"Fred, George, what are you doing here?" Albert asked, pretending to inspect the twins mopping the floor.
"Mopping the floor," Fred replied dryly.
"By the way, I don't know when you became so hardworking." Lee Jordan looked at the twins with a gleeful expression. "Dungbombs aren't easy to clean up, especially since Filch hasn't given you any detergent. You can't clean them with just mops and rags."
"This is the consequence of throwing large Dungbombs in the corridor," Filch said, addressing the onlookers who had stopped to watch. "Don't think you can get away with bad behavior."
"Don't worry. I'll take care of getting you some time off during Defense Against the Dark Arts class," Albert said, comfortingly patting the twins on their shoulders.
"Why do I feel you're enjoying this a bit too much?" Fred asked skeptically.
"Am I?" Albert turned to Lee Jordan. "No, I'm just saying—who told them to throw giant Dungbombs in the hallway and get caught by Filch?"
"I thought they'd at least try to do it secretly," Lee Jordan mused. "Why go looking for trouble?"
Albert knew the reason but kept it to himself. If Filch hadn't been there, he wouldn't have minded using a Scouring Charm to help them. Unfortunately, with Filch watching, he couldn't risk it.
---
It took Fred and George several hours to completely clean up the traces of the Dungbombs in the corridors and offices.
For their efforts, they missed lunch and grabbed sandwiches from the kitchen. They sat eating under a tree, looking worn out and sad.
"Where's the loot? Don't tell me you didn't get anything." George stuffed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and turned to Fred, waiting for him to show whatever they had retrieved.
"I got it. Look!" Fred pulled a parchment from his pocket and handed it to George.
"What's this?" George examined the old-looking parchment, turning it over. There was no sender, just two lines written on it:
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
"Mischief managed!"*
"What's inside?"
George quickly opened the envelope, revealing an old, square piece of parchment. It looked completely blank.
"What is this?" George asked, baffled.
"It must be enchanted," Fred said. He recalled the lines on the envelope. "Try saying the password: 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'"
"Use your wand, idiot," George said, pressing his wand to the parchment. He spoke the words aloud:
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Lines of ink began to appear where the wand had touched. They spread like a spiderweb across the parchment, forming intricate patterns and converging to reveal writing.
"It worked!" Fred and George's faces lit up with excitement.
Words appeared at the top of the parchment:
"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs proudly present… The Marauder's Map."
"A map?" George said.
"This isn't just any map!" Fred exclaimed.
The twins watched in awe as ink dots moved on the parchment, marking locations. It was a detailed map of Hogwarts, complete with hidden passages and the passwords to open them.
"Look, it even shows where people are!" Fred said excitedly.
Albert was on his way back to the common room from the library. Filch was on the fourth floor, and Peeves was causing trouble on the sixth.
"George..."
"Fred..."
"Say it together," they said in sync and then burst out laughing.
"Night tours," they said simultaneously.
They exchanged a mischievous look and grinned.
"With this map, we won't have to worry about getting caught by Filch, even without a Disillusionment Charm."
"And look at all these secret passages we haven't explored yet!"
Fred tested the other phrase in the parchment, pressing his wand to the map. "Mischief managed!"
The ink faded, leaving the parchment blank once again.
"It hides itself! Brilliant," George said exclaimed.
"The creators really thought of everything" Fred agreed.
"Do you think Filch ever figured out how to use it? He knows more secret passages than anyone else at Hogwarts," George mused.
"Maybe, but it's ours now."
"Should we tell Albert and Lee Jordan?" George asked.
Fred shook his head. "The fewer people who know, the better."
"Albert probably already knows what we took, though," George pointed out.
"Sure, but he doesn't know what it is," Fred said smugly.
The twins decided to keep the map's existence a secret, at least for now.
---
"Who do you think Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are?"
"They must've been students at Hogwarts," George guessed as he opened a secret passage by raising the head of a statue.
"Let's go before someone catches us," Fred said, glancing at the map.
The twins slipped into the passage just as the statue slid back into place.
"Where does this lead?" George asked, lighting his wand.
"The fifth floor, I think."
Fred smirked. "And you haven't even mastered Lumos yet."
"Like you've mastered it," George retorted.
The passage echoed with their laughter as they disappeared into the darkness.
The End
_________
Another day! Another Chapter!
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