The Marauder's Map—a map that had been of great help to Eda and the twins. With it, they had discovered secret passages within the school, and with it, they could wander the castle freely late at night.
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs—the four "good teachers and helpful friends." Eda and the twins had learned a great deal from them. The map they were now making themselves was derived from the Marauder's Map created by those four.
Fred and George had always admired these four predecessors, and today they were finally seeing them in the flesh. The brothers stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, unable to say a word for a long time—they felt that anything they said would be out of place.
Seeing the stunned expressions of Eda and the twins, Sirius laughed—laughed happily. When facing Eda, he had always been at a disadvantage; today, he had finally gotten his moment of satisfaction.
Fortunately, Lupin only took a small "revenge" on Eda, letting his old friend vent a bit. He didn't press further about whether Eda and the twins recognized the Marauder's Map, nor did he have any intention of charging copyright fees.
Dumbledore took the Marauder's Map from Sirius. The dense cluster of names of students and professors on it was practically like installing surveillance over the entire school. In that case, as long as Peter hadn't left the school, finding him would only be a matter of time.
"Professor Lupin, the map is indeed an incredible invention," Fred said, "but we've never seen Peter's name on it."
"That's right. We got this map back in our first year," George added. "When Scabbers belonged to Percy, there was nothing unusual. And when Scabbers belonged to Ron, we still didn't notice anything strange."
The twins had possessed the Marauder's Map for a long time, yet they had never discovered that a man named Peter Pettigrew had been sleeping beside their brother.
Thinking about how Percy had shared a bed with Peter for years, and Ron had done the same, the twins felt a chill run down their spines, goosebumps rising all over.
Hearing this, Dumbledore also turned to look at Lupin and Sirius. If what the twins said was true, then the map would be of no use in finding Peter.
"This map can do many things," Lupin explained. "It can also detect Invisibility Cloaks, Polyjuice Potion, and of course Animagi."
Black looked at Eda with a smug expression and said, "In fact, the reason you didn't discover anything is, of course, because we made this map."
"So you're saying only the four of you have the highest level of access to the map?" Eda asked. This had always been her suspicion—she had long felt that the map operated on some kind of permission system.
"Yes, but not entirely," Lupin picked up the explanation again. "The permissions only apply to the four of us. If we need to, the map can conceal our identities—that's why you couldn't see Peter on it."
What Lupin meant was clear: Peter's Animagus identity hadn't been revealed on the map because he was one of its creators. But when facing other creators of the map, it would not conceal him.
This wasn't exactly about permissions—it was simply how the Marauders had designed it from the very beginning.
The Marauder's Map wasn't just magical—it was practically high-tech! Eda really wanted to ask Professor Lupin whether this feature identified creators through differences in magical signatures, or by fingerprints, or even iris recognition.
Lupin and Sirius spoke in perfect harmony; even after more than a decade apart, their tacit understanding hadn't faded.
Companions who had grown up together from their youth, who had weathered so many storms, and after all the twists and turns had returned to each other's side. Time might make them grow and grow old, but it would never dilute the bond between them.
Still astonished by the Marauder's Map and by Black, Dumbledore finally remembered his role as headmaster. He took back control and began assigning tasks.
Sirius Black's top priority, of course, was to recover. Infection, inflammation, so much blood loss, and even a high fever that had led to unconsciousness—this was not something that could be healed in just a week.
In his current condition, Eda could let him run thirty-nine meters first.
Remus Lupin, as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, naturally couldn't skip classes. But in his remaining time, he had to take on the responsibility of searching the castle, preventing Peter from hiding in some hard-to-find corner.
After all, as an Animagus who turned into a rat, slipping into sewers and pipes would be perfectly normal.
Dumbledore also had his own tasks. Besides finding Peter, he needed to gather more evidence. After capturing Peter, how to restore Sirius's innocence was just as important. Simply catching Peter would not be enough.
As for Eda and the twins—well, students should go study properly and stop worrying about things that didn't concern them.
The wizarding exams were just around the corner, and they still had the leisure to worry about Peter Pettigrew? Did they think Dumbledore wouldn't write a letter? Or that Mrs. Weasley could no longer lift a knife?
I knew it! I knew it would turn out like this!
A little horned devil jumped around inside Eda's mind, loudly cursing Dumbledore and Sirius for casting them aside after using them.
Another little angel with a halo tried to persuade Eda, saying that Dumbledore was doing this for her own good, to keep her out of danger, and so on…
Moreover, the Twilight Cottage had been requisitioned by Dumbledore to let Sirius recover and hide there. Even the house-elf Winnie had been assigned to take care of him.
This time, Eda had truly lost both elf and house, only to be "ruthlessly" kicked aside by Dumbledore in the end, gaining nothing at all.
And Dumbledore had also sternly warned Eda—not to stir up trouble with the twins, and absolutely not to tell anyone about this, especially Harry.
The reason for forbidding Eda and the twins from stirring things up was to avoid alerting the enemy—so that Peter, already on edge, wouldn't panic and flee Hogwarts outright. And the reason for forbidding them from telling others was to prevent Gryffindor from launching a massive search of the castle like they had done years ago when the Weasley family's pet had gone missing.
The reason for not telling Harry was even simpler. As an outstanding Gryffindor, everyone knew just how reckless Harry could be. It was better to keep this from him for now.
Everything was to prevent any information from leaking, to stop Peter from escaping, and to keep Sirius from being discovered by the Ministry of Magic. It would all be treated as if nothing had happened—as if the injured Sirius were still hiding in a cave in the Forbidden Forest.
Dumbledore had actually wanted to comfort Eda. After all, he knew his actions were rather unfair. But when he saw Eda's expression—one of "I knew it" and "I'm used to this"—he swallowed his words of comfort.
Compared to empty consolation, practical action was more effective.
As it happened, there was a matter recently being discussed at the Ministry of Magic that Dumbledore had been hesitant about. Now, he suddenly felt that proposal would make a suitable form of compensation for Eda.
It could win honor, elevate Eda's status, temper her disposition a bit, and also show everyone that Hogwarts was the best magical school in Europe—an absolute win!
Thinking this, Dumbledore felt a little pleased, to the point that his next words carried almost no severity.
With a serious tone, Dumbledore said to Sirius, "Although I believe what you've said, I must still play the villain. In the days to come, you are not to go anywhere, nor are you to leave my sight until we capture Peter."
Everyone in the bedroom understood what Dumbledore meant. Until Peter was caught, Sirius was still the prime suspect in the betrayal of the Potters and remained under suspicion.
What if the fugitive ran off into the Forbidden Forest again? Restricting Sirius's freedom was inevitable, and he himself did not feel particularly wronged by it.
After obtaining assurances from both Sirius and Lupin, Dumbledore left the Twilight Cottage, taking Eda and the twins with him. In an instant, the lively little house was left with only Lupin and Sirius.
In the bedroom, Sirius looked at Lupin's graying light-brown hair with a hint of emotion. In a joking tone, he said, "Remus, it's only been a few years—how did you end up looking this old?"
"Mm, and you're any better? You're so thin you look like a skeleton," Lupin shot back with a smile. "What happened to that handsome, dashing Sirius who used to captivate countless girls?"
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