Disclaimer: Did neither the escaped convict nor the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor think to cast a stunner on the captured rat-animagus Death Eater prior to transporting him? Then I don't own Harry Potter.
The recognizable parts are obviously from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
A/N: I personally prefer not having to scroll through dozens of one-shots on authors' pages to find their longer stories. So I'll be posting most of my one-shots here. The early ones, at least, will be primarily writing practice. Rating based on my prediction of future chapters.
The Marauder's Map
Harry Potter walked back to Gryffindor tower in a daze. He was feeling understandably discombobulated from all the events throwing themselves at him at the end of term. Harry had chased down Sirius Black, nearly killed him, knocked out Snape, witnessed Pettigrew's return from the dead, almost died from dementors, traveled through time, saved himself from said dementors, and now said goodbye to his favorite Defense instructor. He was suitably distracted when walking through the halls, but his mind kept returning to the blank piece of parchment folded up in his pocket.
Harry walked through the Gryffindor common room quickly. He briefly stopped to let Ron and Hermione know that Lupin was already on his way out of Hogwarts. He brushed off Dean and Seamus, who were wondering why Harry and Ron hadn't been back to the tower last night. Obviously, Ron and Hermione hadn't said anything about it either. Harry managed get up to his dorm room by saying he had a couple of last-minute items to pack in his trunk.
The dorm room was mercifully empty. Harry sat cross-legged on his bed, unfolded the Marauder's Map, and placed it in front of him. The Weasley twins had given him the map and shown him how to work it. Ironically enough, however, it had been Snape who had shown him the full scope of the parchment's potential. He cast his mind back to the rather worrisome quarter-hour he had spent in Snape's office after getting caught in Hogsmeade…
"Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!"
His breath catching in his throat, Harry pulled out his wand and held it over the blank parchment. He took a deep breath. Shaking with anticipation, and feeling a little stupid, he touched his wand to the map's surface and said simply, "Hi Dad." Harry eagerly leaned closer as the parchment surface began to darken with spidery script.
"Mr. Moony admonished Mr. Padfoot for inflicting his progeny upon the world."
Harry threw back his head laughing. He then looked back eagerly as more writing appeared.
"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Mooney, and would like to register an 'I told you so' regarding Mr. Padfoot's promiscuous ways."
"Mr. Padfoot would like to remind his fellow Marauders of his proficiency with the Contraceptive Charm, and point out it would be far more likely that Mr. Wormtail would fail at casting that particular one."
"Mr. Wormtail expresses his paternal hope, as that would mean he had at least managed to bed a girl at some point."
Harry felt slightly queasy at the final implications there. He quickly touched his wand to the map again and said, "No, no. My name is Harry Potter. Prongs is my father." The parchment quickly cleared and more writing appeared.
"Mr. Padfoot expresses his congratulations to Mr. Prongs, as well as relief at his own lack of offspring."
"Mr. Moony redirects his admonishment to Mr. Prongs for bringing about another generation of quidditch-obsessed little fawns."
"Mr. Wormtail offers his condolences to Harry for having to deal with Mr. Prongs as a father."
"Mr. Prongs defends his parenting skills, but would like to inquire as to the identity of Harry's mother."
Harry chuckled at Moony's comment, realizing how true it is. He started to wonder when the Marauders made the map, and if his father had gotten together with his mother at that point. His throat feeling slightly blocked, Harry coughed, and then said, "Lily Evans was my mother."
"Mr. Prongs would like to smugly rub these doubters' faces in living proof that he married his favorite flower."
"Mr. Padfoot feels disappointed that his rakish looks never managed to tempt said flower away from Mr. Prongs."
"Mr. Wormtail would like to note that a child is not absolute proof of marriage, and would like to question Harry on the past tense indicative regarding his mother."
"Mr. Mooney holds on to the hope that Harry's mother had the greater influence when raising him, or he would fear for the wizarding world on its second generation of Marauders."
Harry's throat clenched further. How could he explain to whatever amount of personality his father and his friends had imbued into this parchment that one is dead, along with his wife, one is responsible for their deaths, and one is an escaped convict? Harry quickly tapped the map with his wand, saying "Mischief managed."
As he got up to head back down to the common room, Harry experienced a similar sensation to the time he had left the room containing the Mirror of Erised. He wanted so badly to talk with his father, but the jokes expressed by all of the Marauders could hardly be construed as a meaningful conversation. As he rejoined his friends downstairs, Harry knew he'd be thinking about it a lot over the summer. He sincerely hoped that communication via wand taps would not register with the Improper Use of Magic Office.