"Well," Ralph muttered, "there's always a choice. I mean, we don't have to do it this way, do we? Couldn't one of us just hide under the Invisibility Cloak and make the switch when Jackson's not looking?"

        Zane shook his head. "No way. There's too little room in there. Jackson would run you over doing one of his laps. If we're going to do it, this is the only way."

        "Look, I think we're meant to do this," James said, turning to face Ralph and Zane when they got to the doorway. "If there is such a thing as destiny, then that's what put that case in your hands last night, Ralph. We can't miss this opportunity. It'd be like… like spitting in destiny's face."

        Ralph blinked, trying to envision that. Zane scowled thoughtfully. "Sounds serious."

        "You two still with me?" James asked. Both other boys nodded.

        The case was still in the cubbyhole beneath the main staircase, and it was as similar to Jackson's as Ralph had described. It was a ruddy red color, and much more scuffed from having been dragged through the dirt and rocks, but it was exactly the same size and shape, with a matching brass catch in the center. Ralph had already stuffed his dress cloak into it, and when James opened it to check, it looked almost exactly the way the cloth inside Jackson's case had looked when it had come open that day in Franklyn's classroom.

        "Let's take it to the boys' bathroom in the upper cellars," James said, preceding the other two down the staircase. "It's just down the hall from Technomancy. Do you need anything special, Zane?"

        "Just my wand and my notes," Zane answered. Horace Birch had been more than happy to explain the Visum-ineptio charm to Zane, but there'd been no opportunity for him to practice. Further, the charm would only work--if it worked at all--on anyone who didn't know the charm was in place. The result was that neither James, Ralph, nor Zane would know if the charm was working. They'd just have to trust Zane's spellwork until the switch had been accomplished and Jackson picked up the fake case. Only then, one way or another, would the effectiveness of the charm be shown.

        In the boys' bathroom, James plopped the case on the edge of the sink. Zane dug in his backpack for his wand and the bit of parchment he'd scribbled the Visum-ineptio incantation on. He handed the parchment to Ralph.

        "Hold it up so I can see it," he instructed nervously. His hand was shaking visibly as he pointed his wand at the case. After a moment, he dropped his arm again. "This is all screwy. Ralph's the wand master. Can't he try it?"

        "Horace taught it to you," James said impatiently. "It's too late to show Ralph the wand motions. Class is in fifteen minutes."

        "Yeah," Zane protested, "but what if I can't get it to work? If Ralph gets it right, you know it'd be good enough to fool anybody."

        "And if he gets it wrong," James insisted, "we'll be picking bits of leather off the walls for the next hour."

        "I'm standing right here, remember?" Ralph said.

James ignored him. "You have to, Zane. You can do it. Just give it a go."

        Zane took a deep breath, and then raised his wand again, pointing it at the bag. He looked at the parchment as Ralph held it up. Then, in a low, singsong voice he spoke.

        "Light immortal speeds the eye, for understanding's vanity. Discordia, the fool's ally, make expectation's guarantee."

        Zane flicked his wand in three small circles, and then tapped the top of the case with it. There was a popping sound and a very faint ring of light appeared, emanating from the wand's tip. The ring grew, slipping down over the case. It grew fainter until it vanished. Zane let out his breath.

        "Did it work?" Ralph asked.

        "It must have," James said. "It looks the same to us, of course, but something happened, didn't it? The charm must be in place."

        "I hope so," Zane said. "Come on, we have to get to the classroom before anybody else gets there."

        They ran through the corridor, Zane and James watching for Professor Jackson and Ralph carrying the fake case with his winter coat draped over it.

"This looks stupid," Ralph rasped. "I look about as casual as Grawp in a tutu."

James shushed him. "It doesn't matter, we're almost there."

        They stopped outside the door to the Technomancy classroom. Zane peered in, then turned back to James and Ralph.

        "Plan B," he said under his breath. "There's somebody in there. A Hufflepuff. Can't remember his name."

        James leaned around the corner of the door. It was a boy he vaguely recognized from Muggle Studies class. His name was Terrence and he glanced up as James was looking.

        "Hey, Terrence," James called, grinning. He sauntered into the room. Behind him, he heard Ralph and Zane whispering. He tried to drown out their voices. "So how was your holiday? Travel much?"

        "I guess," Terrence mumbled.

         This is going to be harder than expected,James thought. "So where did you go? I took the train to London. Saw the family and everybody. Had loads of fun. You go anywhere fun?"

        Terrence turned in his seat. "Went down to Cork with my mum. It rained most of the trip. Saw a flute concert."

         James nodded encouragingly. Fortunately, Terrence was seated halfway from the front, turned around toward James. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Zane near Jackson's desk, positioning the fake case. Terrence started to turn back toward the front of the room.

        "A flute concert!" James blurted loudly. "Cool!"

        Terrence turned back. "No," he said, "it wasn't."

        Zane stood up, giving James the all-clear signal. James saw him and sighed with relief. "Oh. Well, sorry to hear it," he said, backing away from Terrence. "Anyway. See you around."

        Zane and James took their planned seats in the front row. It was a small classroom and Jackson's desk was only a couple of feet away. James scanned the front of the room, pleased to see that nothing seemed disturbed. He waited until a few more students came in, laughing and talking, and then whispered to Zane. "Where is it?"