The Bonds of Spirit are stronger than the Bonds of Blood

Chapter Thirty Three

Sirius was excited. He, James, Remus, and Peter were about to test out the map for the first time. Remus had mentioned all the different spells he had used. Most of the names slipped by, never to be remembered by anyone else in the group, but one had an interesting name; The Homonculus Charm. Remus had explained that it was an advanced charm that allowed the map to track the movements of everyone in the castle. Sirius was amazed at how much Remus had managed to do. He had found a spell that would do everything they had planned for the map to do. He had found the Homonculus Charm, as well as several unnamed charms that proved useful. When they tested the map, very briefly after enchanting it, they found that even in animagus form or under the invisibility cloak the map was able to track their movements. This was just what they had wanted, as they would need to be able to track anyone, even if they had an invisibility cloak like James. Remus had pulled off the impossible! The quartet gathered in their dorm room after dinner, pulled out the map, and prepared to test it. Remus tapped the map with his wand and said "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." As he finished, the map came to life. In a scrawling script appeared the words

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers

Are proud to present

The Marauders Map"

The Marauders gasped in astonishment, watching as their creation properly came to life. Sirius was the first to speak. "Moony, you're a genius!" James nodded and said "Only you could actually make this thing work so quickly!" Peter joined in next; an ear to ear grin plastered on his face, he said "It's absolutely perfect!" Remus grinned sheepishly and said "Honestly, I wasn't sure it would really work, but here it is! I don't know what it will do if someone tries to use the map without saying the proper code phrase. The charm I used is supposed to make it insult the person, but I don't know if it will actually work or not. I don't even know what it will say. It'll probably change depending on the person but it should work, I mean, I followed the instructions for the spell to the letter..." he began rambling as he thought about how he had cast the spell, trying to remember if he had actually cast it properly or if he had misread something. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder and said "Moony, relax. It's perfect! You did amazingly well! This is easily your best work!" "Yeah! None of us could have pulled this off without you Moony! So don't worry about it!" James added, lightly punching Remus' arm. Peter looked over the map, watching the footsteps move about in the same manner as their owners. "So, this is everyone currently at Hogwarts?" He asked, looking at the map in awe. Remus nodded, pointing out some key people. "There's Professor Dumbledore, pacing in his office. Professor McGonagall leaving her office, and there's Filch starting his patrols. And here we are, in our dorm room. Everyone, everywhere, in the entirety of Hogwarts!" Remus was amazed by what they had managed to accomplish with this map. He wondered what they could possibly do to top something like this. Not that he was interested in trying to create something any more complicated but, knowing James, there would be another project in the works soon enough. Well, he would be ready for it when it happened. He would have to be the one to make sure the others did not get into serious trouble.

The Marauders looked over the map watching as people went about their lives. Various Professors left their offices to return to their sleeping quarters or to begin their patrol. The Head Boy and Head Girl were in their respective common rooms, most likely making sure their own house was in order before they left to start their patrols. Filch and Mrs. Norris were patrolling the lower levels of the castle. Hagrid was in his hut with Fang. Professor Dumbledore was facing near the windows of his office. Madame Pomfrey was moving around in the Hospital Wing, likely completing her rounds for the evening. Madam Pince was closing the library, her footprints heading off towards a room the quartet assumed served as her sleeping quarters. Students wandered about between dorm rooms and common rooms. Some were ushered into their common rooms by professors. The secret passages, seven of which led to Hogsmeade, remained unutilised. Sirius smirked and said "This is absolutely perfect! We'll easily make it to and from the Shrieking Shack with no problems now! We'll still need the invisibility cloak, sure, but now we can take the best routes and avoid every patrol!" James grinned and said "Not to mention all the pranks we can pull now! We can even mess with Filch's Office!" He starred off into the distance, imagining the possibilities. Sirius laughed, knowing that the look on James' face meant some great pranks were in the works. Remus shook his head fondly at his two friends, knowing they would get themselves in trouble for this at some point. But their pranks were enjoyable, so he wasn't about to stop them. Especially if they were pranking Filch! That man seemed to have some sort of strange vendetta against the students of Hogwarts, regardless of which house they were in. Remus could never figure out why Mr. Filch hated the students of Hogwarts so much. And he often wondered why, if he hated the students so much, he continued to work at the school. It made no sense! Remus shook himself from his thoughts as James started rambling about changing Filch's office into a jungle. He laughed at the idea, wondering why James wanted to turn the office into a jungle and how he decided a jungle was the best choice. With his determination, James could turn that office into just about anything. So what was it about a jungle that made it the best choice for this prank? James continued to ramble on about his ideas for pranks. Remus, Sirius, and Peter ignored him, knowing he preferred to think out loud. Instead they focused on their own conversation as they awaited his final decision. "So Moony, how did you find all the spells we needed?" Sirius asked. Remus shrugged and said "In the back of the library there were some really old books, filled with the more advanced spells. It took quite a bit of looking, but I finally found a book called 'Charming Charms from Days of Olde.' It was tucked away in a darkened corner of the library, and the writing was rather faded, but it had most of the spells we needed. I had to find a few others for the defensive spells we wanted, to protect the map, but other than that everything we needed was in one forgotten book." He had been amazed by his own luck at stumbling across such a perfect book. He wondered if maybe someone else had helped, guided him to that specific spot. But that was a ridiculous thought. So he simply smiled and said "Regardless, all that matters now is actually using this map to its full potential. Now we just have to wait for Prongs to give us a place to start."

Lily sat back, studying for the upcoming exams. It seemed that all the professors here at Hogwarts conspired to have all their exams on one day! It was madness! Lily found herself buried in notes, trying desperately to maintain her composure as she tried to memorise every fact she had been taught up until this point. History of Magic would be the most difficult to study for, as the class was difficult to pay attention to. Lily had loved History at the muggle schools she had gone to, but Professor Binns had the most monotonous voice! It could put even the most diligent student, like Lily, to sleep in a matter of seconds! Lily found herself wishing muggle technology worked within Hogwarts. She could have recorded the lectures and used a spell on her quill to have it transcribe the lecture for her notes. Then she would know exactly what she needed to study for the exam, instead of glaring at her textbook and hoping to learn everything that had been covered since the year began. Her notes had dates, a few names, and the names of some major events, but that was all she had managed to write down. If they had a different professor, the class would likely be more alive. But for now, they all had to struggle just to survive. Lily still managed an O in History of Magic each year, but it was incredibly difficult. Growing frustrated with History of Magic, she shoved aside the textbook and pulled out her Charms text book. Looking over her notes, she decided to practice the spells that Professor Flitwick had said would likely be on the exam. She had practiced these spells plenty of times in class, but a little more practice would not hurt. She wanted to be able to cast in her sleep if necessary, so that she would not have to worry about hesitating when trying to cast. Lily was a bit of a perfectionist, always wanting to do everything as perfectly as possible. Due to this she ended up with straight O's since her first year, and this trend was likely to continue until her graduation. As she practiced, she watched the effects of the charms take place. Each one worked flawlessly, due to her diligence. As she finished with her Charms study, she let her mind wander. She could not believe it was already her fourth year at Hogwarts. Just four years ago, though it felt like it was simultaneously much longer and much shorter, she had not even known she was a witch. She could make things happen, but she had no answer to the question of why these things would happen. Her favourite was jumping off of the swings and falling gracefully, and slowly, down to safety. In those days everything seemed so simple, aside from the strange bursts of magic. Then she had found out the truth, thanks to Severus. Finally, she received her letter. Hogwarts had accepted her. And here she finally learned all about the magical world. It never ceased to amaze her just how much there was to learn. And there were still three full years left! Lily, who had been surrounded by the muggle world from birth, found herself completely enamoured with the wizarding world. She gladly sat through every lecture, even those given by Professor Binns, for the sheer joy of learning. Every day she spent in the castle was a chance to learn all about the world around her. And Lily would not trade even a second of it for the world. A smile on her face as the tension faded away, Lily remembered just why she loved her classes and her life at Hogwarts. With these thoughts in mind, she happily returned to her studies.

ͼ