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ᴍᴇꜱꜱᴇʀꜱ ᴍᴏᴏɴʏ, ᴡᴏʀᴍᴛᴀɪʟ, ᴘᴀᴅꜰᴏᴏᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴏɴɢꜱ'
- ᴊ.ᴋ ʀᴏᴡʟɪɴɢ
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⋆★⋆
Madame Pomfrey insisted on keeping Harry in the hospital wing for the rest of the weekend. Much to Estella's surprise he didn't complain or try to argue with her, like he had done every other time he was in the hospital wing. However, he wouldn't let anyone throw away the remains of his broomstick, he knew he was being stupid but Estella knew he couldn't help it.
He had had a stream of visitors, Estella being the one who stayed the most. She was there for most of the day, only leaving to sleep and fetch them both some food from either the kitchens or the great hall.
Hagrid had sent him a bunch of earwiggy flowers that looked like a bunch of cabbages, and Ginny Weasley had shown up blushing, giving him a 'get well soon' card that she had made. The card screamed shrilly unless Harry kept it under the bowl of fruit placed on his bedside table, and when he had received the card, Estella couldn't help but burst out laughing, constantly teasing him over it.
Perhaps the most surprising gift of all, was a card that the two had found on Sunday morning, placed with a couple chocolate frogs. The card had messy hand-writing scribbled in it, and was left from Grace and snuffles – who that was neither of them knew.
The two were surprised to say the least, neither of them had spoken to Grace in weeks, so to see a card addressed from her was the least thing they both expected.
Harry had told Estella all about the grim that he saw, and when he did, the girl was overcome with worry and urged him to tell Dumbledore. But Harry insisted that he didn't want anyone else to know, he didn't even tell Ron and Hermione, scared of their reaction. The only reason that he told Estella was because the two never kept anything from each other, and he felt as though he was betraying them if he didn't.
⋆★⋆
Harry was relieved when he was released from the hospital wing on Monday morning and sent back to class. The rest of the week was pretty normal considering. Of course, Harry was met with numerous questions and an unnecessary amount of teasing from Draco Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins.
Now, however, Harry and Estella were sitting in Lupin's classroom after classes on Friday afternoon. He had told Estella that morning that he wanted to speak to her after the day was over, so after her Herbology lesson, she made her way to the defense against the dark arts classroom, and greeted both Harry and Professor Lupin.
"I heard about the match" he said, turning around and placing books from his desk into hos briefcase, "and I'm sorry about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?"
"No" said Harry gloomily.
Lupin sighed, "they planted that tree when I was in my first year. People tried to play a game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In the end, a boy named Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye and we were forbidden to go anywhere near it. No broomstick would stand a chance"
"Did you hear about the dementors?" Estella asked.
"Yes, I did. I don't think any of us have seen Professor Dumbledore that angry. They have been growing restless for some time ... furious at his refusal to let them inside the grounds ... I suppose they were the reason you fell?"
"Yes" Harry said, he looked as if he wanted to say something more, but hesitated until he finally got the courage to ask what him and Estella were both wondering, "why do they affect us like that? Why do they go after us? Are we just-"
"It is nothing to do with weakness" Lupin said sharply, as though he knew exactly what Harry was going to say, "they affect you both because there are horrors in your past that others don't have"
Estella looked at him in confusion, what horrors did she have? As far as she was aware, she had a decent upbringing, of course she had grown up in an orphanage but she wouldn't have considered it a horrible experience. She knew plenty of children who grew up like her that didn't get as affected by the dementors as she did.
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. Get too near a Dementor and ev- ery good feeling, every happy memory, will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself – soulless and evil. You'll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life. And the worst that has happened to you, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of"
"When they get near me" Harry said staring at Lupin's desk, "I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum, and Ella hears a woman screaming"
Lupin turned around to look at them, an expression of shock horror on his face. There was a moment of silence before Harry spoke again.
"Why did they come to the match?"
"They're getting hungry" Lupin said cooly, "Dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up ... I don't think they could resist the large crowd around the Quidditch pitch. All that excitement ... emotions running high ... it was their idea of a feast"
"Azkaban must be horrible" Estella shuddered, and for a moment she felt sorry for Grace and her dad for what he must've been through.
"The fortress is set on a tiny island, way out to sea, but they don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're all trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. Most of them go mad within weeks."
"But Sirius Black escaped" Estella said slowly, "he got away"
"Yes" Lupin said, sliding his briefcase off od his desk, "Black must've found a way to fight them. I wouldn't have believed it possible, dementors are meant to suck the life out of a man"
"The dementors on the train" Harry said, "you made it back off"
"There are certain defenses you can use against them" Lupin said, "but that dementor on the train, it was only one. The more of them there are, the harder it becomes to resist"
"What defenses?" Estella asked, "can you teach us?"
Lupin looked at both Harry and Estella's determined faces, considering carefully as to what he was about to say, "Okay" he said, "I'll help you. But it'll have to wait until next term I'm afraid, I have things I have to get done. I have chosen quite an inconvenient time to fall ill"
⋆★⋆
The following weekend, it was announced that there would be another Hogsmeade trip, right before Christmas. Everyone – expect Harry – was buzzing at the thought of being able to do their Christmas shopping at Hogsmeade.
When it was time for the other students to depart, Harry bid goodbye to Ron and Hermione before making his way back inside the castle to Estella. Harry had a plan to sneak out to Hogsmeade using his invisibility cloak, and when Estella had found out what he was planning, she had begged him to allow her to come with him.
They waited until the coast was clear, before they scrambled under the cloak that Estella was holding before attempting to sneak out after the carriages. They had only made it so far into the courtyard, before they were yanked back and dragged back into the castle into a secluded corridor.
"What the hell?" Estella hissed once she turned around to see the Weasley twins smirking at them both.
"Guys we're trying to get to-"
"Hogsmeade"
"We know"
Fred pulled something from inside his cloak with a flourish and laid it on one of the desks. It was a large, square, very worn piece of parchment with nothing written on it. Harry, suspecting one of Fred and George's jokes, stared at it.
"What's that supposed to be?" Estella asked.
"The secret to our success" George replied, a large smile on his face.
"It's a wrench, giving it to you," said Fred, "but we decided last night, your need's greater than ours."
"Anyway, we know it off by heart," said George. "We bequeath it to you. We don't really need it anymore."
"And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?" said Harry.
"A bit of old parchment!" said Fred, closing his eyes with a grimace as though Harry had mortally offended him. "Explain, George."
"Well ... when we were in our first year, Harry, Estella – young, carefree and innocent –" Estella snorted. She doubted whether Fred and George had ever been innocent. "– well, more innocent than we are now – we got into a spot of bother with Filch."
"We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason –"
"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual –"
"– detention –"
"– disembowelment –"
"– and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."
"Don't tell me –" said Estella, starting to grin.
"Well, what would you've done?" said Fred. "George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open and grabbed – this."
"It's not as bad as it sounds, you know," said George. "We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."
"And you know how to work it?"
"Oh yes," said Fred, smirking. "This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."
"You're winding us up," said Harry, looking at the ragged old bit of parchment.
"Oh, are we?" said George. He took out his wand, touched the parchment lightly and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that George's wand had touched. They joined each other, they criss-crossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed: Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP.
It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing was the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labelled with a name in minuscule writing. Astounded, Estella bent over it. A labelled dot in the top left corner showed that Professor Dumbledore was pacing his study; the caretaker's cat, Mrs Norris, was prowling the second floor, and Peeves the poltergeist was currently bouncing around the trophy room. And as Estella's eyes travelled up and down the familiar corridors, he noticed something else. This map showed a set of passages he had never entered. And many of them seemed to lead –
"Right into Hogsmeade," said Fred, tracing one of them with his finger. "There are seven in all. Now, Filch knows about these four –" he pointed them out, "– but we're sure we're the only ones who know about these. Don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last winter, but it's caved in – completely blocked. And we don't reckon anyone's ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow's planted right over the entrance. But this one here, this one leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times. And as you might've noticed, the entrance is right outside this room, through that one-eyed old crone's hump."
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs," sighed George, patting the heading of the map. "We owe them so much."
"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers," said Fred solemnly.
"Right," said George briskly, "don't forget to wipe it after you've used it –"
"– or anyone can read it," Fred said warningly. "Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' And it'll go blank."
"So, young Harry, Estella" said Fred, in an uncanny impersonation of Percy, "mind you behave yourself."
"See you in Honeydukes," said George, winking. They left the room, both smirking in a satisfied sort of way, Estella and Harry turning to grin at one another.