Reposted: July 15, 2021

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Last edited: March 24, 2021

On Saturday, Harry snuck back down to the Chamber with his Invisibility Cloak on. "I'm here," he said.

Tom materialized out from the diary. "I do so hate being cooped up in that damn book."

"You've been in it for fifty years, Tom. You can wait a little longer."

Tom rolled his eyes as Harry stepped up and hissed, 'Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!'

He turned back to Tom as the mouth opened. "Egotistical much?"

Athanasia greeted Harry warmly by licking him with her tongue. 'You have come back, little one.'

'Yes, I have,' Harry replied as he staggered backwards. 'I am here to look at Slytherin's library.'

'Oh, yes. Tomling spent much of his time in there.'

Harry snickered, still not over that nickname.

Tom shoved him forward. 'Get moving.'

'I'm going, I'm going. Tommy.' He laughed as Tom groaned loudly behind him.

His jaw dropped in awe as he took in the massive space. "Merlin's pants, this is amazing!" he exclaimed.

Along the walls were bookshelves, many, many bookshelves. It was clear that the room was one of those that were bigger on the inside, for Harry doubted that all this would have fit without magic. The furniture was dark green and brown and looked as if they were brand-new. On the far side was a dark gray door.

"That's the potion's lab," Tom said, following his gaze.

Harry whipped his head around, eyes gleaming. "There's a potion's lab?"

"There is."

Tom had a smug smirk on his face that softened slightly to a half-smile as he watched Harry walk alongside the shelves. It was times like this that he forgot Harry was still fairly new to the magical world.

'What do you think, Azure?' Harry asked the snake that was slithering past the bookshelves.

'It's lovely, hatchling. I could live down here.'

Harry, still looking around the massive space, couldn't disagree.

He browsed the books eagerly for a while before picking out one written in Parseltongue.

"That's the first one I read," Tom recalled. "You'll find a lot of good information in there."

"Well, no time like the present!" Harry said, sitting down on one of the couches and opening the book. He took a seat next to Tom on the couch, unconsciously leaning over while Tom's long fingers ran through his hair.

Harry spent a good couple hours reading before Azure hissed he should eat. With great reluctance, Harry closed the book and raised his head. He started as his eyes met Tom's. He hadn't realized that he had relaxed completely into the taller boy's side. "Um..."

Tom just smirked as he returned Harry's gaze boldly. "Something wrong?"

Harry stood up quickly, but he could not hide his reddening face. "You're a creep, Riddle."

"Am I not allowed to admire my soulmate?" Tom asked rhetorically.

Harry put the book back up. "The first thing I'm doing when I get back to the dorm is put a Parselward on my things."

Tom nodded approvingly. He stood up as well, glaring at the diary in Harry's hands. "If I must," he muttered before fading away.

"No need for the theatrics, Tom," Harry said, snickering when the diary heated up indignantly.

Upon leaving, Azure suddenly became alert.

'What is it?' Harry asked. He hoped it wasn't Dumbledore; the last thing he needed was to be pulled up to his office.

'Tricky twins,' the snake replied.

Harry relaxed ever so slightly. He could handle the twins. 'Where are they?'

'Behind the door.'

Harry turned and silently cast Alohomora. The door opened, and two identical boys fell forward with a yelp.

"Having fun?" Harry said, sauntering over and leaning against the wall.

"Very much so," George said from where he was lying facedown on the floor. His brother had fallen over on top, so they were literally stacked on one another.

"How did you even find me?"

"Excellent question!" Fred said, jumping to his feet and stepping over George to stand in front of Harry. "The answer, my friend, is in this little trinket."

He pulled out a large square piece of parchment and handed it over.

"What does it do?" Harry asked, knowing that it wasn't what it seemed, especially when it came to the twins. "And where did you get it?"

"Well... when we were in our first year, Harry— young, carefree, and innocent— we got into a spot of bother with Filch."

"We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason—"

"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual—"

"— detention—"

"— disembowelment—"

"— and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."

"So you stole it," Harry concluded.

"Stole?" Fred clutched at his chest while George let out an exaggerated gasp. "We would never steal! We were just giving ol' Filch a hand. Trust me, if you saw the mess in that cabinet..."

Harry snorted. "Yes, I bet Filch is forever grateful. So how does this work?"

George removed his wand and tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Words began to appear in great, curly green letters that read:

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP

As the name suggested, it showed a map of Hogwarts. But what really caught Harry's attention were the tiny dots moving around, each with a name connected to it. Professors Snape and McGonagall were in their offices, Mrs. Norris was prowling the second floor, and even Peeves the Poltergeist was labeled in the Trophy Room.

He realized, too, that there were passages, many of which seemed to lead—

"Right into Hogsmeade," said Fred, tracing one of them with his finger. "There are seven in all. Now, Filch knows about these four"— he pointed them out— "but we're sure we're the only ones who know about these. Don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last winter, but it's caved in— completely blocked. And we don't reckon anyone's ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow's planted right over the entrance. But this one here, this one leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times. And as you might've noticed, the entrance is right outside this room, through that one-eyed old crone's hump."

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," George said in awe. "We owe them so much."

"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers," said Fred solemnly.

"Right," said George briskly. "Don't forget to wipe it after you've used it—"

"— or anyone can read it," Fred said warningly.

"Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' and it'll go blank."

'Look, it's me!' Azure pointed with her tail. Sure enough, overlapping Harry's name, was Azure's.

"This is pretty cool," Harry said.

"And we have thought long and hard on this decision—" George began.

"— just now, actually—"

"— and we are giving it to you as a very late birthday present—"

"— or a very early Christmas one," Fred added.

"Thanks." Harry honestly didn't know what to say. This map may help him in finding Pettigrew faster. Ron had lost the rat, claiming that Crookshanks had eaten him. Harry hoped that Pettigrew had managed to escape getting caught and was now roaming the halls.

"See you around, Harry." The twins patted him on the back before running away.

Harry looked down at the map. "I don't see Pettigrew," he said, confused.

'Me, neither. Could it be because he's an Animagus?' Azure suggested.

'Perhaps. But where's Lupin?' Harry would have thought he'd see Lupin's dot in his office, but the only one there was Dumbledore.

Harry muttered, "Mischief managed," and headed back to his dorm to ponder over this.

Bigger on the inside; Tardis much?

About Harry not seeing Pettigrew's or Remus' names, I used a theory made by hp-headcanons-and-more on Tumblr:

Basically, only the Marauders (so Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter) could see each other's names so that only they could find each other. This is ruined in the movie, as Harry saw Pettigrew's name, but it makes sense in the book