Discovering their Destiny
Fred and George Weasley were the greatest pranksters to come threw Hogwarts since the Marauders. Students and teachers alike knew to avoid the Weasley twins especially if they were wearing their famous grin; a sign that they were up to something without a doubt.
But how did they do it? What was the secret to their success? It was so simple but yet such genius. It was a map. Not an ordinary map by any means. This was a map of Hogwarts, a map made fifteen years before they even walked the halls of the school. The Marauders Map showed every witch or wizard inside the castle and exactly where they were and where they were headed. How the map came into their possession could be considered pure luck or maybe a prankster who wanted to see his legacy carried on helped them just a little. Encouraged them to open that draw in the caretaker's office. Either way Fred and George Weasley, with the help of the map, did not let their predecessors down. This is just a small part of their story. Telling how they got the map in their possession. Maybe with a little bit of insight into how it happened you'll be able to decide for yourself if they had a little bit of help from a certain Marauder.
Young Fred and George Weasley hid behind a suit of armor laughing quietly. They had just let off a bunch of dungbombs and Filch was running around trying to catch who ever had done it. Fred looked at his twin smiling, "George that was wicked, do we have any left?"
George opened his bag and looked inside, "We have⦠five left. We should save them for later."
Fred said, "Yeah, we should. Hey I got a great idea. Let's use the last five in potions tomorrow. We can throw one of them in Flint's cauldron."
"That's a great idea. What should we do with the rest?" George asked, "We could save them for next time we feel like torturing Filch. I just love seeing him angry. I can't help it."
"Yeah," Fred said laughing, "Did you see Filch's face, this time. He was so mad." He laughed and looked at George whose mouth was hanging open looking over Fred's shoulder. Just then Fred noticed someone standing behind him and turned around.
"Well, Mr. Weasley I'm glad you found that so funny. I am going to find it funny when you finally do something that can get you expelled. How I wait for the day. Now, both of you come to my office immediately," Filch said. Fred smiled evilly. He just loved pranking people, especially Filch. He even loved the part when they got in trouble.
"Yes, sir," they chorused getting up and following him to his office. Fred and George took their time getting there. After all they liked getting in trouble but they were in no rush to get stuck in detention again. Once inside his office, Filch started threatening them with expulsion, suspension, torture and death. Fred and George weren't listening though. Both had heard this speech a million times and they only been there a few months. Besides they saw something much more interesting behind where Filch was standing.
The filing cabinet in Filch's office had a draw open. The marker on the draw said, "Confiscated and Dangerous." They had to look in that draw. It was calling them. I mean would you be able to walk out of that office without looking? Fred grinned evilly at his brother who smiled back and nodded. George ran out of the room suddenly taking out a dungbomb as he went and throwing it down the hallway. Filch went after him yelling like mad. As soon as he was gone Fred took the opportunity to look in the draw. He knew he only had a few minutes before Filch returned angrier then ever and they both could count on a howler from their mother in the morning if he caught Fred in a draw marked, 'Confiscated and Dangerous.' He looked inside the dark draw and could fell his skin tingling from excitement. It was full of strange things all which were rather odd looking. Fred was reaching for a ball shaped object when something else caught his eye. It was a simple piece of parchment, nothing more. But the paper seemed to be calling to him and he took it out looking at it closely. It had no words written on it and looked at least fifteen years old. He turned over and still saw nothing. What was so dangerous about this parchement, he asked himself? He though about putting it back and taking the ball but didn't. The fact that there seemed to be nothing important or interesting at all about this paper made him want it even more. Mysteries, after all, could lead to the greatest adventure. He stuck the parchment in his pocket and sat back down quickly just as Filch walked back in the room dragging a smug looking George.
Filch yelled at the two of them for what seemed like hours and confiscated the rest of their dungbombs, giving them each three days detention before letting them leave. They ran out of his office and once they were down the hallway George turned to Fred and said excitedly, "So?"
"So what?" Fred asked. He loved messing with his brother. He could get so impatient.
"Come on, Fred. Just tell me, what did you nick?" George asked. He was beaming at the thought of the power they might have in their possession.
Fred faked shock and fell into the wall, "George do you actually think I would do something like steal from out dear Caretaker, Mr. Filch? I, the brother of perfect Percy and retired Head Boy, Bill. What kind of a person do you think I am?"
George laughed, "Ok, come on now. Just tell me what did you take?"
"You know me all to well, dear brother," Fred said taking out the piece of parchment and handing it to George who took it eagerly. George looked at it and then his face dropped as he flipped it over to look at the other blank side. "What the bloody hell is it, Fred?"
Fred shrugged, "I don't know but there must be some reason Filch took it."
George hit himself in the head and stopped walking looking at Fred with exasperation, "Fred, you had a chance to steal anything in that draw and you took this old bit of parchment. What's wrong with you?"
"Hey, there is something special about that parchment or Filch wouldn't have bothered taking it," Fred snapped back.
George handed him the paper and sighed saying, "Maybe that's true but we still don't know how to work it."
"I'll figure it out," Fred said happily sticking the paper back in his pocket, George just shook his head and started walking again.
Late that night Fred sat in his dormitory with the parchment in front of him and his wand out. No one else was awake and he had classes in the morning but he wanted to figure out what this paper was about. All he had figured out so far was that it insulted anyone who touched it but he believed there was more to it. He sighed again as another insult appeared on the map, this time from Mssr. Prongs. Fred was really beginning to hate the four people who had made the thing. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs simply refused to let him get what he wanted without a fight. Really weird names, he thought, why did they sound so familiar? He sighed as another insult appeared on the paper. He started to fold up the parchment and put it away when something crashed on the other side of the room.
Reluctantly he got out of bed and walked over the place where the noise had come from. He looked around and saw nothing. Taking out his wand he muttered, "Lumos," and waved the light on the floor. Still he saw nothing that could have made such a large crash so he kneeled down and looked closer at the floor. There he saw the cause of the noise. There was a brick laying there that had fallen out of the wall. He picked it up inspecting it closely. He saw nothing on the front and flipped over. He gasped when he saw something inscribed in the brick. For the first time that night he had hope he would figure out what the parchment was really about. The brick read, "Mssr. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. The official troublemakers of Hogwarts." He knew this was it. He was on the verge of figuring out the secret to the piece of paper sitting in his bed. He looked closer at where the brick had fallen from and almost shouted when he saw there was a piece of paper hidden there. He took the paper out carefully and opened it. It had nine simple words written on it, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
"What is that?" A voice said behind him.
He turned to look at George and said, "Don't do that. You scared me."
"Sorry. What is it, though?" He asked again.
"I don't know but I think I have an idea," with that he got up and walked over to his bed picking up the parchment and pointing his wand at it, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he whispered. He almost fainted when he saw lines begin to spread over the paper and form
"A map," George said next to him. He sounded excited. Fred could feel his trouble making instincts tingling with excitement.
"Yeah," said Fred and saw George smiling evilly again, "A map of Hogwarts and not just any ordinary map. Look you can see everyone in the castle and they're moving. There's Filch in his office! And look, Dumbledore is pacing the third floor. Hey, look there's Percy to in his dorm. Awesome."
"You know what this means don't you," George said and Fred could almost hear the wheels in his head turning as he planned their next prank, "We have the ability to go anywhere in this castle and not get caught. And look," he said pointing to a passage, "that's a secret passage its part of Hogwarts it leads off the grounds!"
"We can get off the Hogwarts ground without getting caught. I bet one of these leads to Hogemeade's. We can go to Honeydukes and we aren't even third years. Bloody hell, that's awesome."
"With the help of this map we can be legends," George whispered.
"It's the ultimate weapon," Fred said barely believing how lucky they were.
"Wicked," George said and Fred smiled.
"The Marauder's Map. I think we are going to owe this map our legacy," Fred said.
"The Marauders. Have you ever heard of them? I guess they're the people that made this map. We are going to owe them so much," George said taking the map and looking at the name written at the top.
"Uh actually, I think I have. I think Bill might have known them. They were seventh years or something when he was a first year. He tells stories about the trouble they use to get in. They were the greatest pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen. I remember now."
"Oh, yeah. Didn't he say that two of them died. Oh man, I remember. Weren't one the Marauders' James Potter, you know Harry Potters dad," George said in awe.
"I think so. Well in that cause we have quiet a legacy to carry on. We can't let them down. We have everything they had and we must carry on and make them proud. Let's show the Marauders how good at pranking we really are," Fred said and felt like they had fate on their side. Hogwarts had better prepare for the Weasley twins, he thought, or they were in for a rude awakening.
