The second Hogsmeade weekend arrived quickly, and a cheerful bustle filled the castle.
Students eagerly discussed Honeydukes' new sweets, the butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, and the latest prank items from Zonko's Joke Shop.
Although Harry's mood was not as heavy as last time, the familiar sense of loneliness crept back as he watched his friends stream toward the gates in groups.
Unexpectedly, Ron and Hermione stayed behind as well.
They walked over to Harry.
Ron scratched his red hair and spoke in a deliberately casual tone. "Hey, Harry, actually… well, there's nothing that special about going. Percy was right about one thing—Hogsmeade's kind of a mess, and too much candy just gives you a toothache."
Hermione nodded vigorously beside him, clutching several thick books to her chest as she tried to disguise her real intentions with studying. "Exactly. And I just happen to have a few essays to finish. The library is much quieter."
Harry looked at their clumsy attempts at comfort, and a warm feeling surged in his chest, his eyes growing a little moist.
He knew they had given up the trip to stay with him.
The depth of their friendship moved him, but it also made him feel even more guilty.
"Thank you," he said, his voice catching, "but… you really don't have to do this. You should go and enjoy yourselves. I… I can go to Hagrid's, or—"
"Don't be silly, Harry," Hermione cut in, her tone firm. "We're perfectly happy staying here."
Just then, two identical heads wearing mischievous grins popped out from behind a corridor pillar—it was Fred and George Weasley.
They sauntered over, deliberately imitating Percy's solemn air.
"Oi, you poor prisoner," Fred laughed, clapping Harry on the shoulder.
"And two loyal jailers!" George added, bowing extravagantly to Ron and Hermione.
"Why aren't you two going to Hogsmeade?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"Oh, us? We just haven't set off yet," Fred replied mysteriously.
"After all, we can leave whenever we want," George chimed in, with a hint of boastfulness.
"No need to wait for Hogsmeade weekend."
"And no need for anyone's signed permission."
"We can leave whenever we like."
"Anytime, anywhere."
"As we please."
"Then why are you two standing here now…?" Ron frowned, clearly confused.
"Oh, my dear brother," Fred said conspiratorially, "a truly brilliant prank sometimes requires a little… special tool."
He and George exchanged a knowing look.
George then pulled a square, seemingly blank piece of old parchment from his pocket.
"Harry," Fred said solemnly as he handed the parchment to him, lowering his voice, "after much deliberation…"
"We unanimously agreed that you might need it more than we do…"
"So it's time to entrust it to you."
"Consider it… an early Christmas surprise."
Harry stared at the blank, heavily worn parchment in confusion.
"What is this? An old piece of parchment?"
"It's not just an ordinary old piece of parchment," George said, shaking his head with a proud smile.
"It's the secret to our repeated successes," Fred said, his eyes gleaming.
"And the guiding light for our countless nocturnal wanderings," George added, with a hint of nostalgia and pride.
"That doesn't sound reassuring," Hermione said warily, frowning.
"Rest assured."
"Ladies and gentlemen," the twins declared in unison, as if unveiling a priceless relic, "the Weasley twins proudly present their exclusive treasure: the Marauder's Map."
"The Marauder's Map?" The trio looked utterly baffled. "What's that?"
"You'll find out soon," Fred said with a grin. "You or me, George?"
"I'll do it, Fred," George said, nodding.
"Watch closely, you three. You only get one chance—don't cry if you miss it."
George took out his wand, tapped it against the parchment, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
As the words left his mouth, invisible ink seemed to surge and spread across the parchment.
Complex lines and tiny writing unfurled like a spider's web, rapidly covering the entire sheet. A detailed map of Hogwarts Castle and its secret passages appeared at once.
Even more astonishingly, countless tiny ink footprints were moving across it, each labelled with a name. Snape stood motionless in the dungeons. Filch and his cat, Mrs Norris, patrolled the 2nd-floor corridor. Dumbledore paced back and forth in the Headmaster's office…
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were struck dumb, eyes wide with shock.
"It's… it's incredible!" Hermione murmured, momentarily forgetting her earlier worries about "danger." "A powerful magical artefact."
Fred pointed at the map with pride. "See? These are all the secret passages in the castle! This one under the Whomping Willow—we don't know where it leads. This one behind the one-eyed witch statue goes straight to Honeydukes' cellar. And this one…"
He launched into an enthusiastic explanation of the secret routes known only to them.
"Harry, precisely because we know you can't go to Hogsmeade, we think you're the most suitable owner for it right now."
"You've been hiding something this good from me? I'm your own brother!" Ron exclaimed in disbelief.
"Precisely because you're our dear brother, ickle Ronniekins," Fred said with a grin, slinging an arm around Ron's shoulders, "that's why we can't let you go astray."
"After all, when it comes to pranks, the Weasley family is already well supplied with just the two of us," George added, winking.
Ron pouted and said nothing.
Harry, who had been staring at the map, suddenly pointed to a name on it and spoke with confusion. "But this map doesn't seem as perfect as you're making it out to be. Look—Sirius Black is already dead, but his name is still on it."
"What?"
The others immediately crowded around, their eyes following Harry's finger.
"That's Professor Lupin's office!" Hermione frowned deeply when she recognised the location.
The map clearly showed that beside the name Remus Lupin, another ink dot was moving slowly. The name written beside it stabbed into their hearts like a needle.
Sirius Black.
The playful smiles vanished completely from Fred and George's faces, replaced by an unprecedented gravity.
Fred's voice was dry. "The map… the map has never been wrong, Harry. It never lies."
"That's impossible!"
Harry cried out. "He's dead! The newspaper said so! His body was even taken away by the Ministry of Magic! Didn't you all see it?"
As his words fell, a chill shot from the soles of their feet straight to the tops of their heads, raising goosebumps all over.
Hermione's face drained of colour. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming.
Her thoughts raced. A feigned death? A conspiracy? Or… was the map wrong?
But the names of Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Filch on the map were all clear and accurate.
And yet Professor Greengrass had killed him in plain sight.
"Noctis has been looking for something in the castle recently…"
Professor Sagres's calm words suddenly exploded in her mind.
Could it be… what he was looking for… was Sirius Black? Had he already known that Black was not dead?
P.S. The Marauders' names appear on the map whether they are in Animagus form or not. In the original novel, Lupin went to the Whomping Willow passage because he saw the names of Sirius and Pettigrew on the map, even though both were in Animagus form at the time.
Additionally, using Polyjuice Potion or an Invisibility Cloak will still display your real name on the map.
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