Sirius guided them to a small cave in the hills that he had discovered on his scouting trips. From here they had a good view of the Rosier's' house. When they had descended and placed their brooms in the cave, Sirius said, "Somehow, we have to lure the dogs out of the house. Getting inside is impossible for as long as all five of them attack anyone who crawls through the dog flap. We can only face them outside". "I could jump into the garden as a stag and lure them to the open grounds. Then they're out of the way once and for all". Sirius nodded. But that very moment the decision was taken from them. The Dobermans crawled through the flap, stormed through the garden, jumped onto the woodpile, bounced over the garden fence, and ran off up the hill in the opposite direction.

The three looked at each other. Sirius said, "Ok, now let's hurry up". He pointed his wand at Mercuria and turned her into a small white dog with floppy ears and curly fur. James chirped, "What a cute little doggie. You're so sweet, little one". He bent down and tickled the dog under the chin. The moment Sirius yelled, "Stop that, James", the little dog growled angrily and sank his pointy little teeth deep into James' hand. "Ouch". James flinched back and stared at his hand in disbelief. "Look at this. This little devil. It's bleeding". He waved his hand to stop the bleeding. Sirius called out angrily, "For heaven's sake, will you stop this nonsense now, both of you. We don't have time for this". While James assumed his Animagus shape, the little dog ran down the hill. Suddenly it disappeared into a snowbank. Sirius groaned in exasperation, walked up to the spot were only the doggie's tail stuck out from the snow, reached down, and pulled the small animal out. He wiped the snow from its fur and placed the doggie on the ground. "Just sit down and don't you move again". Then he walked back to the stag, touched the protruding antlers with his wand and cut them off, leaving only two short horns with a sharp point. Finally, he put on their backpack and transformed. The huge black dog bent down to the small animal, gave it one friendly lick across the face and grabbed it by the back of the neck. Padfoot gave Prongs a quick glance and they stormed through the deep snow down the hill to the house. With one leap, they jumped over the fence and the woodpile and headed for the building.

The stag overtook the dog and knelt in front of the dog flap. He lowered his head and tried to squeeze himself through the opening. Halfway though, he got stuck. He could no longer pull himself forward, for the stag's hooves found no grip on the slippery kitchen floor. Prongs kicked his hind legs desperately. Finally, Padfoot bent his head and gave his friend a violent shove, which caused Prongs to slide over to the other side. Padfoot pushed the doggie through the hatch and squeezed himself inside. With his snout he carefully put down a latch to block the flap.

Having stepped out of the kitchen, they changed back to their human shape. Sirius led them along the corridor and cautiously opened the last door. He peered into the room and convinced himself that it was the right one. When he nodded at James and Mercuria, they entered and closed the door. As described in the letter, the portrait hung opposite the door. It showed part of the same library, they had just entered. The background featured tall bookcases. In front of these was an empty armchair next to which stood a small table with a tobacco box made of silver and the famous casket. For a moment, all three stared at the painting. Sirius took his wand out of his pocket and enlarged their backpack to its normal size. He put the minimised carton with the painting utensils on the desk and retransformed it too. Then he examined the contents of their provisions bag and set up breakfast on a side table. James and he made themselves comfortable in the chairs and started to eat. Maeve had packed only the best for them and soon they could be heard smacking delightfully. Mercuria hurriedly gulped down a sandwich and had a coffee before she fetched her sketchbook, a pencil, and a ruler from the carton. Then she pushed the desk chair in front of the portrait, climbed onto it and gauged the casket, before she scribbled the measurements into her sketchbook. She then sat down on the desk, the book on her lap, and made a detailed drawing of the casket. "Ok, this was the easy part. I know what the casket must look like when I paint it into Uncle Phineas' portrait. I will now start to remove it from this painting. Too bad. I was hoping it was a watercolour. That would have been easier. Oil on canvas is far more complicated and will take more time".

Mercuria was so absorbed in her work that she did not notice that an elderly man stepped into the portrait. His blond hair hung down in tangled strands. He was dressed in an elegant brown suit with a waistcoat, from whose pocket hung the chain of his watch. Around his neck he wore a bow tie, whose wine-red colour matched the kerchief in the breast pocket of his jacket. He dropped into the armchair, crossed his legs, and took out a meerschaum pipe. The pipe bowl was shaped like an elaborately carved skull. The man now opened the silver box from the small table and picked some tobacco from it. As he began to fill his pipe, he happened to look up and suddenly discovered the visitors in his room. Surprised, he hesitated for a moment. Then he leaned forward and seemed to consider what to make of the woman who sat on the desk. "Who are you? How did you get into my house? And what the hell are you doing here?". Mercuria flipped her book closed and looked up at him. "Mr Rosier, I presume?". He nodded. "We don't want to disturb you. We'll stay for a little while. Just relax, smoke your pipe, read a book, and don't pay us any attention at all". For a moment the man was confused. Then he started shouting. "Is anyone at home? Jacques? Rosella? Anyone?". Mercuria laughed. "They're not here. They are spending Christmas with friends and won't be back until the new year. So, it is useless to call them".

Mercuria jumped from the desk and searched in her box for her painter's palette, paints, and some brushes. "I need some water". Sirius casually waved his wand and a glass of water appeared beside her. Mercuria expertly mixed the paints and set the palette and brushes aside. With a scalpel in her hand, she climbed back onto the chair. Now she began to carefully remove the layer of paint from the canvas where the casket was to be seen. James, Sirius, and Mr Rosier curiously watched her. When the latter realised that she was about to remove the casket from his portrait, he jumped up, let go of his pipe, which shattered on the floor, frantically pushed the small table aside and picked up the casket. It was already missing a corner. Mercuria looked at him and said, "Mr Rosier, would you kindly put back the table and place the casket on it?". "I'm not even thinking about it. You want to make it disappear. Here, it's already missing a corner". Indignantly he pointed to the spot which Mercuria had already removed. "I will know how to prevent it from being completely destroyed. It has been in our family for generations". Mercuria picked up a brush and her painter's palette and suddenly pointed at the top of the portrait. "My God, what is that? It looks like a hornet's nest. It really does. I'm not mistaken". Her brush flew over the painting and a brownish hornet's nest appeared in the corner she had indicated.

Mr Rosier turned, stared at it for a moment, and tossed the casket onto his chair. He pulled his wand from his pocket, waved his hands in the air, pointed at the nest, and under his breath muttered incantations. Nothing happened. "You will remove that nest there at once, you cheeky little monster". "Mr Rosier. You will now immediately put back that table and place the casket on it. Otherwise, I'll paint a swarm of hornets in your portrait so that you'll never want to return to it. And what about all those books and folios there. Are they still needed?". Mr Rosier swung his arms like a windmill to stop Mercuria from brushing over the volumes. "Stop it, stop it at once," he cried, aghast. Mercuria continued, "Mr Rosier, I will now count to three. Then the table with the casket will be back in place. One... " She raised her hand with the brush. Mr Rosier placed himself under the nest and frantically waved his wand in its direction while he murmured incomprehensible words of magic. Flashes erupted from the tip of his wand incessantly and shot at the nest without causing the slightest damage. "Two ..." Mercuria moved the brush closer to the canvas. Mr Rosier plucked a folio from the shelf and flung it upwards at the nest. A small piece broke off. "The hornets won't like that. Three". She set the brush down on the canvas. "No, no. I'm putting the table back in place. Stop it", screeched Mr Rosier.

James and Sirius leaned back in their chairs and watched the spectacle with growing amusement. James whispered, "I knew that this little devil was trying to fool old Rosier. But I couldn't imagine how she would do it. That's really clever". They both collapsed with laughter. Mr Rosier called out, "And you. What are you laughing at? You are wizards. How dare you help a Muggle to break into the house of a pure-blood family and destroy it? What kind of wizards are you? Don't you have no honour? Filthy half-blood scum, that's what you are". Sirius beamed at him. "Sorry to disappoint you. But our family trees are just as pure as yours, old man".

Mr Rosier turned to Mercuria with his face contorted in anger. Then he bent down, picked up the side table and put the casket on it. He placed himself in front of the table. "First you will remove the nest". "And when I have done that, will you take the casket away again?". "You have my word as a gentleman and a person of honour". James and Sirius snorted audibly. Mr Rosier gave them an angry look but said nothing. Mercuria smiled. "The word of a Rosier isn't worth much. But ok. If you try to trick me, I will fulfil my threat and paint all the vermin I can think of into your room". She fetched a cloth from her equipment and carefully lifted the paint off. "Satisfied?". Mr Rosier hesitated for a moment, but then stepped aside to reveal the casket. While Mercuria resumed her effort to remove the piece, Mr Rosier bent down and picked up the silver box and the fragments of his pipe from the floor. Several times he pointed his wand at the smithereens and shouted, "Reparo", but his pipe was beyond repair.

It took Mercuria most of the day, but finally she had eliminated the piece from the painting. All the time, Mr. Rosier had been standing next to his armchair. With his face highly flushed and his arms folded, he had been watching for hours as Mercuria exercised her craft on the canvas. Now she pointed to the empty spot where the casket had been. "Mr Rosier, would you like me to paint something else on the table? A plate with exotic fruit, for example? That would give your portrait a cheerful atmosphere". James and Sirius exploded with laughter. Mr Rosier cast them a disdainful look. "Cheerful atmosphere? I'm a wizard and a gentleman. I want to look dignified in my portrait. At best, you can paint a book on the table. Cheerful atmosphere. That's just not to be believed". Mercuria painted a book on his table. Then she said "Please put the fragments of your pipe on the table. As you have kept your word, the least I can do is to fix it for you". For a moment, he hesitated and cast her a spiteful look. But then, with a grumpy expression, he placed the fragments on the table. When she had finished, the pipe was as good as new. Mr Rosier picked it up and scrutinised it thoroughly, while Mercuria stepped down from the chair and started packing her painting utensils into the box.

The man in the portrait bent towards her and said, "I can only warn you, you dirty little Mudblood. My grandson will hunt you down and kill you. We usually make short work of your kind in my family". Mercuria chuckled. "I know. But that would be downright stupid of you. Because how are you going to explain the whole thing to your grandson? That you gave in out of sheer fear of a hornet's nest painted in your portrait by a Muggle? You do know that I'm a Muggle, don't you? Do you seriously think your grandson would believe that a non-magical person can paint a Wizarding portrait? That's ridiculous. He'd assume you'd gone completely mad; don't you think? If I were you, I'd say you'd had enough of the casket and removed it from your sight. That would be clever. And you are clever, aren't you, Mr Rosier?". She laughed again and walked over to James and Sirius. "Get out of here, you scumbags. And right now!", yelled Mr Rosier at them. Sirius raised his wand and from its tip emerged a dark cloud that wavered in front of the painting. Mr Rosier's shouting and swearing became more and more muffled and eventually could no longer be heard. James packed their stuff into the backpack and shrunk it so that Sirius could carry it.

Finally, they left the room and walked down the corridor to the kitchen door. Somewhere a clock struck seven times. At that moment, loud barking sounded from the garden. "The Dobermans are back". Sirius said, "Now we have a problem. They'll pounce on the first one who crawls through the dog flap and maul him before he's halfway out in the open. What shall we do?". James said, "We remove the latch from the flap. That way only one of them can enter the house at a time and we can disable them one by one". Sirius nodded and opened the kitchen door. James and Sirius placed themselves in the doorway with their wands drawn. Then Sirius sent a spell at the latch which dropped to the floor. The dog flap began to rattle softly in the wind. The barking outside died away. They waited for several minutes before the flap was pushed inwards and the muzzle of a Doberman appeared. Hectically, James sent a spell towards it, but it missed its target. The muzzle disappeared and loud barking sounded for a couple of minutes. James said, "Damn. I think that was a mistake. I should have waited until it completely entered. Now they know that we are here". They waited and listened for the sounds from outside.

"If they are hungry, they will come inside". Mercuria said from behind "I don't think so. That they will be hungry, that is. We arrived here before sunrise and now it's already dark again. If they were really starving, they would have rushed inside immediately. And do you see a feeding bowl or anything like that around here? No, they are feeding somewhere outside". She sat down on the floor. "Guys, I'm very tired. Hopefully this won't take too long". They waited anxiously, but nothing happened. From the noises and an occasional barking, they concluded that the Dobermans had taken up position in front of the flap. After a while, James and Sirius also sat down and leaned against the wall of the corridor. Mercuria put her head in Sirius' lap and fell asleep. Sirius and James were fighting their tiredness too. As the clock struck ten, Sirius said firmly, "The Dobermans are just too clever. I don't think they'll try to break into the house again. They don't even need to. All they must do is to wait for us in front of the flap. If necessary, until their master returns. James, we're stuck. It's already ten o'clock. We've been waiting here for three hours already. We must get out of here as soon as possible".

James nodded. "Then let's try a breakout. If we run real fast, we have a chance to reach the woodpile. Once we have left the property, we can change back. As wizards, we'll easily dispose of them. I'll go first. If it goes wrong, you'll have to patch me up". He smiled sadly. Sirius shook his head. "Forget it. We don't stand a chance. The only way you'll get through the flap is by dropping your antlers. Your best weapon. And I must carry Mercuria, so I can't fight back either. Besides, we're not fast enough. It's a lost cause. We must come up with something else". Mercuria, who had awoken, said, "What if we opened the back door? Look, there are three bolts. One at the top, one at the bottom and one at the level of the latch. If we manage to unlock all three, then we can storm out. And James doesn't need to shed his antlers because he safely passes through if the door is open".

The two wizards discussed her proposal for a moment. "It might work". Sirius pointed his wand at the top bolt. His spell hit the latch, but nothing happened. Now James and Sirius tried together, but the latch didn't move. "Blimey. Rosier's damned clever. The deadbolt can't be opened by magic. We must unlock the door by hand. But the top latch is up way too high. Perhaps Rosier closes it only when the house is empty". James said, "Okay. That's not how it works. The Intruder Charm might go off if we open the door completely. Probably the only non-hazardous way to get outside is through the dog flap. The very fact that Rosier put such a strong charm on the top latch is a bad sign. If there is an Intruder Charm applied there, he would immediately know that someone has entered his house when the bolt is opened. Through the Floo network, he'll be back in no time. And most likely he won't be alone. Then we have wizards to fight on the inside and Dobermans to fend off on the outside". Sirius agreed, "You're right. Besides, Rosier will know that somebody invaded his home. And he will want to find out what exactly the intruder has been doing here. Sooner or later, he'll discover that the casket is missing from the painting. We must prevent this at all costs". Mercuria said, "I have an idea. Can you fix the flap so that it stays open?". They both nodded. Mercuria explained her plan to them. For a long time, Sirius and James refused to make an attempt. "It's just too dangerous. We could all die. Especially you". They sat down against the wall in the corridor again and sought another solution.