Chapter 32

"A complete mess... far too lenient... utter chaos... I've had enough..."

As Filch walked, he kept muttering under his breath. With a thoroughly displeased expression, he dragged James along in front of him, clearly looking as though he had suffered a severe blow.

Snape supported Pandora as they followed behind them.

By the time they reached the entrance to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey was already waiting there.

"Come in quickly," she said. "Professor McGonagall told me you needed treatment."

After helping Madam Pomfrey settle the three of them into separate beds, Filch shuffled away.

When Madam Pomfrey saw the bandage on James's hand, her eyes lit up. "Potter, your arm's been bandaged quite well. After all those previous incidents, why couldn't you have treated it yourself first?"

"I did it," Snape said. "I don't know how to set bones, so this was the best I could do."

"Very good," Madam Pomfrey said approvingly. "At last, a student who knows some basic medical common sense."

But the next moment, she shot Snape a stern glare. "It would be even better if you didn't keep getting yourselves injured!"

Madam Pomfrey was highly skilled. It took her only a second to set James's bone.

Then she carefully examined Snape and Pandora as well, finally determining that neither of them had suffered any serious injuries.

Snape's tailbone had merely been bruised in the fall, so he had to lie facedown for treatment.

Only after his vehement protests did Madam Pomfrey agree to draw the curtains during the treatment, so the other two would not see him.

"Madam Pomfrey, we're fine now." After the treatment, Snape raised his head and asked, "May we leave?"

"No," Madam Pomfrey said firmly. "Professor McGonagall instructed that you stay in the Hospital Wing and go nowhere else."

Seeing that Snape still wanted to say something, she immediately added, "If you refuse to behave, perhaps you'd like some Sleeping Draught. It can give you a dreamless sleep until tomorrow morning."

"No need." Snape shook his head like a rattle. "I'll stay here."

He did not know how much time had passed before Snape began to feel dull-headed and drowsy.

The ward was utterly quiet. His eyelids kept drooping, and everything around him grew hazy. The ward lamps seemed to be blinking at him amiably through the curtains.

He felt as though his body were sinking deeper and deeper into a warm feather mattress...

"We need to ask them."

"Can't it wait until morning?"

"You'll wake them up!"

Snape woke up to the sound of people speaking quietly outside the door.

The room was still dimly lit. He thought it had to still be nighttime, and he did not think he had slept for very long.

Madam Pomfrey angrily pushed open the ward door and led Dumbledore inside.

"We meet again," Dumbledore said kindly, a gentle smile on his face. "This has certainly been a lively night."

"Professor." Snape immediately pushed himself upright. "You're back. Is everything all right?"

"Don't be hasty, Severus. You, James, and Pandora—if you've rested enough, come to my office with me."

Ignoring Madam Pomfrey's silent protest, the group left the Hospital Wing and made their way to the Headmaster's office.

The password for the Stone Monster at the office entrance had not changed. It was still Lemon Drops.

Snape and James were already familiar with this place, but it was Pandora's first time here.

She looked around curiously. Walking up to a portrait of an Old Headmaster pretending to sleep, she copied him by squinting one eye open to peek. When she noticed someone watching her, she hurriedly shut it again.

She even tried to touch Fawkes with a finger, forcing the phoenix to leave its perch and circle the room for a while before gracefully landing on Dumbledore's shoulder and lightly preening its feathers.

"Sit down," Dumbledore said. "Pandora, you go first. What those two say isn't quite as reliable."

"Yes, Headmaster." Pandora still looked very sleepy, struggling to keep her bleary eyes open. "Severus and I went to a passageway on the fifth floor. We planned to—"

"—I planned to blow the place up," Snape cut in. "I asked Pandora to help me."

"It isn't your turn yet, Severus." Dumbledore gave Snape a stern look.

So Pandora continued, "I found traces of ancient magic there, and later successfully cleared them away.

"But just as we were about to blow up the passageway, Inferi—just like the ones Professor Gradelan showed us in class—crawled out from the stairwell.

"As more and more of them appeared, we wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But when we opened the door, Mr. Potter was outside. He hung Severus upside down.

"We were running out of time, so I hit my little bag with a spell, hoping it would destroy the passageway. Then we flew up..."

"Is that so? Why did you want to destroy that Secret Passage?" Dumbledore looked at Snape and asked.

"Professor," Snape said, "Mulciber has often been absent from the dormitory at night this term. I followed him through the Secret Passage to Hogsmeade.

"But I didn't know what exactly he was doing. So I had a bold idea: why let him keep acting freely? If he was using the Secret Passage to do bad things, wouldn't destroying it solve the problem?"

"That idea is a little too extreme, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly. "You should have gone to a teacher. But speaking of which, how did you discover how to enter the Secret Passage?"

"Sir!" James stood up. He was fully awake now, his face filled with resentment. "The Marauder's Map! He used the Marauder's Map to enter the Secret Passage!"

Clearly, James no longer cared about keeping it secret. That was understandable, though. Since it had been confirmed that the Marauder's Map was in Snape's hands, even having it confiscated by the Headmaster was better than letting Snape keep it.

Snape was furious at James's spiteful, self-defeating move.

He reluctantly took a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore accepted the parchment, examined both sides, and said softly, "A blank piece of parchment."

Then, he held his wand between his fingers, unfolded the parchment, and spread it flat on the table.

"Reveal your secrets!" Dumbledore said, pointing his wand at the parchment.

There was no reaction whatsoever.

Snape suddenly found himself looking forward to what might happen next.

James looked a little nervous, his hands tightly twisted together in front of him.

"Show your true form!" Dumbledore said, forcefully tapping the map.

The paper remained completely blank.

Snape was secretly overjoyed, but desperately held back his laughter.

"Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of this school, commands you to reveal the hidden information!" Dumbledore said, tapping the map with his wand.

As if an invisible hand were writing, words appeared across the map's smooth surface.

Beads of sweat the size of beans broke out on James's forehead.

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