Dodonus' enthusiasm for Ford's suggestion was enough to bring another smile to Ford's face, despite the realization that he was being handed a glass of scotch, which was perhaps his least favorite thing to drink. It seemed like the wrong choice for Dodonus, too, though Ford couldn't have said why he thought so. It was unlikely that the actual man had much in common with his stage persona, so it didn't make sense to make any assumptions about him based on what Ford had seen so far, but — well, he was making assumptions anyway. He'd already made them, and he couldn't discard them entirely even if he knew they were probably illogical.

The next thing that came to mind for Dodonus' show was some way to convey a written note instead of hiding a person, but that had the same issue of having him look in one place too often, with the added drawback that a sheet of parchment couldn't look innocent if a Muggle happened to glance backwards, like a plant in the audience could. "Well, some people use codes," he said conversationally. Ford glanced around and found a nearby chair to sit in, since this felt — distinctly less like work than it had a moment ago. "And you've already got the mechanisms for all the noises, so you could use them to have someone signal you. But obviously that's not half as sophisticated as being able to just talk to someone."