Chapter 149 — Marauder's Map
However, this thing had to be the Marauder's Map—unless the twins had actually brought back a completely ordinary piece of parchment.
George and the others looked at Phineas in silence, as if they still believed it was just regular paper.
Phineas quickly drew his wand, pressed it to the parchment, and said,
"Show your secret."
To the astonishment of everyone watching, words began to appear across the parchment.
"Padfoot would like to remind George Weasley that this is just an ordinary piece of parchment."
"Moony says to Padfoot: this is no ordinary piece of parchment."
Seeing the familiar names appear on the parchment, Phineas was now certain—this was the Marauder's Map. But what surprised him even more was that it had no detectable magical trace.
No trace of magic, yet clearly a magical artifact—and one that still functioned perfectly. No matter how he looked at it, that was unusual.
Perhaps this map wasn't just any magical map—it might be far more advanced than the legends suggested.
Phineas had long suspected as much. After all, magical maps weren't unheard of in the wizarding world. But Hogwarts itself possessed unplottable properties—there was a reason no accurate map of the castle existed on the magical market.
The Marauder's Map was a complete map of Hogwarts, which alone made it worthy of deeper investigation.
And it went even further—it could display the names of people in real time. Neither Polyjuice Potion nor Animagus transformation could hide one's identity from it. That kind of power clearly involved magic on a soul level.
Sure, one might explain the map's name-revealing ability using "name magic." Voldemort had once cursed his name, such that anyone who spoke it would reveal their location.
But Hogwarts had hundreds of students passing through each year. There was no way the four Marauders could have cast a name spell on them all. Soul-based perception magic was a far more plausible explanation.
That thought triggered another idea in Phineas's mind:
If the Marauder's Map identified people by their soul—then what name would it show for him? The name from his past life… or the name of his current body?
He wasn't like the reincarnated characters from fantasy novels. So technically, either name might appear.
But from another angle—if it showed his name from a past life, then "time travel" was a valid term. If it showed his name in this life, then it raised other questions: Was Phineas a reincarnation of someone from Earth who retained his memories? Or had someone from Earth gained the memories of Phineas Black?
This struck at the heart of his very existence.
Still, Phineas was inclined to believe he had truly traveled through time. After all, he had no memory of a real Phineas Black existing before—but he certainly existed now. Perhaps this was the butterfly effect of time travel.
"I haven't found a way to use this thing yet," Phineas said at last, putting the map away. "I'll study it and let you know if I find anything."
George and the others didn't object. They still had no idea this "thing" was actually a map—one that revealed nearly every secret tunnel in Hogwarts.
But that was nothing new. Whenever they discovered a suspicious item or heard a strange rumor, they brought it to Phineas. He would investigate, analyze, and eventually they'd explore it together.
After packing up, the four went to dinner in the Great Hall. Then Phineas returned alone to his master's lounge in the Slytherin dormitory.
Last year, most of his research had been conducted in the Room of Requirement. But this year, with Sakaski's presence at Hogwarts, venturing to the seventh floor at night was riskier than before.
Fortunately, he had made improvements to his enchanted box over the holidays.
Now, it was the perfect place for his work.
Inside were all the facilities he needed—from cauldrons for potion-brewing to large furnaces for alchemical refinement.
The box also held countless books. It had always served as Phineas's private library, and research required ample written reference material.
To protect the texts, the library section and research lab were separated—after all, magical experimentation could be dangerous.
Suddenly, Phineas remembered something very important.
Pandora Lovegood, the senior witch who had mentored him over the holidays, was supposed to die during this period—killed by a magical experiment gone wrong.
Phineas had always liked her, and little Luna was such a sweet child. If Pandora really died, he would be devastated.
"Puff!" he called quickly.
A soft pop echoed as the house-elf appeared before him and bowed deeply.
"Master."
"Puff, go to the Lovegood residence and see if Pandora is still alive," Phineas instructed. "If she is, stay by her side. When she begins her experiment, protect her and Luna if anything goes wrong."
Puff nodded solemnly and vanished.
Feeling somewhat reassured, Phineas turned his attention back to the parchment—the Marauder's Map.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said.
Words and lines slowly appeared, mapping out the interior of Hogwarts in fine detail.
He scanned the map until he saw a name Phineas Black.
That was the name of his current life.
Not the name from his previous one.
This wasn't possession , it was reincarnation. Or perhaps his soul had traveled through time and gained new memories.
Either way, in that moment, Phineas accepted the truth.
He wasn't the ordinary boy from Earth who loved comics and novels.
He was now Phineas Black.
With that mystery resolved, he turned his focus to the more urgent one: how the Marauder's Map could reveal the names and locations of others—even powerful wizards like Dumbledore.
Such an effect was clearly not achieved through simple tracking or name magic.
It had to be soul magic.
As he pondered this, another line of text appeared across the map:
"Mr. Black, I'm very sorry—but only part of your guess is correct."