Chapter 8

The Marauder's Map

EDIT: I re-did some of the bar scene. Mostly I just added more of Ciel and Sebastian, but not too much. Plus, the ending of this chapter is now more humor than drama.

A/N: Ok, not entirely sure that this is what happened next, but I'm just gonna say it did (FanFictions are convenient like that.)

Also, I got several responses to the references I made! Yay! Ok, for one thing I have to apologize. A LOT of people thought I made a Bleach reference because of the "soul reaper" thing. I'm so sorry. I've only seen the first two episodes of Bleach, so I really wasn't thinking of that. Soul reapers were just something I randomly thought of because I needed a third demon class. Whoops. Anyway, the two references I intended to make were the homunculi from FullMetal Alchemist and Gehenna from Blue (Ao no) Exorcist. Sorry Bleach fans! And I know homunculi aren't actually "demons" per say, but they're close enough, right?

Another thing: I got a lot of questions of "where's Sebastian?" My answer: I will be explaining this in the coming chapters. Suspeeeeeense...

-AA


Ciel's POV

I walked out onto the courtyard when I saw Harry talking with Professor McGonnigal.

"I'm sorry Harry, but as I'm not your legal guardian, I can't sign this." McGonnigal said firmly.

Harry sighed then looked up.

"Oh, hey Ciel. Are you going to Hogsmead?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, I don't have any real reason to go. Might as well save my energy." In truth, I didn't have my slip signed. How could I when I had no real legal guardian? I could have gotten Sebastian to sign it, but that would have taken a lot of explaining.

"Well, the two of you can spend some time studying then, can't you?" said Prof. McGonnigal. "You could both do something about your Transfiguration grade, you know."

Harry nodded then we left.

As we walked down a random corridor, I heard two sets of shuffling footsteps.

"Harry, turn aro-" I started, but was cut off by someone hitting me over the head with a shoe.

"Fred, George, what are you doing??" Harry barked as one of the two returned the shoe to his foot.

"Over doing it much, Fred?" one (who I guess was George) said.

"He's a Slytherin! What was I supposed to do, give him tea?" Fred snapped back.

"Hitting him on the head with your shoe was a bit extreme, wouldn't you say?" George reasoned. "I mean, look what he did to Malfoy."

"Pshh. Anyone can take down that little rat-faced loser."

"You couldn't."

"Yes, I could!"

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP?!" I yelled.

They all turned to look at me.

"Now, please explain why you were lurking in the hallway and hit me over the head with a shoe." I said calmer.

The twins looked at each other sheepishly for a second, but then quickly regained their aloof smugness that so resembled Malfoy's it was painful. Though, I admit, theirs was a lot more amusing. Malfoy was just downright annoying.

"Well, you see, we have something very interesting to show." one of them (Fred?) said, very proudly.

"To show Harry." the other (George?) corrected.

"Well, that's not very fair," Harry said. "Why can't Ciel know?"

The two looked at each other. "He's a SLYTHERIN." they said in unison. Do all twins do that?

I rolled my eyes. "I don't honestly care. It's probably not even all that interesting." I sighed and started to walk away.

"Hold it!" one of them called.

"Not interesting?! This is the find of the century!" the other yelled.

"Ha! As if you two could find anything worthwhile." I retorted.

"We did too!" they barked.

"Prove it." I challenged, narrowing my eyes.

They grinned at each other and dragged Harry and I into a corridor. The two then pulled out what seemed to be a very old, very tattered piece of paper.

"What's this rubbish?" Harry said, looking at the paper.

"'What's this rubbish,' he says." George(?) said, laughing.

"This, as we've said, is the find of the century." Fred(?) smirked.

"Uh huh. Sure." Harry muttered, thoroughly unconvinced. I, however, was rather curious (not that I would ever let that on.). I had seen something like this once before a few decades ago when I met an odd group of four boys who had showed me something very similar to this. What were their names again...?

One of the boys grinned and held his wand to the paper. "Observe." he smirked. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The paper began to unravel lines and figures all across the front. Soon, the whole thing had mapped out some large building. On the front it said, "Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present,"

"The Marauder's Map?" I asked, looking at it.

"Is that.." Harry started.

"Hogwarts." the twins smirked, then turned to me. "Well, Mr. Doubter? Is it not the best thing you've ever seen?"

I looked at them. "What's so great about a map?"

One of them shook his head. "No, no, no. Look there," he said, pointing to a room with a moving figure inside.

"That says 'Severus Snape.'" Harry said. Good job Harry. You can read.

In his office, Dumbledore was pacing, which one of the twins said he had been doing a lot of lately.

After showing us all about the map, the twins put their wands to the map and said, "Mischief Managed."

"That makes sure no one else can read it." one of the twins said, grinning.

"We leave this to you," the other twin said, then hesitated before saying, "to you both."

Harry grinned as they left.

"Alright, now where was that secret passage to Hogsmead?" Harry said, re-opening the map.

"But, that's against the rules." I said, then inwardly face palmed, realizing how much I just sounded like that Granger girl.

A hop, skip and a jump later (and yes, I really just used that cliché old saying.), we arrived at a hunched over old witch statue.

Opening the hump (A/N: no dirty thoughts please.), we looked down into the musty, old, dark passage way before climbing down the latter.

"100 steps... 110 steps..." Harry muttered as we walked.

"Would you please quit counting!" I whisper-yelled as we continued walking.

"OW!" we both yelped as we walked into an overhanging rock in the passage.

"Use Lumos!" I whisper-yelled again.

"Why can't you?!" Harry whisper-yelled back.

So we ended up both casting Lumos and nearly blinding one another.

It took a while and a lot of bumping, falling, cursing and muttering, but we finally made it to the trap door in Honeyduke's Sweetshop.

Covered by the Cloak, we made out way downstairs, where Harry led us to Ron and Hermione.

"Ugh, no, Harry won't want one of those, they're for vampires, I expect," Hermione was saying.

"Well then, how about these?" Ron asked, waving a jar of Cockroach Clusters under Hermione's nose.

"Definitely not." Harry said, right behind him.

Ron dropped the jar.

"OW! That was my foot!" I yelped.

Ron and Hermione whirled around.

"What in the bloody hell are you two doing here?!" Ron yelled. Everyone stared at him.

Harry and I ducked into the crowd so we wouldn't be noticed.

"Idiot." I muttered and whacked him over the back of the head.

He was about to say something back, but Hermione interrupted, asking how we got here.

"Did you learn how to apperate?" Ron asked.

I rolled my eyes just as Harry said, "Of course not." and then went on to explain the Map.

"How come Fred and George never gave it to me!" said Ron, outraged. "I'm their brother!"

"But Harry isn't going to keep it!" said Hermione, as though the idea were ludicrous. "He's going to hand it in to Professor McGonagall, aren't you, Harry?"

"No I'm not!" Harry said, astounded.

"What?!" Hermione shrieked, which made Harry and I have to duck back into the crowd.

"Why would he give away something that good?" Ron murmured under his breath, as not to be heard. Useless, as the entire shop had already turned to them twice.

"So then, what are you going to do with it?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not sure yet. Guess I'll use it whenever I need it."

"What if Sirius Black uses the secret passage."

"Hermione, the Honeydukes live right above the shop." I explained, rubbing my temples. "I think they would notice if a mass-murderer came waltzing in."

Ron cleared his throat, and pointed to the sign on the door.

BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Customers are reminded that until further notice, Dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade every night after sundown. This measure has been put in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and will be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is therefore advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall.

Happy Christmas!

"You see? Even if Sirius Black made it into Hogsmead, he couldn't take 5 steps without dementors swarming the place."

"Well- I-" she started, refusing to accept defeat.

Harry and Ron shook their heads.

After paying for the sweets, the four of us went walking into the blizzard outside.

Let me tell you, as a demon, I'm pretty cold-tolerant. But walking in just my uniform, in full blizzard wind, I was ready to slap Harry for dragging me here (Ok, so I was kind of curious, but I'm not going to blame myself.).

"Hey, how about we all go the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer?" Ron suggested, teeth chattering.

We all nodded.

It was extremely crowded, noisy, warm, and smoky. A curvy sort of woman with a pretty face was serving a bunch of rowdy warlocks up at the bar.

"That's Madam Rosmerta," said Ron. "I'll get the drinks, shall I?" he added, going slightly red.

Harry, Hermione and I made their way to the back of the room, where there was a small, vacant table between the window and a handsome Christmas tree, which stood next to the fireplace. Ron came back five minutes later, carrying three foaming tankards of hot butterbeer.

"Happy Christmas!" he said happily, raising his tankard.

Harry drank deeply. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted and seemed to heat every bit of him from the inside.

I stared into the cup and tentatively took a sip. It was good, but for some reason, I couldn't get that fuzzy, warm feeling. Hmm, I wonder why.(Sarcasm)

A sudden breeze ruffled his hair. The door of the Three Broomsticks had opened again. Harry looked over the rim of his tankard and choked.

Professor McGonagall and Sebastian had just entered the pub with a flurry of snowflakes, shortly followed by Hagrid, who was deep in conversation with a portly man in a lime-green bowler hat and a pinstriped cloak- Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic.

In an instant, Ron and Hermione had both placed hands on the top of Harry's head and forced him off his stool and under the table, then shoved me under the table as well. Well then.

Dripping with butterbeer and crouching out of sight, Harry clutched his empty tankard and glanced at me. We watched the teachers' and Fudge's feet move toward the bar, pause, then turn and walk right toward us.

Somewhere above us, Hermione whispered, "Mobiliarbus!"

The Christmas tree beside their table rose a few inches off the ground, drifted sideways, and landed with a soft thump right in front of their table, hiding them from view.

Staring through the dense lower branches, I saw four sets of chair legs move back from the table right beside theirs, then heard the grunts and sighs of the teachers and minister as they sat down.

Next I saw another pair of feet, wearing sparkly turquoise high heels, and heard a woman's voice.

"A small gillywater —"

"Mine," said Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Four pints of mulled mead —"

"Ta, Rosmerta," said Hagrid.

"A cup of Earl Gray-"

"Thank you, my Lady." Sebastian said.

"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister."

"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear," said Fudge's voice. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself, won't you? Come and join us…"

"Well, thank you very much, Minister."

Why hadn't it occurred to us that this was the last weekend of term for the teachers too? And how long were they going to sit there? We needed time to sneak back into Honeydukes if we wanted to return to school tonight…

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" came Madam Rosmerta's voice.

I saw the lower part of Fudge's thick body twist in his chair as though he were checking for eavesdroppers. Then he said in a quiet voice, "What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?"

"I did hear a rumor," admitted Madam Rosmerta.

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" said Professor McGonagall exasperatedly.

"Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.

"I'm sure of it," said Fudge shortly.

"You know that the Dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosmerta, a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away… It's very bad for business, Minister."

"Rosmerta, dear, I don't like them any more than you do," said Fudge uncomfortably. "Necessary precaution… unfortunate, but there you are… I've just met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore — he won't let them inside the castle grounds."

"I should think not," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"

"I must agree. While I don't particularly mind them, the students can't really focus with being constantly in fear 24/7." Sebastian said, shaking his head.

"All the same," demurred Fudge, "they are here to protect you all from something much worse…We all know what Black's capable of…"

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought…I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," said Fudge gruffly. "The worst he did isn't widely known."

"You mean to say this man has actually done something worse than killed hundreds of innocents?" Sebastian said, feigning concern.

You are so full of it. I thought, seething.

"I certainly do," said Fudge.

"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?" Rosmerta asked.

"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," murmured Professor McGonagall. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here- ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

Harry dropped his tankard with a loud clunk. Ron kicked him and I whacked him in the head.

"Precisely," said Professor McGonagall. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course- exceptionally bright, in fact- but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers-"

"I dunno," chuckled Hagrid. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."

Recalling the shoe to my head plus the map, I would say that was a true statement.

"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers." said Professor McGonnigal. "Inseparable."

"Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."

James... Lily... Sirius Black... why were these names so familiar?

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.

"Worse even than that, m'dear…" Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work?" said Madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Sebastian cleared his throat.

"An immensely complex spell," he said calmly, "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find- unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!" He smiled. "But the charms teacher probably knows more on the subject."

"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.

"Naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself… and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."

"He suspected Black?" gasped Madam Rosmerta.

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," said Professor McGonagall darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who."

"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"

"He did," said Fudge heavily. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed-"

"Black betrayed them?" breathed Madam Rosmerta.

I admit, that was low, even on my standards. Who would do something like that?!

"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colors as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it —"

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that half the bar went quiet.

"Shh!" said Professor McGonagall.

"I met him!" growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead… an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!" Hagrid roared.

"Hagrid, please!" said Professor McGonagall. "Keep your voice down!"

"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'!

An' then he says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him —' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says. I shoulda known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a matter o' hours before the Ministry was after him.

"But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes' friends' son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to em anymore…"

A long silence followed Hagrid's story. Then Madam Rosmerta said with some satisfaction, "But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!"

"Alas, if only we had," said Fudge bitterly. "It was not we who found him. It was little Peter Pettigrew, another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself."

"Pettigrew… that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" said Madam Rosmerta.

"Hero -worshiped Black and Potter," said Professor McGonagall. "Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine how I- how I regret that now…" She sounded as though she had a sudden head cold.

"There, now, Minerva," said Fudge kindly, "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses- Muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later- told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens…"

Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, "Stupid boy… foolish boy… he was always hopeless at dueling… should have left it to the Ministry…"

"I tell yeh, if I'd got ter Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn't've messed around with wands — I'd 've ripped him limb- from- limb," Hagrid growled.

I shuddered, trying not to imagine what that would look like. I failed miserably and nearly threw up on Ron's shoes.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Hagrid," said Fudge sharply. "Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I- I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him… a heap of bloodstained robes and a few- a few fragments-"

Fudge's voice stopped abruptly. There was the sound of four noses being blown. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," said Fudge thickly. "Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Pettigrew received the Order of Merlin, First Class, which I think was some comfort to his poor mother. Black's been in Azkaban ever since."

Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh.

"Is it true he's mad, Minister?"

"I wish I could say that he was," said Fudge slowly. "I certainly believe his master's defeat unhinged him for a while. The murder of Pettigrew and all those Muggles was the action of a cornered and desperate man- cruel… pointless. Yet I met Black on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them… but I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought he was merely bored- asked if I'd finished with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the Dementors seemed to be having on him- and he was one of the most heavily guarded in the place, you know. Dementors outside his door day and night."

"But what do you think he's broken out to do?" said Madam Rosmerta. "Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?"

"I daresay that is his — er — eventual plan," said Fudge evasively. "But we hope to catch Black long before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing… but give him back his most devoted servant, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again…"

"That's who they were!" I cried aloud, remembering why those names were so familiar. However, I jerkek my head up too fast and hit the table. Ron kicked me, Hermione kicked me and the bar went quiet.

I thought of every curse word I could think of as I tried to make myself as small as possible.

The four teachers were silent, though I imagine Sebastian was trying veeeery hard not to smile.

Fianlly, there was a small chink of glass on wood. Someone had set down their glass.

"You know, Minster, if you're dining with the headmaster, we'd better head back up to the castle," said Sebastian.

One by one, the pairs of feet in front of me took the weight of their owners once more; hems of cloaks swung into sight, and Madam Rosmerta's glittering heels disappeared behind the bar. The door of the Three Broomsticks opened again, there was another flurry of snow, and the teachers had disappeared.

Ok, I was too lazy to type out the ENTIRE 11th chapter of Harry Potter bk. 3, so parts of it I improvised, and parts I "borrowed" from i-love-harry-potter-xx's fanfic: Hogwarts Reads Harry Potter books 3-7. But I promise: I only took the parts that were from the actual book. If by chance there is a random character speaking and it doesn't make sense, I'm very sorry. Please inform me (nicely!) about it, and I will fix it. Thank you and sorry about the gap in updates!

-AA