Fred and George and the Toilers of Trouble (Year 1) ✔

Chapter 8:3

The euphoria remained constant for Fred and George over the following few days while they surveyed every hidden hall and concealed corridor the map had revealed — and there was quite a lot happening beyond the scope of the average Hogwarts student. The twins became obsessed with trailing the ink dots of their fellow Gryffindors as they roamed the school, spoke with ghosts, and studied in the library. They watched as five members of the Slytherin team held an unauthorized practice on the Quidditch pitch while Professor Snape observed from the window in his office. And, of course, they witnessed Peeves setting traps all across the castle, hiding chalk from Professor McGonagall, loosening screws on a cage in the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, and removing the pins from every door hinge on the fourth floor corridor. Their favorite, by far, was tracking Mr. Filch as he followed Victor Sparrow and skulked the hallways in search of casual misdeeds. If there had been a surprise test in any of their classes on what was taught that week, the Weasley twins would have certainly earned poor marks. They were unfocused during lectures and deadly hazardous with a wand, because their concentration was centered on the Marauder's Map.

On Thursday afternoon, during Herbology with a frenzied Professor Sprout, the twins were busy practicing a spell in secret that Cedric Diggory had learned from Professor Flitwick. It was an adaptation of the invisible ink charm, which made it possible for their writing to continually appear or disappear with a simple spell. Cedric was eager to teach this to Fred and George, because they were constantly borrowing parchment for classwork. Everything they had brought from home was filled with notes about their afternoon explorations and the many details they wanted to add to the map. Now, with the spell decently in their realm of skills, the twins chose their own additions wisely. And it was clear they weren't the first ones to consider such a thing.

The originally illustrated map was clearly permanent ink, but the drawings and notes provided by the second hand — which they assumed to be the work of the four Marauders — were adjustable under the reversible ink spell. Fred and George spent the rest of Herbology pretending to monitor the growth of nightshade, while notating the areas they had yet to discover and making corrections like, 'turn left here', 'dead end?', 'exit password no longer applies', and 'watch out for maggots!'. After erasing a few unnecessary notes, they turned their attention to what remained. There were four adventures they'd been saving for last: a corridor and classroom on the third floor marked 'abandoned' beside a large letter W', a 'no purpose' octagonal room with a sketch of a coiling snake that was accessible from the very top of the moving stairwell, a split passageway that was much wider than the rest and labeled with a specific time of day, and the entrance to the headmaster's office. Beside his office was a monstrous sketch of a gargoyle and a very hurried note in capital letters, 'MUST FIND A WAY BACK IN — NEW STAIRCASE PASSWORD!'

The final question the twins had about the map was a line at the bottom that read, 'Room of Requirement, ask nicely'. Of course, when they asked the enchantment to specify what the authors meant (in the nicest of tones, of course), the map failed to respond. It was no longer communicating with them, and seemed to have the sole purpose of protecting the powerful contents from the unworthy. With that mystery unresolved, and still without an explanation on the half-erased name, 'Lupin Black', the Weasley twins prepared for the exact right moment to explore the last four spots on the map. The opportunity arrived that afternoon when they were leaving Enchantments to find a procession of students on the Entrance Hall stairs. Skillfully concealing the map, they smoothed out the parchment. A hundred or so dots were assembling on the Quidditch pitch. Before they had time to discuss why, the boys noticed two ink dots sneaking up behind them labeled 'Lee Jordan' and 'Angelina Johnson'.

"Hey Fred, hey George," Lee called, as the twins spun round, synchronizing their rotation.

"Yes?" said Fred.

"How may we be of service?" said George.

"Are you heading down to tryouts? You can sit with us. Everyone is going to be there. Charlie was asking about you at lunch — said he'll practice catching the Golden Snitch for the first years. You should come!"

"Unless you're busy," Angelina interjected, her eyes fixed on George.

"We are, I'm afraid," he complained deftly.

Fred patted the folded map. "We have a paper to study."

"Well, good luck with that," said Lee, backing away with Angelina. "Don't complain when you find out that I've made the Quidditch team and you didn't."

With their housemates out of sight, Fred faced his brother with a spreading grin. "George, correct me if I'm wrong, but is the castle about to be completely empty?"

"It's Quidditch, Fred," George responded. "Everyone's going to be there."

The first place they chose to visit was the headmaster's office. Although they didn't have the correct password, the twins were curious about the gargoyle drawing. When they arrived at the location on the map, they were once again facing an ugly statue and a flat, stone wall. They carefully approached the giant, winged gargoyle, hoping the map would illustrate their instructions yet again.

"No luck," George sighed, peeking around the back of the statue.

"It's not impenetrable though," said Fred. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs got in at least once before the password changed. Dumbledore's up there, in any case."

The ink dot of 'Albus Dumbledore' abruptly left his desk in the circular room on the map and moved toward the door. And then to the stairs, where it stopped.

"What's he doing?" asked George rapidly. "Do you think he knows we're down here?"

"How could he?" Fred replied. "I don't reckon there's two of these maps."

"He's the greatest wizard of all time. He probably doesn't need a magical map to see things ordinary wizards cannot."

Their headmaster's dot was still positioned near the staircase on the parchment — on a set of steps that was somehow hidden behind the gargoyle statue in front of them.

"We should go," Fred suggested in a whisper.

"Right," George agreed. "Even Peeves the Poltergeist would say this was ill-advised."

They hurried off down the hall without a direction in mind, far more impressed with their headmaster. Especially when they noticed his dot moving back to the desk.