The New Marauder

Twenty Two

    Trying not to be suspicious is harder than one would think, especially when we were trying so hard to be the very last ones in the Hall. When the dishes returned to their usual golden state, we attempted to stay at the table long enough to keep watch for Filch leaving his office. However, Snape put an end to that, saying curfew would be soon. So, here we are, hiding in the darkest corner of the Entrance Hall, pretending to look over the notice board while waiting inconspicuously.
    To his credit, Uncle Theo tried to be nonchalant when shooting us a wink ten minutes ago, but I think Percy might have caught on when he did a double take at the slight bulge in Fred's pocket. Of course, I didn't mean that we were really going to dungbomb his office. Until before dinner, I didn't know what dungbombs were, but after smelling the stank that's coming off Fred when he moves, I know they will be my least favorite tool used in future prankings.
    Glancing at the flying lesson time sheet, we do our best to keep our eyes on the board when we hear Filch's door open, then quickly shut behind us. Only when the sound of his shuffling footsteps disappears up the staircase do we finally look at one another with matching smiles.
    "Right, so you know the charm, Ori?" Fred asks nervously.
    "Yeah, I got it," I nod, pulling out my wand. "Alohomora," I whisper, pointing at the lock, then beam when it pops open with a small click.
    "Yeah, you do. You've got to teach us that one," George smiles wickedly, pushing us both into the glorified broom closet. "Someone needs to wait outside just in case." He rushes out before closing the door behind us.
    "Thanks, we will be just a minute," Fred shouts in a whisper, pulling me to the cabinet.
    For a split second, our eyes meet. "We can't go back after this."
    "Better get it over with then," Fred grins. "Remember, we stick together."
    "Together," I nod, taking a deep breath. "Alohomora," I whisper one last time.
    The small click sounds like a gunshot in the small room. Maybe it was my nerves at never doing this before, but once Fred pulls open the drawer, nothing else matters. Big frisbees with teeth that snarl like dogs are lying on top of the pile of other things acting as guard dogs trying to bite my hand as I reach into the drawer after Fred who starts digging through yo-yos that are screaming at us to get a better look at the multi-colored broken quills, clear balls with gold rings around them, and different-colored vials.
    Just as I pick up a thick bunch of parchment that seems folded a million times, we hear a crash outside of the door followed by a loud familiar laughter making us jump. While I pocket the parchment, Fred stuffs his pockets full of vials and attempts to stick one of the frisbees in his robes as we scramble to our feet, shutting the drawer. Moving quietly to the door, we smile as we hear George on the other side leading Filch away, talking about seeing Peeves throwing a suit of armor out onto the front lawn.
    While I move to open the door, Fred uses the chance to pull all the godforsaken dungbombs out of his pocket and throw them all around the room after tapping their wicks with the tip of his wand. "Let's go; it's not about to be smelling like roses in here soon," he laughs, pulling open the door.
    "Still better than what it usually smells like," I laugh, following him out.
    Together we make our way up to the second-floor corridor where we agreed to meet up with Uncle Theo.
    "Where's George?" He asks, seeming out of breath.
    "Right here," George gasps, running up the stairs behind us. "Nice job with the distraction, Professor," he smiles while clutching his side.
    Noticing our confused faces, Uncle Theo lets out a laugh. "Filch left earlier than I thought he would. Had to throw a freaking suit of armor out the window to give you guys enough time to get out of there." He explains as he walks us up the stairs. "So what did you find? Anything interesting?" He asks after a while.
    Fred and I look at each other before looking back at him. "You're not gonna confiscate it, are you?" I ask, silently hoping he wouldn't undo all of our hard work.
    Uncle Theo pauses on the landing and turns to face us. "Did you guys take anything that could be dangerous to you or others?"
    "Not that I know of," I say, looking at the yo-yo in my hand.
    "Nope. Just stuff to make Filch's life a bit harder," Fred grins.
    "Then I trust you," Uncle Theo shrugs as we finally make it up to the Fat Lady Portrait. "Good night, have fun, and let me know when I can be of service again." He bows before pulling me into a hug.
    "Night, Uncle Theo, love you," I laugh, giving into his hug while Fred says the password to the Fat Lady.
    "Love you too, champ," he calls back over his shoulder, walking back down the corridor.
    Ignoring the side glances as we move through the Common Room, I quickly whisper the password to Godric, due to Percy's glare, and together we hurry through into the small hallway, snapping the painting shut behind us.
    "Merlin, I think Percy will end up exploding if he isn't allowed access in here soon," George moans as we empty our pockets onto the large table.
    "As long as Charlie is here, he won't even think of trying," Fred says, trying to tug loose the frisbee that's now chewing on his shirt.
    "Imagine when he becomes the prefect. We'll never get a moment of peace," George hums, looking at a vial of clearish liquid.
    "He would have to get past Gryffindor," I mumble, looking at the parchment that seems to vibrate happily in my hands. "Professor McGonagall said something about him only listening to those we approve of being in our dorm."
    "When did she tell you that?" Fred asks, ripping off what remained of his shirt.
    "Huh, oh. Earlier after our lesson. I was talking to her about how I was worried someone would overhear our password and try to get in. She told me that unless if we personally bring them in, they could say the password a million times, and Godric won't budge," I explain.
    "That's how Charlie got in, then. We brought him in when he helped us move," Fred huffs, probably thinking about when Charlie came in when he wouldn't wake up. It was really funny watching Charlie dump cold water on Fred, even funnier when Fred jumped up scared out of his mind, thinking he fell into the Black Lake.
    "I don't get it; what's so dangerous about this?" I ask, unfolding the parchment, spreading it out on the table. "All it is is a worn-out brochure."
    "Are you sure?" Fred asks, coming to stand beside me.
    "Yeah, Ori, I don't know. Do brochures usually have one, two..." George hums, lifting a square flap in the center of one of the folds, revealing many more layers underneath it. "Seven layers—"
    "HOLY SHIT!" I shout as it suddenly clicks in my mind. Excitedly, I turn the parchment in a way it looks like how I saw Hogwarts for the first time. "An empty map," I whisper. "Why is an empty map dangerous?" I ask myself, running my fingers along the fragile folds.
    "Maybe because of that?" Fred suggests in a panicked voice, pointing at the thin red lines erupting from underneath my palm, which sits on one of the few flat spots.
    When I lift my hand, the lines retreat back into each other until they completely disappear, as if nothing was there to begin with, confusing all of us even more. "What the fu—"
    "You guys still up?" Charlie calls out from the hallway.
    All of our eyes turn to the opening door before rushing to hide everything we took out of Filch's office. Before we went on our secret mission, we had agreed that no matter how cool Charlie seemed, we would keep everything about the break-in a secret. With him being a prefect and all, we didn't want to get him in trouble just in case we got caught. Uncle Theo said if he doesn't know anything, then he can plead plausible deniability, whatever that means. We just chose to trust Uncle Theo on this one.
    "Oh, good—what are you three doing?" He asks, looking over in our direction. While I'm trying to stuff the parchment back into my pocket while Fred and George are trying to shove everything else into the spare wardrobe.
    "Uh, nothing, just cleaning up, also wanted to take my notes with me," I answer, jumping in his line of sight, trying to get his attention off his brothers.
    "You won't need those, Orion," he laughs. "C'mon, Percy just went to sleep."