The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

The Marauder's Map

The Marauder's Map

Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James were all standing before the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. It was later in the afternoon after the Lake Incident and Sirius and James had spent the remainder of the morning getting a Thorough Talking To in Professor McGonagall's office, along with a detention assignment for the following Saturday. She'd released them finally and they'd hurried back to the Gryffindor common room to find that Peter and Remus had been dutifully preparing for the afternoon's plans of mapping the Secret Room. Peter had gone and gotten sandwiches from the kitchens and bottles of pumpkin juice, too, while Remus sharpened his pencils and carefully packed the parchment map in his bookbag.

Now, here they were, staring at the span of seemingly empty wall space opposite the ballet-dancing trolls. "There isn't even a door here," Remus said, his voice dripping with skepticism.

"Not yet," Sirius agreed.

"How did you lot find this place again?" Remus asked, looking 'round at them.

They'd told him the story probably eight times already since confiding to him about the Secret Room. "We were looking for a place to hide the bicorn horn we stole from Slughorn's office," started James.

"And Peter went to get the list of secret passageways in the dormitory, but he couldn't find it," Sirius added.

"So I thought there had been one of the passages some place around here," James said.

"We came up here while we waited for Peter and we'd agreed to meet by Barnabus the Barmy here," Sirius continued.

"And I was pacing and mumbling 'bout needing a place to hide the bicorn horn, driving Sirius mad..." James said.

"... and then a door appeared," Sirius finished.

Remus shook his head, "Wow. And it just so happened to be full of all the stuff you needed to make the potion?"

James nodded, "Pretty lucky, 'ey?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of suspicious," Remus answered.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Aw c'mon, don't be such a worry wart. It's bloody brilliant. It's as though the room were made just for us!"

"See, statements like that make me feel it's even more suspicious," Remus said. He rubbed his chin, "Who all have you told about this animagus nonsense?"

"Nobody! 'Cept you," Sirius said.

Peter looked nervously between Sirius and Remus. "Are we suspecting foul play?" he demanded, twisting his fingers together.

"No," James said, rolling his eyes at Peter, "Calm down, will you?"

"Well I wouldn't rule it out," Remus corrected James. "I mean, think about it. What're the odds of you lot happening to find a mysterious door and it happening to be full of potions equipment and the like?" He looked between Sirius and James with a raised brow. "That's insanely impossible odds, you know, with all the other sorts of rooms it could've been. Finding the room at all sounds a near impossible feat!"

James shrugged, "There's no way it was faked." He paused, then turned to Sirius, "Unless McGonagall figured us out and stocked the room herself."

Sirius shook his head, "McGonagall wouldn't have known we were coming up here by Barnabus the Barmy. Plus, she would have said something. Especially when she met me as Snuffles!"

"Maybe she didn't wanna bust us in front of all the other Resistance people," James suggested.

Sirius shrugged, "I don't think it's anybody's set it up, I think it's just what the room is."