The Second Chance
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of Harry Potter. This story is written with permission from Kurinoone, and is based on Kurinoone's fabulous, beyond awesome story- "The Darkness Within" (which was inspired by Project Dark Overlord's wonderful story- "The Shattered Prophesy").
Chapter 12: Mischief Managed
Kit sat alone in the Common Room, waiting for Ron and Damien to return from their detention with Filch. His quill scratched a few words on his parchment, idly drawing patterns, as he pretended to concentrate on his Transfiguration essay. In front of him, a book titled Tips to Perfect Wand Movements for Transfiguration Level 7 was propped up against his bag. All in all a very convincing scene.
As the clock striked twelve, Kit's alert ears quickly picked up the slow, heavy footsteps of two people heading for the Gryffindor Common Room- most probably Ron and Damien. Instead of sitting up straighter, Kit made a show of slouching over his essay- a posture he had been trying to perfect. As usual, Ron was his model.
Kit was in the middle of a yawn and an eye- rub when Ron and Damien burst into the Common Room, both looking angry and flushed at Filch's injustice. Ron looked on the verge of swearing out loud, but he stopped dead when he saw Kit. Damien looked downright miserable.
"Good morning," Kit gave them a half- smile, looking completely surprised. "Did you guys just come back from dinner?"
"What do you think," muttered Damien snappily. "You think we had dust for dinner or something?"
Indeed, both their robes were flecked with white. Ron flicked his wand irritably at his robes. Immediately, they started to steam, and judging by Ron's look of horror, his robes were starting to heat up as well. Kit had to bite the inside of his cheeks to prevent himself from laughing at Ron's poort skill at non- verbal spells.
"Scourgify," Damien said aloud, not planning to practise any non- verbal spells especially after his friend had failed, though not too spectacularly. Immediately, Damien's robes returned to their original state. Kit raised an eyebrow.
"Detention? Cleaning the second floor without using magic?"
"Exactly!" Ron said, his temper fraying again. "For doing absolutely- nothing- wrong!"
Kit's eyes flickered from Ron to Damien, looking completely nonplussed. Ron, seeing as Damien was too miserable to tell the story, burst into full tale, complete with huge hand gestures and flowery language. Kit was silently astounded by Ron's decorum, or lack thereof- but he didn't say a thing, continuing to nod encouragingly and widen his eyes in disbelief at appropriate, irregular moments. Though silently, Kit did hope against hope that he wasn't overdoing it, or Ron would think that Kit was making fun of him or something.
"And you know what, in the end, not only Rosier and that bunch of slimy gits got away with it, Filch held me and Damy in detention, and to top it all off- he confiscated the Marauder's Map!" Ron said loudly, uncaring whether others had heard him.
Kit's brow furrowed. "But it's only a waterproof Map," he reasoned, trying to look helpful, sincere and tentative at the same time. At least, he hoped that was what his expression looked like, and not as though he were constipated. "What's the big deal?"
"But of course, you don't know!" Ron said, with a dramatic sigh, before looking to Damien uncertainly. Damien understood the unasked question.
"Fine, you can tell him," Damien said tiredly. "It's not as though it makes a difference. Filch is going to destroy it, and Dad's going to kill me."
"Ah... maybe not?" Ron tried to sound optimistic. "Filch probably hasn't found a way to destroy it yet."
"It may be water proof, but it definitely isn't fire- proof," Damien pointed out. "Dad told me Uncle Siri nearly set it on fire when he put it in his pocket when using the Floo Network."
"What is the Marauder's Map?" asked Kit this time, just so the topic wouldn't stray.
Ron immediately launched into full detail describing the awesomeness of the Map, and how it revealed secret passageways out of Hogwarts the Marauders had discovered. Kit felt a tingle of excitement crackle down his spine at the mention of underground passageways which the Professors had not discovered. Not to mention, it led directly to Hogsmeade... things might be easier than he thought.
"...and you need a password to activate it," Ron finished, sounding rather out of breath after talking loudly for so long. "Filch has been trying for years, I bet, but he never got it."
"It's gone," Damien continued moaning. "I can't believe it- after all it's been through! I've lost the fabled Marauders' Map."
Kit resisted the urge of rolling his eyes. "There's no need to look like a so-" -sorry Gryffindork- "sore- throat-ed... giraffe." Was sore- throated even a word? Merlin, his retorts were really starting to lack. His father was right! Idiocy just might be contagious. "I mean, we can get it back easily."
Ron and Damien looked at him, both excited and taken aback at the same time. Damien looked bewildered. "Excuse me?" the younger wizard said disbelievingly. "Did I hear you right?"
"There's one simple plan to get it back," Kit said, spreading his hands wide as he explained, something he picked up from Seamus. "Break into Filch's office, find it, nick it, come back without getting caught."
Damien scowled. "And you think I never thought of that? Filch's cat can see through Invisiblity Cloaks. Ron and I got caught by that stupid Mrs. Norris three years back. Filch has never loved her more."
Invisibility Cloak. File and save. And technically, cats couldn't see through Invisiblity Cloaks, but they could definitely sense two noisy wizards' presence. But of course Kit said nothing.
"Who said anything about using an Invisibility Cloak?" he said. "And besides, it'd be ages before you can get your hands on a good one," he added for good measure, to divert Damien's attention, as though Kit had not spot on the fact that Damien had an Invisiblity Cloak. "No, a simple Disillusionment Charm is all you need. A perfect one, though. So you won't be sensed. And a Silencing Charm as well. That way, you'd be undetectable."
Not really though. Some creatures could still sense by smell or magical disturbance.
Ron, however, clapped his hand loudly on his thigh. "Yes, Disillusionment Charm!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "We just learnt it just now, in Defense Class!"
"I haven't," pointed out Damien. "It doesn't matter, I'll just put on the Cloak and go anyway- it's worth risking detention for the Map."
"Filch has a nest of cats in his office!" said Ron, sounding apprehensive. "That's how we got caught last time, remember! The whole bunch of them leapt on us, spitting and scratching!"
"Well, you can't do it alone," argued Damien. "You need someone to stand guard or something."
"I can go with you if you like," Kit immediately seized the opportunity, looking appropriately excited at the prospect of an adventure. "I can manage a perfect Disillusionment Charm."
As expected, Ron immediately brightened at the idea. "Yes, Kit can come with me! You don't mind detention do you, being a transfer student and all that?"
Kit smiled, and the somehow hauntingly familiar glint appeared in his eye. "No. Not a bit."
Five minutes later found Ron and Kit sticking to the shadows, creeping down the dark corridors in the direction of Filch's office. It had taken much debating and arguing, but in the end, it was decided that Ron would sneak into Filch's office together with Kit. Damien was rather sulky, but Kit merely told him to stop behaving like Hedwig. Which made his scowl deepen.
Ron's Disillusionment Charm was not perfect either; it flickered and shimmered like steam, sometimes throwing an odd shadow on the wall. But there was no one to be seen, and Kit had non- verbally cast a Notice- Me- Not Charm unbeknowest to the redhead, who tailed after the other, forgetting that he was supposed to be the one to lead the way to Filch's office.
When they arrived two minutes later, Ron was in charge for look out while Kit listened by the keyhole. There was nobody within hearing.
Quickly, Kit nudged Ron's arm. The door creaked open silently, and two invisible figures- one slightly more visible than the other- entered the office, then shut the door behind them quietly.
Kit immediately directed a Freezing and Silencing Charm on the cats, which hissed in the corners as the door opened. Ron barely noticed them when he entered the office, his eyes raking the desk greedily for the old piece of parchment.
"Okay, it's safe now," Kit told him.
Ron's Disillusionment Charm dropped immediately after that, as he wanted to save energy for their return journey. It took utter concentration, and Ron couldn't seem to manage it perfectly while walking quietly at the same time.
"You check the drawers, I'll check the desk," Kit told Ron, appearing beside the redhead out of thin air.
Ron immediately bent down and began to rifle through the drawers, though he was careful not to mess up the pile of papers inside the many compartments of the drawers. Kit meanwhile shifted the parchments on the table carefully, leaving as little trace as possible.
Suddenly, Kit hissed to Ron, causing the redhead to rise too quickly and knock his head against the desk.
"Ouch!" he yelped loudly before Kit could quieten him.
"The Marauder's Map, do you reckon it could be this?" Kit asked, holding up a piece of old parchment. It was dog- eared at the corner, and three brown splotches spread across the bottom. Other than that, it was completely blank. One side of it looked singed, too.
"It must be," Ron said, excited, his pain momentarily forgotten. "Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" He pointed his wand at the parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he whispered, his eyes dancing, with full expectation, anticipating the spidery lines detailing the Hogwarts grounds...
Nothing happened.
"What?" gasped Ron. "I thought- it looked similar-"
"It's just an old parchment, then," Kit said, turning away so that his eyes wouldn't give him away. "But what was supposed to happen, anyway?"
"It- the map was supposed to appear," Ron said, looking disappointed.
"But how is it going to disappear after you finish using it?" Kit asked, looking surprised, as he continued rummaging round the desk, placing and replacing Filch's things. "Does it fade out of sight in five minutes or something?"
"No," said Ron, resuming his search in the drawers. "Just point your wand at the Map and say 'Mischief Managed'."
How fitting.
"Oh," Kit said, before tapping Ron's shoulder for a second time. "Um, Ron? Do you think you could identify the Marauders' Map from this pile of old parchments?"
Ron looked at the enormous pile of brown, singed, dog- eared parchments, and immediately paled under the dim light.
"Oh no."
Damien waited impatiently in the Common Room, pacing up and down by himself as the clock hand reached a quarter, then another, and another- until it was already a quarter to one in the morning. But still no Ron or Kit returned. Damien mentally decided that if they did not return by two, he would go out under the Cloak, risky or not, and try to find the Map for himself.
But as the clock reached five minutes to two, and Damien was dozing off in the corner, the Common Room door slid open, and two shimmering figures dragged themselves through the portrait door. Barely a second later, Ron collasped onto the sofa tiredly, causing Damien who was on it to jump.
"Ron?" he said rather blearily. "Ouch- get off me! Can't you see I'm sitting here?"
The youngest Potter swatted Ron's arm off his head.
"Sorry," yawned Ron. "Didn't see you."
"Did you find it? Where's the Map?" Damien asked, suddenly awake, before looking at Ron's expression and telling the worst. Kit's grimace did not help a bit either.
"What- do you mean, Filch destroyed it?" he moaned, trying not to imagine their treasured Marauders' Map going up in flames.
"As good as," Kit spoke up instead of Ron. "He must have mixed it up along with the whole pile of old parchment he keeps in his office."
"We got through three stacks before Filch returned," Ron said desolately as he rubbed his eyes. "Every one of them looked similar- we couldn't tell the difference!"
"How did you check whether it was the Map or not? Don't tell me you spilled ink all over the place?" Damien said.
"Course not, we're not daft," Ron said at once. "We used the password. But none of them responded like the Marauders' Map should. One of them was a private letter of some sort, I'm not sure. I wonder why Filch keeps such a lot of junk in his office... Do you reckon Filch still has it on him?"
"Maybe," shrugged Damien, who looked disappointed. "It wasn't in the drawers, either, then? The one that keeps students' detention track records?"
"No, I checked that one," Ron replied. "I'm sorry, Damien... but I promise we'll look again. Tomorrow. Until we find it."
"Even if it means getting through three piles of parchment," Kit added, a half- smile playing on his lips.
"I'm going tomorrow, too," said Damien decisively. "It's faster to have another helper."
Another helper? Kit's eyes darted from Damien to Ron, but none of them looked back at him.
Since when was he part of the pranksters as well?
That night, after drawing the drapes around his bed and waiting patiently for 10 minutes until he was sure Weasley and Potter had fallen asleep, Kit slid the Marauders' Map out of his bag and studied it under his wandlight again.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he whispered in the darkness, pointing his wand directly at the Map. Immediately, true to Ron and Ginny's description, spidery lines began to form on the parchment, forming beautifully detailed sketches of the Hogwarts grounds. Kit watched in silent awe as lines stretched across the Map, forming the Great Hall, the Slytherin dungeon, the Quidditch Pitch, the winding staircases... the Gryffindor dormitory.
A chill ran down his spine as he touched the small labelled dot, named 'Harry James Potter' on the Map. He felt vulnerable- just one look at the Map would be enough to blow his cover! There it was, the name he hated, the name he had denied for so long, displayed for all to see on the Map.
The Marauders' Map must not fall into the hands of others... especially not Dumbledore.
His eyes strayed to the Professors' Quarters, noting each and every staff member of Hogwarts, before pausing on a labelled dot wandering down the second- floor corridor, in the opposite direction of where Filch was. Quickly, Harry checked all the names of the Hogwarts Professors, before following the dot up to the third- floor corridor.
Professor Victor Damps, Defense Against Dark Arts Professor, or Rodolphus Lestrange, loyal Death- Eater of Voldemort's?
Or perhaps, neither...
With a small satisfied smirk, Harry pointed his wand at the Map.
"Mischief managed."
A/N: Sorry for taking such a horribly long time to update! I've been really busy since school reopened, and have been focusing on other stories. :( So sorry about that! Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing and encouraging me in the last chapter, you guys really kept me going! Thanks ever so much!
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Cheers,
Epsilon Scorpii