Harry
It looked like things were finally getting back to normal, well most things were at least. Hogwarts had been officially reopened, again for the second time in two years, only a few days ago after having suffered large amounts of damage during the death eater attacks. Even with the catastrophic damage large portions of the castle received during the attack it was the students of the school themselves that had been damaged more.
Seventeen students had been killed the night the death eaters attacked Hogwarts, and over fourty-eight more brutally injured. Eight Gryffindors, six Ravenclaws, and three Hufflepuffs. Almost all of the students who were killed were sixth and seventh year students who had been the main ones to take up arms against the attacking death eaters. One of the students that had been killed though was not a sixth or seventh year, but the second year Gryffindor Colin Creevy. Harry had never been close to Colin, but had been around him enough for his death to come as a hard pill to swallow. Colin died just trying to take some pictures of the battle.
A public funeral had been held at the school in honor of the fallen students a few days after the attack. Almost the entire school showed up for it. It had been Harry's first ever funeral, and hopefully his last for a very long time. A special ceremony was led by each Head of House, commemorating the lives, achievements, and stories of each of their houses' losses. McGonagall's speech had been the hardest out of all of them to watch.
With each story McGonagall told of one of the fallen Gryffindor students, it felt like McGonagall was speaking of losing her own child. The way she felt about all her students she probably felt like she had just lost eight children. Their journeys may have ended, but their stories would live on through the rest of us. That's the message Dumbledore left them all with as he had ended the procession. Each of those students that Hogwarts had lost had died fighting, so that the rest of them could continue to live, and continue fighting the fight they gave their lives for. It was a powerful, and inspiring message. One that Harry took to heart. Thanks to the effort those who had died gave, he, and none of his friends had died that night.
Thanks to Hogwarts having some of the best witches and wizards of the age as employees, the school was able to be rebuilt quickly. In just over a week the entire castle and grounds had been completely magically rebuilt, with only a few scars here and there remaining on the castle walls. Students had been allowed to return during the first week of march, but the start of classes were postponed until after the funeral, which meant they would be officially starting back tomorrow.
He had been back at the castle for only a few days now. The first day back for him had been difficult. A small part of him felt like the attack was his fault, just as he always did whenever death eaters were involved in anything. Remus though, the great uncle he always was, had most likely foreseen that Harry would think this way following the attack and had sent Harry a letter reiterating the words he had spoken to Harry following the death of Marik's parents. Since then things had been a little easier for Harry, and he had done his best to be there for his friends.
Most of the students had returned to the castle and were doing their best to return to their daily lives, however he could still clearly see a majority of them were struggling to do so. There seemed to be an eerie silence still lingering over the students, one that would take some time to get used to.
He had done his best since he got back to Hogwarts to keep on moving forward and help his friends move forward with him. While he certainly had not been untouched by the attack on the school, he had not been affected as much as many of the other students had. He was beyond thankful for that too, no matter how selfish it was.
That night, during the attack after he had left Alina, he had made a straight path for where he knew Hermione was supposed to be. Thankfully the attacks had been more concentrated in the more populated areas of the castle, and not the area Hermione was in. Flitwick had left Hermione in his office while he went to go assist the other professors at the front of the castle. Of course Hermione had been too stubborn to sit there and wait though.
Harry found her dueling two death eaters, who had been attacking a group of first years, at the same time outside Flitwick's office. He had joined and her and together they defeated the death eaters, although at the rate Hermione had been going he doubted that Hermione actually needed his help to defeat them. After that he kept his promise to Alina, and slowly he and Hermione headed down towards the potions lab. They made it a point to take down as many death eaters as they could along the way.
He lost count of how many death eaters he and Hermione had dueled that night, whatever the number was it was too many for him. The Prophet reported the next day that sixteen death eaters had been killed, and fourteen others had been arrested. Most of them though were able to escape. No on still knew how the death eaters were able to enter the castle. Based on the positions of their attacks though speculation was that they simply just were able to walk through the front door. In the last issue of the Prophet minister Fudge said he was personally seeing to investigating every possibility, which was not really that reassuring to hear.
When he and Hermione arrived at the potions lab it had taken all the strength the two of them had left in them to stay put. It had been impossible to sit still, when all you could do was worry about your friends being out there in the chaos. Thankfully though Alina had shown up shortly after they arrived.
At first when Alina had entered their potions lab part of his world felt like it was about to crash down. Alina had collapsed to the floor screaming horrifying screams through an endless number of tears about loving him. He and Hermione had immediately taken that as meaning Marik had been killed and Alina had seen it. Thankfully though Marik had not been killed.
Something had happened between Marik and Alina that night. Alina had been too distraught to get out an actual full sentence when she arrived in the potions lab, so he never quite figured out what happened from her perspective. He assumed Alina had eventually told Hermione, but he never pushed too much to ask her.
Shortly after Alina arrived in their potions lab Marik had shown up at the door. Throughout the almost three years Harry had known Marik he had never seen his friend quite as shaken up as he looked that night, then again in the lifetime he had known Alina he had never seen her look as broken as she did then either. Marik had come looking for Alina, but Alina would not allow him to see her. Since Alina was still unable to get out a full sentence between her gasps for air and painful tears, Hermione had ended up having to come to her defence. She had sent Marik out of the room, leaving Marik looking more broken than he had even looked when he had shown up to their room.
Knowing that all of his friends were safe Harry had followed Marik out of the room. He had promised Remus and himself that he would be there for his friends, and from the way Marik looked that night it was clear that he didn't need to be alone. He had forced Marik to walk with him up to the astronomy tower. There the two of them had just stood in silence for awhile, staring over the railing into the night's sky. After a while of nothing but silence though Marik lost it.
His friend collapsed on the ground in tears, seemingly overwhelmed by all the weight that had been pressing down on his shoulders. Marik cried tears for the loss of his parents for the first time that Harry had seen, and he cried tears for many more things. The two of them spent almost the entire night together outside on the tower's balcony, Marik cried almost the entire time. He had tried to do his best to make sure Marik knew he was there for him, and was hopeful that it helped.
After Marik stopped crying Harry learned a lot of things about his friend, and what had happened that night. Harry learned that Luna had been there on the day when Marik found at his parents had died, and Luna had stayed by his side over the entire break from that point on. He had never known why or how Marik had become close to Luna, but it made sense now. Marik had literally been left alone in the world he felt like. No parents to go home to, Alina had been ignoring him, and outside of Harry and Hermione the only person Marik felt he had left was Luna.
Harry was thankful Luna had been around when she had been. Without her who knows what dark destinations Marik's mind would have traveled to over the break when he was left alone with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. Harry also learned that Marik had also developed some feelings for Luna over the time the two of them had become closer. Harry wasn't entirely sure if it had been mainly a result of Luna being the one person Marik felt like he could talk to because she had been there when he found out his parents died, or if it was something else.
Whatever the reason was, Harry learned that the night they had been called to the Great Hall to learn the patronus spell Marik had asked Luna to be his girlfriend. The two of them had been exchanging hugs as Luna had said yes when Alina had shown up. While none of them had known the two of them were dating they all certainly knew now, and Alina had found out the hard way during the night of the attack.
Through the little bits of information Hermione did give him, he had learned that after he had left her, Alina had gone to the Great Hall to look for Marik. There in the Great Hall she ended up saving Luna, of all people, from a death eater. From there Alina somehow ended up finding Marik chasing after Bellatrix.
Alina had shown up and started to help Marik duel Bellatrix when another death eater had shown up. Together though, both her and Marik defeated the second death eater and eventually defeated Bellatrix. Hermione would not tell him anything more than that from Alina's perspective, so all he had to go on from there was what Marik told him happened during their time on the astronomy tower.
Marik had killed Bellatrix Lestrange. After he had killed her Marik had a panic attack and to simply put it, broke down in front of Alina, much like he had in front of Harry up on the astronomy tower. Alina had been there though for him and helped him calm down thankfully. Apparently from the way Marik described things the two of them had talked for awhile and shared a special moment together. Towards the end of things Marik told him that Alina had kissed him, and that Marik had been so caught up in his emotions, and had been wanting to kiss Alina for so long that he had kissed her back.
In a time where his friend had been crying for hours that part of the story had been the only time of the night when Marik smiled. Though the smile was only brief as his friend continued on with his story. From there he learned that Luna had been searching for Marik as soon as the aurors arrived at the school. When she found Marik she had kissed him in front of Alina, and that's when Alina had run away from him,and off to their potions lab.
How much Marik liked Luna, Harry had no idea. Most of him felt like Luna was sort of a krutch Marik had begun to lean on since his parents died, but the other half of him could see that Marik really did care for the girl now. All he knew was that Marik had admitted that he had for moments forgotten about Luna when Alina had kissed him, and that it wasn't until he had seen her running towards him that he was brought back down to reality.
Whatever Marik felt and whatever Alina felt, along with whatever else happened between them ended that night. The next day Alina refused to discuss it further with Marik, and Marik refused to discuss it further with he or Hermione. Alina had decided to take the high road, or at least that's what she called it, following the funeral. She had formally approached Marik on her own, told him that he was still her friend, and that he was to return to hanging out with them all in their potions lab along with the rest of his normal routine.
Since then Marik had followed Alina's orders and returned to hanging out with them all just like normal times. The first two days had been awkward, he and Hermione could practically sense the tension between the two of them, but things had started to get a little better since then. Marik was still dating Luna, and Alina at least pretended that it no longer bothered her. Whether it actually did or not he did not know and Alina would not say. Regardless, the four of them were all hanging out again, so things seemed to be returning to normal for them, again, at least for the most part.
"How much longer until they all get here, I can't wait any longer!" Alina shouted, as they all sat on the lawn in front of the castle waiting.
"Harry should be the one that can't wait, not you," Marik said, continuing to toss the ball he had up into the air.
"Sorry that I can't wait to see my friend do his first full animagus transformation! Some of us are proud!" Alina argued back. See, things were back to normal.
"You know I'm proud too. So Harry any idea where you're dad and Sirius plan on taking you?" Marik asked him.
"No idea, they said they just had a few special spots they wanted to show me. I think it is just spots they used to go when they were at Hogwarts," he answered, truthfully not too sure himself.
"This just makes me so jealous!" Hermione said, pouting beside him in the grass. He gave her a wink which seemed to make her smile.
"Join the club," Marik said, also pouting from his spot. Both of them never made any attempt to hide their jealousy at not being an animagus.
"Harry you will have to take me to these spots one day too," Alina told him.
"Oh you know Sirius and my dad will want to do the same for you too Alina," he said to her.
"I know I know but still! We will have to find a spot somewhere on our own too though," Alina said, and he thought he heard Marik mumble something at the word spot.
"We will, I promise. I think that's them!" he replied to Alina, and sat up in the grass as he saw a group walking towards them from the castle.
Their group sat up as the people they had been waiting for finally arrived. Four of the people in the group he recognized, the fifth one he did not. Both his parents along with Sirius had flooed to the castle today to come watch him and help him complete the final stage of his animagus transformation. The other two members of the group were McGonagall, who was there to observe and take notes for her article, as well as her coauthor on the paper they were writing.
"Hey guys!" Harry said in excitement, with their arrival the feelings of what was actually about to happen was setting in and some butterflies began fluttering around in his stomach.
"Harry come give your old man a hug! I can't believe this day is happening already!" his father said, looking happier than Harry had seen him in a long time.
"Oh so you knew this day would be happening eventually?" Hermione asked as she received a hug from his mother.
When did those two get on a hugging basis. He wondered to himself as she watched Hermione get a big hug from his mother.
"Are you kidding me? Of course I did. Even when Harry was a baby he used to transfigure the mobile over his bed with accidental magic. Ever since then we knew he would be an animagus like his dad one day," his father answered Hermione again.
"That and the fact that he came out the womb with a tail," Sirius joked, earning a groan from the group.
"Harry I would like you to meet my colleague and coauthor of the paper I told you we are writing. Harry this is Helga Nissinger, Helga this is Harry Potter," McGonagall introduced him to the witch he did not recognize.
"Nice to meet you," Harry said to her as he shook her hand.
"The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for allowing us to take notes on you today, you are our first mountain lion," Miss. Nissinger said in excitement, she looked much more natural when she smiled than McGonagall did.
"Helga this is the Miss Black I was also telling you about, she is the one who recently just completed the second layer of her ring," McGonagall told her colleague. Harry noted Sirius beaming at the mention of his daughter and her achievements.
"Ah the Jaguar! I cannot wait to see the final transformation. McGonagall showed me the memory of your second layer, it was exquisite!" Helga told Alina, as she shook her hand.
"Uhh thank you," Alina responded, looking caught off guard.
"Hey I want to see that memory!" Sirius proclaimed.
"SOOO HARRY, why don't you get this show on the road," Alina shouted out. He laughed, able to clearly see that Alina had taken all she could from her dad on the topic of her animagus.
"Yeah, I'm ready if everyone else is," he said, barely able to contain his excitement.
"We are ready whenever you are Harry. Lead the way," his father said, still smiling. Harry led their now much larger group towards the forest. He and Marik had found a good open patch of trees in forest yesterday that he would be using to perform the last part of his ritual.
"Think this spot will be good enough for everyone to see?" he asked the group as they arrived.
"It is perfect," Sirius answered him, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Me and Sirius are going to shift into our forms now Harry so that we can be ready to go as soon as your form is complete. So I will go ahead and tell you congratulations now. I'm so proud of you son," his dad told him, giving him a hug and a kiss on his forehead.
"And from what I know about your father I'm sure you will smell quite. . . well I will go ahead and get my hug and kiss in now too," his mother said to him with a warm smile, giving him a proud hug and kiss on his cheek.
"Congratulations Harry," As soon as his mother released him from her hug he was immediately engulfed in another. He could tell from the amount of hair in his face and the smell of books that it was Hermione.
"Thanks Hermione," he told her as he hugged her.
"Congrats again man," Marik added.
"Yeah Harry, congratulations. You know we are all proud," Alina said and Hermione released him from her hug.
"And jealous," Marik joked.
"Mainly jealous," Hermione added playfully.
"Thanks guys," he laughed. "Now let's get started." Sirius and his father quickly transformed into their animagus forms and playfully ran to a spot a little ways away from the group where they could still see. Everyone else backed away a little.
"Okay, Marik you are in charge of lights again, Hermione you got the temperature. Alina. . ." he started to say.
"Take notes and get ready to stun the mess out of you if you screw up. You are not going to mess up Harry," Alina told him, and flashed him a warm smile.
"Right. Okay go," he announced to the group and dropped to all fours. As he closed his eyes he felt the little light that had been in the part of the forest around him vanish into darkness. He could feel his hairs on the back of his neck standing up as the air around him quickly got colder. Using his occlumency he began to clear his mind and organizing his thoughts. As he removed any unneeded thoughts from his mind he readied himself and focused all his energy on his magic.
With one last breath he started to push his magic outwards through his pores. The first two layers of the ritual came quickly, having practiced them more times than he cared to count. His hands and feet quickly shifted into their mountain lion forms, sprouting their normal tawny-grey fur and claws. As the layers finished forming he moved onto the next layer with as much pace as he could, not wanting to waste any more magic than was needed.
As the next layers formed he could feel the familiar feeling of his tail sprouting along with the shifting off his ribs as his torso filled into its new shape. The animal instincts inside him were already reeling even now. Pausing for a second he again used his occlumency to calm himself, clear his thoughts, and focus his mind. With another breath he began pushing his magic out even harder.
He could feel the final layer of his ritual as it began to form under him. He concentrated further on what the shape of the layer would look like, and how is magic would form it. Slowly he weaved the needed designs and lines into the ring around him. As he neared the end of it he could feel his face beginning to change. It took all the concentration he had left in him to maintain focus.
The pain that started in his skull was unbelievable as his skull shifted its shape. It literally felt like the bones in his skull were stabbing through the back of his eyes and it was difficult not to scream. His teeth felt like they were cracking as they moved around in his mouth and formed themselves into the mouth of a mountain lion. And his eyes felt like they were being stabbed through their backs as they expanded and contracted. The last thing that went through his mind as he finished the ritual was the pain, the pain inside his head as the last few changes were made. Then all the pain vanished, as if it had never been there before, and the world quieted around him.
He opened his eyes to see a much different world. All around him were people watching him. His instincts kicked in and he bolted away from the group, part of him not fully understanding why they were there, even though part of him knew why. At first running was hard, he found himself tripping constantly, not used to the speed. It was hard learning to move four legs at the same time instead of two.
He felt lower to the ground then he usually did. From here he felt as if he could see an entirely different world. He could move on the ground quicker and could see every branch, stump, or tree in his way. Not really knowing where his legs were carrying him but following them on instinct he continued to run. After he ran for what felt like an hour he felt like he was slowly getting used to his new body. He had not tripped in a while and was now getting less jarred from the speed.
He came to a stop and reared his head with a snarl as he heard a twig snap behind him. As he turned he felt his claws creeping out of their sockets, ready to pounce at whatever had tried to sneak up on him. He saw a few feet in front of him, a little out his striking range, was a large black dog and a stag.
An odd combination. He thought to himself as the hairs on his neck stood up. He stared at the two creatures watching him, ready to strike at any sudden movement. He met the eyes of the large stag, trying to understand why it had come so close.
He recognized those eyes. . . but from where. . . He turned his gaze from the stag to the black dog. He recognized those eyes too. . . He couldn't fully understand how but somehow he knew this dog and stag. How would he, a mountain lion, know these two creatures.
"Dad. . . Sirius. . ." a voice inside himself whispered. The large stag took a step closer to him and he found himself giving out a warning roar.
No that's not right. . . He found himself thinking. The stag took another step forward towards him. This time he relaxed a little, although he kept his attention fixed, still ready to run or pounce at any given moment.
As the stag crept slowly closer, the large black dog closely followed behind. As they got within fifty feet of him he could smell them. He recognized their smells, he had smelled them before. Their smells reminded him of something. . . of family. But he still couldn't quite place what that meant.
He allowed them to get closer, not feeling like they were posing any threat to him. The stag stopped when he arrived just a few feet in front of him. The dog sat down next to the stag, he could see its tail wagging behind him as the dog gave him a bark that sounded almost friendly. As they stood there unmoving he slowly walked around them, taking in their scents and trying to decipher the situation. After he made a few successful circles around them he determined they were not a threat to him.
"Dad. . . Sirius. . ." he heard the voice inside his head whisper again.
Dad. . . Sirius. . . He thought to himself again at what the words could mean. That's right, he knew these people. They had been with him earlier, when he was. . . different. They were his family. The images of the two people came to his mind at last. He understood now that these two creatures were his family. The stag was his father and the dog was his uncle, somehow he was related to them. The stag took a step closer to him and gently brushed one of its horns against his side. He felt warmth at the touch, instead of fear.
The dog followed the stag's lead and walked right up to him and licked him in the face. He growled at the large dog. Even if he knew this dog that was too far. That dog barked at him again as if it was laughing. He turned his head to see the large stag seemed to be laughing too. After they all stood there for a few more minutes taking everything and each other in, the stag ran off. The large dog quickly followed. Acting on instincts he followed them.
Together they led him through all different parts of the forest. Over streams, through caves, and past an endless number of trees. He found himself running on familiar grounds as they left the darkness and found an open field of sunlight. The ran on the soft grass along the edge of the forest. To his right he could see a large castle.
"Hogwarts," the voice inside his head told him. He continued to follow them along the edge of the forest until they led him to the bottom of a large willow tree. Carefully avoiding it as it hammered branches down towards him from above he followed them into a small cave underneath its roots. The cave continued for miles before at last it sloped upwards. At the end of the cave it led into a dark lit room. He saw the stag and dog run up the stairs in the room to the floor above him. He followed their lead.
As he made his way up the stairs he saw that the stag and dog were no longer there. Instead two men, he knew he recognized, were standing in their place. He crept closer slowly. They had the same smells as the creatures had.
They are the stag and dog. . . Father. . . and Sirius. . . More thoughts came to his mind as he crept further into the room. It slowly began to make more sense now. At the sight of them in human forms now he knew somehow deep within him he should change too. He felt a tug in the back of his mind and allowed it to pull. In the blink of an eye he felt his body expand and contract until all of the sudden he was on his back staring up at the ceiling of a dusty ceiling.
"Ughhh," he groaned as he tried to sit up, it felt like his body had been hit by a train.
"Let me help," he turned his head to see his father standing over him, his hand outstretched to help him up. He took his father's hand and stood up, feeling dizzy as he did.
"Here Harry come sit down, the first time feels like hell afterwards," Sirius said with a smile as he motioned for him to come sit in the chair next to him.
"Where am I?" he asked as he made his way to where Sirius was.
"Marauder's sanctuary. The shrieking shack," Sirius answered him with a wink.
"The shrieking shack? This place is supposed to be haunted though," Harry said, not fulling believing Sirius about his current location.
"And I am the famous one who haunts it," Harry turned to see Remus walking through the door.
"Ahh Moony you made it!" his father shouted, going to the door to give his friend a hug.
"Are you kidding, I wouldn't miss this for anything. How did he do?" Remus asked, grabbing a seat next to them. His father got up and went looking for something in one of the broken shelves. He surprisingly came back with a bottle half filled of firewhiskey, which he took a swig out of and handed to Sirius.
"He did perfect. He picked up running much quicker than James did," Sirius said through gritted teeth as he took a swig from the bottle and handed it over to Remus.
"You should have seen the way he bolted when he finished shifting," his father said laughing at the memory.
"How long did it take before he calmed down to you two?" Remus asked, taking a swig out of the bottle and handing it back to his father.
"Only about an hour," Sirius answered.
"Yeah, then we took him through the trails, he kept up pretty nice for his first time. Here Harry," his father said to him, extending out the bottle of firewhiskey towards him.
"Me? Seriously?" he asked his father not sure if this was a joke.
"Yes seriously! It is a tradition, and you earned it. Just don't tell your mother," his father said with a wink. Harry took the bottle from him slowly, ready for them to pull a prank on him at any second. He took a swig from it and immediately almost gagged at the taste. The three marauders laughed at his reaction to it.
"That's about the same reaction we all had the first time too," Sirius said laughing as he took the bottle back from him.
"Besides the taste in your mouth now Harry how do you feel?" his father asked him.
"I have a headache and I feel sore, but other than that I feel good. Although I am a little confused about why we ended up here instead of back with the group," he answered, looking around the shack as he spoke.
"This was our favorite spot back when we were at Hogwarts. Though, we used to have it cleaned up a lot more back then," Sirius answered, his eyes also looking around the shack.
"We thought we would continue the tradition with you and bring you here, plus we wanted to see it one last time. We heard someone bought this land and planned on tearing it down soon," his father added, looking sad.
"What did you mean when you said you were the one that haunts this place Remus?" he asked his uncle curiously. His father handed him the bottle again. He took another swig off the foul alcohol, this time it went down a little easier. He could feel the pain in his head getting a little better.
"We all used to come here every full moon. The screams people thought were ghosts was just me howling as I transformed. We never had the heart to tell anyone," Remus said laughing.
"Oh. . . well that explains that then," he said joining in on the laughter.
"It will be sad when this place goes, we had a lot of good times here," Remus added.
"Remember that time James got his antlers stuck in Lily's dress. She almost had him stuffed and mounted when he ripped it trying to free himself," Sirius said through laughter. Remus almost did a spit take at the story.
"Ugh don't remind me. She almost killed you too when she found out that you saw her underwear," his father said, laughing back.
"Don't remind me! She threatened to hex me every time I looked at her for the next month!" Sirius said, taking another swig from the bottle.
"That was almost as good as when you brought that girl you were dating here, what was her name?" his father asked Sirius.
"It was Lionna Bell remember? God the legs on that girl!" Sirius said, leaning back in his chair as he spoke.
"I will never forget the face she made when Remus walked in here naked, having just transformed back," his father barely got out through laughter.
"I swear she screamed louder than I ever did, maybe she was the real ghost that haunted this place," Remus laughed too.
"We really did have some good times here," Sirius said, as the marauders quieted down. Each of them seemingly lost in memories.
"Speaking of our no good deeds, we have heard that you have been putting the cloak to good use," his father said, giving him a large grin.
"What? How? Who?" he started to ask, wondering how they knew and feeling like he was about to get in trouble.
"Hahaha the poor boy," Sirius laughed.
"Harry no matter how clever and sneaky you may be you will find it tough to do something at Hogwarts that hasn't already been seen by Dumbledore," His father answered him.
"He knew?" he asked, amazed that Dumbledore had known the entire time that he had a cloak.
"Of course he knew. I told him I gave you the cloak. He was always asking me when I was going to give it to you after all," his father said, still smiling from ear to ear.
"Why didn't he say anything then?" Harry asked, still amazed.
"Because Dumbledore has bigger fish to fry than some harmless sneaking about. Plus Dumbledore was no saint either during his time at Hogwarts," Remus answered. Harry couldn't imagine Dumbledore not being anything but saint like.
"Who do you think Peeve's learned most of his gags from?" Sirius added.
"Don't worry Harry we are happy to hear that you are putting it to good use," his father told him.
"Feels a little bit like our legacy is living on," Sirius added with a smile.
"Which is another reason we wanted to bring you here," Remus added.
"Ah right," his father reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of folded parchment. "The three of us have decided that you have earned this Harry. We were planning on giving it to you on Christmas but with your mom there we figured we would celebrate your final transformation with it," his father handed him the parchment. He looked it over in his hands, but could see nothing but blank pages.
"What is it?" he asked them confused.
"Touch your wand to the paper and say I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Sirius told him. He nodded his head and pulled out his wand.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said the words Sirius had told him and immediately ink begin to appear on the paper, drawing lines all by itself. As he looked more closely he could see that it was a map of the castle and the grounds. He could see student's names floating around the castle, footsteps appearing under them as they walked. He recognized his mother's name in McGonagall's office, where it appeared she was with his professor and her colleague.
He could see Hermione's name in the library, it appeared in the potion's section, right up against a bookshelf. He scanned the rest of the map in awe. He could see Alina and Marik's names as they were together down in their potions lab, probably arguing. It was amazing.
"This is. . ." he started to say.
"Amazing. We know," Sirius said.
"This piece of art took us three almost three years to complete. It was our most prized possession during our time at Hogwarts. With this we never got caught," Remus added.
"And now we want you to have it," his father said to him, giving him another warm smile.
"Really? I don't know what to say," he lept up and gave them all a hug.
"Just make sure you use it well," Sirius said, after he got his hug.
"And when you are finished just say mischief managed," Remus added.
"I will use it well, I promise," he said to the marauders.
"Looks like our legacy is safe then," Sirius said with a laugh.
"Well let's get back to the castle then, I promised your mother we wouldn't be gone too long," his father said, and they all made their way back down to the cave of the shack.
"Mischief managed," he said, pointing his wand at the map before he followed, making sure to check where Hermione's name was before her dot disappeared. He would have to run to the library as soon as he got to the castle so that he could tell her all about his adventure.
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