The true story of how the Marauder's Map was created is a strange one. It involves much sneaking about, some trickery, and a bit of late-night snogging. But that comes later. First is the beginning.
James glanced up from his Potions essay as Sirius came storming through the door to the dormitory. The other boy had a scowl on his face and slammed the door behind him before moving to throw himself on his bed. James raised an eyebrow.
"Get caught in a broom closet again, did we?" he asked. After all, it was only yesterday that the other boy was discovered snogging a Ravenclaw in the girl's lavatory.
Sirius let out an irritated sigh. "Yes, actually. But this time it was worth the detention. Who knew Hufflepuffs could be so talented?" Sirius' countenance rapidly shifted from annoyed to dreamy as James rolled his eyes. Apparently just the thought of a good snog could bring his friend out of his sour mood.
"You really need to work on your stealth skills. I mean, really, two detentions in one week for being caught snogging?" James criticized. Sirius shrugged it off and stared at the ceiling. James sighed and returned to the Potions essay he was supposed to be writing. The two measly paragraphs he had already written seemed to gaze at him morosely. James sighed once again. He was in for a long night.
"So I'm pretty sure Binns saw me last night," Remus said suddenly. James, Sirius, and Peter all looked up. Remus was staring avidly at his plate; the pancakes were particularly entertaining this morning, it seemed. Remus jabbed at them half-heartedly.
"What makes you say that?" Sirius finally asked.
"Well, when I was walking back from the forest, I saw the doors to the castle close, like someone had just gone through. I checked inside, and I saw the tail end of someone turning the corner at the top of the staircase. It looked suspiciously like the back of Binns' head, so I figure he was outside when I changed," Remus said quickly. James and Sirius looked at each other.
"Even if he did see you, I doubt he's going to do anything about it," James supplied.
"Yeah, he's much more interested with Gorbel the Giant than with your furry little problem," Sirius grinned. Remus finally looked up from his now-pulverized pancake.
"You think so?" he asked. James rolled his eyes.
"Of course. Now either eat that pancake or get rid of it; it's been through enough trauma today," he said pointedly. Remus grinned sheepishly and used a vanishing charm to make the pancake disappear.
It was Thursday, and Peter was in a huff.
"I almost got stepped on!" Peter whined. "Again!"
"The key word being 'almost'." James pointed out. Peter frowned.
"That's the third time this month; there has to be a better way of stealing food."
James thought quite seriously. "Well," he said, drawing it out, "how else are we supposed to get food from the kitchens unnoticed? A rat doesn't attract attention, not if you go about it right."
Peter's frown deepened. "Fine. But I want a better way of finding out if someone's around." James waved his suggestion off like a fly on the potatoes.
Later that day, James entered the common room and collapsed into a particularly cushy armchair by the fire. He groaned, looked around, and groaned again until he heard, "What is it now?"
"Filch nearly caught me outside!" James exclaimed. Remus looked up from the game of wizard's chess he and Sirius were engaged in.
"And why were you outside?" he asked, shifting slightly in his chair.
"Practicing," James said sullenly. Remus raised his eyebrow. "On the Whomping Willow…."
"You should know better," Remus replied casually. He promptly returned to the game and moved his bishop to take Sirius' knight. Sirius scowled and stared at the board, trying to figure out a way to capture Remus' heavily guarded queen. James sighed and gazed out of the window. They really needed a better way to go about undetected…
Suddenly, an idea came to him. He abruptly straightened in the chair, dazzled by his own brilliance.
"Boys, I have a proposition for you!"
Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked up from the chess game. James walked over to stand beside them, a smirk on his face.
"Oh?" Remus asked. James nodded.
"Indeed, my dear Moony. We are going to make something that can tell us the position of everyone in the castle, at any time, in any place." He proclaimed triumphantly. The other three stared at him.
"And how, exactly, do you propose we do that?" Remus asked, voicing the question of all three. James' smirk faded slightly.
"I'm not exactly sure…"
Remus rolled his eyes and moved his bishop to take Sirius' queen, much to the other's chagrin. "That's what I suspected."
Sirius and James passed the dented suit of armor on the third floor for the fourth time and finally decided that they were lost. It had been an hour since either one had recognized any of the corridors they were travelling down.
"How is it even possible to get lost in your fifth year at the same school?" Sirius asked. James shrugged.
"This is Hogwarts, after all. It tends to change a bit every year. Apparently this year it changed a lot..."
The two wandered for a few more minutes, passing a couple tapestries and a ghost on their way. They nearly asked the ghost for directions, but decided against it when she vanished into a wall.
"Why don't they give us maps, anyway?" Sirius mumbled. "Sure would be easier."
James stopped, mid-step. "But that's it, Padfoot! A map!"
"Yes, that is what I just said. Good job, Prongs! And now can you tell me the letters of the alphabet?" Sirius replied snidely. James smacked him on the shoulder.
"No, for us! To see where people are in the castle! A map! With the names of people who are in the castle, and where they are, and where they're going," he exclaimed. Sirius lifted his brows.
"Do you even know how to make something like that?"
James thought for a moment. "No. But I'll bet Moony does!"
"So, Moony," James began. Remus looked up from the small venomous tentacula he was pruning and into the faces of his two friends.
"Can I help you?" he replied. James smiled charmingly.
"Can you make a map of Hogwarts with people's names and locations on it? That will change when the people move?"
Remus blinked. "I suppose so," he said. James and Sirius grinned. "But I would need a map of Hogwarts to begin with. With correct dimensions and such. Find me one and I'll consider the rest."
Sirius and James wilted a bit at this news, but were still determined to bring their plan to fruition. They set out the next day to plot the entirety of Hogwarts onto parchment.
Four weeks later, Sirius and James triumphantly presented Remus with an intact, correct, and slightly stained map of Hogwarts. Remus briefly glanced over it and, finding everything to be in order, nodded.
"I'll get to work," he said. Sirius and James let out a whoop of glee.
The next day, Remus handed a folded piece of parchment to James at lunch.
"I think you're going to be most impressed," Remus mentioned. James unfolded the parchment and stared in awe as names appeared on the surface, corresponding to the location of students and teachers alike. He grinned when he discovered his own name, and those of Remus, Sirius, and Peter, in the section labeled "Great Hall."
"You've outdone yourself, Moony," he congratulated. Remus smiled and focused his attention back on his lunch.
Over the course of the next two years, the map was transformed. It retained its basic function as a map as well as a great sneaking about tool, but it now required a password, of sorts, to reveal its secrets. The password was decided upon when Peter, in a particularly bad bout of hiccups, accidentally knocked the map to the floor, where it was rescued by Professor Slughorn. Thankfully, all Slughorn did was place it back on the desk and chide Peter for not being more careful. It succeeded in revealing the folly of not protecting the map, however.
"What should we say as the password?" Sirius asked. The other three boys thought for a moment.
"Piggletoff?" James asked. Sirius stared at him.
"What in the name of Merlin is a piggletoff?"
James shrugged. "Nothing in particular. Just sounded cool."
"What about a phrase?" Remus supplemented.
"That could work…but what phrase?" Sirius mused. James suddenly shot up in the chair he was reclining in.
"I got it!" he said. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
"I like it," Sirius replied after a moment's silence. Peter nodded, as did Remus.
"Looks like we found our password," Remus said. "What about a phrase to make the map vanish?"
"Mischief managed," Sirius declared. The others smiled and nodded.
"Mischief managed," they agreed in unison.
It was nearing the end of seventh year for the group of friends, and they still kept the map within reach at all times. It was beginning to look a bit faded and ragged, but it continued to work perfectly.
"What's going to happen next year?" Remus wondered aloud. Sirius looked up at him.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, we're not going to be here. We won't have a use for the map; I'd hate to see it go to waste just because we're gone," Remus replied. Sirius nodded.
"I've been thinking about that. We should find a way to ensure that it's found by a worthy successor."
"We could always get caught using it by Filch," Remus joked. Sirius stared at him, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "Or not…"
"That's a great idea! Let's do it!" Sirius exclaimed. "I'm going to tell James and Peter!"
Sirius launched himself out of the chair he was sitting in and disappeared through the portrait hole. Remus sighed shook his head.
"Before we do this, we should let our legacy be known," James declared. Sirius nodded solemnly.
"I have an idea," Remus suggested. He removed the map from where it rested on the table and pressed his wand to it. He muttered an incantation, and writing appeared on the folded flap of the parchment.
Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs proudly present…the writing halted.
"What exactly are we going to call this map?" Remus asked.
"Well, it's quite handy for those who want to pull pranks…or steal," Sirius submitted.
"So…marauders, in a way?" Remus said. James grinned.
"I like the sound of that…the marauder's map."
Remus once again pressed his wand to the parchment. Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs proudly present the Marauder's Map.
The four friends gazed at the map. "Just about perfect," James said. "Except…" He took the map from Remus' grasp and pointed his own wand at it. A brief spark emerged from his wand, but nothing happened to the paper.
"What did you do?" Peter asked. James handed the paper to him after saying the customary closing words.
"Try to figure out how to use it; pretend you just caught a student with it," James told Peter.
Peter pointed his wand at the blank parchment and said the spell to unveil illusions. Spidery words appeared on the page. Mr. Prongs would like to announce that Wormtail is profoundly uneducated at removing illusions, and that he should really learn to wipe his nose, it read. Peter frowned. "Hey…" he began, passing a hand under his nose. Remus removed the parchment from his hands and performed the same spell to reveal hidden objects.
Mr. Padfoot would like to declare that he does not appreciate the ridiculously shabby garb in which Moony is attired, the paper now said.
"Marvelous," Remus breathed. "It insults anyone who tried to pry into it." James nodded.
"The ultimate protection," he agreed. They exchanged glances. "It's time."
The next day, James was caught with a detailed map of Hogwarts, describing every corridor, both hidden and well-known, as well as the position of every person in said school. Filch immediately confiscated the map and locked it away in a desk drawer. He never found out why the parchment appeared blank from that day on, nor did he ever realize when it went missing after so many years of disuse. He simply shrugged off the uncanny knowledge of the workings of Hogwarts that the twins displayed as luck. Never did he discover that the twins were simply referring to a piece of parchment enchanted many years ago by a group of marauders.
A/N: I've had this story floating around my computer for a year or so, and finally succeeded in cleaning it up and posting it. I've always wondered how the map was made, so I wrote myself an explanation. :)