The Marauder's Map

News of Snape's classroom accident spread through Hogwarts as fast as a Golden Snidget.

By noon, almost everyone knew about it. Wherever you walked, you could hear conversations like these.

"Have you heard?"

"What?"

"A Ravenclaw student's potion exploded in Professor Snape's class."

"Have you heard?"

"What?"

"Professor Snape's potion exploded in class."

"Have you heard?"

"I heard! Professor Snape... exploded!"

"..."

News that Professor Snape had exploded soon reached every corner of Hogwarts, and William, as one of the people involved, became a hot topic too.

He was described as the culprit who had caused Professor Snape to explode!

At the Sorting yesterday, William had called Snape a greasy old bat, and today everyone had been waiting for him to get what was coming to him.

But nobody expected him to blow Snape up instead... he was truly Hogwarts' number one Werewolf!

Before William could reach the Ravenclaw table, George and Fred pulled him over.

They raised their Pumpkin Juice, clinked their cups, and cheered loudly, "Let's welcome the hero of Hogwarts-William Stark! He got rid of Professor Snape, the worst of the three scourges of Hogwarts!"

The twins' loud celebration drew countless young wizards' attention. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they'd wiped out a Death Eater hideout!

At the Gryffindor table, everyone's face was glowing with happiness. Wood even shed tears of excitement.

It was clear just how terribly Professor Snape had tormented and humiliated him over the years.

Those painful years had left marks not only on his body, but also deep scars on his heart that would be hard to erase.

William was made to drink several mouthfuls of Pumpkin Juice before he could catch his breath.

"You spread those rumors, didn't you?" he asked, speechless.

George patted William on the shoulder and said with a laugh, "Brother, never mind the rumors. As long as you're happy."

"Exactly," Fred added. "It means that at least we won't have the old bat's class on Wednesday."

George handed William a cup of summer berry panna cotta and invited him to eat at the Gryffindor table.

"If you ask me, you shouldn't have saved Snape. You don't know how awful he is."

William smiled. He believed that, in those circumstances, any young wizard would have chosen to treat Snape's boils with the potion, including the twins!

He didn't pursue the subject. Instead, he asked, "Did Cedric tell you I wanted to make a map?"

George took a bite of sherry trifle and said, "William, to be honest, that's hard!"

"The biggest problem is that you need to know Hogwarts really well, and you don't."

"That's why I came to you two." A smile curved William's lips. "I'd wager even Professor Dumbledore doesn't know Hogwarts as well as you do!"

Fred burst out laughing and nearly choked.

George smiled and said, "Oh, well-give us a few more years and we'd definitely agree with you, William, but not yet."

Fred blinked. "We're still humbly learning ourselves."

As he spoke, he glanced cautiously around and whispered, "Come on, come on, let me show you a real treasure!"

"..." For some reason, William thought Fred looked particularly lewd.

The three of them put their heads together, and Fred carefully pulled his treasure out of his black robes.

It was a large, square, very old piece of parchment, with nothing written on it!

William really wanted to know why this fellow hid things in places that could so easily lead to misunderstandings... first the Niffler, and now the parchment. Didn't they dig into him?

Fred laid the parchment on the bench, glancing warily around as he did so.

William wondered if it was really necessary to be so nervous.

"Don't look at it like that, William," George whispered. "This is a mysterious magical object. It can lead us to the door of a new world."

William's eyes lit up. Could it be... a doujinshi?!

Pleased with William's reaction, George patted the parchment and explained:

"When we were in our first year, young, carefree, and innocent..."

William narrowed his eyes and glanced at the two of them. He doubted Fred and George had ever been innocent.

"Well, certainly more innocent than you. In our first year, we didn't attack Slytherins on the train or call Snape a greasy old bat at the Sorting feast..."

William hurriedly cut George off.

George cleared his throat and said with a sigh, "Although we were so innocent, we had a little run-in with Filch."

"We dropped a Dungbomb in the corridor, and for some reason, the bomb upset him..."

"So he hauled us off to his office and started on the usual punishments."

"Detention."

"Gutting us."

"And we couldn't help noticing his filing cabinet drawers. One of them was labeled: Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."

"So..." William smiled.

"So what would you have done?" Fred said with a wicked grin. "George dropped another Dungbomb to distract him. I whipped the drawer open and grabbed this."

"It's not as bad as it sounds, you know," George said with a laugh. "We don't think Filch ever worked out how to use the parchment. But he probably guessed what it was, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."

"Do you know how to use it, then?" William could hardly wait.

"We know some of it. We're still unlocking more," George said with a smile. "But it's a-"

"-map of Hogwarts!"

Hearing that it wasn't a doujinshi, William was a little disappointed. He was gradually forgetting why he'd come to the twins in the first place.

"What are you doing?!"

Just then, a stern voice suddenly rang out behind them.

Professor McGonagall had appeared behind the three of them at some point.

Her face stern, she repeated more forcefully, "What are you doing?"

William plopped down on the parchment map and answered, "We were discussing what gift to give Professor Snape. You know, he had a bit of an accident in class..."

Professor McGonagall's expression softened a little. "Mr. Stark, I already know what happened this morning. Well done. Professor Flitwick will be proud of you.

"However, if I find out you're planning any pranks..."

She glanced at the parchment beneath William's backside, then, after a moment, turned her gaze to the twins.

"You two will stay behind tonight!"

"What are we going to do, Professor?" Fred asked cautiously.

They had written two-thousand-word self-criticisms last night, and today they still had more punishment to endure.

"You will help Mr. Filch polish the silver in the trophy room," Professor McGonagall said. "No magic, do you hear me, Mr. Weasleys-all by hand!"

The twins trembled.

William drew in a sharp breath.

The Weasley brothers had tested the rules themselves, and Professor McGonagall was making an example of them... for the first time, William gained a profound understanding of Hogwarts' school rules!

You could break them, but you must never get caught.

A lesson written in blood!