Marauder's Map

Before long, it was time for dinner again.

The food at ordinary dinners was naturally not as lavish as the feast at the start of term, but even so, there was more than enough on the plates to fill every young wizard's stomach.

After dinner, Linley arrived at the Prizes Display Room on the fourth floor as promised.

To his surprise, Fred and George seemed to have been waiting there for quite some time. They were sitting on the floor with a Stink Pellet placed between them, apparently discussing something.

When they saw Linley arrive, the two put away the Stink Pellet and got to their feet, dusting themselves off.

"You're finally here, Linley! Come over and take a look at our greatest treasure!"

George said with a grin as he gently shut the door to the Prizes Display Room.

Fred dramatically pulled a large square piece of parchment from inside his robes. It looked extremely worn, and there was absolutely nothing visible on it.

Anyone who saw this parchment would probably think it was nothing more than an ordinary piece of unwanted rubbish.

But Linley was different. Having read the original books thoroughly, he naturally knew that this parchment was the legendary Marauder's Map.

"What is this? I can sense magical fluctuations from this parchment. It doesn't seem to be ordinary parchment."

Linley asked despite already knowing the answer.

"Sharp eye! This is our secret to success!" George lovingly stroked the parchment as though he were caressing his girlfriend.

Fred said, "This is our secret weapon for roaming Hogwarts. It's helped us discover plenty of secret passages even Filch doesn't know about, and it keeps us from getting caught when we pull pranks."

Linley shrugged, gesturing for them to demonstrate.

George drew his wand, lightly tapped the parchment, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

In an instant, fine ink lines spread from the spot George's wand had touched like a spiderweb, connecting and crisscrossing as they extended into every corner of the parchment.

Then words appeared across the parchment in large green cursive letters:

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, gentlemen who have dedicated themselves to aiding magical mischief-makers, proudly present—the Marauder's Map!

The map showed every detail of Hogwarts Castle and its grounds. Most extraordinary of all, countless little black dots moved across it, each marked with a name in tiny lettering.

On the Marauder's Map, Linley could see Professor Snape pacing around the Potions classroom, apparently gathering potion ingredients; Professor Green standing motionless in the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, perhaps conducting some kind of alchemical experiment; and Professor Dumbledore taking two steps in the Headmaster's office before vanishing without a trace. Linley guessed that he had left by traveling through Phoenix Fawkes's flames.

Besides Hogwarts Castle, Linley could also see several strange passages, all of which led to Hogsmeade.

"There are seven passages leading to Hogsmeade in total. Filch knows about these four," Fred said, pointing at the routes on the Marauder's Map. "I believe only the two of us—no, the three of us—know about the other three. Try not to use the one behind the mirror on the fifth floor. It looks a little unstable. I'd bet it'll collapse within five years."

"And this one has its entrance at the roots of the Whomping Willow. I doubt anyone's ever used it. As for the last one, its entrance is through the hump of the one-eyed witch outside that classroom. Go through it, and you'll arrive directly in Honeydukes' cellar. That's the route we use most often."

Fred introduced Hogwarts' secret passages to Linley.

Linley nodded slightly. He planned to tell the Weasley twins about the passage beneath the Whomping Willow that led to the Shrieking Shack next time. For now, though, he had only just received the Marauder's Map, so there was no reason for him to know about it.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," George sighed, patting the map's title. "It's all thanks to them."

"Noble souls, tirelessly working to aid a new generation of rule-breaking students," Fred declared solemnly.

"Exactly," George agreed cheerfully. "Don't forget to erase it after you're done—"

"—or anyone else will be able to see it," Fred warned.

"Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' Then it'll turn back into a blank sheet of parchment." As George spoke, he tapped the Marauder's Map again with his wand, making the writing vanish.

Fred smiled at Linley. "If you ever need the Marauder's Map, just come find us. Of course, we can also use it to sneak out and have fun together. By the way, we're planning to take a secret passage to Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade this Saturday. Want to come with us?"

After their third year, Hogwarts students could visit Hogsmeade on weekends with a permission slip signed by their guardians. However, the Weasley twins were only in their second year and could not reach Hogsmeade through legitimate means, so the secret passages recorded on the Marauder's Map had become their way of getting there.

Linley shook his head. "I have an appointment with Professor Green at noon this Saturday. He's willing to give me some guidance in alchemy. If you don't mind, I can teach you the alchemy knowledge I learn as well."

The two were both rather surprised. They had not expected Linley to have already found his way into Professor Green's good graces.

"Awesome! Personally guided by a famous French alchemist—just what you'd expect from Linley!"

"You're amazing. Thumbs up!"

Fred and George applauded at the same time.

Fred said, "In that case, let's go to Hogsmeade together on Sunday instead. Linley, don't forget to bring us some alchemy knowledge!"

Linley smiled and nodded. "Sure. If one dog gets rich, we'll all bark together!"

Although Linley's words left them somewhat baffled, they understood what he meant and burst into hearty laughter.

"Oh, right. I may need to borrow your alchemy books for a while longer. Please let that Ravenclaw upperclassman know," Linley said. After all, the books in his hands had been borrowed from someone else by the Weasley twins, and he did not feel right keeping them for himself without concern.

Fred and George exchanged a glance. Then George said, "You don't need to worry about that. Yesterday after dinner, that Ravenclaw upperclassman came to find us and said he was giving the books to us outright. So go ahead and read them as much as you like. We can just borrow another copy if we need one!"

That Ravenclaw upperclassman was already in his sixth year, so his third-year Ancient Runes textbooks had long since become obsolete. He had no brothers or sisters either, leaving the books with no one else to pass them on to. He figured that rather than let them gather dust, he might as well do the Weasley twins a favor and give them the books.

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