This chapter has been edited to include things that occurred in HBP. Read and enjoy! PhoenixPlume
Ch. 6 The Marauders' Map
Hogsmeade passed uneventfully, and November came. Three fifth year Gryffindor girls were doing a most unusual thing in the Potions classroom on a weekend, of all times.
"Well—I've added all the ingredients. Time to try it out," Lily said, as she stirred some Pepperup Potion.
"Um, Lily, I wouldn't if I were you," Alice said, pinching the skin around her neck in worry. "You used the lacewings that that seventh year was selling—for all you know, it's what's making the potion not look right."
"Nonsense," Lily said, "It was cheap, but it looked alright. And I would have had to go ask Professor Slughorn, and I'm trying to avoid him right now since people keep giving me evil looks in Potions. Plus, I followed the instructions." Lily was one of Professor Slughorn's favorite students, and he didn't bother trying to hide it. So, Lily had taken to avoiding him outside of class in order to not embitter her other classmates who didn't get as much attention.
Emmeline sighed, eyeing the sickly looking potion Lily had made.
Lily dipped a cup into the potion and drunk it all. But instead of making her more alert, and causing smoke to come out of her ears, she started grasping at her throat in frustration, mouthing, "I can't talk!"
"Oh, great," Alice said in frustration, exchanging worried glances with Emmeline.
"It was one of those Noisemongers from Zonko's," Emmeline stated grimly. "They look like the Lacewing butterfly.
"We'd better take her to the infirmary," Emmeline said, trying to keep things from getting out of control any more. Alice was rocking back and forth anxiously, like she was about to have a seizure.
"Come on, Lily—you too, Alice," Emmeline ordered, as she pulled Lily and Alice out of the room, only to discover James and Sirius strutting through the hallway. James, hearing people behind them, turned and saw that something was wrong with Alice and said, "What happened to her?"
"Lily drank some Pepperup potion she made," Emmeline said grimly, "She can't talk now."
"But Lily's an ace at Potions!" protested Sirius. "Let's hope Snivelly doesn't find out. He'd have a field day."
But James looked as if Christmas had come early. "I can finally say something to her without her getting me back!" he cried out gleefully.
"That's a first, Prongs," chuckled Sirius, "You can say anything to her now!" Lily shook her fist at both of them, her green eyes saying everything.
"Come on, Lils," Alice said quickly, grabbing Lily's arm forcefully. Emmeline turned to lead the way to the hospital wing.
"Don't miss me too much, Evans!" James called out cheekily, blowing a kiss, at which Lily turned and stuck her tongue out at him.
"We'll French another time, Evans!" James shouted in a mock-reassuring tone, winking at her impudently, "And I'll be sure to come give you a get-well visit!"
She turned, glaring at him, and hurried to Madame Pomfrey's, hoping to get her voice as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, when Madame Pomfrey heard Lily's story (from Emmeline), she shook her head. "You should have come to me first, Miss Evans. You're not the only one in here whose sick because of those awful Zonko's products. Salvester Boot's here too on acount of Boogar Babies." She clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "If I ever am face to face with Mr. Adam Zonko…You're not going to be able to talk for a while, dear."
Lily's eyes grew wide with disbelief. "What?" she mouthed, then she slapped herself at her stupidity. Her avoiding Slughorn had caused her more trouble than it was worth.
"Don't worry, Lily," Alice said, trying to comfort her distressed friend, "I'm sure you'll find a way to communicate with us while Madame Pomfrey comes up with a remedy."
"She always does," laughed Emmeline. "Like when she's in the shower and has to tell us something." A boy with boogars oozing disgustingly from his nose looked at Lily with interest.
Lily blushed with embarrassment and glared at Emmeline. She didn't want everyone to have images of her in the shower.
Emmeline laughed and turned to Madame Pomfrey, "Will she still be attending classes?"
"Most certainly not!" Madame Pomfrey responded hotly, her lips pursed in a piffled manner. "She needs rest!"
Lily had been thinking about her dilemma. Then, she thought of it. She remembered a prank parchment, an "Insult Your Enemies" parchment she had once bought at Zonko's for Petunia- a piece of parchment that insulted whoever read it personally when spoken to. She waved her hands wildly, causing Madame Pomfrey alarm, judging from the speed of which she rushed Lily off into bed. "She needs rest!" she repeated.
The other two girls smiled at each other, knowing that Lily always waved her hands around when she had an especially good idea. When they reached Lily's new bed, Lily, who was forced to lie down, immediately began waving her hands wildly again, beckoning to Alice and Emmeline to bring her a spare bit of parchment. When the girls, catching her drift (it took a few minutes for them to figure out what she meant), had found some parchment and a quill, and had handed them to her, Lily began scribbling intently, explaining her bright plan. When she was finished, it basically said that she needed a nice piece of parchment, which she was going to charm to say what she normally said to whomever spoke to it. She also asked for a very advanced charms book. For most, such a charm as the one Lily was going to use would have been too difficult, but charms came naturally to Lily. Her willow wand that had chosen her was designed specifically for charm-work.
When the girls had hurried back from the places where the supplies were to found, Lily smiled and looked up the complicated charm she needed. When she had found it, she reached for her wand, and mouthed the charm while pointing her wand at the paper. She handed it to Emmeline, quite pleased with herself.
Emmeline smiled, her blue eyes glittering with fun, as she thought about something that would gain a particular response that only Lily would say. She said, "What do you think of James Potter?"
The parchment, with quick strokes, replied, "You know exactly how I feel about that prat! He's full of himself, he's self-centered, he's selfish. He's always pranking younger students for fun, and he hexes older students because he can. I thoroughly detest him!"
Lily laughed silently with the others. Alice smiled and said, "Brilliant, Lil! You're so creative!"
"Especially considering how she's not feeling well," commented Emmeline. "What did you think of my question? I tried to pick one that would benefit a response only you would say." Her eyes twinkled merrily at Lily who rolled her eyes after the said remark.
"Well, it's nearly dinner time," Alice sighed, checking her watch with a disappointed glance. "We'll bring some books and stuff in here after dinner."
The Lily parchment revealed, "Thanks. I'm so lucky to have you all as my friends, and I'm also glad I did my homework already!"
"Yeah- I guess being on top of things is a good thing after all," Emmeline smiled mischievously. "I dread to think of what would happen if what had happened to you had happened to me. I still have to write that horrid Transfiguration essay."
The Lily-parchment replied, "I told you you should have done it earlier. Thanks for everything! I'll see you later."
"Take it easy, babe," replied Alice, patting the sick girl's arm in the motherly fashion Emmeline always teased her about.
"We'll be back later, Lils," Emmeline said, as she and Alice headed toward the infirmary doors.
After dinner, the girls dropped off a book and a couple of Witch Weekly's for Lily to read in bed. Lily mouthed "Thanks," and waved to her friends as they explained that they were off to finish the essay and would be back to see her later. After they left, Lily slumped back into her bed, wishing she had followed everyone's advice. She just wasn't proficient in Potions, she sighed with disappointment. She picked up her book, a muggle book called Rebecca (A/N: this is a very good book, by the way!) But just as she turned the first page, she heard laughter, and looked up, annoyed to see the Marauders heading towards her bed.
"What did I tell you, Evans?" asked James, provokingly messing his hair up with a cocky grin, "Oh, I forgot. You can't tell me." Lily gave him a dirty look and thrust the parchment towards him. The parchment's response was etched furiously in bold letters, "What did I tell YOU?"
"What did you tell him?" questioned Sirius.
The Lily parchment replied, "Must I repeat myself? I said to leave me alone or suffer the consequences!"
"It's not like you're in a position to hurt me, Evans," laughed James, but seeing Lily's murderous expression, and that she was reaching for her wand, as well as the look Remus gave him, he said, "Or maybe I need to finish my homework."
Sirius asked incredulously. "Wow. How did you get that thing to talk like you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" the Lily parchment responded.
Remus smiled and said, "Really, Lily, how did you make the parchment do that?"
The Lily parchment said, "If you look in that book by my bedside, on page 151, you'll find the charm. It puts a shadow of the caster's personality into the parchment, and the charm also makes the parchment answer what the reader says or thinks."
"Wow," Sirius said, awed by her stroke of brilliance. "Where'd you get that idea?"
"Zonko's "Insult Your Enemies" parchments," the Lily parchment said.
"I knew I should have invested in Zonko's stocks!" Sirius declared, hitting himself on the head.
"Me too," agreed Peter, who didn't really understand how this amazing parchment worked.
"So, Lily, can we take this book? Are you finished with it?" Remus inquired politely.
"Sure," the Lily parchment read.
James had been thinking—thinking really hard. And he had just gotten another brilliant idea from Lily's. "Evans," he began smiling mischievously, "You have just given me the idea for the best rule-breaking device in all history. Thanks." Lily's jaw dropped and she raised her eyebrows. The parchment read, "Well? Aren't you going to tell me?"
"I don't think you'd approve," James smirked, "But I'll tell you if you go out with me."
"Haven't we been through this, Potter? Hasn't it sunk into your large head that I have not fallen for you and that I'm not going to? Especially after the blasted broomstick incident," the Lily parchment replied.
"Fine. But I'm going to get you to go out with me. Your refusal only makes me want to get you to go out with me more, you know," James said, smiling cockily while his hazel eyes gleamed at this challenge.
"Come on, Prongs," urged Sirius, deciding that the spark in Lily's vibrant green eyes was nothing to joke about. "Stop beating around the bush about this wonderful, new device!"
"He can't tell Evans," Peter reminded him, happy to know that he had understood something Sirius hadn't for once.
"How right you are! Let's go up to the dorm, with this fantastic piece of literature!" exclaimed James cheerily as he grabbed the book, not at all disheartened by Lily's stormy and resolute answer to his offer. He would win her yet.
Remus said, "Thanks, Lily—we'll return it to the library for you." Lily nodded, but her body language breathed disapproval. Lily believed that rules should be broken only under certain extenuating circumstances, but to make something that would facilitate rule-breaking every day was ridiculous, as well as disturbing. And who knows what crazy idea Potter had thought up this time?
The boys exited the infirmary, James feeling quite puffed up about his stroke of brilliance, quite forgetting Evans' part in the idea. He turned to them and said, "We're going to make a parchment that has all four of our personalities in it."
Sirius smiled wickedly, "The Marauders' Parchment!"
"That doesn't sound snappy enough, Padfoot," James answered, stroking his chin contemplatively.
"It should ould be a map," stated Remus decidedly, his gray eyes sparkling at the idea of a map of Hogwarts. He loved maps.
"The Marauders' Map!" exclaimed James enthusiastically. "That's it! We could perform the magic to make the map, then use that wicked little charm Evans showed us and make it have our personalities! So it could tell us- or the user what to do when he wants to get to—say—the Room of Requirement!"
"Brilliant!" Remus grinned like a kid in a candy store.
"We could also charm it so that it knows what to do if the wrong person gets his greasy hands on it," added Sirius, his eyes shining deviously. "If Snivelly found it, it could say 'Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like Snivellus ever got into Hogwarts.' Peter applauded this sycophantically.
"And we could perform the spell so that every student and teacher's first and last name appears where he or she is in the castle!" finished James triumphantly, as the came to the portrait hole.
"What mischief we shall manage!" Sirius exclaimed, using his favorite phrase.
"We'll need a password," Remus stated, rubbing the temples of his forehead thoughtfully.
"You know the password, Moony," laughed James. "It's Wormtail who doesn't know the password usually." Peter looked at James touchily.
"I know the password." Remus said in irritation. "What I mean is that we need a password to this map. We don't want anyone to read it."
"Password?" barked the Fat Lady, who was growing impatient.
"Electricity!" James shouted, anxious to continue their conversation.
"What is electricity?" demanded Peter.
"Some muggle thing they use for light," replied Remus. "What do you all think of my password idea?"
"They thought of a password ages ago," Peter replied stupidly, wondering why Remus had said something so ridiculous.
"How thick can you get, Wormtail?" asked James, "He's talking about the map!"
"The question is, what is something no person in their right mind would say?" pondered Remus aloud. James chuckled.
"Have any bright ideas, Padfoot? We all know you're not in your right mind," joked James as he and Sirius began to roughhouse in their dorm.
"Something that runs through my mind, especially when we're playing pranks, or I'm with a girl," he added with a mischievous smirk, "Is, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.'"
"That is possible the weirdest thing I have ever heard, Padfoot," remarked Remus with a wry smile.
"Well, fine!" snapped Sirius, "I thought it was pretty creative. I thought it up one day during detention."
"You would," James said, clapping Sirius on the shoulder. "Come to think of it, we're going to need to wipe the map blank when we're finished, or anyone could read it."
"Well- it's a mischief-facilitator, so it only stands to reason that we use a derivative of Padfoot's favorite phrase. 'Mischief managed,'" Remus declared smiling, as he got up to search for something.
"I'm going to be famous! We're using to use two of my phrases as both passwords!" Sirius celebrated. "You get that? Not one password! Two passwords!" James and Remus rolled their eyes.
"What are you looking for, Moony?" asked Peter curiously.
"A nice, long piece of parchment, Wormtail."
When Remus had discovered a suitable piece of parchment, the Marauders actually had to start thinking about how they were going to do all these marvolous things.
"How are we going to draw a precise map of Hogwarts?" demanded Sirius, realizing they might have hit a bump in the road.
"I think we should draw memories out of our heads with our wands, like I've seen Dumbledore do to add a memory to his pensieve, and let the paper soak it up," stated James. "If that doesn't work, well…"
"It's a good idea—no harm in trying it," Remus said, positioning his wand to his temple and concentrating on a small area of Hogwarts, namely, the Great Hall. He drew out a silver strand of thought from his temple, and let the parchment absorb it. The parchment did just that; it merely absorbed, but nothing became visible.
"Maybe it's invisible," offered James. "Apparecium!" He pointed his wand at the parchment. Quickly, a very detailed Great Hall appeared.
"Hey!" exclaimed Sirius, you can even see outlines of the House tables on it!"
"We're going to have to put some security spells on it so that only 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' makes the map show up," commented Remus thoughtfully.
"Lemme try something really quick," James murmured,taking the parchment from Remus. "Memoria Populorum!" The map revealed several dots with ribbons that read the dot's name. Very familiar names…
"Brilliant, Prongs. Look- there's Filch and Mrs. Norris! Now we can avoid them!" Sirius said gleefully, "Now let's see if the map clears if I say 'Mischief Managed'—" The map didn't clear. "I guess we need to add some more spells to make it work."
"Maybe we should finish the map," suggested Remus, "It's going to take us a few hours to get everything on there. And we need to do those security spells in order for our passwords to do what they're meant to do."
James grinned with exuberance, "That way, if unpleasant people try to use it, not only will they not know the password, they'll also be insulted."
"Beautiful," murmured Sirius. A happy expression seemed to have taken permanent residence on his face.
"Well, let's do it!" James said, as he lifted his wand to his temple, and remembered a certain area of Hogwarts.
Several hours later, at around the dismal hour of two in the morning, four boys (Frank had gone to find sleep elsewhere) were sitting in a circle, staring at a blank sheet of parchment. James was tapping it as he murmured sleepily, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Large, curly green letters, written by an invisible hand, appeared on the parchment.
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP.
A detailed map of Hogwarts and the outskirts of Hogsmeade appeared, with labeled dots representing people that revealed more than a bad gossip would want to know.
"Yes!" Sirius let out, high-fiving James, Remus, Peter. "There it is! The whole map of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade!"
"And we can see where everyone is," added James. "Most useful for avoiding teachers and such annoyances."
Peter's yawning brought everyone back to earth. "Well," Remus sighed, "Mischief managed." The map cleared, and resembled a spare bit of parchment. James reached for it and folded it neatly, putting it into his pocket.
"I'm tired," whined Peter, looking at his four-poster bed longingly.
"Well, I guess we can start using this tomorrow," James said slowly, slightly disappointed that he had to wait to use their new mischief-aid.
"Just think what havoc we shall wreak tomorrow—actually, since it's two, I guess today," Sirius began dreamily, "And with that invisibility cloak of yours, Prongs."
"We'll be invincible," James responded, his eyes glittering mischievously.
"Poor Hogwarts," Remus smiled. "But now, let's go to bed. I agree with Wormtail on that issue." He stretched and yawned.
They all tumbled into bed, thoroughly spent from their adventure. But as James fell asleep, he wondered what Evans would think about the map—if she ever found out, and if she would ever go out with him. Then he smiled: he would know where she was at all times now that they had the map. With that bright thought, he shut his eyes and fell asleep.
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