Discoveries

By the end of the day Max had learnt to control his powers to the level of those around him. By the end of the week he was starting to be able to pick apart the signatures of fairly simple magical artefacts. Dumbledore's portrait seemed to be quite pleased with his success, as did McGonagall when he demonstrated by naming the types of magic woven into some of the artefacts in her office.

"It's a protective amulet," said Max, staring intently at a silver bracelet on the desk, "the pink and orange threads would suggest that it's a family based protection, and that there is an element of travel involved."

"Very good Max," said McGonagall, "it was a family heirloom, passed down to me. Word has it that it will protect my bloodline, particularly when travelling. You are mastering Aurology much quicker than anticipated, I think occlumency lessons are important now. Mr Snape will teach you once a week, and Harriet once a month. Other than that you will be in regular classes. Do not speak of these lessons unless you can be sure you will not be overheard."

"Yes ma'am." said Max.

XXXXXX

A few weeks later Max had hit the swing of things. He was still top of the class in all his lessons except potions, but Rose was closing the gap as he managed to tone down his abilities to a similar level to his classmates. Albus was top of the class in potions, an achievement that seemed to make no difference to the way Professor Strychnine treated him. The potions Professor was becoming even more irritable and quick to dish out punishments. His skin was looking paler than it had at the start of term and he had dark circles under his eyes that indicated lack of sleep to be a contributing factor to his foul mood.

"I wish I knew what was keeping him awake at nights." said Albus, in the common room, after a lesson where Strychnine had docked thirty points from Albus because he didn't follow brewing instructions. The change he had made was an improvement that his father had discovered for the hair raising potion, but Strychnine ignored that fact and berated Albus for 'questioning his methods'.

"Hopefully something painful." grumbled Orion, who had been given extra homework when his potion had congealed in the cauldron. "The twins told me he keeps leaving the castle after curfew, maybe it has something to do with that, maybe he's getting back late."

"How do the twins know he's leaving the castle?" said Rose.

"I suppose because their common room is down in the dungeons." said Albus. "They must have seen him leaving a few times. Probably when they're sneaking round looking for trouble."

"How could they have seen him after curfew without him spotting them?" said Rose. "He'd give them detention if he saw them out after curfew."

"Maybe they've found a good hiding place," shrugged Albus, "they haven't done anything against the rules this year, yet."

"They haven't been caught." said Rose. "The 'Slytherin rules' banner tied to the top of Gryffindor tower yesterday suggests that they've found a way not to get caught."

"Just because it's a Slytherin banner doesn't mean it was them." Albus frowned.

"They best hope their luck holds out," said Orion, "if Strychnine does catch them up to mischief they'll be in detention until their OWL's."

XXXXXX

The twins luck was still holding out a week later, when Max was hurrying back to the Gryffindor Tower after an occlumency lesson. He had just left a disused classroom in the lower dungeons, where Evan had been conducting the lesson, and he was feeling lost in the unfamiliar corridors. He turned a corner and saw a sculpture of a snake. The snake was coiled around the plinth. Max was just wondering how many snake sculptures were in the dungeon area when he bumped into something, landing on the floor with grunt. He focused his Magesight and the corridor lit up with colour. Most of it he could dismiss as part of the fabric of the school itself, but a mass of light blue with golden and purple threads caught his attention near his feet. The mass moved to the side of the corridor against the wall.

"Who is it?" Max called tentatively.

"Shhhh!" came a disembodied voice, "Strychnine is coming! Get under here and keep quiet."

A hand appeared from the blue mass and dragged him beneath it. Another hand clamped over his mouth, muffling what would have been a yelp of surprise when he saw the twins. One twin held his lit wand over an old piece of parchment, with a 'Slytherin Rules' banner under his arm. The other twin held on to Max, covering his mouth and holding him still against the wall. They were covered with a strange cloak, glowing blue with concealment magic.

"Mischief Managed, Nox!" whispered the other twin.

Seconds later Professor Strychnine stormed down the corridor, a face like thunder. He stopped near the potions classroom, peering through the door. He took a few steps into the room and Max lost sight of him. A few seconds later he came back out of the classroom and headed towards the Entrance Hall. Max and the twins waited, frozen in place for a few minutes more, before sighing with relief. Max opened his mouth to speak, but one of the twins put a finger to his lips.

"Lumos," he whispered, and when the wand light illuminated the parchment he whispered again, "I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good."

The blank piece of parchment glowed with such strong magic that Max immediately suppressed his Magesight. Fine inky lines began to crawl across its surface until they formed words.

'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP!'

Then the words faded to reveal an intricately drawn map of Hogwarts. Max looked closer and could make out three names in the corridor they stood in. Harry Potter-Snape, Severus Potter-Snape and Maxwell Dursley. Max looked up, open mouthed, to see the twins grinning their identical grins.

"What the hell?" he whispered.

"Shhh, not here." hissed the twin holding the map.

Consulting the map as they went the twins led him down the corridor and to a door under the stairs leading to the Entrance Hall. They pulled the door shut and whipped off the cloak. They were in a dusty cupboard, full of broomsticks and muddy boots, illuminated only by wand light.

"What is that?" said Max.

"This is the Marauders Map." said the twin holding the map, Harry by the green fleck in the black iris of his left eye. "It was created by James Potter and his friends at this school, to aid in causing mischief without detection."

"And the cloak?" asked Max.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak." said Severus. "Handed down through the Potter family for generations, back before they were even Potters probably."

"And the map shows?" said Max, stunned by the revelations.

"The whole castle and everyone in it." said Harry, smugly. "It isn't affected by any disguise, concealment or transformation. It shows who everyone is and where they are."

"It also shows almost all of the secret passages out of the school and shortcuts." said Severus. "It's fantastic when it comes to avoiding Filch and, more importantly, not getting caught."

"That's amazing." breathed Max. "Where did you get it from?"

"Mum of course." said Severus. "She told us that, since we had obviously inherited her dad's talent for trouble, it only seemed fair we inherit his tools for avoiding detection too."

"She also said if Dad found out we had them he would go up the wall." said Harry. "So we can't get caught with them. You won't tell anyone will you?"

"Of course not," said Max, "but what were you doing in the corridor? It's almost past curfew."

"Which means less people around-" said Harry.

"-and less chance of getting caught." finished Severus.

"Getting caught doing what?" said Max. He noticed Severus had a broomstick strapped to his back. The banner under Harry's arm caught his eye again. "It was you two that put the banner on Gryffindor Tower."

"Maybe." they chorused, grinning at him.

"What are you doing with this one then?" he said, curious.

"Ravenclaw Tower looks a little bare." smirked Harry.

"We thought we'd brighten it up." said Severus, with an identical smirk.

"If you get caught-" started Max.

"We wont." interrupted Severus.

"With the map and the cloak we can avoid Filch, the teachers and Peeves." said Harry.

"They'll know it was you." said Max.

"But they won't be able to prove it." smiled Harry. "That's the point. We can only get into trouble if they catch us or prove it was us."

"Won't your dorm-mates notice you're missing?" said Max.

"Yes," said Harry, "but they won't say anything. Slytherin's stick together. Besides, the rest of the house have wagers on how many Slytherin banners we can put up round school without getting caught. No one will want to spoil the fun."

"Why though?" asked Max. "What's the point of hanging these banners?"

"You could call it house honour I guess." said Severus. "It's mostly about making a name for ourselves. You see, Mum and Dad are pretty famous, and people are watching to see if we measure up."

"If we can show that we can achieve what others think is impossible," said Harry, "then we earn the respect for ourselves. It's all about connections in Slytherin and we plan on making plenty for the future."

"That and it's a total adrenaline rush." smirked Severus.

"That helps," shrugged Harry, grinning, "but mostly the respect."

"Does Albus know about any of this?" asked Max.

"Merlin's beard no." laughed Severus. "Little Al is a terrible liar. If he doesn't know he can't drop us in it."

"Plausible deniability." said Harry. "You can't say anything until we've finished with the banners."

"How long will that take?" asked Max.

"Before Christmas is the bet." said Harry. "We'll let you know if we finish earlier."

"Now it's past curfew," said Severus, "so we'll sneak you back up to Gryffindor Tower under the cloak before we go night flying."

"Your still doing it tonight?" said Max, "After nearly getting caught by Strychnine?"

"No time like the present." said Severus, throwing the cloak over them.

Harry checked the map and pushed open the door.