It was 2:00 in the morning and I was still awake. Sitting cross-legged on my quilted bed, talking to Claude. His book stood propped up by a pillow facing me. Surrounding us were chocolate bar wrappers, a number of assorted books and a bowl of popcorn I braved to go make in the soundless kitchen.
"So" Claude said, sounding rather annoyed. "What do you want to know?" Claude and I have talked non-stop trying to get as much information from each other as possible. While I wanted to know all about him, why he was in a book, how did you get inside Florish and Blotts, and why was he so sassy? Claude did not show the slightest intrigue or interest in me, all he cared to know about was who was minister for magic, had the goblins been banished, and who was the top quidditch team of the season.
"Everything!" I exclaimed, I shoved a handful of popcorn in my mouth, which had been adorned with butter, salt, and vinegar! Ginny loathes vinegar in popcorn.
"Well, I was created when your parents were in Hogwarts, although i never met them-"
"They're muggles." I interrupted.
"whatever, anyway i was created by the Marauder's four, Prongs, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail. Quite stupid they were, together they made a 'Marauder's map' on parchment. When Padfoot saw how useful it was, he wanted one for his own, so he took his copy of Hogwarts; A History, and he created me." If Claude had arms, he would have gestured to his old and worn book-self. Although since Claude doesn't have arms, he simply beamed and looked happy.
I just stared impressed at Claude. How had a mere third year created a human soul and imprisoned it in a book!
"That's amazing!" I said awed.
"I guess" Claude looked doubtful. "Ever since Padfoot made me he kept handing me down to innocent first years. I've watched them turn into troublemakers. And I guess here's another one. So... I guess you better know how to work me." With a sigh Claude opened his cover to show his crippled yellow pages, he flipped them over three at a time. Inside the book I could glimpse scrawls of ink spread over the many pages, Claude slowed down and the rifling of paper stopped on page 275. A few seconds of stillness followed.
"Now what?" I asked, I was very eager to get started.
"Wait!" Claude snapped the book shut. "To open, because i cant do it my self all the time, you have to kiss my cheek and whisper, I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."
Hesitantly I lowered my lips to his cheek, then I whispered softly, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Nothing happened.
Claud's laughter was startling to me, and then i understood. "Hey! C'mon how do I open you?"
Claud's stifled laughter echoed in my room. "The girls fall for that every time!" This annoyed me. "O.k, O.k, To open me..." Claud's laughter faded and his face stopped smiling. "You have to run your hand down my spine, then tap my nose three times."
This all seemed like another trick to me, but I do as I'm told. The book shuddered and sprang open. "Now what?" I asked.
"O.k, so, anyone can open me and see me as a simple Hogwarts; A History book, unless you open me the way you did, then once I am open, You have to tap the page with your wand and say... open sesame."
"Wow," I mused mockingly, "Padfoot was really creative. And isn't that a muggle term?"
"No, he wasn't, and yes, it is." Claude confirmed.
I nodded. This is so weird. Claude shouldn't even exist. I've never heard of a book with a brain. This surely must have been a tricky charm to do. Padfoot must of had help. Who is Padfoot anyway? He, or she, must have been very smart and clever. I don't know why, but my single sentence thoughts confused me.
"Why is your name Claude?" I asked.
"Why is your name Jo? That's a boy's name."
I frowned. "It's short for Josephine." I was starting to get why Claude had been put in the clearance box.
"How did you get into Florish and Blotts?" I asked, I forgot all about the task at hand.
"Do you want to know how to uncover the secrets of Hogwarts or not?"
"Yes!" I said quickly, drawing my attention back to the open book before me.
"Good. Now do as you were instructed."
I got up off my bed and brought out my wand from my desk drawer and brought it to my bed, Claude gave me an annoyed look. I tapped page 276 and said quietly "Open sesame."
Slowly but surely the perfect paragraphs and words on the page began to morph to create a new kind of image. The ink formed a crest, in the middle, it read:
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Proudly Presents;
The Second Map in series;
The Marauders map!
Use wisely as we hope it brings use and adventure your way.
Entwined around the crest, a green snake snapped playfully at a badgers heel, who snoozed happily at the feet of a restless lion. A great black eagle perched on the tail of the snake, beaming proudly. The Hogwarts mascots all pictured around the crest. Somehow the way the animals acted and scooted around each other reminded me of the students themselves in the four houses. Gryfindors often felt restless and impatient, we always felt like there was something more we could be doing. Guilty. Ravenclaws prided themselves upon their knowledge and understanding of magic. Hufflepuffs were just happy being accepted and involved in the festivities. Slytherins are considered loyal and trustworthy among their own, even though they preyed upon the weak and innocent. Lost in my thoughts I hadn't noticed the lines of ink, snaking their way through the rest of the book.
"This is a map of Hogwarts!" I said
"Now she gets it!" Claude exclaimed.
Just as Claude spook, tiny feet, ink footprints, could be seen strolled on their own around the castle. seeming to belong to no one. Small flags trailed behind the footprints, bearing names. 'Albus Dumbledore' could be seen standing still in the kitchen. 'Minerva McGonagall' was bustling around her office in a frenzy, her name tag could barely keep up with her.
"This show's the entire castle?" I asked.
"Yup." Claude said.
I flipped through a couple of pages, catching glimpses of passageways and secret rooms. Come september first this book will be filled with students!
"Tap a person with your wand and it can show you a debrief of what their doing, how old they are or what they look like. It's really creepy. The first map can't do that, Padfoot installed that after they made me."
Claude indicated, I decided i would wait until there were more interesting people at Hogwarts than the headmaster and the transfiguration teacher, to test out what Claude said.
I gawked at the pages one more time before shutting the book. "So..." I started. "What do you like to do for fun?" I asked Claude.
Claude laughed, as expected "Well, seeing as I don't have any arms. Not a lot really."
"What about mind games? And riddles?"
...
The next morning I woke abruptly due to noisy banging on my bedroom door. My alarm clock said 7:00. I rubbed my eyes and sat up groggy. Claude and I had been up all night playing 20 questions, "In my grandma's suitcase..", riddles and a number of other mind games I'd never heard of. Claude had to teach me how to play, he won those, cheating I expect, not telling me all the rules.
"Good morning" Claude said from his place on my desk.
The banging persisted, and a new kind of noise began. "JOSEPHINE GET UP THIS MINUTE! YOUR GOING TO MISS THE TRAIN! GET A SHOWER FOR GODS SAKES! I CAN SMELL YOUR ROOM FROM THE KITCHEN!" And all at once the shrieking and banging stopped long enough for me to realize what day it was.
Then it was time for me to do some shrieking of my own. "SHIT! GOD DAMMIT! Why didn't you wake me up sooner!?" I yelled. Claude looked shocked.
"ITS 7:OO AM!" He yelled back.
"THATS BESIDE THE POINT!" I shrieked. "You know how hard it is to get me up in the morning?" Ginny and Eileen nearly have to drag me out of bed just for breakfast.
"Sorry!" Claude said, saying each syllable indignantly.
In a rush I got out of bed and pulled out my empty trunk from my closet.
Claude tried to give me helpful advice while I frantically scurried around my room grabbing everything in sight and tossed it in a pile on my trunk.
"Don't forget your toothbrush!" I ran to the bathroom to get my toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, floss; anything related to that room that i might need.
"And your clothes!" I ran to my closet to assemble my uniforms and weekend wear, pajama's, cloak and footwear.
"A-And! your books!" Claud's whole book was shuddering with laughter now; A phone's buzzer going haywire. Claude fell off the desk into a pile of dirty socks.
I ran to my bookshelf, taking more care with my books then my clothes, I stacked them all on top of the mountain of things. I took my school books and pleasure reading books, and extra reading books and my notebooks. Finally I rescued Claude from my smelly socks. As I began to add him to my Hogwarts pile he began to protest.
"No way! Are you putting me in there!" Claude looked at my trunk with pure disgust.
"It's the only way!" I said, not really having time for Claud's complaints, or listening to them the while I packed, I grasped my muggle backpack from the hook behind my door and shoved Claude in it. I grabbed a few smaller books, my change of robes for on the train, a pack of exploding snap cards and some gum to go in as well, so I wasn't dragging around an empty backpack, and Claude.
From the bag I could hear Claude talking to himself.
"Really! Even Padfoot treated me better than this! Oh! I wonder if Bertha is still running the trolley! She was really nice. Can we get some Licorice wands, Jo? Jo?" Although I could not hear Claude very well over my own frantic thoughts. Never, ever, had i been this late trying to get on the train! What if i miss it? It is now 7:30 and the train leaves at 11:00 precisely, no exceptions! It takes two hours to drive from Little Whinging to London. I have two hours to get out of here!
I toss everything I think I might need into the pile; Cauldron, dragon skin gloves, alarm clock, pictures. Nearly ten minutes later, everything i might need for my fourth year at Hogwarts was safely tucked into my trunk. The backpack containing Claude lay beside it on my bed, half-open.
"Don't forget your shower!" Shouted Claude.
I rolled my eyes, try to get me out of the shower.
...
Thirty minutes later Penelope, Mom, Dad and I were all packed into the family roadster, headed for Kings Cross Station. Claude decided to take a nap. From inside the bag i could hear faint snoring, I tried to pass it off as my sore throat.
"Remind me to get you some cough drops before you go." Mom said, she turned around in her seat to face me.
"Yeah," I said, fake coughing. "That's a good idea."
Inside the car dad usually drove, and mom sat in the passenger seat. Penelope sat at the right window, I sat at the left. Penelope only came because she was meeting Percy at the train station, then they were going on a romantic walk around London. Penelope was reminding me constantly of how under-privileged I was.
"It's shameful really how long you've gone without a boyfriend." Penelope whispered to me while we were loading. Dad didn't notice, he was too busy tying my trunk to the roof of the car.
"It's shameful really how long you've gone without a boyfriend." Penelope whispered to me while we were loading. Dad didn't notice, he was too busy tying my trunk to the roof of the car.
"How does Percy count as a boyfriend?" I said back, the best date Percy came up with was polishing their prefect badges together. Penelope huffed and stalked inside the car. She did have a point though, the last date i was on was the yule ball last year, I went with Seamus Finnigan. His accent is adorkable! Sorry, got distracted, anyway the night ended with him being totally knocked out drunk from firewhiskey, a slightly buzzed Josephine and two hairless cats. Don't ask me why, but Seamus was terrified of hairless cats, and someone thought it would be funny if they snuck two of them into the broom cupboard we took refuge in. Long story short, nobody thought it was very manly when he bolted away down the hall, tripped on his own two left feet, then fell asleep, right there on the ground.
"Were here!" Dad shouted and I jumped out of the car, swinging my backpack on to my back. Mom popped the trunk and Penelope ran to get a trolley. Dad heaved my trunk out of the car and plunked it on the ground, I rocked back and forth on my heels nervously.
Penelope came rocketing out of the station hurtling a trolley in front of her.
"Hurry up!" I yelled, "were going to miss the train!"
...
On platform 9 3/4 Ginny and her family could easily be spotted attempting to lug seven trunks and three cages on to the train. She waved to us frantically. Happy just to see the red train still in its slot, I kissed mom and dad's cheeks, gave them each a hug and rolled the trolley away from my family.
"Hey Ginny!" I said to her. "What's up?"
"Oh, not a lot. We can't get the trunks on the train and it leaves in five minutes."
"Have you tried the Levitation charm?" I asked.
"No." Ginny wasn't much for remembering spells, although she prided herself on her bat bogey hex.
"That's a good idea Josephine." muttered Mr. Weasley, he was straining under the weight of Fred's trunk and didn't look like he was in the right place for chit-chat.
There was a scraping of heels and I knew that Mom and Dad had come to say a proper good-bye.
"Josephine! you left without us saying good-bye!" Mom whined. "Don't forget to brush and floss. You have that small cavity in the back don't forget. Remember to be nice and hygienic, don't talk back to your teachers, and work hard in every subject!" Mom handed me a plastic bag, which sagged heavily in the middle.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Just something for your school days, I know your other one broke."
I smiled, she was childish at times, but she's still my mom. I gave her a hug, her arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders, I was nearly her height now.
Dad looked down at me, he was much taller than Mom.
"Have fun." He said, I hugged him goodbye then boarded the train.
...
In our compartment, Ginny, Fred, George and I sat alone. Eileen and Marisa chose another compartment, I remember how Marisa stopped outside the sliding door, stuck her nose in the air then marched away, a guilty Eileen trailing her.
"What's got her in a sour mood?" Wondered Fred
"Nothing" I said, he probably still doesn't know about Marisa's distress toward him.
The train ride, so far, was uneventful. The four of us played exploding snap, the trolley woman, Bertha, came by. I got some Licorice wands for Claude, and some cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs for myself. The ride was calming and I didn't have to worry about a lot until; who better to walk by our compartment than Conner. Unluckily, Ginny happen to notice my smiling haze and a whip of Conner's robes.
"Um, Jo?"
"Hmmm?" I mumbled stupidly.
"I'm kind of craving some sugar quills. Might you go and get me some?"
"Oh!" Piped up George. "And some of Drooble's Best Blowing gum?"
"An-and some Jelly slugs!" Added Fred.
And before I knew what was going on I had been shoved into the narrow, crowded hallway, with a handful of change in my hand. I looked back into the compartment, Fred and George smirked to themselves and Ginny looked smug. I shook a fist at her and she raised her arms, as if to say "You'll thank me later." The trolley was just a few compartments ahead and Conner was browsing the rows of candy. Faking confidence I waltzed up to Bertha and ordered what Ginny and her brother's had wanted.
"Hey!" Conner said looking up to me. A moment of panic ensued, I desperately hope my hair still looked the way I intended it to this morning. "A gryfindor? Not surprised"
"Yeah," I said, never had my cheeks felt so red. "Ravenclaw right?"
Conner nodded, "So? Enjoying that book?"
"Yeah, it's a real page turner." If only you knew.
Suddenly a voice sounded down the rail car, "Hey, The trolley's stopped!" And a huge flock of students crushed toward the candy trolley. Conner and I were pressed together, and all at once his arms were around me, pulling me away from the mass of candy-deprived students.
On our way away from everyone, one straggler, one with flaming red hair, stuck out her foot, I tripped over it and fell dramatically further into Conner's embrace. He steadied me and backed up, but left his hands on my shoulders, my own hands grasping his elbows.
"Are you O.k?" He asked, smiling a little to himself.
"Yeah," I said, smiling as well. "Thanks."
"No problem." He said reassuringly, then he paused, like he remembered something. "I still owe you a butterbeer."
"Oh, no you don't have to." I said, trying to be modest. Then i realized that i must seem like I don't want to go for a butterbeer with him. Quickly I tried to mend the gap I just created. "I mean, unless you want to, which-I-I would be fine with, not unless you don't want to take me anywhere than, that's cool too. But if you wanted to." Smooth Jo. Finally I gave in to my humiliation. "A butterbeer would be nice."
Conner laughed lightly and dropped his hands to his sides, I did the same.
"First Hogsmeade weekend?" He asked coolly.
"Sure" I said, smiling happily.
Conner turned and sauntered back to his compartment. As he walked away I noticed something I hadn't before. Conner's blond hair was shorter at the bottom, and longer at the top. His smart, cute glasses were perched on the bridge of his nose. One of his shoes was untied and he had a long neck, and a limber, but strong, build. I couldn't explain why I hadn't noticed these things before, it was as if I was seeing him for the first time in my life.
I seemed to wander through the hallway until I found our cabin, Hermione had decided to join us as well. Ginny was smiling to herself and kept glancing at me suspiciously.
"Where's our sweets?" Asked Fred. "Oh. We'll get it."
Then Fred and George left and the moment the door slid shut behind them I asked.
"Was it you who tripped me?" Ginny nodded rather fast. Like she was glad to be ridding herself of the guilt. "Are you two going out?"
I nodded too. Ginny squealed. Hermione flinched at the sound. "Who with?" She asked.
"Conner." I said "From ravenclaw."
"Does Conner have a last name?" Hermione persisted. This struck me.
"Uhmmmm..."