How We Lost the Marauders Map

HOW WE LOST THE MARAUDERS MAP

James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin sat around the fire in the common room. They stared solemnly at the fires. There was a thick tension in the room. James sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Don't start in on me James," Sirius hissed.

"I didn't say anything," James spat.

"But you were going to say something. I'm not stupid you know."

"Could've fooled me," Remus grumbled.

"Go eat wolfsbane sickly!"

"Why don't I just eat you? The full moon is tomorrow."

"Then I hope you choke,"

"Why do you guys have to fight like this?" Peter interjected weekly.

James, Sirius and Remus looked at Peter, who shrunk back in his chair and bowed his head. Remus sighed and looked over at the window. James and Sirius looked at each other, through narrowed eyes, and then looked away. There was a long silence, which was broken when Remus got up to put more wood on the fire.

"How could we let this happen?" James asked out loud, shaking his head.

"I told you we were doing it too often," Sirius answered.

"People shouldn't be so suspicious," James said.

"That sounds a bit like hypocrisy," Remus said mildly. "After all, it was your suspicions that drove you to discover my secret."

"Tell us again what happened," Peter said before James or Sirius could answer Remus.

"It all started earlier this morning on our way to breakfast..."

[FLASH BACK RIPPLES TAKE US BACK TO THE MORNING]

It was early in the morning and James, Sirius and Remus were heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Remus was leaning on Sirius, still half asleep. It was the morning before the full moon. Sirius pealed Remus from his shoulder and leaned him against the railing of the stairs.

"Do you sleep at night?" Sirius asked.

"Of course I do," Remus said as he half walked and half fell down the stairs, still leaning on the hand rails. "I slept all night last night and it was quite restful."

"Then why do you look dead?"

"Because the moon is almost full, you should know that by now."

The boys continued to the Great Hall for breakfast. Remus woke up a little as the smell of food drifted from

the hall. There was something in the air in the morning, perhaps too much pepper in the eggs, that suggested that something bad was going to happen. The boys ignored it and wolfed down their breakfast before running off to the their first class, they were running late this morning. Their first class was Potions, in the dungeons, with the Slytherines. James, Sirius and Remus got to class just before they were late. Professor Mortifera glared at them as the quietly took their seats.

"Well, looks like Gryffindor's favorite troublemakers have made it to class on time," she said coolly. "Sit down then."

The boys sat down and smiled. Remus noticed that the seat beside him, where his girlfriend Lessah Ismorah usually sat, was empty. He leaned over to Lily.

"Have you seen Lessah?"

"Oh, she left the school this morning," Lily whispered back. "She said that there had been a family emergency and she'll be back tomorrow."

"What happened?"

"She didn't say."

Remus sighed. Potions class was the worst class of the day. With Lessah gone, Remus was forced to work with Severus Snape. Before class was over, Remus had spilled hot potion on his hand "by accident" and had to go to the hospital wing to have the burns treated.

"Guys, we have got get him back." Remus growled as he sat down for lunch. "I can't use my left hand it's burnt so bad. I don't want to spend tomorrow night injured."

"Oh Professor, Lupin bumped my arm and I accidentally spilled the potion on his hands," Sirius said, mocking Severus Snape. "Look at me! I'm Severus Snape and I'm a stupid git. I'm so stupid that I don't even know how to wash my hair!"

"Don't worry Remus, we'll get him tonight, when he won't suspect it," James said.

"But you left the invisibility cloak in the Shrieking Shack last month and we haven't needed it since."

"We'll just have to be careful," James said as they left the Great Hall and headed toward Gryffindor Tower.

"What about Filch and that bloody cat?"

"Like I said, we'll have to be really careful."

James went up to the dormitory and fetched an old looking piece of parchment. It was parchment that had become almost sacred to the boys, a relic in their adventurous lives. It was the Marauders Map and all of Hogwarts was at their command when they used it.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," James said, touching the end of his wand to the map.

Instantly, lines and words bgan to form on the parchment. The map showed the location of every secret passage, every passage, and every person at Hogwarts. The three boys held the map between them, and walked casually down the hall.

"We should catch him when he takes his nightly bath," Sirius said. "Fly his green and silver underwear from the Quidditch hoops."

"Or his whole uniform! I'd like to see him get back to Slytherine house in his skin," Remus mused.

"That would involve having him see us," James reminded.

"Why don't we just got back to the Shack and get the cloak?" Sirius asked.

"It's too dangerous, trying to sneak out of the castle. It would be too easy to get caught."

"I could go," Remus suggested. "After all, I have to be out there tomorrow night. I could just say that I want to tidy the place up a little before tomorrow, rearrange my gnawing wood. I could leave right after dinner."

"Let's use that as a second option," James said. "I'm thinking that we take the south passage from Gryffindor..."

"The south passage is crawling with spiders. I'm not going down it," Remus protested

"Okay, why don't we take the east passage then, the one that's hidden behind the paintings of the founders," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Imagine, a werewolf afraid of spiders."

"I haven't been keen on the idea of spiders since you filled my trunk with them while I slept on the train two years ago."

"That was a good prank."

"Well, what do we have here Mr. Norris?" said a gravely voice. "It looks like a trio of trouble makers wandering around when they should be in class."

The boys looked to their left to see Argus Filch, the school caretaker, walking toward them from a passage that was just closing. Mrs. Norris, Filch's nasty cat, was sitting at his feet. The boys put their hands at their sides, placing the Marauders Map behind them. They looked at each other nervously.

"What are you trying to hide?"

"Nothing that we aren't usually trying to hide," said Sirius, trying to be funny.

"Alright then, let's see your stuff. Come one, bring it up."

The boys looked at each other and then at Filch. Slowly, nervously, they brought their books into view. James slipped the Marauders Map under his books, hoping that Filch would pass it by. Filch looked through Sirius' stuff, and then Remus and finally James.

Please, please, in the name of Godric Gryffindor, don't let him find the map! The boys thought simultaneously.

Just as the boys were about to breathe a sigh of relief, the map slipped from the bottom of the pile and fell to the floor. James, Sirius, Remus reached for the map at the same time that Filch did. Sirius was almost able to reach the map, but he knocked heads with Remus and James. Filch picked up the map. A bead of sweat ran down James' face.

"What's this bit of mischief?"

"It's nothing, we've got our mischief managed," James blurted out, hoping that the map would take the hint.

It was too late; Filch had seen the lines and writing that formed the map of Hogwarts. He glared at the boys and stuffed the map into his pocket. James, Sirius and Remus went white.

"This is going to my office and it is going to be destroyed," Filch sneered. "Now get to class before I have you as well."

Filch stormed off, leaving the boys staring at each other in disbelief.

The rest of the day was a blur. Nothing could bring them from the shock of losing the Marauders Map.

[FLASH FORWARD RIPPLES BACK THE COMMON ROOM, LATE AT NIGHT]

"And that's what happened," Remus said, finishing the story. "That is how we lost the Marauders Map."

"We worked so hard on it..." James said, trailing off.

The boys sat in silent again. Then, as if he had received a glorious revelation, Sirius sat up straight and smiled.

"We don't need that map!"

"Yes, Sirius, we do," James said.

"No. It's beautiful. We know every passage and every password by heart. We only needed the map to keep track of where other people were."

"Exactly, that's why we need it."

"But we don't need it. If we can make the rest year and a bit without getting caught, it will only prove that we are the greatest students of Hogwarts ever!"

"Yeah..." Remus said, nodding his head.

"What do we need that map for?" James asked, seeing Sirius' point.

"We'll be the greatest students in Hogwarts history! None shall compare to us in the years to come!" Sirius said energetically.

The boys leapt to their feet.

"Padfoot, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail will never be out adventured, out pranked, or out done!" Sirius exclaimed.

And they had a very successful career as mischief makers and never needed the Marauders Map again. But they always wondered how things would have been if they hadn't lost it.