Chapter 13: Rule Breakers
Harry and Tracey made their way through the train, their trunks rolling behind them. With Harry in the lead, he spotted Neville and Hermione in a compartment accompanied by Ron Weasley. He inclined his head towards the compartment to see Tracey's reaction, she shrugged defeatedly, rolling her eyes so exaggeratedly that her head rolled back with them. He opened the door to the compartment.
Neville and Ron looked up at Harry and their eyes lit up. Hermione glanced behind Harry and upon seeing Tracey gave them a rigid smile.
"Harry! Come on in!" Ron chirped.
Harry and Tracey put up their trunks and sat opposite each other in front of the door. Harry sat next to Ron, Tracey sat next to Neville, with Hermione on Neville's other side.
"How was your Christmas Ron?" Harry asked.
"Bloody awful," he responded, "got an awful sweater and a lecture about not writing. It was only me and Ginny."
"Ginny, and I," Hermione corrected.
Ron grimaced almost imperceptibly before continuing on, "Food was good."
"How was yours and Tracey's?" Neville asked, wearily eyeing Ron.
"We had a blast. My parents all but adopted Harry. No Malfoy Manor this year thankfully," said Tracey.
"O-oh! That's good! Gran had us go round to the Macmillan's this year. I had a better time than in previous years. Uncle Algie's been nicer to me, says I've come into my own and all that. Hermione, you did the regular muggle Christmas with your parents, how was that?"
Hermione turned away from the window she was staring out of, her bushy mane bounced with the speed at which she faced the group. "It was great! My parents were completely lost in what to get me, they let me shop for myself. I bought some new books and a quill set. I was worried perhaps I went too far, but my parents were more than happy with what I spent."
"Did everyone get fancy presents and shopping sprees?" Ron grumbled angrily.
Everyone pretended not to hear what Ron had said.
"Your other brothers didn't show for Christmas? I'm surprised," Harry remarked.
"Charlie's in Romania, Bill's in Egypt most of the time. Percy is staying for OWLS. Fred and George… I dunno. Guess they had the right idea. Exploring the castle probably, they know the castle better than Filch." Ron huffed and rested his chin on his hand.
Harry's mind immediately went to his plans for the end of year. Maybe he should have a talk with the twins to see if they had any suggestions.
# # #
Harry stared through the bars of the restricted section from his place behind a bookshelf. The library was completely quiet just before dinner and from behind the shelf, the quiet atmosphere gave a feeling of isolation, as if he were the only one there.
The restricted section was gated off from the rest of the library, which was not in itself terribly good security. The difference was the individual books and their protections, which varied. And the biggest protection during normal hours was the great noise going into the restricted section would create.
As if to illustrate, a page-turn from behind the bookshelf echoed out. He needed to come after hours, and he needed to not be caught. The invisibility cloak was great, but the second he used it, it wouldn't be safe to use again. He would have to gamble it all, and quickly. The deadline was approaching.
A couple flashes of red appeared in Harry's peripheral. Ginger hair.
"Ron said you had urgent business?" said Fred. His brother George stood slightly behind him glancing around suspiciously.
"Yes. Do you know somewhere nearby we could talk?"
"Sure! Let's go!" Fred exclaimed loudly. He and his brother took Harry by the arms and led him out of the library. Harry noticed Ms. Pince staring them down on their way out of the library.
# # #
In a nearby small classroom, George sat on top of a teacher's desk while Fred closed the door behind them. It was dark outside and with the door closed, the room was low light. It was a smaller classroom typically used for the elective classes. Probably the closest thing to a muggle classroom in secondary school.
"You sure are brave-"
"Harry Potter."
"How do you know-"
"We won't prank you?" They said in unison.
Harry hopped on a small table. "Because you would hear me out first. And I wasn't even slightly bothered by your last prank."
"True, true. Pranksters though we are, we also aspire to be businessmen. You told Ron it would be worth our time. Spill," said Fred.
"I wish to trade information, items, knowledge, and gold if I need to. Ron says you are a wealth of information about the castle. I am willing to give up my invisibility cloak to you, on loan for the rest of your Hogwarts time, including the summers, starting next week." said Harry gesturing in the darkened room. He couldn't make out their facial expressions in response.
"That sounds like a high price, but would you ask for it back? We hear it was passed on. If you cry to the Professors, we're left with nothing," George accused.
Harry wordlessly cast a Lumos and lit up the room. "I would only ever ask for it back if it were life and death. I want to be able to pass it on, not use it. You have my word. I'm also willing to financially compensate you. I thought my cloak would be the most interesting to you. I can take it off the table-"
"NO!" they both said at once and then looked at the other as if they were betrayed.
"But that's a high price… It sounds too good to be true," said Fred suspiciously.
"I want all of your information on the castle, and I want to borrow your method of knowing where people are for a short time." Fred and George kept poker faces as Harry's wand light highlighted their features. "Don't try to hide it, nobody knows I was in the library. You've been getting around Filch with more than just cleverness."
Their faces sunk and they glanced at each other again, like they were communicating telepathically. "Filch never figured it out, and we took it from him. If you promise not to reveal the existence of the thing, we can agree to give it to you for the rest of term."
Harry shrugged. "I don't know if I'll need it for so long. I'll accept that as the maximum condition." They reached out and shook hands.
"It's called the Marauder's Map. I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," said George with a piece of blank parchment in his hands.
"Very well. You'll have the cloak within a week." Harry took ten galleons from his robes and placed it silently on the desk he was sitting on. "I'd like to also enlist your help in exchange for some galleons… This way you can be more reassured about my holding of the map."
# # #
The next night was the weekend, and Harry intended to make his move on the library. He waited under the invisibility cloak at the exit from the common room with the map in hand. When he saw the older students with later curfews entering using the map to track their movements, he dashed out into the staircase, making sure his steps made little to no noise while dodging the incoming students.
When he finally made it down the staircase his heart beat a little slower. He had made it out of the common room without anyone noticing. Since it wasn't odd for Harry to disappear behind his curtains and not bother anyone, and get up before anyone, his roommates would also be fooled. Skimming the map again, he followed the routes to the library. All clear. The people he most wanted to avoid were Snape and Filch. Filch because of his cat, and Snape because of his paranoia.
Harry walked carefully under the cloak down the passageways towards the library. After curfew there were much fewer torches to light the way, the long hallways gave a creepy feeling. Those feelings were made worse by the constant watching of portraits and the occasional ghost and suit of armor. Even at night, there was no shortage of things that could leave evidence of his comings and goings.
On the map, Harry saw Quirrell walking on the grounds of the castle with someone named Tom Riddle, Snape was hot on his heels. Two problems solved. Filch was over by the Gryffindor common room, to catch the twins no doubt. Seeing nobody was around Harry entered the library. With no hesitation, he jogged over to the restricted section and opened the loud gate. It squeaked and ground, the metal could have been enchanted to make as much noise as possible for all Harry knew. He pressed on. The difficult part was finding the very book he was looking for.
"Lumos."
His wand tip lit brightly. Harry browsed the titles as fast as he could, every few moments checking the map. Filch was inching closer by the second to the library position on the map. Finally, in a bottom corner of a shelf on potions and rituals, he found it. He grabbed the book off of the shelf, not caring for the security, and flipped it open to the relevant page. He didn't dare risk Neville's present, not with his memory. A screech made its way out of the library, emanating from the book. But Harry kept examining the page over and over again until he was sure he had gotten every detail down.
He cancelled the light on his wand and put the book away, bolting from the restricted section. The gate closed behind him with another screech.
Harry squinted at the map to see what hornet's nest he had angered. As expected, Filch was in the hallway and hurrying towards the library! Harry threw the map into his pocket and bolted, but he wasn't fast enough, Filch stood in front of the library door by the time he got there. The bent-over, ugly specimen of a man held an oil-lamp up to examine all around the library.
Harry stopped and stood stock-still, Mrs. Norris the cat hadn't caught up with Filch's running!
"I thought I heard something… Someone trying the restricted section?" Filch drawled.
Harry began to sweat. What could he do? A diversion? The second it failed Filch might realize he was dealing with the invisible.
*BOOM* An earth-shattering noise could be heard from far away. Harry stifled a laugh. The twins' distraction could not have cut it closer. He thought Filch's previous obsession with the Gryffindor area meant it had been used up.
"PEEVES!" Filch exclaimed, "You won't string me along tonight, you won't!" Filch hobbled out of the library entrance at an impressive speed.
Right after Filch disappeared from view, Mrs. Norris appeared at the entrance to the library. She meowed while sitting down, but after a few seconds of no response from Filch, she moved past. Harry kept still except to move the map into his hands. Using the light from the hallway to see where Filch had gone off to. It was the opposite direction.
# # #
Harry didn't trust the Eagle knocker. Like everything in Hogwarts, there was always the possibility of reporting to a teacher on duty or the Headmaster. Unless he went into a dark empty classroom and huddled under the cloak all night, there was little avoiding it. The lit hallways were constantly under patrol, and Mrs. Norris could find him again by scent even if Filch or Snape didn't run into him.
There was one person who wouldn't care if he had been out after curfew. With a warm place to sleep without concern. Harry walked around Filch with the map, using a few shortcuts out of the castle and onto the grounds. The night was cold and moonlit, it smelled like frozen air and mud outside. Harry made sure to walk where the snow had mostly melted on the path to Hagrid's hut, and kept an eye on the map as best he could in the pale moonlight.
Right as Harry took the fork to Hagrid's hut, Severus Snape appeared on the map from the direction of Hogsmeade. He wished he had a watch, the timekeeping charm made them seem useless, but in the darkness, it would have been a good thing to invest in. He'd leave it for a birthday.
Hagrid's hut gave off no light, but Fang barked from within. Harry opened the door, unafraid of the paper tiger of a dog. Harry checked his map to make sure there were no people to see him, and took off his cloak. If Fang slobbered on it or tore it, Fred and George would be unhappy. He also didn't know how Fang would react to having an invisible entity enter Hagrid's hut.
With a wave of his wand, Harry unlocked the door and entered.
"Woah! Fang! It's me, hey! Get off ya mutt!" Fang jumped on Harry and licked his face enthusiastically. The big dog almost crushed him with his weight. With a gentle push from Harry, the dog stepped off and curled up in his spot to the side, where Harry could see a puddle of drool. The dog whined sadly, clearly wanting to be paid attention to.
"Good boy."
Seeing the embers of a fire and some torches on the wall, Harry used his wand to get some light in the building, he cast a fire charm at the torches and embers causing them to blaze with life. Hagrid shouldn't mind. Now with a feeling of relief, Harry opened the map, intent on memorizing it and how it functioned for future reference. It followed the intent of the person holding it, meaning it could display different parts of the castle and focus on different people, if they existed. When he didn't focus on anything in particular, it became either a jumbled mess of names or whatever part of the map he was on.
An amazing piece of work, Harry had to laugh at whoever invented it though. They had accidentally found a loophole in the castle's magic. The pranking intent behind the map might very well be the reason it wasn't rejected by the castle.
A few hours later, Harry had memorized every passageway and shortcut. The map's ability to track people in the castle was immensely valuable, but Harry preferred not to depend on it. If Fred and George felt they owed him a favor, all the better. Maps and cloaks could be confiscated. He would rather borrow them when least expected. He knew from experience, anything given could be taken away at a moment's notice, and he needed to survive without depending on things.
Harry noticed Quirrell appear on the grounds with Tom Riddle again. Curious, but above Harry's paygrade. After his brush with Quirrell's true nature, Harry wanted nothing to do with the man. When Quirrell had made it to the castle, Hagrid's name flashed into view from the same location. Maybe he had seen Quirrell?
Harry waited for Hagrid to make his way over, he put away the map and walked towards the door. Hagrid took a long time from when Harry calculated the large man should be there. Finally, Harry heard the uncertain footsteps of Hagrid's massive feet hitting the snow and mud. The door handle jiggled as if Hagrid was struggling with it.
"I don member leavin no lights on!" Hagrid exclaimed from outside the door.
The door slammed open and a red-faced and drunken Hagrid fell through the entranceway.
"Harry! Yer here? Did I invite y' over?" Hagrid slurred as he held something behind his back.
"No Hagrid. I got caught outside when curfew ended. Hoped I could stay here without trouble," Harry explained slowly.
"Ah, s'alright then Harry. I got someat to show ye. Keep quiet bout it, would ya?"
Before Harry could answer, Hagrid took out a large egg from behind his back and put it on his table. Harry stared at it in puzzlement, trying to imagine the creature that could lay an egg of that size.
"It's not a dragon's egg, is it?" Harry laughed.
"And ye don't even got Care under yer belt!" Hagrid smiled and his cheeks became even more rosy.
"Isn't it illegal to hatch dragons?" Harry asked, he touched the egg with his hands and felt it move. "Who gave this to you?"
"Some hooded bloke playin cards. Wonitoffim," Hagrid made a pleased expression, his face then dropped. "Don't be gamblin tho, or drinkin fore yer time. Ima bad example, Lily would kill me she would." Hagrid flopped onto a bed and lay with his eyes squinted open.
"Do you normally get this drunk Hagrid?" Harry asked after examining the egg for a bit. This was most definitely a dragon egg, which were absolutely illegal to hold, and most definitely would not be on hand to use as a replacement chip in a card game.
"Was free drinks in'all. I'm not one ter say no…" Hagrid mumbled sleepily.
Hagrid had definitely been tricked. A reporter? Someone working for Malfoy? Hagrid began snoring, he would have to question him tomorrow. Harry found a comfortable spot on Hagrid's lumpy but massive furniture and let himself sleep after putting out the lights with magic.
# # #
Harry cracked his eyes open to the smell of cooking bacon, Hagrid was up and about, making breakfast in the fire. To Harry's surprise, the man showed no sign of being drunk the night before. His large frame must have protected him from the aftereffects. Hagrid moved with a surety only soberness could achieve.
"Mornin' Hagrid," Harry spoke up as he stretched.
"Oh! Harry! Yer' up!" Hagrid offered a plate of eggs and bacon to a sleepy Harry.
Harry used a tempus charm to see the time. Early, Hagrid must also be an early riser.
"Hagrid…" Harry intoned reproachfully.
"I know yer gonna try and tell me I ought to get rid of im. I always wanted a dragon of me own Harry. Ye don't know what it means teh me."
"What are you going to do when it's a full-grown dragon? Even Dumbledore can't protect you from the fallout. Dragon smuggling is illegal, and Lucius Malfoy is looking for anything to hit Dumbledore with."
Hagrid's eyes widened to the size of saucers, he glanced tearfully over to the egg sitting on the table. "Yer sayin Dumbledore'd be hurt?"
"It's only been a few months since the troll Hagrid," Harry reminded Hagrid. "I strongly suggest you go to Dumbledore with this. If he allows it, I have nothing to say. But are you really going to ask him to protect you like this?"
Hagrid slumped down into a seat and nervously stroked his beard. When it came to Dumbledore, Hagrid would protect him at all costs. Thinking his impulse to own a dragon would hurt his hero was the best thing for him. That and it was true, Dumbledore couldn't afford to have another magical creature injure a student. Next time it might be one with connections, not a muggle-born and a child of his own political faction.
Ultimately, Harry convinced Hagrid to let Dumbledore handle the situation for him. Knowing Hagrid would head to Dumbledore, he went looking on the map for Fred and George. He wanted to hand off the invisibility cloak and the map to them. They were in their common room still. Harry intended to meet them outside the entrance to it.
# # #
Harry waited in front of the Portrait of the Fat Lady. A student by the name of Lee Jordan stepped out, Harry remembered he was friends with Fred and George.
"Lee Jordan, right?" Harry stepped towards him, hand stretched. Lee was black with well-kempt dreads and slightly short for his age. Lee jumped into the air and eyed Harry's hand suspiciously. Lee looked up at his scar and relaxed. "Pranked one too many people then?" Harry asked.
"Potter? Did you need something? Or someone? Heard about my odds for the next Quidditch match?" Lee smiled; his white teeth shined mischievously.
"Completing business with the twins."
"I was going to get breakfast Potter, you can't wait?"
"I'll put money on the low odds if you help me out."
"They say the Hufflepuff seeker is out for the next game. Sure you want in?" Lee whispered conspiratorially.
"Just get Fred and George and I'll put ten galleons down!" Harry snapped.
Lee disappeared back into the common room and brought out Fred and George. Harry slipped galleons in Lee's hand and whispered, "On Hufflepuff." Lee nodded and walked away.
"Oh brother of mine! This isn't Harry Potter reneging on our deal, is it?" said Fred.
"I hope not Fred. Downright cruel it would be to change such a sweet deal after getting the goods," said George menacingly.
"Take the cloak-" Harry stuffed the cloak in Fred's hands. "-and the map." He handed the map over to George. The twins' mouths were agape. "Nice doing business with you gentleman. I hope you consider us on favor giving terms for the future?" They nodded mutely. "Then I'll be off."