From the Eyes of the Werewolf

Filch's Forbidden Files

When classes resumed once again, Remus found most of his students returned with a lighter step and bold smiles from all the excitement they had encountered over the holiday. Class schedules and routines returned to normal without a hitch. Fred and George Weasley even received a detention on the first day back; something about fireworks going off in Transfiguration. They complained all through class on Monday about how they would be spending all Tuesday night with Filch cleaning out the broom closets...using no wands.

Harry, on the other hand, was not himself. He seemed out of sorts and a bit distracted in Defense Against the Dark Arts. His face was glum and there just was a lack of energy to him. Remus thought it had to have something to do with the Firebolt and how it had been taken away from him, but he was wrong.

After class Harry approached Remus tentatively and asked, "Professor Lupin...do you remember telling me that you could help me with anti-dementor lesson? I was wondering when we could start?"

Goodness...I almost forgot! "Ah yes. Let me see...how about eight o'clock on Thursday evening? The History of Magic classroom should be large enough...I'll have to think carefully about how we're going to do this...We can't bring a real dementor into the castle to practice on..."

No indeed. Not only did Dumbledore forbid the dementors on the Hogwarts grounds, but Remus also knew that a real dementor would be a very dangerous thing for Harry to face. He would have to find a good alternative. Maybe it would be possible to just teach Harry the Patronus Charm now and not worry about finding a real dementor just yet.

Besides, there were for more important things to worry about right now...like Sirius Black for instance. Remus couldn't get his mind off of the fact that Sirius had broken into the castle somehow. And now it looked as if he had managed to get a package to Harry. He was around here somewhere. He had been on these grounds and Remus didn't think he was far away. He had to be here... somewhere.

Sirius had to be found and soon. The person who could help Remus the most was Dumbledore...and that was one of the last people Remus wanted to talk to. Telling Dumbledore meant admitting to taking advantage of his trust. It meant admitting to deception beyond anyone's imagination. It meant possibly losing Dumbledore as a confidant. No, Remus could not go to him with this. He would have to find another way.

The only other option Remus could think of was to use the Marauder's Map. He had considered just making a new one. After all, he had been there to help cast the original spell to enchant the thing. But then, he wasn't quite sure of he could get all the details of the castle correct after so many years. It had taken the four of them over three years to put it together. Three years were spent finding secret passages and tunnels out of the castle. Three years adding details like which staircases moved, whose offices had hidden chambers, and which doorways worked as portals to opposite ends of the castle. Remus couldn't remember it all off the top of his head...after all, isn't that why they wrote them down on the map...so they wouldn't have to remember?

No, creating a new map would take too much precious time. He had to find Sirius as soon as possible. He needed to get into Filch's office, into his files, and take the map back. And he would do it Tuesday night when Filch was off with the Weasley twins serving detention.

***

Night slowly fell across the castle. The sounds of people walking in the hallways grew fainter and fainter until there was little to no sound at all. Peeking out of his office, Remus checked to see if the coast was clear. With a sense of excitement in his chest, Remus left the comfort of his own office and headed towards Argus Filch's.

Being a werewolf has advantages in cases like this, for with his heightened senses Remus could take in every creak of the floor as he made his way stealthily down the stairs. The dimly lit lamps that were scattered about the halls cast long, spindly shadows across the floor. A few portraits snored in their frames, unaware of the midnight prowler in their mists. Remus' eyes darted from left to right as he passed empty corridors and abandoned doorways. What would he say if someone spotted him out and about this late at night?

First rule in being a successful Marauder - always have an excuse.

That's how James managed to get out of trouble so often; he was excellent at thinking up reasonable excuses that made him look like a responsible student rather than a mischievous prankster.

As he passed the Great Hall, Remus noticed that the ghosts were quarreling again. It was common for Nearly-headless nick to argue with the Fat Fryer about which house would win the House cup, but never in such boisterous voices. Remus was so intent on keeping out of their view that he didn't notice the Gray lady floating right in front of him. He would have bumped into her if she had been solid, but instead, he passed right through her, chilling him to the bone.

"I beg your pardon, Sir," she said in her light, airy voice.

"No, no...excuse me. I didn't see you there."

"A common occurrence for many of us. Might I ask what you are doing up at this hour of night? We don't usually see human folk out this late. That is, of course, other than Mr. Filch."

Remus' heartbeat quickened at the mention of Filch's name. "No, but I have important business to attend to that can only be dealt with in the dark of night" answered Remus, smiling rather mysteriously. It sounded like an excuse Dumbledore would give. Remus only hoped the Gray Lady wouldn't press him for more information.

She didn't. In fact, she winked at him and floated off to try and break up the fighting that was still going on between the other House Ghosts. Before he left, Remus noted that the Bloody Barron had joined the fray and was taking great pleasure in tormenting the others about the frequency of Slytherin's wins in recent years.

Down the hall, down the stairs, and to the left...

Remus rounded the corner and set his sights on his goal - the door to Filch's office. He had encountered no problems in getting this far. His plan was working perfectly. That's usually when the bottom falls out from under you. A loud hissing sound from behind him alerted him to the fact that he was no longer alone. Mrs. Norris stood facing him, spitting and poised for attack. Remus squinted at the cat. Werewolves and cats didn't get along very well, and Mrs. Norris had never made an attempt to be friendly with Remus. So he took his wand out and pointed it at her threateningly.

"Go away, you mangy cat!" Remus whispered. The cat spit at him again and dug at the ground with her claws. As tempting as it was, Remus knew he couldn't get away with actually doing anything to Mrs. Norris. He had meant it as a threat to scare her away. As that didn't work, he resorted to the tried and true way of causing a diversion...he lied. "You know, I saw three students down in the Great Hall earlier. I asked them to head back to their rooms, but I think they were up to something. Maybe you should go..." before he said anything further, Mrs. Norris was off to hunt her prey. Remus knew that it wouldn't be long before Filch arrived however, for Filch was never far from Mrs. Norris.

Remus jiggled the doorknob and he wasn't surprised to find it locked. He squinted at it, wondering if it was jinxed. It would be just like Filch to protect his office with several spells and booby traps. But then...Filch was a squib. James had found it out when they were in their second year. Maybe all Filch could do was a simple spell? Pointing his wand at the locked doorknob, Remus quietly said, "Alohamora". A lock, that had been invisible until now, sprang open. Smiling, Remus grabbed at the doorknob and tried to pull the door open. It was still locked. "Alohamora," Remus said again, and another unseen lock popped open. Five times Remus had to do this until finally the door came open with a heavy pull.

That was easy...too easy.

The room was dark and the air was thick with the stench of rotten fish. Probably left over from Mrs. Norris' dinner. Being careful not to enter the room just yet, Remus lit the small, hanging lamp in the center of the room with a wave of his wand and glanced around. There, above his head, was the suspected booby trap. Filch had hung a rope net that would fall on an unsuspecting victim if they weren't careful. Lucky for Remus he saw it before triggering the trap. A disabling charm was all it took and Remus could safely enter the room.

He hadn't taken two steps into the room when a loud rattling of metal caused him to turn around, startled. Charging at him from the corner of the room was a suit of armor. Remus quickly noted that the sword the knight was swinging did indeed look sharp. Backing away from him as fast as he could, Remus rounded the desk, pointed his wand at the knight, and said, "Dissendium!"

With a flash the knight shrunk to the size of a tiny chess piece. He charged at Remus' foot, still swinging his sword. Before the knight could do any real damage to his shoe, Remus picked up the miniature knight and placed him on the desk, under an upside down mug that obviously was Flich's favorite. Wiping the beads of sweat off of his forehead, Remus glanced around the room.

Not much had changed since the last time he had been in here...the last time he'd seen the map. The carefully oiled shackles were still hanging on the wall behind the desk, waiting for the opportunity to capture some young student in their grip. The files against the other walls had grown in number and had been slightly rearranged. The drawer of honor held in reserve for the Marauders - specifically Sirius - was now labeled: "WEASLEY: FRED & GEORGE". Remus stifled a laugh and continued his search. Against the wall on the opposite side of the room stood the most coveted of all of Filch's files. "CONFISCATED AND HIGHLY DANGEROUS". Remus had no idea what all he would find in that cabinet, but he knew the map had been placed in there almost 15 years ago on the night that Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup in his seventh year.

Everyone had been celebrating that night. Some, including Sirius, took it upon themselves to throw a "private party for two". He had swiped the map and ran off somewhere with Alasta Harker, one of the Gryffindor team's Chasers. James, Remus, and Peter slipped under the Invisibility cloak and headed off to spy and hopefully disrupt Sirius' little soirée.

Sirius had taken Alasta into the Owlery. There, the stars could be seen bright and clearly as there really was no roof overhead. It was one of Sirius' favorite spots for "romance"...that and the astronomy tower. For in both places he would be able to point out the star for which he was named, and girls always found that to be romantic. James had told him time and again to get a new line, but Sirius said, "If it's not broken, then why fix it?"

Once James, Peter, and Remus reached the Owlery, they successfully managed to utterly infuriate a half naked Sirius, but they didn't really prepare for how Alasta would react. She screamed so loudly that Filch was bounding up the stairs in no time at all. They all scampered off in different directions. Sirius, tripping over his trousers, grabbed Alasta's wrist and pulled her down the set of stairs on the north side of the tower. James ordered Peter, who was closest to the map, to grab it and run. James and Remus distracted Filch by shooting sparks at a few of the owls, which began swooping around with their claws barred. Remus distinctly remembered watching Peter pick up the map off the ground before he and James followed Sirius back to the common room. However, when they arrived at the portrait hole they found Mr. Filch waiting for them...and he was holding the map! At some point in all the commotion, Peter had unknowingly and quite carelessly dropped the map.

Filch brought the five students to his office where he handed out detentions and took 20 points each from Gryffindor. That was 100 points total and it ruined the lead they had earned by winning the Quidditch Cup. But worst of all, five sets of miserable eyes watched unhappily as Filch placed the parchment in his files and locked the cabinet.

Thankfully, Sirius had wiped the map blank, so they didn't have to worry about Filch ever figuring out how to work it. If his suspicions were correct, Remus would be able to open up the cabinet and find an old, yellowed piece of parchment still tucked away safely within.

Slowly, trying to keep as quiet as was possible, Remus opened up the drawer and bent over it to have a look inside. Suddenly, a bright glow popped up over Remus' head filling the whole room with white light. It was the moon...a full moon...but...how? It pressed down on Remus, growing closer and closer to him. In his confusion, Remus backed away from it and tripped over a large, empty packing case on the ground.

It's a Boggart.

"Riddikulus!" Remus shouted, pointing his wand at the moon. With a pop it turned into a wedge of cheese and Remus was able to easily force it into the box he had conveniently stumbled over. A moment later and the Boggart was sealed into its new cage. He paused and brushed his hair out of his eyes before turning his attention back to the files.

One by one Remus began fingering through the mass of pages. There was note after note concerning Fred and George, a few fake wands that had gone off and done some damage to a few of the files, and even a list of ingredients for a Memory Wipe Potion...but Remus saw no sign of the map. He went through the whole lot once more, but to no avail. Finally, he pointed his wand at the drawer and said, "Accio Map."

Nothing....

"Damn," Remus muttered under his breath. Where could it be? It HAS to be in here.

A sound out in the hallway caused Remus to jump. The sound of footsteps drawing close alerted him that he needed to get out of there quickly. He pushed the drawer shut, snuffed out the light and headed for the door.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

It was Filch...being led by a haughty Mrs. Norris. Remus felt his stomach lurch at the sound of the voice. How could he explain this? Here he was standing in the middle of the last place he should be! Filch would have no problem taking this intrusion up with Dumbledore. Even a teacher has no right to go snooping through another staff members personal office.

Think, man, think. What are you doing here?

The Boggart in the box gave a sudden rattle.

That's it! "I chased this Boggart down from one of the classrooms. Rather nasty this one was. I managed to stuff him up in that box you had. I'll take him away if you would like. Or, if you would rather, I can leave him here for you to do with as you please."

Filch sneered at Remus, his eyes darting from Remus' face to the box shaking on the floor. "That'll be quite all right. No need to leave it here."

Pleased with himself, Remus smiled and picked up the box. Just as he headed past Filch the Boggart rattled again and Filch went soaring back with a great leap into his office. Remus laughed at kept walking up to his own office. There was a cupboard under his desk that he felt would be a more comfortable place for the Boggart to stay. Besides, with a Boggart, Remus wouldn't have to worry about how to get a dementor into the castle. Harry could learn the Patronus charm on a Boggart dementor for now.

But there was this nagging feeling still in the back of his mind. He hadn't managed to find the map. He didn't know where it was. Sirius had placed and anti burning charm on it after an incident where it almost caught fire, so Remus knew Filch hadn't burnt it. Lily once grabbed it from James and tore an edge off, at which point James placed an anti-ripping charm on it. There was no way Filch could have ripped it up. It HAD to be somewhere. If the map wasn't in Filch's files, someone had taken it out...

But who?