The God of Ice and Fire at Hogwarts

Dinner time came once again.

Weekday dinners were naturally not as grand as the Welcome Feast, but even so, the food on the plates was more than enough to satisfy all the young wizards.

After dinner, Lynn went to the Trophy Room on the fourth floor as promised.

Surprisingly, Fred and George seemed to have been waiting there for quite some time. The two were sitting on the floor, with a large Dungbomb placed between them, apparently discussing something.

When they saw Lynn arrive, the two quickly stashed away the Dungbombs, patted the dust off their robes, and stood up.

"Finally, you're here, Lynn! Come over and take a look at our prized possession!" George said with a grin, closing the door to the Trophy Room softly.

Fred exaggeratedly pulled out a large square piece of parchment from his wizard's robes. The parchment looked heavily worn and had no visible markings.

Anyone seeing this parchment might think it was nothing more than an ordinary piece of scrap no one wanted.

But Lynn was different. Familiar with the original work, he naturally knew that this parchment was the legendary Marauder's Map.

"What is this? I can sense the magical fluctuations in it. It doesn't seem like ordinary parchment," Lynn asked in mock curiosity.

"Good eye! This is our secret to success!" George said, stroking the parchment fondly, as though caressing a cherished treasure.

Fred chimed in, "This is our secret weapon for sneaking around Hogwarts. It reveals hidden passages even Filch doesn't know about, and it helps us avoid getting caught when we're pulling pranks."

Lynn shrugged, gesturing for them to show him.

George pulled out his wand, tapped the parchment lightly, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Instantly, thin lines of ink spread across the parchment like a spiderweb, connecting, intertwining, and extending into every corner.

Words appeared on the parchment in large, vibrant green letters:

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs—Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers—are proud to present the Marauder's Map!

The map displayed every detail of Hogwarts Castle and its grounds. But the most unusual part was the many tiny black dots moving around on the map, each labeled with a name in small, neat letters.

On the Marauder's Map, Lynn could see Professor Snape pacing in the Potions Classroom, seemingly gathering ingredients; Professor Green was stationary in the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, likely working on an alchemy experiment; and Dumbledore had just stepped into the Headmaster's Office before disappearing, likely Apparating through the flames of Fawkes, the phoenix.

Beyond the castle, Lynn also noticed peculiar passageways on the map. What these passages had in common was that they all led to Hogsmeade.

"There are seven secret passages leading to Hogsmeade, but Filch only knows about these four," Fred explained, pointing to the passages on the Marauder's Map. "I'd avoid using the one behind the mirror on the fifth floor—it's unstable and will probably collapse within five years."

"And this one," George added, pointing to another, "leads to the base of the Whomping Willow. Almost no one uses it. The one we use most often is the one behind the one-eyed witch statue outside the classroom. It takes you straight to the basement of Honeydukes."

Fred took over, introducing the hidden paths at Hogwarts to Lynn.

Lynn nodded thoughtfully, deciding to share knowledge of the Whomping Willow passage leading to the Shrieking Shack with the twins at a later time. Since he had just acquired the Marauder's Map, he had no plausible reason to know about it yet.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," George said wistfully, running his fingers over the map's title. "The unsung heroes who worked tirelessly to aid a new generation of mischievous students."

"Noble souls indeed," Fred declared solemnly.

"Yes," George agreed vigorously, "and don't forget to clear it afterward..."

"—or anyone could see it," Fred warned.

"Simply tap the map again and say, 'Mischief managed!' and it'll return to being a blank piece of parchment," George demonstrated, touching the Marauder's Map again and erasing the writing with a single phrase.

Fred smiled at Lynn and said, "If you ever need the Marauder's Map, just let us know. Of course, you're also welcome to join us on one of our escapades. Speaking of which, we're planning to sneak into Zuko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade this Saturday through the secret passage. Want to come along?"

At Hogwarts, third-year students and older could visit Hogsmeade on weekends with a guardian's signed permission. However, since Fred and George were only in their second year, they couldn't go through official channels, making the secret passages recorded on the Marauder's Map their only route to Hogsmeade.

Lynn shook his head. "I have a meeting with Professor Green this Saturday at noon. He's agreed to give me some guidance on alchemy. If you'd like, I can share whatever alchemical knowledge I learn with you."

The twins looked stunned for a moment. They hadn't expected Lynn to have already arranged a lesson with Professor Green.

"Brilliant! The famous French alchemist personally guiding you—just what we'd expect from Lynn!" Fred clapped.

"That's amazing! We're thoroughly impressed!" George added.

Fred grinned and said, "In that case, let's plan for Hogsmeade on Sunday instead. And don't forget to bring us some alchemy secrets, Lynn!"

Lynn chuckled and nodded. "Sure thing. Loyal friends always look out for each other."

Although the twins seemed puzzled by his words, they laughed heartily.

"Oh, by the way, I might need to borrow your alchemy book for a while. Be sure to let the Ravenclaw upperclassman know," Lynn added, mindful of the fact that the twins had only borrowed the book on his behalf.

The twins exchanged a glance before George replied, "Don't worry about that. Right after dinner yesterday, the Ravenclaw senior came to us and said we could keep the book. So feel free to use it as long as you need!"

It seemed the Ravenclaw sixth-year student had little use for third-year Ancient Runes textbooks anymore. Without siblings to pass them down to, they had decided to gift the books to the Weasley twins instead of letting them go to waste.