The Marauder's Map Saga

James Potter pushed the mop back and forth across the dungeon floor. He moved further and further away from where Professor Payne was sitting. Finally he was far enough away that it was safe to use the two-way mirror.

“Padfoot, can you hear me?” he whispered into his mirror.

“Right, Prongs, I can hear you just fine,” said Sirius. “How’s your detention going?”

“Not too bad. Mopping the floor, then I have to clean cauldrons. Without magic, of course,” James replied. “What about yours?”

“Dusting books in the library. Ah-choo!“ sneezed Sirius. “Very boring, but if I speak quietly we should be able to talk to each other.”

“Was Moony resting when you left the dormitory?” asked James.

“Yeah, I think we wore him right out last night,” said Sirius. “That makes seven tunnels we’ve discovered, isn’t it?”

James paused to count, and push the mop back and forth a few times. “That sounds right. I wonder if there’s anyone else who knows about all of them.”

“We should document them somehow,” Sirius suggested. “Draw a map, save it for posterity.”

“But we wouldn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands,” said James. “Remember how Filch made us empty our pockets last week when he thought we’d been to Zonko’s to buy dungbombs.”

“Wait a moment, here comes Madam Pince,” whispered Sirius. The mirror went blank and James realized Sirius must have shoved it in his pocket. He thought about the map idea as he carried on mopping. He was almost finished when he heard Sirius’ voice again.

“Okay, she’s gone. She’s made me go back and do the last two sets of shelves over again. At this rate I’ll be here till morning,” Sirius complained.

“I was thinking, Padfoot, that we’d need an anti-tampering charm to keep the map secret,” said James, picking up the conversation where they’d left off.

“Excellent idea. Moony’s got an Advanced Charms book,” said Sirius. “We can look it up in that.”

“We need to make it work so that some people will be able to see the map and others won’t,” said James.

“But we don’t know the names of students that will come after us, so we can’t use an Identity Charm,” said Sirius.

“How about a Personality Charm?” asked James. “I think I remember hearing Flitwick mention something about a way to put a bit of your own personality into an inanimate object.”

“Brilliant! That way, those who are basically good people, but who want to break a few rules for a good reason, would be able to use the map. But people who would just report it to Filch, or Filch himself, wouldn’t be able to see a thing!” Sirius paused. “I bet there’s a book right here that will help us.”

“Just watch what book you choose. There’s a book in there that shrieks when you open it, and another that lets off a bigger stink than ten dungbombs,” James warned.

“Blimey, this book’s completely blank. Why would they have a blank book in the Restricted Section?” Sirius asked.

“I don’t know, but it gives me an idea,” said James excitedly. “We could print the map in some kind of disappearing ink, and use the anti-tampering charm to make sure people like Filch wouldn’t be able to read it.”

“We can buy disappearing ink at Zonko’s,” whispered Sirius. “Here’s a book that might help: After My Own Heart: How to Leave a Bit of Yourself Behind. It looks really old, it hasn’t been checked out since 1943 by a chap called Tom Riddle.”

“Does it tell how to do a Personality Charm?” asked James.

“It’s not a charm, it’s a potion,” Sirius replied. “We need powdered bicorn horn, Billywig stings, lacewing flies and shrivelfigs.”

“Right, I’ve finished mopping and I’m about to clean the cauldrons. I can probably nick a couple of these when I get out the cleanser, and the rest when I’m putting it back.”

“I’m signing off at this end, mate,” said Sirius. “The Ravenclaw prefect is giving me nasty looks for whispering while dusting.”

* * *

Back in the Gryffindor common room, James and Remus Lupin were bent over Remus’ advanced charm book when Sirius came through the portrait hole.

“Ah-choo!” sneezed Sirius. Peter Pettigrew handed him a handkerchief. “Thanks!” said Sirius, blowing his nose loudly. “The books in the library were very dusty indeed.”

“That ought to teach you to stay in bed at night where you belong,” said a snivelling voice from one of the overstuffed armchairs across the room.

“Severus’ been badgering us since I got back from my detention,” James muttered under his breath to Sirius. “You’d think he’d be satisfied that his tattling caused two of us to have detention, the ugly git!”

“Keep your abnormally large nose out of other people’s business!” said Sirius, raising his voice so it could be heard on the other side of the room.

“Hey, Snivellus, why don’t you go wash your hair?” Peter chimed in. As he spoke, Severus Snape got up from his chair and approached their table.

“You think you’re so smart, sneaking around at night,” Severus sneered. “I’m going to find out where you go on your night-time excursions, and you’ll be sorry you took such liberties with the rules!”

Sirius glared at Severus, his look daring him to threaten them further. Severus turned on his heel and sat down in a chair. Not the same chair he’d been sitting in before, but one closer and still within earshot.

“He wants to hear what we’re saying,” whispered Sirius, nodding at the book they’d been looking at when he’d arrived. “Might as well take this discussion elsewhere.”

“Right. Upstairs,” said James, and the foursome quickly gathered up their belongings and trooped up the spiral staircase to their dormitory room. Sirius was first inside, followed by Remus.

“Did you find an anti-tampering charm?” Sirius asked, as soon as they entered the room.

“Yeah, it’s right on page three-hundred-twelve,” Remus replied, holding up his Charms book. “There’s a diagram of the wand movements and the spell is explained.”

“And --” said James, drawing out the suspense and rummaging around in his pockets, “I nicked all the ingredients we need for the Personality Potion!” James held up glass phials containing the ingredients for the potion.

“Quick, hide them in your trunk,” said Sirius, nodding his head toward the door. “Here comes Snivellus!”

The room became suddenly quiet, the others not even trying to hide the fact that they’d quit talking because Severus had walked in. The only sound was the closing of James’ trunk. Severus glared at each of them in turn but didn’t say anything. They all got ready for bed in silence. Severus lay awake for a long while.

* * *

When James awoke the next morning, Severus’ bed was empty. Looking around, he realised Severus had left the dormitory already. “Hey, Padfoot, we can make plans. The nosey little git is gone.”

“Brilliant. What a great way to start the day,” replied Sirius.

“We need to set up a cauldron somewhere to make the potion,” said Remus. “And we need to get the disappearing ink.”

“How will we make the ink appear and disappear at the right times?” asked Peter.

“We’ll use a switching charm! Didn’t you pay attention in Charms last week?” asked James impatiently.

“Time to get up if we want any breakfast before classes,” said Remus.

In the Great Hall, they chose seats far enough away from the other students to allow them some privacy. James noticed Severus sitting at the Slytherin table, talking with a couple of nasty Slytherin boys, Wilkes and Rosier. “Snivellus spends so much time with the Slytherins. It’s too bad he can’t just become a Slytherin himself.”

“Then he wouldn’t be able to spy on us so easily,” said Sirius darkly.

The foursome huddled over their breakfast, making plans for later that day. Across the room, Severus watched them with narrowed eyes.