HP : THE TRAUMA AND CHOICE

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Within five minutes Harry found himself wishing that Horace Slughorn had been a little more interested in teaching and a little less interested in networking. He was dismayed to realize that aside from what he had gleaned from The Half-Blood Prince he really had learned nothing in sixth year potions class. Professor Snape was brutal and impatient but at least Harry learned something in his classes. Still, it was a relief when the double lesson was finally over and Harry was allowed to escape to loiter around the Great Hall before lunch. His Dead Flesh Eating potion was the wrong color and texture and he owed Snape two feet on the potion at their next class on Tuesday when he would brew it again.

Since Harry, Ron, and Hermione had not fought the troll and ended up friends, it was time to create a group bond by other means. It was time to implement the prank. All of the houses had sentries and Harry lacked an invisibility cloak to get past them. The plan was to lightly coat all of the taps in the shared bathrooms, all of the hand towel dispensers, and all of the doorknobs to all of the used rooms in the castle with the magical solution that they had brewed. They also planned to add it to Filch's cleaning products.

Without an invisibility cloak, the plan would be difficult. Without either an invisibility cloak or his father's map, the plan was impossible. Plus, he had to get the map from Fred and George before Sirius started showing up on it.

"Oi! Fred! George!" Harry called casually down the Gryffindor table. "I need a word with you after lunch!"

The two redheads blinked then nodded.

"Why do we need them?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. "I need to ask them something about quidditch practice."

As soon as Harry dragged the twins down the nearest hidden corridor, they turned on him.

"What'cha need –"

"– Ickle Harrikins?"

"I want the Marauders' Map."

Both twins instantly went on the defensive.

"We don't know –"

" – what you're talking about."

"Honestly."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The twins grinned.

"How'd you find out about that?" asked George.

"It's my dad's."

They laughed.

"Geroff."

"Pull the other, Harry!"

"Honestly. My dad was Prongs. He left notes about it in my family's vault."

Both of their clever faces lit up.

"Do you know all of the geniuses of –"

"– magical mischief and mayhem who –"

"– created the Marauders' Map?"

Harry nodded. "I need my dad's map."

Their identical faces fell into identically unhappy looks.

"Harry, it's not that we don't have a heart –"

" – because we do! We feel badly for you –"

" – but we need it for our own mischief."

"It's the only thing of my parents that I've been able to track down!" Harry said a bit desperately. "Dumbledore has my father's invisibility cloak and my aunt destroyed everything of my mother's. I don't even have a single picture of them!"

The twins swapped dejected looks.

"I wouldn't mind sharing" Harry said quickly. "I just want to know that I own something that belonged to my parents."

"Sharing?"

"We could pass it back and forth when we need to sneak around. And then our pranks wouldn't overlap."

The twins shared another look.

"And I'll show you a room that my dad didn't find."

That got their attention.

"A room that isn't –"

"– on the map? Impossible!"

Harry grinned slyly. "Technically there are two. But I'll show you the more useful one."

"Show us both!" They said together.

"One. And I'll tell you how Professor Snape and Dumbledore always know when you've done something."

A quick shared look and two firm nods.

"Deal!" They said in stereo.

Fred handed Harry the map.

So Harry showed them the gloriously useful Room of Requirement. When they were in the Room, which currently looked an awful lot like a pub, and sipping butterbeers Harry said, "They're both legilimens. Don't look them in the eye, especially when you're lying. If you look them in the eye, they'll go through your memories and you won't even feel it."

"Legilimens? Even we know that's pretty rare" Fred said skeptically.

"I know. That's why no one ever suspects it. The next time you're caught but there's not a lot of proof, try lying to them without meeting their eyes. You'll have a better chance of getting away with it."

Harry glanced at his wristwatch then stood. "I've got to get to Care of Magical Creatures."

The twins nodded and raised their butterbeers to Harry.

"Cheers mate!"

"Don't get caught!"

That night Harry, Neville, Ron and Hermione snuck through the corridors with the aid of the Marauders' Map.

"This is a terrible idea!" Hermione hissed, even as she carefully painted a tap with the invisible ink. "I don't know how you talked me into this!"

"You invited yourself" Neville reminded Hermione then shrank back from her glare.

"I can't believe you got something like that off of Fred and George!" Ron said for the fourth time. "They never share. Did your dad really make it?"

"Yes."

"He was brilliant, wasn't he? Way better than even Fred and George!"

Harry grinned. "Yeah."

By morning their mission was accomplished. By mid-afternoon there were smears of multicolored ink everywhere. Inked footprints wandered through the corridors, inked fingerprints scattered across walls and desks and tables. Ink smears meandered along the bottom of portraits and along the banisters. Madam Pince had declared a 'literary emergency' and closed the library for the books' protection. Hermione was taking that poorly. Filch was also taking it poorly. No matter how much he scrubbed and mopped and snarled at the students, the ink never faded. In fact, there were more ink marks in places that he had cleaned than anywhere else!

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