"Mr. Chopper, why didn't you follow the book's instructions to grind the lionfish spines into powder before adding them to the cauldron?"
In Potions class, Snape glared at Kyle while speaking in a sarcastic tone.
"Perhaps you think you're some potions genius, daring to alter the textbook? For your arrogance, Hufflepuff loses five points."
Kyle looked up at the blackboard.
Written clearly on it was: Do not grind lionfish spines, boil in water for five minutes and cut into segments.
Such large writing, and written by Snape himself — how had this become him altering the textbook?
"Professor..." Kyle took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice steady, "That's exactly what you wrote on the board."
"Oh, I made a mistake." Snape calmly waved his wand, erasing that line from the blackboard, "Does everything I write have to be correct? Where is your judgment? If I told you to add your own heartstrings, would you do that too? For your lack of independent thinking, Hufflepuff loses another three points."
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Until class ended, Kyle's hand remained tightly gripped around the rock cake in his pocket as he debated whether to throw it at the back of Snape's head.
Though Snape had been taking points from him without reason since the beginning of term, today was particularly outrageous — he'd gone to any length to deduct points, even sacrificing his own dignity.
To erase his own written instructions? This brazen move opened Kyle's eyes.
The consequences were immediate — in just one class, he lost over thirty points. Since starting school, he hadn't lost this many points in all his other classes combined.
The other little badgers came to comfort him, and even Kanna thoughtfully offered him a piece of licorice.
Kyle glanced at it and chose to ignore it.
During mealtime, Fred and George, having heard about the Potions class incident, came over to pat his shoulder, "Don't worry, Snape's always taking points from us too, it's nothing."
"Yeah, pfft... I mean, you need to look on the bright side."
The two were speaking words of comfort, but their faces bore unmistakable grins.
They had clearly just come to enjoy the show.
Just as Kyle was about to chase them away, Fred leaned in close and whispered, "Alright, stop thinking about unpleasant things, let me show you something good."
He looked around carefully and pulled out a square piece of parchment from his pocket.
"Remember a few days ago when I said I had something to tell you? This is it." George leaned in and whispered, "It's a magical item — I bet you'll never guess what it is."
"Could it be..." Kyle raised an eyebrow and put on a puzzled expression, "Parchment that automatically does homework?"
"..."
The twins, who had been so smug just moments before, suddenly wore rather stiff expressions.
"If only..." Fred said with a look of longing, "I really wish it was."
"But what it actually does is pretty great too." George said, "It's a map of Hogwarts, but not the ordinary kind you can buy."
"We call it the Marauder's Map."
As Fred spoke, he took out his wand and gently tapped the parchment.
"I solemnly swear..."
In an instant, fine ink lines like a spider's web spread from where the wand tip touched, connecting and expanding to every corner of the parchment. Then green cursive letters appeared at the top.
"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP"
Kyle took the parchment from Fred's hand and carefully examined this remarkable map.
It depicted every detail of Hogwarts Castle in exquisite detail — far more than ordinary maps. It was practically a miniature of Hogwarts itself. Every painting, carpet, and even vase within the castle could be found on the map.
Most remarkable were the many small black dots moving across the map, each labeled with tiny text showing names. Kyle spotted Dumbledore in the headmaster's office, and saw Filch and Peeves moving swiftly from the fifth-floor corridor to the sixth floor.
Everything appeared crystal clear.
However, in crowded places like the Great Hall, the map became less effective. The mass of names overlapped into an indistinct black blur.
Kyle also noticed the map didn't show all the secret passages. The Whomping Willow's location appeared completely empty.
He handed the map back to Fred and asked, "How did you get it?"
"Back then we were first years, young, carefree, innocent..."
Fred and George reminisced with narrowed eyes.
"Because of some trivial matter, Filch dragged us into his office and threatened to..."
"Give us detention."
"Disembowel us."
"And we couldn't help but notice one of his filing cabinet drawers, labeled 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.'"
Fred suddenly chuckled and said, "Kyle, what would you have done?"
Kyle thought for a moment and said, "I would lure Peeves there and provide him with plenty of dungbombs or pepper imps, then empty that drawer during the chaos."
"..."
Fred and George gaped speechlessly for a long while before Fred finally shook his head and said, "Kyle, you deserved those thirty points from Snape, really, you can't complain."
"Don't bring that up again." Kyle shot him an annoyed look and said, "So this map is what you took from that drawer?"
"Yes." George said, smacking his lips, "We didn't have your level of ambition — we only took this."
"But how did you figure out how to use it?" Kyle examined the parchment, "There's nothing written here about that."
"About that... we have to mention Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs." Fred sighed, "Those four were absolute geniuses of mischief."
"They split up the password and hid it all around the castle." George said, "Once you find all the clues, you get the complete password."
"But after searching for a year..." Fred said regretfully, "We still haven't found the complete password."
"So we can only use the map five times a day, and only for half an hour each time." George said with a smile, "It's a grand undertaking — we plan to spend three years completing it."
"What if you still can't find it after three years?" Kyle asked.
"Then it means we're not worthy of having it." George shrugged, "We'll find a new owner for it then."
"I see." Kyle said, "So you showed it to me because you want me to join you in searching for clues?"
"No, no, no, Kyle." Fred shook his head, "The password is a test from our predecessors — we have to complete it ourselves."
"Then why did you..."
"Let's go exploring at night!" Fred and George said in unison.
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