Fleur De Lis

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Classes went on as normal for the remainder of the day, and when it was over he was thankful. Professor Flitwick had pulled him aside and updated him on the situation with the Goblet of Fire, and reported pretty much what Harry had already figured out. A powerful witch or wizard confounded the Goblet, and they were thorough, not leaving a single trace behind.

His frustration was slightly alleviated by the fact that Flitwick had presented him with a captain's badge for the dueling team. "I think you deserved both to be honest, but we decided Oliver Wood was crazy enough to lead the Hogwarts contingent against the international competition, and he wouldn't question your skill as Seeker regardless of how many team practices you may miss."

Harry stared at the badge, already contemplating who he was going to allow into each of the 10 slots in his team roster. He thanked his head of house gratefully at the faith he had always held for him.

Feeling in high spirits, Harry avoided the glances that came his way as he made his way back to his dorm room. He had been theorizing all day in his head how he would get a head start on the map, and he was anxious to get started. Deciding to retire to his room for the evening, he walked through the common room exchanging quiet greetings with people he passed and sealed his bedroom door upon his arrival.

He picked up the Marauders Map carefully and spoke the activation phrase, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map immediately began to animate, and dozens of names slowly began appearing across the parchment. He spotted many familiar names, and a few new ones from the foreign delegation that must have been trying to get a feel for the castle.

He continued studying the map intently, hoping to find a name that would ring a bell, or see one that was somewhere it shouldn't be, but after a while the only odd thing he found was that Alastor Moody, and Barty Crouch seemed to be having a late night rendezvous in the Defense Against The Dark Arts office.

Harry sighed, closing the map, and went towards his desk where a familiar mirror was lying. He picked it up and activated it by saying, "Lily Potter."

A few moments passed before a redhead's face appeared on the mirror, "Hi sweetheart. This is a pleasant surprise."

"Good evening, mother. Can you start a running list of charms that can reverse animations?" Harry asked professionally.

The woman looked thoughtful, "That could be a pretty extensive list. There is animation of the elements, animations for dozens of transfigurations, and hundreds of animations for charming certain things."

"I want a list of all of them. I think it's going to take a lot of experimentation to get started on figuring out how to reverse animate the map to show things that have happened in the past. Then we are going to have to figure out the arithmancy calculations to get this map to tell time so we know how far back we are going once we do figure it out."

"You want to add a clock to the Marauders Map?" Lily asked curiously, her gaze drifting as if she were already calculating the required changes in her head.

"I think it would be a good start. If I'm going to create my own improved map, it should help if I have a good understanding of every charm placed into this crazy thing."

She looked at him in surprise, "Goodness, Harry, sometimes I forget you are in Ravenclaw. Ever consider a charms or arithmancy mastery? The map you're thinking of would be considered an amazing example of your work by any master of the art, and they would almost certainly take you on as an apprentice."

Harry almost said that his master wouldn't appreciate the competition, but he bit his tongue realizing his family didn't know about his mentor. Lily spoke gently, "Sweetheart, is something wrong?"