The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

IX. The First Exams

IX. The First Exams

"Tonight's mission: To find the kitchens, or die trying."

"'Perish in the attempt' sounds better."

"Sorry. Next time I'll have you be my speech writer, Potter."

"Are we going tonight or not?"

"Right, everyone under the cloak."

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter situated themselves under the invisibility cloak yet again. They had been trying to find the kitchens for several months with no success. They had, however, discovered many secrets of the castle they had never even dreamed existed. They had also bought themselves extra time between classes - they now knew so many shortcuts that they could make it from one end of the castle to the other in half the time it used to take them.

Even so, the kitchens had been their original goal, and they had not abandoned it. The Room of Requirement seemed an impossible dream at this point. If they couldn't find the kitchens, something everyone had heard of, how would they ever find a secret room?

"Ready?" James asked. "One, two, three, go."

"Left. Right. Left. Right." Sirius stopped after the first few steps. One thing months of wandering around the castle under the invisibility cloak had taught them was how to walk together. They now only need Sirius to set the pace, and then were able to walk along without problems. This was very helpful, for it meant that they could travel almost silently, decreasing their chances of getting caught even more.

They walked quickly down the halls they had already explored, then slowed down. They were crossing into unfamiliar territory.

"Where are we?" Peter asked.

"I'm not sure," James replied. "Does anyone recognize this place?"

"No," Remus said.

"Me, either," Sirius added. "But that's a good thing, right? I mean, if the kitchens were in a place we knew, we'd already have found them."

"Good point," James said. "Let's go this way." He started to lead them down the hall.

"No, I think this way," Sirius said, taking them back the way they had come.

"No, I agree with James," Peter said, and they began to pace back.

As they passed the same spot on the wall for the third time, Remus gasped.

"Look!" he exclaimed.

"What?" James stopped short, and Peter ran into him.

"That door! It wasn't there a minute ago!"

"How can that be?" James asked.

"I don't know, but it just appeared out of nowhere. Honest! Do you remember seeing it there before?"

"I don't," James said. "What do you think it is?"

"Only one way to find out," Sirius said. He inched forward, with the others close behind him under the cloak. "Here goes."

He reached out, and turned the knob. To their great delight, the door opened, revealing a room like nothing they had ever seen before. It had something of a library feel to it, with books, parchment, quills, and tables and chairs. Still, though, it was completely lacking in the oppressive air of the library that Sirius so hated. It actually was a rather comforting room, in an odd way. James pulled the cloak off them, and set it on a chair.

"What are you doing?" Sirius hissed. "We could be seen?"

"By whom?" James asked. "We're the only ones in here." He looked around carefully. "I wonder what these books are?"