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CHAPTER 4- TAKING A TEST RUN
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"W-We're done guys..." James said, lifting up the piece of parchment and holding it up for everyone to see.
"Remus, test the insults...." Sirius said, nudging his friend and chuckling.
Remus nodded and tapped the page with his wand, saying in a falsely deep voice, "I, Severus Snape, demand that you tell me you secret!"
As though an invisible hand was writing across the page, the words appeared in glistening emerald green ink.
Mr. Moony would like to say that Severus Snape should keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.
Mr. Prongs would like to agree with Mr. Moony and would like to tell Mr. Snape that he should wash his hair, the greasy git.
Mr. Padfoot would like to say that he should stop trying to lower his voice, it is obvious he hasn't reached puberty yet.
Mr. Wormtail would like to add that Mr. Snape should clean his robes, his stentch can be smelt through the parchment.
Remus' cheeks flushed red, staring at Sirius as though he mortally offended him, "Hey, woah, that one was meant for Snape, not you Remus!" he said, trying to wipe away the writing that still glistened across the page.
James and Peter laughed, but quickly shut up as Remus looked furiously at the rest of the group, then broke out into laughter too.
"Now, Sirius, would you care to do the honours?" James asked, holding the parchment out towards his best of friends.
Sirius took the page, raised his wand and said with a wide grin, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
And with that, lines of black ink etched its way across the page like a spiderweb creating itself. Sirius looked excited as tiny inkblots marked with minute names marked off everyone in the schoolgrounds.
Written across the top were the names that many mischief makers would grow to worship; Mssrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mishief-Makers, are proud to Present THE MARAUDER'S MAP.
"Look, there's us!" Peter said excitedly, pointing to a group of 4 dots veyr clsoe together, located in the boys dormitories of the Gryffindor tower.
Indeed it was, each dot was marked with their names, and Sirius oohed and awed as he moved back and forth, and the little dot immitated his movements.
"That's bloody awesome!" James said with wide eyes. He snatched the paper back, then looked to Peter.
"Now, to clear the map." he said, "Peter?"
Peter reached out with an unsteady hand, then squeaked out, "Mischief managed!" and the map instantly cleared away.
The four of them, forever known as the Marauders, clapped at their own ingenious, and then looked slyly at each other.
"Care to test it out?" James said after a moment, and his 3 best friends nodded vigerously.
As the lines spidered their way back across the page, Sirius reached into James' trunk and pulled out the invisibility cloak.
"I say we get Snape, look, he's gone to the bathroom on 3rd floor, 1st floor's one in broken." Sirius said with an almsot evil grin.
James grinned as well, and Peter followed suit, but Remus- as always- was the apprehensive one.
"What if he tattles to the Headmaster? Dumbledore knows we have the cloak..." Remus said, putting a damper on the party, and Sirius frowned.
"He also knows what we're like and has never kicked us out before." James offered, and Remus shrugged, "Besides, we need to test out the map somehow, and what better way than to get Snape?"
After a few more moments of begging and pleading, Remus gave in, and the four slipped (not so easily) under the invisibility cloak.
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"SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPE!" Shouted a voice from thin air, and the greasy-haired poor boy spun around, trying to spot where the cry came from.
"Peeves, show yourself or I'll get the Bloody Baron, he IS the Slytherin house ghost!"
"SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPE!" came the cry again, and Severus jumped.
"P-P-Peeves?" he said, suddenly feeling less cocky.
Once again, the eery calling of young Severus' last name cried. Severus stared around, clenching and unclenching his fists at each side.
He paused for a moment, trying to make out the voice this time, and he realized finalyl that it belonged to-
"JAMES POTTER! SHOW YOURSELF! MR. FILCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Sirius looked down at the map from beneath the cloak, then grinned.
"We'll get you next time Snivellus!" Sirius shouted, and the 4 slipped away from the washroom, looking down at the map again.
"Go the long way around, to the left, Filch is coming through a secret passageway to the right."
They slipped off, and as Filch entered the washroom to find a disgruntled Snape exiting it and waving his arms around furiously, trying to catch James and the others.
"Out of bed, are we Mr. Snape?" Filch said menacingly.
"You know as well as I do that Myrtle's taken to haunting the boy's toilets in the dungeons, and 1st floor washroom aren't working." Snape said calmly, "But James Potter is slinking around out here, he must be using an invisibility charm or cloak." he waved hsi arms in a wide arc, but the marauders were already outside the fat lady's portrait now.
"Leprachaun Gold." Remus whispered, and the drowsy fat lady swung open without even pausing to see who was saying the password.
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"That was great! Did you hear that? 'P-P-Peeves?' sounded like he was going to wet himself, he did!" James said, and Remus broke into fits of laughter, "Looked like it too, see the way his legs were crossed?" the werewolf said.
"I think I'm liking this map! And now we can slip out to Honeydukes whenever we want!" Peter said happily, wringing his porky hands and debating what kind of candy he'd like to get.
"Imagine what else we could do, that potion in your book, we could slip out to the Potions store-cupboard and snatch the ingredients too!" Remus said, pointing at Sirius who was grinning broadly.
The conversation continued on for nearly an hour before they finally decided it was time to go to sleep.
"W-We're done guys..." James said, lifting up the piece of parchment and holding it up for everyone to see.
"Remus, test the insults...." Sirius said, nudging his friend and chuckling.
Remus nodded and tapped the page with his wand, saying in a falsely deep voice, "I, Severus Snape, demand that you tell me you secret!"
As though an invisible hand was writing across the page, the words appeared in glistening emerald green ink.
Mr. Moony would like to say that Severus Snape should keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.
Mr. Prongs would like to agree with Mr. Moony and would like to tell Mr. Snape that he should wash his hair, the greasy git.
Mr. Padfoot would like to say that he should stop trying to lower his voice, it is obvious he hasn't reached puberty yet.
Mr. Wormtail would like to add that Mr. Snape should clean his robes, his stentch can be smelt through the parchment.
Remus' cheeks flushed red, staring at Sirius as though he mortally offended him, "Hey, woah, that one was meant for Snape, not you Remus!" he said, trying to wipe away the writing that still glistened across the page.
James and Peter laughed, but quickly shut up as Remus looked furiously at the rest of the group, then broke out into laughter too.
"Now, Sirius, would you care to do the honours?" James asked, holding the parchment out towards his best of friends.
Sirius took the page, raised his wand and said with a wide grin, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
And with that, lines of black ink etched its way across the page like a spiderweb creating itself. Sirius looked excited as tiny inkblots marked with minute names marked off everyone in the schoolgrounds.
Written across the top were the names that many mischief makers would grow to worship; Mssrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mishief-Makers, are proud to Present THE MARAUDER'S MAP.
"Look, there's us!" Peter said excitedly, pointing to a group of 4 dots veyr clsoe together, located in the boys dormitories of the Gryffindor tower.
Indeed it was, each dot was marked with their names, and Sirius oohed and awed as he moved back and forth, and the little dot immitated his movements.
"That's bloody awesome!" James said with wide eyes. He snatched the paper back, then looked to Peter.
"Now, to clear the map." he said, "Peter?"
Peter reached out with an unsteady hand, then squeaked out, "Mischief managed!" and the map instantly cleared away.
The four of them, forever known as the Marauders, clapped at their own ingenious, and then looked slyly at each other.
"Care to test it out?" James said after a moment, and his 3 best friends nodded vigerously.
As the lines spidered their way back across the page, Sirius reached into James' trunk and pulled out the invisibility cloak.
"I say we get Snape, look, he's gone to the bathroom on 3rd floor, 1st floor's one in broken." Sirius said with an almsot evil grin.
James grinned as well, and Peter followed suit, but Remus- as always- was the apprehensive one.
"What if he tattles to the Headmaster? Dumbledore knows we have the cloak..." Remus said, putting a damper on the party, and Sirius frowned.
"He also knows what we're like and has never kicked us out before." James offered, and Remus shrugged, "Besides, we need to test out the map somehow, and what better way than to get Snape?"
After a few more moments of begging and pleading, Remus gave in, and the four slipped (not so easily) under the invisibility cloak.
******************
"SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPE!" Shouted a voice from thin air, and the greasy-haired poor boy spun around, trying to spot where the cry came from.
"Peeves, show yourself or I'll get the Bloody Baron, he IS the Slytherin house ghost!"
"SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPE!" came the cry again, and Severus jumped.
"P-P-Peeves?" he said, suddenly feeling less cocky.
Once again, the eery calling of young Severus' last name cried. Severus stared around, clenching and unclenching his fists at each side.
He paused for a moment, trying to make out the voice this time, and he realized finalyl that it belonged to-
"JAMES POTTER! SHOW YOURSELF! MR. FILCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Sirius looked down at the map from beneath the cloak, then grinned.
"We'll get you next time Snivellus!" Sirius shouted, and the 4 slipped away from the washroom, looking down at the map again.
"Go the long way around, to the left, Filch is coming through a secret passageway to the right."
They slipped off, and as Filch entered the washroom to find a disgruntled Snape exiting it and waving his arms around furiously, trying to catch James and the others.
"Out of bed, are we Mr. Snape?" Filch said menacingly.
"You know as well as I do that Myrtle's taken to haunting the boy's toilets in the dungeons, and 1st floor washroom aren't working." Snape said calmly, "But James Potter is slinking around out here, he must be using an invisibility charm or cloak." he waved hsi arms in a wide arc, but the marauders were already outside the fat lady's portrait now.
"Leprachaun Gold." Remus whispered, and the drowsy fat lady swung open without even pausing to see who was saying the password.
*********************
"That was great! Did you hear that? 'P-P-Peeves?' sounded like he was going to wet himself, he did!" James said, and Remus broke into fits of laughter, "Looked like it too, see the way his legs were crossed?" the werewolf said.
"I think I'm liking this map! And now we can slip out to Honeydukes whenever we want!" Peter said happily, wringing his porky hands and debating what kind of candy he'd like to get.
"Imagine what else we could do, that potion in your book, we could slip out to the Potions store-cupboard and snatch the ingredients too!" Remus said, pointing at Sirius who was grinning broadly.
The conversation continued on for nearly an hour before they finally decided it was time to go to sleep.