Chapter 16: The Marauders Map
Theo shivered as he lay in the warm dormitory, sweaty from his dream. He glanced outside. It was still dark. Theo looked at his watch, which lay on the bedside table. The time was 3:00 in the morning. He was about to close his eyes again, when suddenly, an idea came into his head. There was no way that Filch slept in his office so it was probably empty. 'But what if it's locked?' he asked himself. An answer immediately presented itself. Professor Flitwick had taught them the 'Unlocking Charm' last term and Theo had been able to perform it successfully. With this plan in mind, Theo snuck out of the common room with his torch and wand in hand, the blank map stuffed into his pajama pocket. As he crept past the kitchens, Theo was tempted to wake Patrick but decided against it. When he had reached the office, Theo paused for a moment to look around and make sure no one was following him. Once he was satisfied that no one was there, Theo walked up to the door, he took the torch in his left hand. "Alohomora," he whispered, pointing the wand at the keyhole. A small light filled the keyhole but it quickly faded out, leaving the door open. He was about to go in when he heard footsteps down the corridor, coming towards him. Fearing that it might be Filch, Theo quickly switched off his torch and hid in the dark. He waited as the footsteps got closer and when they finally reached the door, they stopped. Theo didn't dare to breath as he listened to the two voices talking. "Look, the door's open!" "The better for us. What do we have to say for writing to appear and disappear?" The two sounded like the voices of two boys rather than those of Filch and a professor. Theo sat still, waiting for them to carry on. There was pause before a voice whispered, "'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' and 'Mischief managed'." "Got it. Ready Al'?" Theo crept away towards the Hufflepuff common room and replayed what he had just heard. What were talking about? A password or something….but, no. That wouldn't make sense, since they were talking about writing. He sighed as he plonked down onto the couch and oulled out the blank parchment. Suddenly, an idea struck him. What if they had been talking about the map he was holding? And the words were to make the writing appear on it! So it was a map of Hogwarts! Excited by this thought, Theo quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it at the map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said quietly, tapping the map with the tip of his wand, repeating what the voices had said. He watched, amazed, as in the dim light of the lamps surrounding him, writing spread on the parchment, forming into words. "The Marauder's Map," he read unfolding it. Theo grabbed the map and ran to wake up Patrick.
"Look Patrick! It really is a map! Wake up!" he cried excitedly, pulling the covers off Patrick, who awoke and pulling himself up onto his elbows, gazed around him with a dazed look on his face. "Wha-? Is Christmas over? Urghhhh…" he was about to return to sleep, but Theo grabbed him by the arm. "Patrick, wake up! Look!" he yelled, shining a lantern in his eyes. Patrick sat up, his eyes half open. "Oh, yes, yes. Map is a…map," rambled Patrick. Theo let go of him realising that it was useless to try. He closed the dormitory door, as Patrick mumbled in his sleep. "Map, yes. Christmas is….Hagrid! You're an elf?"
Theo returned to his room and opened the map, carefully studying all writing. Suddenly, something caught his attention. Two feet, named Minerva McGonagall, had been walking down a corridor, when they suddenly disappeared, facing a wall. Theo stared at the paper, thinking what this could mean. 'Perhaps there's a secret room or passageway there. That could be where the Mirror is! We need to get inside that room. When Patrick wakes up,' thought Theo, watching as McGonagall appeared and walked off in the direction of her office. "Mischief managed," whispered Theo, watching as the writing disappeared and the parchment became blank again. He put away his wand and the map, turned off the torch and settled down to sleep.
Seven hours later, Theo woke up Patrick and explained his idea to him. Patrick watched in amazement as the writing appeared on the parchment. Theo pointed to the spot where McGonagall had disappeared. "You think the Mirror's in there? Remember what Hagrid said. It's protected," asked Patrick, pulling on a Christmas jumper. "Come on, let's go!" he said, handing the map to Theo to direct him where to go.
Eventually, they found the correct corridor. Theo walked straight ahead and stopped still, watching, as a huge wooden door, like any other door around Hogwarts, appeared in front of them. Theo put the map away and moved towards the door. He slowly reached out and opened the door, not knowing what to expect there. It was dark and as they stepped inside, the door slowly swung closed. For a moment, everything was dark. Then, by itself, the brazier to their right, alighted with bright orange flames that lit the entire tunnel in front of them. They moved forward, walking down a slight slope, which, by and by, led them to a large room. It appeared to be empty. Patrick gulped as he looked around.
In all the corners, there were huge cobwebs, thick and misty. Theo, who was too busy making sure no one was following them, felt Patrick tap him on the arm impatiently. "What?" he asked edgily, looking at him. Patrick pointed in front of them and following his finger, Theo saw what he was so worried about. Lying in one dark corner, was a huge, eight-eyed, eight-legged, black, hairy, gigantic spider. Theo gulped loudly. "Let's get out of here," whispered Patrick. Theo nodded and the both of them began to slowly back away. The spider appeared to be soundly sleeping. Theo sighed in relief and turned his back to the spider, walking forward quickly. He was stopped by Patrick, who gestured towards the spider with shaking hands.
The Acromantula, which had until now, been sleeping, was showing signs of waking. It's hairy legs twitched as it raised it's enormous head. They stared with horror-struck faces as one, then two, then five white eyes opened until all eight were wide open and observing them coldly. The two of them took a step back and broke into a run. Theo shuddered as he heard the blind spider's squealing and scuttling, as loud as a galloping horse. "Come children, come to Bulagirmán's web. It's a nice place to die," it called in a high, cold voice. Theo opened the door with a bang and pulling Patrick through, they both leaned on the door and pushed it as hard as they could. The Acromantula, too big to fit through the door, hissed and rasped, trying to get them with it's sharp pincers. With a big push, the boys managed to shut the door on it, and sliding the lock shut, they collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily, not saying a word.
Bulagirman's squeals eventually died out and when the boys helped each other up, they saw that the door had disappeared and they had been leaning on a stone wall. "Let me ask you a question; who keeps a spider like that locked up in a school?!" exclaimed Patrick, as they made their way back to the Homework Room. Theo shrugged. "It's probably guarding the Mirror, that's why," explained Theo, turning left. As they were walking down an empty corridor, Patrick heard someone coming. "Hide. Someone's coming," he whispered, ducking down a passageway, hidden behind a tapestry portraying a knight in armour slaying a vampire. Through a small hole in the fabric, the could see the corridor clearly. Theo furrowed his brow when he saw Transfigurantes stalk past them, his face serious. When he was out of sight, the two boys climbed out from their hiding place and returned to the Homework Room. "Where do you think he was going?" asked Theo quietly, as two boys passed them. "Probably to check what all noise was," replied Patrick, watching a tea cup dance around the pumpkin juice jug. Theo nodded. "Yeah, nosy-" he was about to say exactly what nosy, but Patrick interrupted him. "I agree," he said simply.
Over the course of the remaining school holidays, the boys relaxed and enjoyed themselves, knowing that the Mirror was definitely at Hogwarts. Theo's dreams still occurred every night, but he was less shaken by them now. Finally, the Christmas holidays came to an end