's got it with him constantly."
"He does have it with him constantly," Zane agreed, "but there's one situation where he isn't exactly keeping his eye on it."
"What?" James exclaimed. "Where?"
"Technomancy class," Zane answered simply. "Think about it. What's he do all class long?"
James considered it a moment, then his eyes widened slightly. "He paces."
"Bingo," Zane said, pointing at James. "He puts his case on the floor by his desk, careful as always, but then he paces. He circles the room ten times a class, I bet. I've been watching. Takes him about a minute to make it all the way around the room, which means that for about twenty seconds, his back is turned to the briefcase."
"Wait," Ralph interjected. "You think we should try to make the switch right in the middle of class?"
Zane shrugged. "Like I said, it isn't a great idea."
"How? There's twenty people in that class. We can't have them all in on it."
"No," James agreed, "Philia Goyle's in that class. She's tight with Tabitha Corsica, and it's possible, even likely, that they're in on the Merlin plot. Philia may even know what's in the case. Nobody else can know what we're up to."
"Doesn't mean it's impossible," Zane said.
Ralph frowned. "You think we're going to be able to get into Jackson's case, swap the robes, and close it again, all while Jackson's back is turned for twenty seconds, and without anyone else in the class catching on?"
"Hmm," James said, furrowing his brow. "Maybe we don't need to get into the briefcase. What if we find another briefcase? We could stuff Ralph's cloak in it and somehow just swap the cases while Jackson's back is turned."
Ralph was still doubtful. "Jackson will be able to tell. He carries that thing with him everywhere. He's probably memorized every scratch and scuff on it."
"Actually," Zane said thoughtfully, "it's a pretty standard-looking leather briefcase. I've seen others almost exactly like it right here at Hogwarts. If we could find something close enough…" Zane suddenly sat up and snapped his fingers. "Horace!"
"Horace?" James blinked. "Horace Birch? The Gremlin wizard chess player? What's he got to do with anything?"
Zane shook his head excitedly. "Remember the Wocket? Horace used a Visum-ineptio charm to make it look like a flying saucer. It's a Fool-the-Eye charm! He said it just makes people see what they expect to see. If we found a case that looked enough like Jackson's, then put a Visum-ineptio charm on it, I bet that'd be enough to fool old Stonewall good! I mean, he'd never expect anything to happen to his case during class, so the charm should help him see the fake briefcase as his own. Right?"
Ralph thought about it and seemed to brighten. "That's so crazy, it just might work."
"Yeah," James added, "but still, how do we swap the cases during class without anyone else noticing?"
"We'd need a diversion," Zane said firmly.
Ralph grimaced. "You've watched too much telly."
James frowned, thinking of the Invisibility Cloak. "You know," he said, "I think I have an idea." He told Zane and James about finding the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map.
"You liberated them from your dad's trunk!" Zane grinned delightedly. "You little miscreant! Ted will want to kiss you."
"He doesn't know, and I want to keep it that way, for now, at least," James said sternly. "But the point is, I think we can use the Invisibility Cloak to make the switch without anyone knowing. It'll require all of us, though."
"I'm not even in that class," Ralph said.