Chapter 100: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good (Patreon)
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Evan suddenly raised his head. Harry hadn't mentioned it yet. How could Ron know that this old parchment was the Marauder’s Map? This sounded really suspicious.
"How did you know, Ron?" Harry looked surprised, and said, "Oh, Fred and George told you, didn’t they?!"
Ron nodded hastily looking a bit strange.
"Well, you two, who can explain to me and Evan what this tattered parchment is?" said Hermione impatiently.
"Hermione, this Marauder’s Map was found by Fred and George in Filch's office. It can reveal all the details of Hogwarts Castle and all its venues, including every secret passage. It can also identify the location of every person in the grounds.” Harry looked up cautiously, checked out the surroundings, and then whispered, "As long as I have its help, I can wear the invisibility cloak and avoid other people to join you in Hogsmeade."
"What?!" Hermione stood up in surprise.
"Don't get too excited, Hermione!" Harry hurriedly pulled her down.
"If it’s really like you said, you should give this map to Professor McGonagall, Harry!" Hermione said with an anxious voice.
"No, I won’t hand it to her!" Harry said sharply. "If I do that, I’ll have to explain where I got it from, and Filch will know Fred and George took it!"
"But, what about Black?!" Hermione said, biting her teeth. "With this Map, the Professors will know if he uses any of these secret passages to enter the castle..."
"He can’t come in from these passages." Harry said quickly. "Fred and George said that Filch knew most of them, and the remaining entrances and exits are also well hidden. It’s impossible for Black to know them."
"You are taking a risk. What if he knew them? “
"Black can’t go to Hogsmeade, Hermione!" said Harry stubbornly. "You told me when you came back last time that there were Dementors patrolling in the evening. If Black appeared, they would discover him."
"But..." Hermione bit her lip and looked worried.
"Ok, Hermione, are you going to report me?" Harry asked, grinning.
"Oh, of course not! But honestly, Harry..."
"It’s almost Christmas Herm, let me relax." Harry took out his wand from underneath the cloak and looked excited. "I'll show you the map later. If Black appears on it, we’ll be the first to discover him."
Hearing his words, Evan had a sudden realization!
Will it just be Sirius Black? He didn’t want to say it, but Peter Pettigrew was still in the pocket of Ron's coat. If Harry uses the Marauder’s Map at this time, he will find Peter's name among them. .
Evan's first intention was to stop Harry, but it immediately came to his mind. This doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Why should he stop him?!
He had been tangled and unable to solve this year's problem. The main reason that he could not hand Peter Pettigrew to Dumbledore was that he couldn’t explain, without causing doubts, how he knew Peter was an Animagus.
After all, this matter is not known to outsiders.
If he recognized that the rat was no else but Peter Pettigrew, it would be too suspicious.
That was the case for Tom Riddle's diary last year. He actually told Dumbledore unintentionally that he knew it was a Horcrux. Fortunately, he did return to Hogwarts a thousand years before that, so he can always claim that he’s been told about that by the Four Founders.
Dumbledore is so terrible. In addition to being the greatest white wizard in the world today, he is also a thorough conspiracist.
Evan didn't want to reveal his own cards, and then wait foolishly to be countered.
His stubbornness didn’t give him much progress, so he must be very careful this year. This is why he had not dared to get involved until he got in touch with Sirius Black.
But now with the help of Marauder’s maps, this problem can be solved perfectly.
If the four of them found out that Peter Pettigrew was still alive, then he could easily turn him over to Dumbledore.
After the whole truth is revealed, he’ll go to the forest to look for Sirius Black and things will probably go smoothly.
“So stupid, why didn't I think of this idea before?”
Evan looked at the teachers’ table and Snape and Professor Lupin were there.
He nodded happily and reached with his right hand for the wand on his waist, with his eyes locked tightly on Ron's pocket. He focused on his mind and prepared himself to cast Petrificus Totalus right when Peter’s name appears on the map.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry gently raised his wand, ready to point to the parchment.
"Wait a minute, we'd better not show it here." Ron hurriedly stopped Harry and said in a frantic voice." There are too many people around us, so if we get caught..."
"It doesn't matter. Just be careful and it will be fine. I want to see if this map is as magical as Harry said." Evan looked at Ron with some insight.
Ron turned his head and looked at Evan's face. He could not dissect the weird look in his eyes, and he quickly looked away from them and focused again on the map.
"Just like Evan said, we only need to be careful and we won't be discovered," said Harry, tapping his wand on the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
"Oh, my God!" Hermione exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands
Everyone's eyes were glued to the parchment, and Evan saw thin ink lines began to spread like a spider’s web from the point that Harry’s wand had touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present:
THE MARAUDER’S MAP
Although he already knew this, Evan was stunned by the transformation on the parchment.
Back in his previous life, he didn’t know how Harry’s father had made such a map. Now with his current knowledge, he speculated that its creation required on top of a great knowledge of Hogwarts’ terrain, an extremely advanced knowledge of magic spells, Transfiguration, ancient magic literature and other magic mechanics.
And this theoretical knowledge is just a required basis for its creation. The more critical thing is that they need a source that provides a great deal of magical power. That’s the only way to implement such fine magic into a simple parchment, and breathe life into it just like it was the case for the Sorting Hat.
Needless to say, the makers of the Sorting hat had enough magical power to make such a thing.
Although making the Marauder’s Map doesn’t require as much magical power, it still requires a good amount that ordinary wizards shouldn’t be able to provide.
However, when remembering that James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew all learned Animagus during their school days, having such a map being made by them becomes something that’s much less strange. Evan, who has mastered Animagus himself, knows how much magical power it requires during the first transforming; hence he relied on magical potions to complete it.
What did James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew rely on?
Especially Peter Pettigrew, that man is by no means a talented magician. But still; he completed Animagus, and was able to become a Rat with no problems.
Evan initially thought that they had completed this spell by relying on a large amount of potions to supplement their magical power, but now it seems that wasn’t the case. Simply relying on potions is not enough to make living items like the Marauder’s map.
They must have found other ways. Maybe he can later ask Sirius Black.