After a silent dinner, Ezio and Harry returned to the Slytherin Common Room. Harry quickly checked that he had everything he needed: Potions, his wand, and the Invisibility Cloak. Then he turned to Ezio, who seemed utterly unprepared yet somehow ready at every moment.
"Let's go."
"Not so fast."
Ezio shook his head. "We need to let our food settle. Vigorous exercise right after dinner isn't good for you."
"Do you know what time it is?" Harry stared at him for a moment, unsure how to respond.
"We'll wait until curfew. Exams are over, and there are plenty of young wizards wandering around the castle. What do you think—could someone be thinking, 'I'm going home soon anyway, so it won't hurt to have a look on the fourth floor'?"
"You're right." Harry's expression fell. "If someone really is going to steal it, they'll probably wait until nobody's around."
"But what if they move too quickly?" Harry couldn't help thinking of another possibility. "We should stake the place out. We can use the Invisibility Cloak."
"Sure." For Ezio, lying in wait was as easy as having a fried dough stick for breakfast. In the later stages of the Trial Space, he'd usually chosen to speed things up by fighting his way from the south of the city to the north, then circling the city to rack up kills. But he hadn't forgotten any of the basic skills of an Assassin.
"But you'll need to be patient. Curfew is still hours away. Go to the bathroom first. I don't want you holding it until you wet your pants."
"Oh, right. Okay."
Harry left through the door, a little embarrassed. He hadn't thought of that.
After a while, the two of them left the Common Room at a leisurely pace and wandered around