Chapter 12
Louis rolled his eyes. "He is the most ignorant man I have ever had the dishonor of meeting, Hermione."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "You're just not giving him a chance! Did you even read his books, Louis?!"
"Unfortunately." Louis, Fred, and George all muttered in unison, much to Hermione's annoyance and their happiness. The three boys shared a look of mutual pain and sympathy between them.
"Hermione," said Louis haltingly "I read all of his books, every last one he assigned, and not one of them taught me anything actually useful. In fact, the only thing I learned is that that man has to be a fraud."
Hermione huffed but didn't reply, much to his surprise. Spotting Padma and Pansy, who she was sure were going to be likeminded individuals in her opinion of Lockhart, Hermione bid them goodbye and walked over to the other to Ravenclaw girls.
Somewhat relieved and feeling a bit guilty for that, Louis turned to the twins.
"Want to work on the Map?"
They eagerly agreed and the three of them walked to the abandoned classroom they had claimed as theirs last year. Smiling fondly in the entrance, he could practically envision Tonks roughhousing with Fred while he and George shuffled with notes and stacks of books.
Setting his backpack along with Fred and George's on a sheet covered section of desks, Louis slumped into a torn up worn chair. The twins sat in similar chairs next to him. Louis could remember the day he had convinced a house elf to gift them the chairs from the storage rooms. It's not like anyone was using them.
George held the Marauder's Map in his hand and seeing it, Louis bit back a grin. That Map had caused him a lot of worry, considering he was at Hogwarts without anyone actually knowing who he really was. The Map could very easily give him away and that alone was a major reason he had insisted on helping the twins with their study and replication of it. He wanted to know if the map revealed him as Louis Thompson or Harry Potter. Much to his relief and slight confusion, it had the neat script of Louis written by his feet, mingled together with Fred and George's, and ever since making that discovery, he had been trying to figure out why. Was the Map faulty? Surely a piece of magic as profound and advanced as it wouldn't? But then again, it could very well have kinks in the foundation.
"Alright," said Fred, gesturing for George to open the Map and spread it out on the large desk before them (as they had surrounded the chairs by the old, mahogany professor's desk) "where to start? Louis, you got the notes?"
Rolling his eyes at the apparent lack of faith, Louis pulled a book out from his cloak and set it down, opening it up and clicking the muggle pen in his hand ready.
George raised an eyebrow. "How is it that you always seem to have things in your inside pockets?"
Louis shrugged. "Because I do?"
George nodded. "Fair enough."
Fred cleared his throat. "I don't have the books on me so we can't get much done today but . . . " he trailed off.
"That's okay." Louis said as he opened his note book to the page they were currently on. "We can just examine the spellwork."
George, it seemed, had already begun this while Fred was offering his excuses, as he was chanting some algorithms under his breath and waving his wand around, picking at the magic in the parchment but not unraveling it.
"Ya know, I wonder where they got the names from." Fred said suddenly, completely unrelated to their current train of action.
George hummed. "What?" He poked at the magic again and Louis quickly caught the loose strand that the ginger had accidentally unraveled. He sent a glare at the sheepish boy, who mumbled an apology. It would not do well to disrupt the spellwork that had been expertly weaved. Louis briefly wondered which of the Marauder's had laid the spells.
"Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs. Bit odd don't you think?" questioned Fred. "I was just wondering where they got them from."
Louis smiled secretly. "I'm sure there are stories behind them."
Fred snorted. "No doubt about that."
"Maybe it was a reference to something."
"Like what?" Fred asked incredulously.
"Animagus forms." George interrupted suddenly, startling his twin.
"Animagus's?"
"Makes sense don't it?" mumbled George as he nodded at Louis to take over the prodding. The boy did so happily, enjoying this kind of work.
"Prongs. Deer. Buck. Ya know, like the prongs on their antlers." George continued. Fred snorted even louder this time.
"Okay wise guy, explain the others."
"Well," hummed George. "Padfoot was probably a dog. Maybe a cat but I'm thinking dog. Because they have little pads on the bottom of their paws. Their feet."
Fred snickered but then sobered up, seeming to now be taking his brother seriously. Louis grinned behind his wand.
"Wormtail had to be a rat. Thin little worm of a tail?" George and Fred nodded at each other.
"What about Moony?" asked Fred, peering up curiously. George frowned.
"A wolf." said George decisively.
"Or a werewolf." Louis offered casually.
"A werewolf?" The twins looked at him. He paused his work to nod at them, setting his wand down for a minute.
"I mean, come on. These guys had to be students when they were here. Professor's wouldn't have the time or energy or even want to make a map like this but kids? Particularly kids that are causing mischief?" He gestured to the map that they all knew was opened by the special "I solemnly swear that I up to no good" and closed with "mischief managed". "Why would they be animagi? Moony could be a regular wolf, yeah, but I personally wouldn't name the guy Moony if that was the case. A werewolf though? Howls at the moon., Moony. Plus, there's your perfect reason for becoming animagi since when in animal form, the lycarthapy virus can't be transferred. They could help their friend."
The twins gaped at him. "You got all that from the Map?"
He shrugged. "Ravenclaw, remember?"
What the twins didn't know was that he knew the Marauders. Hell, he was their heir. Prongs had been his dad and he was currently talking to Moony. Sure, Remus hadn't confirmed or even remotely said anything to even suggest that he was a werewolf but Louis had noticed the signs. He had noticed the scars and the bags under the eyes and how Remus always grabbed the copper silverware over the silver and that the man never seemed to stay the night on the full moon, even though he practically lived there this summer. It would also explain the man's poverty and difficulty finding a job since creatures, especially werewolves and vampires, were required to register with the Ministry their status upon discovery. The stigma alone would be enough to keep Remus out of employment, the wizarding world racked with fear and stereotypes unjustly given.
"We should become animagi." Fred said.
"What?" George laughed humorously, breathless with sudden shock.
"I mean, we're making our own Map." He gestured to Louis's notebook. "We're troublemakers, managing a lot of Mischief." He gestured to the Map. "Why not follow our namesakes? We may not have a resident werewolf but that's no excuse not to do it."
Louis pondered this. Being an animagus had many advantages. If he was unregistered, it would be a secret skill that would no doubt come in handy with Voldemort and the war. Coupled with the metamorphmagi, he could be the perfect spy in almost any situation. He'd learn a lot. Not to mention the regular battle effectiveness the skill provided. Enhanced reflexes for sure, probably a boost in his transfiguration ability, which was already stellar. Then, there was the sentimental value behind it. His father was an animagus, one of the youngest to do so, it would almost be like remembering him for Louis to do this. Plus, if he managed to become an animagus at an earlier age . . . . Well, Louis wasn't saying bragging rights but . . . bragging rights.
"I'm down." He said
George shook his head. "You two are crazy. Let's do it."
Sharing a grin, the three boys could feel history being made in that small little, cramped classroom. It almost made the dust worth it.
Louis softly closed his bedroom door behind him and tossed his bag onto his bed, making sure he didn't actually hit Natasha with it on accident. The tiger was currently snoozing on the giant dog cushion he had bought for her though and was safely out of the way. He still had no idea where Sanguini currently was but he wasn't that worried. The snake was an independent creature after all, one that valued his freedom and alone time. Louis wasn't going to restrict him with demands. Sanguini wasn't his pet but rather his friend and as such, Louis had no control of the guy's actions.
He sat at his desk and pulled the black journal Ginny had gifted him from the second drawer, sliding it closed and swiping up a quill at the last minute. He reached across the wooden table top for his jar of ink.
He had been writing in the journal for an increasing amount of time since it had been given to him and Louis now looked forward to the time he got to sit down and unwind by writing about his thoughts and his day. It was soothing. Therapeutic. He would sit and write for what felt (and very well could be) hours. He wrote all about his classes and his friends and his current projects. Despite the freedom he felt with it though he neglected mentioning his research on Voldemort and his parents. In case the diary was looked at by one of his nosy friends, he didn't want them to stumble upon his identity by accident. It was too much of a risk, even if he did kind of want to get it off his chest. The secret was a heavy weight, one he wasn't sure he wanted the burden of.
Opening the cover of the journal, he pressed the freshly dipped quill onto the page and carefully wrote the date. Without checking it, he wrote. He wrote about his classes that day, Defense and Herbology and Potions, and about Hermione and her odd obsession with Lockhart and the oddity that was the female attraction to airy men and about how Pansy had snorted at lunch so hard she almost choked on her peas and about how he had visited Hagrid yesterday afternoon with Neville and enjoyed tea with the man and about Fred and George and the weird way they were mismatched socks but matched at the same time (Fred would wear one half of a pair of say his left foot and George would wear the other half on his right foot) and he even mentioned the Map, though very briefly and without going into detail. He didn't check his spelling or anything as he went though, like he did with his essays and notes, for he knew that the words would have disappeared.
Louis had noticed many things odd about the diary. For one, he sensed magic from it. Magic heavier than normal enchantments placed on such things. Those were there of course but something else was too. He supposed it had something to do with how everything seemed to disappear into the pages after he wrote it. No matter how many detection and revealing spells he cast would make the words reappear either. That was the second thing he had noticed, the disappearing. Louis couldn't help but think the book was capable of more than he was seeing. Perhaps over time it would make sense.
Signing the end of his entry with a loopy L and a tight S, he smiled and closed the journal before placing it back in the drawer. He already felt lighter and, oddly enough, tired. Walking over to his bed, he slumped forward and curled his legs against his bag before falling asleep, his face pressed into his pillow and his arms underneath his stomach.
A/N: Thank you for reading. I hope you liked this chapter. I did.
Has anyone watched Perks of Being a Wallflower and/or read the book? It's probably my favorite of all time. I'm currently listening to Asleep by the Smiths. I always listen to the same song on loop as I write haha.
Please review :)
