Chapter 1:

Hogwarts Express,

1, September 1977

As the scarlet Hogwarts Express snaked its way through the neat countryside as it made its trek north. A chubby rat-faced teenager of about seventeen, huffed and puff as he dragged his school trunk along behind him.

A tall, thin, bespectacled teen with jet-black hair poked his head out of a compartment at the end of the corridor and spotted the boy. "Hey, Wormtail, we're in here. D'you need help with your trunk?"

"Thanks, James." Wormtail, whose real name was Peter Petigrew, paused as he let James and another tall black-haired youth past to grab his trunk. "Did you two have a good holiday?"

"It was all right, Mum and Dad didn't like all the trouble Sirius and I caused at home. What did they expect, given how much trouble we get at school?" He helped Sirius stow Peter's trunk away and swept his untidy hair away from his forehead. He exchanged a grin with his best friend, Sirius.

"I do appreciate you inviting me to come live with your parents, mate." Sirius clapped his best friend on the back. "You know how my parents are."

"Idiots." James muttered under his breath. He noticed a teenage boy sitting in the corner of the compartment, reading a textbook. "Moony, are you going to have your nose in a school book the whole journey or are we going to talk about plans for this school year?"

"It's always the same, Prongs. We discuss mischief, we do mischief. It gets boring talking about it." Remus, who was also known as Moony, replied, tucking a bookmark in his book. He shut the book and stuffed it back in his bad before he looked up at his friends. The curse that was inflicted upon Remus monthly was etched in the dark circles that seemed permanently mar his pale face. "So unless you have a plan, I'd rather read."

"Must be close to the full moon." James responded in a stage whisper. Remus threw the book at him, which James deflected easily, knocking it to the floor. "I was kidding, Remus."

"Likely story." Remus grumbled, drawing his knees to his chest. He found he became surlier as the full moon approached, as though he dreaded the transformation he suffered.

Sirius picked up the book that James had knocked aside. "Hey, Remus. This isn't one of the required books for this year." He pointed out, holding up the book. The title was embossed in silver, with the words, "Unusual Spells and Their Uses." "Looking to do some interesting spellwork?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Give that here." Remus snapped, snatching the book back. Sirius gave his usual barklike laugh.

"I do have an idea for what we can do this year." James rubbed his hands together, looking between his friends. This is our last chance to make a difference at Hogwarts. To make our mark. Do we want Hogwarts to forget us in a few years?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sure the teachers won't forget us!" Peter cried, his voice rising squeakily.

"Wormtail, you know I hate when your voice gets squeaky like that." Sirius rubbed his ear, his naturally sensitive hearing enhanced by his canine persona.

"Sorry, Sirius." Peter apologized quietly.

"Please continue, James. What were you suggesting we do?" Sirius continued, turning back to James.

"Well, we know the most about the castle. Even more than Filch." James pointed out.

"The filthy little cretin." Sirius muttered, making James grin.

"Anyway, we should pass our knowledge of the castle to future troublemakers. Do we want our knowledge to leave with us with no way to reach the hands of someone worthy?" James asked, a fire blazing in his hazel eyes.

"How would we do that?" Sirius asked. "That would have to be something that could hold such a large amount of information."

"I have an idea." Remus said at once, finally turning his gaze from the window to look up at his friends.

"Well speak up, Moony. We're all ears." James urged, sitting across from Remus. Peter and Sirus sat down as well.

Remus took out the book he was reading and opened it to a page near the back. "I was reading this book and it talked about a spell that would allow us to make a map. A map that would allow us to be more than just to read. Look here." Remus pointed to the diagram on the page. "This shows that not only does the map show every detail that you wish to display, but it shows in real time. It's used for security. If you have a map of a building you are guarding, you can know who is in the building at any time."

"But how would that help us with James's plan?" Peter asked, confused. "I don't get the point."

"Think about how much easier it would have been under James's Cloak if we knew where everyone in the castle was." Sirius reminded him. "We wouldn't have gotten detention from McGonagall in our second week of school last year if we had that type of information."

"It was your fault, you sneezed at the wrong moment!" Peter pointed out, hotly.

"Relax, Wormtail. I'm not mad at you." Sirius ruffled Peter's feathery light brown hair.

Peter grumbled, pushing Sirius's hand away. "You know I don't like that."

"I know. That's what makes it more fun." Sirius's grin widened.

"So it's settled. We'll make that our goal for the year. But to make sure that no one suspects it, we have to keep up our usual troublemaking, got it?"

As the other three nodded, the compartment door opened. A teenage girl with waist-length red hair and green eyes stood in the doorway with a dark-haired girl behind her. "Potter, why is it always you that causes trouble when I can't have a simple conversation with my friends?"

"Hey, Evans. Do you love me yet?" James grinned, jumping to his feet. He rumpled his hair in a casual way.

"While you're not as much of a toadstool as when we first met, you're still as arrogant as ever." Lily responded coolly. "When you can go a week without tormenting Snape, I'll consider going out with you."

"So it's a date a week from now?" James asked hopefully, trying not to sound too eager.

"We'll see if you can make it first. Now keep your voices down, Mary doesn't want to hear you fat head talk."

As Lily left, Sirius grinned. "Oooooooh, James has a girlfriend."

"Shut it." James grumbled, but he couldn't help but grin.

Charms Classroom,

25 December 1977

"Are you sure everything's ready?" James whispered to Remus, as Sirius closed to classroom door behind him. The classroom was dark around them, the moon not visible from this side of the castle.

"I've read the directions right, there's just a few steps left." Remus responded, lighting candles around the room with his wand. "Do you have the pestle and mortar?"

"Right here." James held up the items in question.

"And I've got the knife." Peter added, fumbling with the sharp blade.

"I'll take that, if you don't mind. We don't need you bleeding sooner than necessary." James added, taking the knife carefully from Peter.

"And I brought the cauldron." Remus moved over to the pewter cauldron, which rested upon a crackling magical flame. Water boiled in the cauldron, ready. "Add the ingredients carefully and precisely. Our blood goes last."

One by one, the boys added the ingredients. As Remus instructed, each cut their palm and dropped a few droplets into the water. A blinding flash momentarily stunned them. When the boys looked down at the cauldron, the water was a as black as night, boiling angrily within. "Where's the parchment?" Remus asked, looking around at the other three.

"Right here." Sirius handed over the parchment, a large piece that Remus had selected for the map. "We just drop it in?"

"Yes, drop it in. But don't touch the potion yet." Remus advised.

Sirius let the parchment drop form his hand and the four boys stepped back, watching as the parchment fluttered to the surface. After a moment, in which it soaked in the potion, it sank to the bottom. After a moment, the air seemed to explode outward toward them, knocking them to the floor, unconscious.

"Remus? Remus can you hear me?" Peter's frantic voice woke Remus. Remus opened his eyes and saw Peter's frantic pale face. Peter looked relieved to see he was awake. "Oh thank goodness, I didn't know what to expect when I woke up and saw that I was the only one awake."

"What happened?" Remus asked, getting unsteadily to his feet. Sirius and James were just waking up as well, sitting up.

"I-I think the spell finished and knocked us out or something. The potion has dried up and the parchment was lying at the bottom of the cauldron. Come look."

The four boys approached the cauldron and looked into the depths. An innocent-looking parchment lay at the bottom, not a drop of the black potion marring its surface.

Sirius bravely leaned down and picked up the parchment and found that it was completely blank. "It didn't work, there's nothing on it." He turned wide-eyed to the other three.

"Maybe, maybe not. What do we always say, Padfoot?" James raised an eyebrow at his best friend.

The four best friends raised their wands and tapped the parchment, their voices echoing in the classroom. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

They watched, astounded, as the black spidery ink skittered across the parchment, forming the words:

Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Making

proudly present

The Marauder's Map

"We did it." Sirius breathed, opening the parchment to reveal the intricate detailed map of the school. "It works!"

"Look at that, there's Snivellus, pacing his dormitory in the dungeons!" James cackled, pointing the little dot marked "Severus Snape".

"Oh no, look who's coming this way!" Peter squeaked, pointing to the map where they were. A tiny dot, marked by the name "Minerva McGonagall" was moving in their direction. "We have to clean up!"

The four best friends rounded up their supplies and covered themselves in the Cloak, before sneaking out of the classroom. They passed Professor McGonagall, but she did not see them. They reached their dormitory, relief etched in their faces. "That was close." James panted, removing the Cloak from the four of them.

"The map still shows everything, how are we going to keep everyone from knowing about the map?" Sirius asked.

"That's easy." James tapped his wand to the parchment and said, "Mischief Managed." The parchment went blank. "That way not everyone can read it."

"You're bloody brilliant." Sirius panted.