Saturday's plans started off with a hitch right away when he ran into Snape and Neville on his way to the one-eyed witch statue. He managed to shake them both off although Snape had looked at him suspiciously and made it to Hogsmede where he joined Ron. The two of them enjoyed themselves even though Harry had to stay under the cloak. They bought a handful of Zonko's products (Harry gave Ron whispered orders and passed him some money under the cloak) and they also checked out the post office again. It was a nice day and the boys didn't feel like staying inside so they decided to go and check out the shrieking shack, which was apparently the most haunted building in the country. It was a bit outside the village. The windows were all boarded up and it was surrounded by an overgrown garden.

"Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid this place." Ron told Harry "I've asked Nearly Headless Nick about it and he said he's heard that a rough crowd hangs out here. The entrances are all sealed so nobody can get in. The twins have tried, obviously, but it's impossible."

Harry was a bit hot from their climb so he was considering taking the cloak off for a few minutes but just as he was about to they heard the sound of voices close by. It turned out to be Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle climbing towards the shrieking shack from the other side of the hill.

"I should have an owl from father any time now. He had to go to the hearing and tell them about how I couldn't use my arm for three months."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed

"I wish I could hear that oaf trying to defend himself. That hippogriff is as good as dead."

Malfoy suddenly spotted Ron and his face broke into a malicious grin.

"What are you doing here, Weasley."

Malfoy looked over Ron's head at the crumbling house behind him.

"Bet you'd love to live here, wouldn't you? I've heard your family sleeps in one room. Is that true?"

Harry grabbed Ron by the back of his robes to stop him from jumping on Malfoy

Just leave it to me. He thought.

This was just too good of a chance to pass up. Harry slipped behind Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle unseen and unheard and scooped up a handful of mud from the path.

"We were just talking about your friend Hagrid." Malfoy was saying to Ron now, "Do you think he'll cry when they cut off his hippogriff's-"

Malfoy was cut off as Harry threw the mud and hit him directly in the back of the head. His head jerked forward and his tidy blonde hair was suddenly dripping in muck

"What the?" Malfoy said, startled as he Crabbe and Goyle spun on the spot trying to see who had thrown it, Malfoy frantically trying to wipe his hair clean.

"Who did that?"

"Haunted up here, isn't it." Said Ron with the air of one discussing the weather.

Crabbe and Goyle were looking around fearfully, as strong as they were even their muscle was no use against ghosts. Malfoy was staring wildly around for an unseen culprit as Harry made his way quietly along the path where he found a puddle of some foul smelling sludge.

SPLAT

That time Crabbe and Goyle caught some. Goyle hopped up and down furiously on the spot as he tried to wipe it out of his dull eyes.

"It came from there!" Malfoy yelled, pointing to a spot some six feet to Harry's left. Crabbe came forward towards him but Harry dodged around him, grabbed a large stick and threw it at Crabbe's back. He doubled up with silent laughter as Crabbe did a stupid looking spin to see who had thrown the stick. As Ron was the only person Crabbe could see it was Ron he started after but Harry stuck out his leg and tripped Crabbe up. This is when they ran into a problem. One of Crabbe's huge feet caught on the hem of his cloak, pulling it away from his face

Malfoy stared at Harry for a fraction of a second and then pointed at him, let out a frightened scream and turned and booked it down the hill as fast as he could with Crabbe and Goyle right on his heels. Harry tugged the cloak back on but the damage had already been done.

"Harry." Ron said, staring hopelessly at the spot where he had vanished "You'd better get back to the castle. Now. If Malfoy tells anyone..."

Harry didn't need telling twice

"Later." He said quickly and darted off towards Honeydukes and the secret passage.

Harry's mind was reeling. Would Malfoy tell anyone? Would anyone believe him? Nobody knew about the invisibility cloak..except Dumbledore. Harry's stomach did a flip. Dumbledore would know exactly what had happened if Malfoy talked.

Into Honeydukes and down into the cellar and down the trap door. He pulled off the cloak, tucked it under his arm and took the secret passage at a run. He knew Malfoy would beat him back to the castle but how long would it take for him to find a teacher. By the time he reached the end of the passage he had a sharp pain in his side and he was out of breath. Harry abandoned his cloak in a shadowy corner of the passage it would too much of a giveaway if Malfoy had tipped off a teacher. He climbed the chute and had barely managed to get out of the statue and close the passage entrance when he heard footsteps.

It was Snape. He was coming towards Harry with a sort of triumphant gleam in his eyes. Harry tried to look innocent and hastily stuffed his muddy hands in his pockets.

"Follow me, Potter." Snape said

He lead Harry to his office where he had him sit down in a chair

"Mr. Malfoy has just been to see me with a very strange story, Potter." Said Snape maliciously

Harry said nothing

"He says he ran into Weasley, apparently alone, by the shrieking shack when apparently a large amount of mud hit him in the back of the head. Any idea how that might have happened?"

Harry still didn't speak.

"And then, Mr. Malfoy said he saw a strange apparition. Can you guess what that was?"

"No." Said Harry, trying to sound innocently curious.

"It was your head, Potter, floating in mid-air."

There was a long pause

"Maybe he needs to go to the Hospital Wing if he's seeing things like that."

"What was your head doing in Hogsmeade? Your head isn't allowed in Hogsmede. No part of your body has permission to be in Hogsmeade."

"I know that." Harry answered "It sounds like Malfoy's hallucinating."

"Malfoy isn't hallucinating." Snape hissed "If your head was in Hogsmeade so was the rest of you."

"I was in Gryffindor tower like you told me-"

"Can anyone confirm that?"

Harry didn't answer. He was cornered.

"So, everyone's trying to protect the famous Harry Potter from Sirius Black but famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let the ordinary people worry for his safety famous Harry Potter goes where he wants without thinking about the ramifications."

Harry stayed silent, Snape was trying goad him into admitting something but Harry wasn't going to fall for it. Snape had no proof and Harry wasn't about to give it him.

"You're just like your father. A little talent on the Quidditch pitch and he thought he was above the rest of us, strutting around the castle with his friends."

"My dad didn't strut. And I don't either." Harry snapped before he could stop himself

Snape's mouth curled into a malicious smile as he found a weak spot, he pressed the advantage "Your father didn't obey the rules either, Potter. Rules were for lesser mortals not Quidditch stars. His head was so swollen-"

"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled, unable to control himself.

"What did you just say?" Snape asked, pure venom in his voice.

"I told you to shut up about my dad." Harry repeated "I know the truth okay, he saved your life. Dumbledore told me."

Snape glared furiously at Harry for a few moments and then said, "And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved your life?"

Harry didn't answer. He didn't know the whole story and he didn't want to admit it. Snape seemed to guess the truth however and he smiled even more wickedly

"Allow me to dispense with any notion of false heroics you may have had. Your father and his little friends decided to play a prank on me, one that would have killed me if your father hadn't gotten cold feet at the last second. He was saving his own skin as well as mine, had their joke succeeded he would have been expelled."

Snape's teeth were bared at him now

"Turn out your pockets, Potter." He said suddenly

Harry didn't move. His heart was thudding out of his chest.

"Do it or we go straight to the headmaster." Snape snarled

Harry had no choice he pulled the marauders map and the bag of Zonko's products.

Snape picked up the Zonkos bag

"I got that on the first trip." Harry said quickly

"And you've been carrying it around ever since..." Said Snape in a sarcastic tone. He then picked up the map

"And what's this?" he asked

"Spare bit of parchment." Harry lied easily.

"Surely you don't need such an old piece of parchment." Snape said "I'll just throw this out." His hand moved towards the fire.

"NO!" Harry yelled.

Snape froze, his twisted smile widening

"So then..what could this possibly be? Some letter written in invisible ink telling you how to get into Hogsmeade without passing the dementors."

He took out his wand and, as Harry watched with baited breath he tried unsuccessfully a few times to get the map to reveal itself and then finally

"I, Professor Severus Snape, master of this school command you to reveal your secrets."

Harry could hardly hold back a gasp as words began to snake across the parchment

Mr. Moony presents his compliments to professor Snape and kindly requests that he keep his big nose out of other people's business.

Snape stared at the message, dumbfounded. But the map didn't stop there

Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor snape is an ugly git.

Harry would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious and there was still more

Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor

Harry closed his eyes in horror and when he'd opened them again the map had had it's last word

Mr. Wormtail bids professor Snape good day and advises him to wash his hair. The slimeball.

Harry gulped, waiting for the blow to fall.

"We shall see about this." said Snape silkily. He strode over and sized a jar of floo powder from the mantle and threw a handful into the fire.

"Lupin! I want a word!" Snape called into the fire and within moments the fire glowed green and Lupin appeared, he stepped out of the fire, looking like this was as casual as a phone call.

"You called, Severus." He said calmly

"I did indeed." Snape answered "I just now confiscated a curious thing from Potter, here."

He held up the map which still showed the words of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Lupin's face suddenly changed, he was now wearing an oddly guarded expression. Harry got the impression that he was doing some quick thinking

"Well, Lupin." Said Snape "That parchment is clearly full of dark magic, now..where do you suppose Potter got such a thing."

Lupin looked up and cast the smallest half-glance in Harry's direction warned him not to say anything.

"Dark magic, really?" He said mildly "I don't think so. Looks like it's just a parchment designed to insult anyone who tries to read it. I suspect it's a Zonko product."

"Do you really think a joke shop could supply him with such a thing. I think it's more likely that he got it directly from the manufacturers."

Harry didn't know what Snape meant by that and it seemed Lupin didn't either

"You mean Mr. Wormtail or one of these people..Harry do you know these guys?"

"No." Harry answered

"Well, I think that clears that up, Severus." Said Lupin, taking the map and tucking it away in his robes "Harry, come along, I want a word about my essay. Excuse us Severus."

They left the office and Harry didn't dare look back at Snape. They made it all the way to the entrance hall before either of them spoke

"Professor..I.." Harry began

"I don't want to hear any excuses, Harry." Said Lupin "I know for a fact this map was confiscated by Mr. Filtch years ago. Yes, I know it's a map." He added seeing the incredulous look on Harry's face "I don't want to know how you came to have it. I won't ask. However I must say I'm surprised you didn't hand it in, especially with what nearly happened to Ron the last time someone left information about the castle lying around. I can't let you have it back."

Harry had expected that but he was too keen for information to protest.

"Why'd Snape think I got it from the manufacturers?" he asked

Lupin hesitated for a second and then said carefully, "Because...the mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd have found it funny."

"Do you know them?" Harry asked.

"We've met." said Lupin, looking at him seriously "I won't cover for you again. I can't make you take Sirius Black seriously but I would have thought that what you hear when the dementors get close to you would have had more of an impact. Your parents lost their lives to save yours, Harry and gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks seems like a pretty poor way to repay them."

He then walked away leaving Harry feeling more miserable than at any point in Snape's office