Chapter 876 The Marauder’s Map and the Heir

Hogwarts, death anniversary party.

"Living people! So many!"

Sir Patrick, the captain of the Headless Horseman, caught sight of Elena standing next to Nick.

Then he looked around the hall, jumped up in the air in mock surprise, only to have his head fall off again, sparking a burst of laughter in the hall, and now everyone's eyes turned to him.

On the other side, the two professors who had just arrived at the entrance of the hall also exchanged glances.

Siren choir, ghost party, headless horseman performance...

These are much more exciting than the Skeleton Dance Troupe. No wonder the Gryffindor students choose this place.

And among the roars of laughter, the only one with a less than pretty face was the host of the death anniversary banquet.

"Very interesting." Nearly Headless Nick said with a straight face.

"Oh, guys, leave Nick alone!"

shouted Sir Patrick's head from the floor, looking particularly comical.

"He's still upset that we didn't let him join the Hunters! But I want to say, look at this guy -"

"I think, sir, I think..."

Elena glanced at Nick, who was almost headless, and said in a somewhat abrupt and panicked voice,

"Sir Nicholas is very—scary, he's the most powerful ghost I've ever seen, and—"

"Haha! Boy!" laughed Sir Patrick's head. "I guess he taught you how to say it! The scariest and most impressive ghost? Ha--Nick, you have to think of a way to get your head off first." Just come down."

Along with the questions and answers from Sir Patrick and Elena, there was another burst of good-natured laughter in the auditorium.

Nick looked around nervously, with veins popping out on his forehead, arguing vaguely.

"A total of forty-four blows... Guillotine!... Just a little bit of skin is still attached, does it count as not losing the head?" followed by inaudible mutterings about "stupid and lazy executioner" and " There’s no point in picking out the words.” The people attending the banquet couldn’t help laughing again, and the hall was filled with a happy atmosphere.

“Ahem—please pay attention, I’m going to talk now!”

The almost headless Nick stopped defending angrily, and while speaking loudly, he strode towards the podium. He came under a cold blue spotlight, which was a top-notch lighting effect specially rendered for him by Elena.

"My late Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great sadness that I..."

Unfortunately, no one could hear what he said next.

Sir Patrick and the other members of the Headless Hunters played a game of overhead hockey, and everyone turned to watch.

The almost headless Nick tried in vain to regain the audience, but Sir Patrick's head flew past him amidst the cheers, and he had no choice but to give up and continue to read the speech on the podium in a depressed manner.

At this time, Sirius and Lupine had already arrived among the students and began to enjoy...supervise the dinner process.

However, within a quarter of an hour, they realized the limitations of their status as professors.

"Sirius, don't just watch the joke. You should think of a solution."

Lupine muttered dissatisfiedly, slapping his body around in a somewhat embarrassed manner. The banquet area of ​​the death anniversary party has now become Peeves's private territory. As soon as they approach, Peeves will take out a bowl of mold-covered peanuts and throw them at them.

This is a special treatment that only he and Sirius can enjoy.

"Oh, you could actually consider going back to the auditorium to get something to eat, if you're hungry—"

Sirius crossed his arms and quipped with schadenfreude.

Over the past few days, he has discovered an extremely helpless pattern. When he and Lupine meet Peeves, the little guy will give priority to chasing the "castle manager" to vent his anger, and Lupine will not hesitate every time. sell him.

"It's not a question of whether you're hungry or not. You know that, Sirius."

Lupine rolled his eyes at Sirius angrily, and raised his thumbs towards the dining area behind him.

"Those are ghost dishes that even ghosts can taste. It's okay if I didn't know about them before, but now so many people are discussing and praising them, but we can't even eat a bite - I can't help it on this Halloween night. Go to sleep."

"But you are a professor now, Professor Lupin, and you have to learn to think differently."

"Unfortunately, it has no effect on that little guy-"

Lupine finally cleaned up the food crumbs on his body and looked at Sirius warily.

"Don't try to fool me this time. I've tried several times under your instigation."

"No, I mean...oh, thank you, Weasley."

Sirius shrugged, suddenly turned his head, took the two plates filled with dishes from Percy's hands with a smile, and asked casually.

"By the way, I forgot again, how many people in your family are studying at Hogwarts now?"

"Seven, Professor. Counting Charlie and the others." Percy replied quickly with some excitement.

"Correct answer, five points for Gryffindor House - kid, this is just this once tonight, don't tell anyone else - otherwise Professor Snape will come to trouble me. In addition, I may have to trouble you to run more trip……"

"It will be my pleasure to oblige you, Professor Black."

The faint blue candlelight fell on the prefect badge on Percy's chest, looking particularly mysterious.

Amid Lupin's disbelieving expression, Percy pushed up his glasses and ran quickly towards the dining area.

"This, this... is not, I said, Black, you..."

Lupine glanced at the sumptuous "strange food" on the table, and opened his mouth several times with a strange expression but was unable to speak.

"You might as well just clearly mark the price and how many points you get in exchange for how much time you need to serve the food—"

"That won't work. The reason for the extra points will be recorded on the bulletin board outside the Great Hall of Hogwarts."

Sirius Black picked between the dishes with a knife and fork, forked a piece of fried golden sausage and stuffed it into his mouth, explaining vaguely to Lupine.

"You have to ask questions, and then it becomes [correct answer to the question]."

"Wait a minute, you are the Castle Keeper of Hogwarts!"

Lupine held his forehead in silence, and asked why Gryffindor's points had increased so quickly recently.

As the Castle Keeper and official professor of Hogwarts, Sirius Black has the right to add and deduct points anywhere, not just in the classroom. Judging from Percy Weasley's reaction just now, this kind of deal is no longer the case. First time.

"That's right, so I didn't break the school rules."

Sirius grinned, looked at Lupin triumphantly, and said mischievously.

"Are you really not considering doing it a little bit? Remus, or are you planning on continuing to fight Peeves?"

"...Do you think I'm stupid?" Lupine said angrily, sitting down and picking up the knife and fork.

"By the way, Sirius. Speaking of which, a secret happened to me some time ago..."

Professor Lupine shook his head, and while watching the overhead hockey performance of the Headless Knights not far away, he whispered mysteriously, "Those two twins from the Weasley family, they have never been beaten by Phil before on their night tours." Oddly caught it.”

"So what? Isn't this normal? After all, that gentleman is...well."

Sirius snorted disapprovingly, his eyes also staying on the Headless Knights not far away.

As the most powerful foursome in Hogwarts, he didn't think it was strange. When he, James, and Lupin were in school, the castle had almost no secrets in front of them.

"Well, it doesn't seem to be a problem at first glance, but-"

Lupine blinked slyly and glanced at the two boys who were joking with a ghost in the corner.

"One time when I met them at the corner, I saw the two children staring at an old blank parchment in a daze, and a few seconds ago, I vaguely heard the sentence 'The prank is over' - you know, I’ve always had a keen ear.”

"Oh. Blank parchment, Moony."

Sirius paused with the fork in his hand, his eyes a little dazed, as if he remembered something happy.

Of course he knew what Lupine was talking about, the masterpiece of their youth - the Marauder's Map.

It was a magical prop jointly invented by Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and the other four, specifically used to achieve pranks and night walks.

Because they often transformed into animals and explored around after bedtime, they knew a lot about the underground passages of Hogwarts. They made the Marauder's Map of the secret passages they discovered.

At first glance, the map appears to be just a blank piece of parchment.

But when the user says "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" (I solemnly swear that I am up to no good), the ink line will begin to extend, revealing a map of Hogwarts, including what they know Secret passage.

Most importantly, the Marauder's Map will also display the location of everyone in Hogwarts in real time, as well as some methods and special spells to open secret passages.

When you are finished using it, just say "Mischief managed" to restore the map to a blank state to prevent others who know the map password from using it.

Their names are written on the map, but they use nicknames that are only known to each other:

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.

But more than ten years later, Wormtail betrayed them and became a prisoner, while Prongs died.

Once the "confused four" at Hogwarts, now only Lupine and Sirius are left to comfort each other.

"It looks like they passed the entry test we left behind."

Sirius glanced thoughtfully at the Weasley twins who were still playing around and said softly.

"I see. I'm just wondering why those two little guys are so proud, arrogant, and lawless. So they found an interesting toy... Maybe I can play with them in school later."

"Be careful, you are now the castle administrator and professor of transfiguration."

Lupine smiled and shook his head and said with some expectation.

"Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall definitely don't know that you have misled another prefect - tell me in advance that I don't know anything or participate in it. Just tell me the final result. I have nothing to do here." There’s a troublesome little guy to watch.”

As he spoke, he smiled bitterly and pursed his lips towards the podium next to him, with an anxious look on his face.

The more he learns about the excellence of this little witch, the more headache Lupine has now.

With just this dish that allows ghosts to perceive the taste, she can become a living "Princess Mononoke" in the magical world. When the news spread tonight, Lupine had no doubt about this - this was more complicated than he imagined. It's more difficult.

Perhaps the child was not aware of this yet, but Lupine could already foresee the fanaticism that the ghosts might show.

Lupine looked around at the hundreds of ghosts worriedly, the difficulty had increased again.

It seems that in the subsequent guidance and care, he will have to add a piece of teaching content on how to make wishes cautiously and restrainedly.

Even adults will get lost when surrounded by people, let alone a proud and sensitive mixed-race child like Elena Kaslana who has just turned twelve years old and has not yet been exposed to complex society. Veela.

Professor Dumbledore, you have given me a super difficult problem.

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Great!