Metanoia • Harry Potter • Book I

Chapter 19

Keziah had never seen a clock move so slowly as she waited for midnight to come. The map was still in her pocket, burning against her thigh as she tried to fully process what was about to happen.

It was weird. She had been living in the Wizarding World for nearly a year now but the dangers and implications of being Harry Potter's sister hadn't completely hit her until now.

Keziah drummed on the cover of the book she was reading to calm her mind, reading the same sentence over and over but the words wouldn't sink in. She might as well have been trying to read a passage done in Mermish.

"Exams are over, Keziah," Daphne said gently. "Relax."

"Yeah, you're stressing me out!" Blaise said. "And Blaise doesn't get stressed out."

"Unless there's a broom involved," Theodore laughed, ruffling Blaise's hair.

"Exactly," Blaise nodded. "He gets me."

Keziah smiled weakly at her friends, chewing the inside of her cheek. It was around a quarter to eleven and she was bursting to move. Daphne fidgeted beside her, stretching out as she yawned.

"I'm going to head up now before I fall asleep on the sofa," she said, jabbing her thumb backwards. "Keziah, you should come too. There's no reason for you to pull another all-nighter."

"I'm going too," Blaise stifling a yawn. "I just didn't want to be the first one. Theo? Keziah?"

Theodore held up his hand to be pulled off the sofa, which Blaise did. The three of them all looked down at Keziah expectantly.

"I'll come upstairs soon," she said.

Daphne raised an eyebrow, scoffing lightly.

"I promise I won't be here all night Daph," Keziah said pleadingly.

"I can't make you take care of yourself, Keziah, but I wish you would," she sighed in the end, turning around and disappearing through the dormitory doors. Theodore nodded at Keziah with a small wave and left too.

"She says this stuff because she cares about you. You know that right? We all do," Blaise said quietly.

Keziah didn't respond, staring into the fire like her life depended on it. Blaise sighed, patting her shoulder before he went too. She let out a shudder, burying her head in her hands. The visions in her dreams had come back, plaguing her mind like locusts.

The clock chimed eleven and she sat straight, unsheathing the Marauder's Map. There were only a few people left in the common room, so she didn't have to worry about someone nosy looking in.

She unfolded the parchment and took a deep breath.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she whispered in rapture as ink spread across the yellowy paper, like spider webs creeping to every corner of the map. Words blossomed at the top, grand and curly green.

'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers

are proud to present:

THE MARAUDER'S MAP'

Keziah could barely breathe as she dragged her fingers over the details of the Hogwarts Castle and Grounds. Her eyes swooped down to the dungeons where there was a minuscule dot labelled 'Keziah Potter' sat in the Slytherin common rooms. She nearly squealed but reigned herself in.

"This is magnificent," she breathed. She noticed there was a passageway just down the hall, which spiralled up to the fourth floor. From there, she could sneak down without bumping into Filch, who was scouring the Entrance Hall at the moment. She grinned, silently fist-pumping.