Justin had been petrified!
Nearly Headless Nick had been petrified as well.
The attacker was terrifying-even Nick, who was already dead, could be harmed. Worse still, Harry had once again, by such a remarkable coincidence, appeared at the scene of the crime.
And he had been caught red-handed!
Now Professor McGonagall had taken him to Dumbledore's office.
Cyrus squeezed into the crowd with a slice of bread between his teeth, pretending to know nothing about the commotion.
"You came just in time, Ginny!" When Ron saw him, it was as though he had found his savior. The looks in his and Hermione's eyes made it clear that they hoped Cyrus could offer some useful information.
"Ginny, you went out with Harry. Did you notice anything?" Ron asked urgently.
"No? I went straight to the dining hall."
Ron immediately looked disappointed. Only then did Hermione explain what had happened-something Cyrus knew better than anyone.
"If we didn't know Harry, perhaps even we'd think he was the culprit."
"Harry Potter is the Heir of Slytherin, George!" Fred shook his head with a laugh and looked at his brother. George found it just as absurd, though they both thought the whole thing was rather entertaining.
"The most evil wizard in the world, Harry Potter, is a Gryffindor. We've beaten every last Slytherin now!" George said cheerfully. "What a shame we never happen to be there at the right time. Otherwise, we could find out who the attacker really is."
George and Fred's words immediately put Cyrus on his guard.
The Marauder's Map!
That practically miraculous map, with its bird's-eye view of everything, was perfect for tracking down a culprit.
Of course, the twins couldn't keep taking it out to check it all the time, since they wanted to keep the map a secret.
But what if they did?
What if they happened to take out the map the next time he planned to attack someone? Cyrus couldn't guarantee that everything would still unfold exactly as it had in the original story. Besides, Dumbledore already suspected him. If he intended to escape Hogwarts, the map would certainly come in handy.
Even just confirming Dumbledore's location would give him a much greater margin of safety.
So he immediately walked over to the twins and pulled them aside.
"What is it, Ginny?"
"I have a feeling she's up to no good!"
"I'm your sister. What bad intentions could I possibly have?" Cyrus said with an innocent expression. "Let me ask you something. How did I do last night? Didn't I give those Slytherins a good thrashing?"
"That's certainly true!"
"You made your big brothers very proud!" Fred and George immediately began playing off each other. Recalling the Slytherins' performance at the Duelling Club the night before, they said gleefully, "I reckon they won't be able to hold their heads up for the rest of the year."
"The rest of the year? I'd say they'll be in for it as long as Ginny's at Hogwarts!"
"Since I did so well, could you two do me a favor?" Cyrus had finished setting the bait. Now it was finally time to reveal the trap.
But the twins weren't falling for it.
"What does you beating up the Slytherins have to do with us?" Fred didn't even have to think to know that his sister was about to make a difficult request. "Ultimately, that gorilla Flint came after you to get revenge for your jinx."
"Exactly! Even if we go back a bit further, you only attacked them for Ron. So you ought to ask Ron for help," George said at once.
"But before the Duelling Club started, you told me not to go easy on the Slytherin students. Besides-" Cyrus sneaked a glance back at Ron. "Do you really think Ron could help?"
The brothers also instinctively looked at the rather clueless Ron.
For a moment, they actually found Cyrus's argument impossible to refute. "You've convinced us."
"-Especially with that last bit!"
They asked in unison, "All right, let's see what help our dear sister wants."
"Do you remember saving me on the first day of term?"
"You mean the secret passage?" Fred asked, playing dumb.
"No!" Cyrus raised his voice, then lowered it again, worried that someone might overhear their conversation. "I mean that way you have of knowing where people are without seeing them. Perhaps we could use it to find the real culprit!"
"Looks like our sister has her eye on the secret to our success, George!"
"I'm not surprised in the slightest, but no!" George said immediately.
In fact, Cyrus's suggestion matched their original idea perfectly, and they had already tried it.
"It won't work, Ginny. Nobody knows when that heir is going to attack. You can't stare at the map forever."
"We have to try!" Cyrus said. "There have already been so many victims, and Harry's being blamed. We can't let the culprit keep running wild! Give it to me! Otherwise, I'll tell Dumbledore!"
Fred and George looked deeply wounded.
"Did you hear that? Our dear sister is blackmailing us."
"I heard, Fred. There's nothing wrong with my ears," George replied at once, his face full of sorrow.
"If you don't want the professors to find out, hurry up and hand it over."
"No! We'd rather the professors found out."
Cyrus hadn't expected them to refuse to hand over the map even after he had gone this far. He simply couldn't understand it.
"Why? I'll give the map back once I find the culprit!"
"No!"
"It's too dangerous, Ginny. We don't want to hear that you've been petrified. Dumbledore said only someone well versed in dark magic could cast that sort of Petrification Charm, and you're only a first-year!"
The twins might seem a little thoughtless, but they actually cared a great deal about their sister.
"I'm stronger than both of you," Cyrus said sternly. "And do you really think I'm safe after beating and humiliating those Slytherin students? If the heir really is from Slytherin, he must hate me."
"But you're a pure-blood." Fred wavered.
"I am! But there's no evidence that this person won't attack pure-bloods, is there? The writing on the wall said, 'Enemies of the heir, beware,' not 'Mudbloods, beware.'" Cyrus's words left them unable to argue. "If I knew where other people were beforehand, perhaps I could work out who was coming to attack me, right?"
"That makes sense-all right-" The two hesitated for a while, but in the end, they decided Cyrus was right.
An attack you could see coming was easier to dodge than one from the shadows.
"Give it to her. We've pretty much figured it all out anyway." George nodded too.
Then they led Cyrus out of the common room. The blizzard raged on, and it was so cold outside that hardly anyone was still lingering about. To be safe, however, the two found an empty classroom and locked the door behind them.
Then Fred pulled a square piece of paper from his robes with a theatrical flourish.
"Honestly, I'm going to miss it."
"That's right-think back to those days when we were only first-years. Young, carefree, innocent-"
Cyrus laughed at once.
"-Aha, more innocent than we are now. We had a bit of a disagreement with Filch back then."
"So he dragged us into his office and started threatening us with his usual routine-"
"-And we couldn't help noticing one of his filing cabinet drawers. It was labeled 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.'"
"Well, what would you have done?" Fred said. "George threw another Dungbomb to distract him, and I opened the drawer straightaway and grabbed-this."
"It's not as bad as it sounds, you know," George said. "We reckon Filch never worked out how to use it. But he probably guessed what it was, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."
"Do you know how to use it?"
"Oh, yes," Fred said with a smug grin. "This little beauty has taught us more than all the teachers in the school."
He drew his wand, tapped the parchment lightly, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
At once, fine lines of ink spread like a spiderweb from the spot George's wand tip had touched, joining and crisscrossing as they reached every corner of the parchment. Then words appeared at the top in large, ornate green lettering:
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of aids to magical mischief-makers
Are proud to present
The Marauder's Map
The map showed every detail of Hogwarts Castle and its grounds, but its most remarkable feature was the multitude of little black dots moving across it, each labeled with a name in minuscule writing.
"Besides showing where everyone is, it marks loads of secret passages. The one we took last time leads to Hogsmeade. But we were worried you'd run off on your own, so we lied and said it was blocked. Now, though, we have to admit that you're really quite capable!"
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," George said admiringly, patting the map's heading. "We owe them a lot."
"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of rule-breakers," Fred said solemnly.
"Exactly," George agreed brightly. "Don't forget to wipe it after you use it-"
"-Otherwise anyone can see it," Fred warned.
"Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief Managed!' and it'll turn back into a blank sheet."
"Right, Little Ginny," Fred said in a pompous imitation of Percy. "Mind how you go!"
After taking the parchment, Cyrus immediately adopted an equally solemn expression. "Thanks. I'll give it back when I'm done."
Before you continue