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“Are you sure you know how to do this?” Peter asked nervously.
“Yes, of course, stop worrying,” Sirius snapped. The four boys were crowded on James’ bed, curtains drawn tight around the frame. The ambient light filtered weakly through the curtains, and the only other source of light was Peter’s wand.
“Right, let’s get started, boys,” James said, clapping his hands together. He pulled a piece of folded parchment out of his pocket and spread it out in the middle of the boys. “So here’s what I’m thinking: Padfoot will focus on the basic layout of the castle- make sure you include all the secret passageways. Moony will take care of the spell that puts everyone in the castle on the map, including names. And I will perform the spell that will connect the map to the school, keeping it active and up to date. Wormtail, you keep that light going strong.” The other boys nodded their agreement.
“On the count of three. One, two, three!” They all cast their spells at the same time, voices overlapping as the intricate spells intertwined and took hold of the piece of parchment between them. Dark lines and text started seeping to the surface of the page, detailing a ground plan of Hogwarts. Slowly footsteps started materializing, tiny names appearing in a neat cursive beside them.
“Cool!” Peter squealed. The whole school was laid out in front of the four boys, drawn in dark brown lines and titled in the same neat scrawl as the names beside the footprints. The four boys looked at each other, broad grins on their faces and a glint of pride in their eyes.
“We have to lock this somehow,” Lupin murmured quietly. “We can’t just leave something like this lying around.”
“How about you need to perform some sort of spell to unlock it,” Peter suggested.
“Sure, what should the incantation be?” James asked. He looked around the circle until he noticed a roguish smirk tilting Sirius’ mouth up. “Thoughts, Sirius?”
“How about ‘Snivellus sucks’.”
“No.” Lupin’s tone brooked no argument.
“Buzz kill,” Sirius muttered. “Fine, how about ‘I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good’?” The silence hung thick with contemplation. Slowly, one by one, the other boys nodded.
“Care to do the honours, Lupin?”
“Sure.” He raised his wand and pointed it at the parchment. “Dictatem. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
“And to lock it?” Lupin asked.
“Mischief managed,” James smirked, the other boys crowing their approval. Lupin echoed James, sealing the map. Each boy took a turn opening and closing the map, uttering the oaths gravely.
It wouldn’t be until a year later that the boys finally named the map.
“We can’t just keep calling it ‘the parchment’ or ‘the map’,” James insisted.
“I agree, but we’re not calling it the super awesome map either,” Remus responded.
“You’re no fun,” Sirius groused.
“How about the All-Seeing Map?” James offered. Sirius scoffed and gave James a disbelieving stare.
“Okay, well, we’ve started calling ourselves the Marauders right?” Peter piped up. It was true; James and Sirius had recently started calling their group the Marauders, much to Remus’ vocal chagrin. “Why don’t we call it our map? The Marauders’ Map?”
“That’s not a terrible idea, Wormtail,” James voice was tinged with surprise. “I quite like that.”
“Yeah, me too,” Sirius agreed. “Moony?”
“Yes, it’s a good idea,” he said, directing the comment mostly to Peter. He did secretly enjoy the name their group had adopted, although he tried not to let it show too much. He cared for his mates, but sometimes they were truly exasperating. Lupin got to work creating the title for the map. It took him a few minutes, but soon he was smiling and showing his mates the result.
“I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good,” James exclaimed, enthusiastically jabbing his wand at the map. ‘The Marauders Map’ appeared in elegant scrawl, bleeding through along with the outline of the castle. “Nice!” James said appreciatively. The others voiced their approval as well.
******
“What’s this piece of parchment you lads keep looking at?” Gregory, a Hufflepuff in their year, wandered over to the group of boys sitting under a tree.
“Mischief managed,” Sirius mumbled quietly as James responded to Gregory.
“Oh nothing,” James said loudly over Sirius.
“Alright…” Gregory said, suspicion colouring his tone. “Have any of you done the potions homework due tomorrow?” The boys all chatted about their homework assignment for a few minutes before Gregory wandered away to find some mates from his house.
“We’ve gotta put a protection spell on this thing in case someone takes it from us,” James said as Gregory strolled away.
“I have been working on something that might suffice…” Remus admitted sheepishly,
“You dog!” Sirius punched him in the arm.
“I thought that was you,” Remus threw back jokingly. They bumped shoulders.
“Yeah, you’re the wolf.” James smiled and handed the Map to Remus. “Do your worst, then.” Flourishing his wand, Remus pointed it at the parchment. The boys all stared intently at the parchment for a few moments.
“Alright there, Moony?” Sirius asked after the silence had stretched.
“Yeah, I might need a little assistance,” Remus admitted sheepishly. “I’m trying to use a combination of a pre-programmed text spell and one that would allow it to improvise, or allow one of us connect to it with a silent spell.” Sirius thought for a moment.
“Okay, you work on the pre-programmed text spell and I’ll see what I can do about the rest, yeah?”
“Yeah.” They both brandished their wands again.
“Nothing’s happening,” Peter murmured after a few minutes of tense silence.
“I think it’s worked?” Sirius said without much conviction.
“Only one way to find out, I suppose,” James said, taking the parchment back and stashing it in his bag.
Their opportunity came a few days later. Henriet, a Ravenclaw a year above them, was sitting at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, a book propped open in front of her.
“Hey, Henri, how are things?” Sirius asked with a shit-eating grin as he sat down across from her.
“I’m fine, thank you. And how are the fine Marauders?” her voice was laced with sarcasm as she raised an eyebrow.
“We are all doing very well. We do have a question for you though. More of a test, really. I know you can’t pass up a challenge.” Sirius paused for a moment to reach into his pocket and draw out the map. “If I were to give you this parchment, can you figure out what’s on it?”
Henri took it skeptically, looking it over. “Will it explode?”
“Not unless you set it on fire,” James grinned at her. Henri picked up her wand from where it rested beside her book and ran it over the parchment.
“Reveal all,” she said, resting her wand on the middle of the parchment. Nothing happened for a moment and then dark text seeped through the parchment.
“Ms. Maladieu should try harder if she wishes to succeed,” it read.
“Is this what I’m supposed to be seeing?” She sounded unimpressed.
“There’s more to see, if you can break the spell,” Remus prompted. Her brow furrowed and she sat staring at the parchment for a moment.
“You performing silent spells or what?” James prompted with a cheeky grin.
“I am, actually, but it seems as if I can’t get anything out of this bit of parchment, boys. Either you’re lying or I cannot break it.” She shrugged and handed the piece of parchment back to Sirius.
“Thanks, Henri. Good luck with your N.E.W.T.S.,” Remus said in parting, a charming smile lighting his face.
“It seems we’ve done it, lads,” James said when the four had exited the Great Hall. “We’ve created the Marauder’s Map.”