The two stayed under the Invisibility Cloak and headed toward the floor with the bathroom. On the way, they spotted Mrs. Norris, the castle caretaker Mr. Filch's cat, and hurried out of her way.
As they walked, Ron said appreciatively:
"Harry, this plan of yours is really good. If I stay outside and tell the professors what you're doing, I can earn points. You'll definitely lose points for going in, so we'll come out even. That way, Professor McGonagall shouldn't be too angry."
Harry said smugly:
"This plan is called luring the snake out of its hole!"
Ron asked in confusion:
"But we're luring the professors out, not the basilisk."
Harry shook his head and tried hard to look wiser as he said:
"The strategy is called luring the snake out of its hole. Originally, it means tempting bad people into taking action so they expose themselves. But actually luring the basilisk out into the castle would be too dangerous for everyone else, so I had a flash of inspiration and used the strategy in reverse.
"I only came up with it because I happened to overhear Hermione and Percy talking about it."
At Percy's name, Ron said resentfully:
"I knew he'd be the only one who could come up with something like that.
"When it was Professor Holmes's birthday a few days ago, he secretly gave the professor a present all by himself without even telling us.
"I don't know what's got into George and Fred, either. Now they're actually starting to copy Percy. Ugh!"
As they talked, the Moving Staircase brought them to the third floor. The nearest staircase down to the second floor was near the Defense Against Dark Magic office. Both suddenly stopped, exchanged a glance, and backed away in unspoken agreement, intending to take the