The Marauder's Map (PA)
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The Marauder's Map is the tenth chapter of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Contents |
The hospital wing
Madam Pomfrey insists on confining Harry to the hospital wing for the entire weekend. He doesn't complain, but doesn't let her throw away the remains of his Nimbus Two Thousand; he feels as though he's lost one of his best friends.
Several visitors have come, including Hagrid (who brings him flowers that resemble yellow cabbages), a blushing Ginny (with a get-well card she made herself; it sings shrilly unless Harry puts it under a bowl), the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team (this time with Oliver Wood, who told Harry half-heartedly that he wasn't to blame).
Ron and Hermione haven't left his bedside during daytime, but none of their attempts to cheer Harry work, because the boy has yet to confide in them completely. He has told no one about the Grim (Ron would panic and Hermione would scoff), which has appeared to him twice now, and both times before near-fatal accidents (PA2 and PA9).
There are also, of course, Dementors. The very thought of them makes Harry feel sick and humiliated; he doesn't know why his reaction to the creatures is so disproportionate in comparison with other students'. Lily's screams won't leave his mind; his dreams are full of Dementors and pleadings, and he wakes up to dwell once more on his mother's voice.
Monday
Harry is relieved to return to regular school activities on Monday, despite Draco Malfoy's constant taunting. Draco, who is delighted by the defeat of the Gryffindors, has taken off the bandages (PA6) and has taken to use his two good arms to make imitations of Harry falling off his broomstick.
During Potions, Ron loses Gryffindor fifty points for flinging a large crocodile heart at Malfoy; the latter had been doing Dementor imitations all class long.
Before entering the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Hermione peers over the door to check whether Remus is the teacher. He is, sickly and weak though he seems, and the Trio enters.
As soon as the class starts, all students start complaining about Snape's behaviour. Lupin reassures them; no one will have to do the essay. Hermione is disappointed; she has already finished hers.
It is an enjoyable lesson. Remus has brought a hinkypunk, a seemingly harmless one-legged creature that looked as though it was made of smoke, to class. Hinkypunks lure travellers into bogs with the lantern they carry; people unknowingly follow the light.
Patronus
When the bell rings, Remus asks Harry to stay behind. He says he's sorry for the broomstick, and tells Harry that the Whomping Willow was planted in the year Lupin attended school; students used to play a game in which they'd try to approach it enough to touch the trunk. A boy named Davey Gudgeon ended up nearly losing an eye.
Lupin adds that he has never seen Dumbledore as angry as he was upon hearing that Dementors had attacked a student. When Harry asks why the creatures affect him more than they do others, Remus tells him that there are far too many horrors in the boy's past that others don't share.
"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 (OP1), though they can't see them. Get too near a Dementor and every 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... soul-less and evil. You'll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life. And the worst that happened to you, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of." Harry tells him what he hears when Dementors approach ("I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum.") and Remus, shocked, makes a sudden motion to grab the boy's shoulder. He thinks better, however, and does nothing. He explains to Harry, who is curious as to the reason the Dementors came to the match, that the creatures are hungry, and the absurd amount of emotions in a Quidditch field is far too attractive to resist.
The boy concludes that Azkaban is a terrible place, and Remus confirms it. "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 cheery thought. Most of them go mad within weeks."
Harry points out that Sirius Black escaped. Remus' briefcase slips out of the desk, and he moves to catch it. He guesses that Sirius found a way to fight them; it's something Remus didn't think was possible, because "Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long."
Harry remembers that Remus was able to get rid of the Dementor aboard the Hogwarts Express (PA5). Lupin concedes that there are some defences one can use, and agrees to try to help Harry learn to fight them.
Hogsmeade weekend
Harry's mood improves significantly with the promise of anti-Dementor lessons and with the knowledge that Ravenclaw has flattened Hufflepuff in the match at the end of November. Oliver Wood starts getting the team to train obsessively once more.
Two weeks before the end of term, it starts to snow. Flitwick decorates his classroom for Christmas with shimmering fairies, and the students start planning their holidays. Ron and Hermione decide to stay at Hogwarts under feeble pretences, and Harry realises that they chose to do so to keep him company; he's thankful for the support.
There is another Hogsmeade weekend planned for the last week before the end of term. Hermione is excited by the idea of giving her parents Toothflossing Stringmints from Honeydukes for Christmas and Harry, knowing he will be the only third-year left behind, borrows a copy of Which Broomstick from Oliver, in order to better choose a new broomstick for himself. He's been riding an ancient Shooting Star that belongs to the school during practice, but it is slow and jerky.
Saturday
On Saturday morning, Harry bids goodbye to his two best friends and returns to Gryffindor Tower. When he is on his way, he is surprised to see Fred and George Weasley not at Hogsmeade, but right there on the third floor, beckoning him to join them behind the statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch.
The twins call Harry to an empty classroom to the left of the statue, and give him an early Christmas present: a large, square and worn piece of parchment with nothing written on it. The two Weasleys say it is the secret of their success, and that it's a difficult thing, giving it away; but they have decided that Harry needs it more than they do.
George narrates that, when the twins were "young, carefree and innocent" first-years, they let off a Dungbomb in a corridor and got themselves in trouble with Argus Filch. When the caretaker took them to his office to lecture, they noticed a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous'. George then dropped another Dungbomb while Fred grabbed the parchment.
The twins believe Filch never found out how to make it work, but they did—and it's taught them more than all the teachers in the school.
George takes out his wand. "I solemny swear," he says, "that I am up to no good."
The Marauder's Map
Suddenly, thin ink lines spread across the parchment, starting from the point where George's wand touched it. They continue to spread, joining and intertwining; then words in curly handwriting appeared at the top, proclaiming:
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP
It is a map showing every detail of the castle and grounds. Small ink dots move around it, each labelled with a name. Harry sees that Dumbledore is pacing in his office, Mrs. Norris is prowling the second floor, and Peeves is in the trophy room.
The map shows also, of course, several secret passageways, seven of which lead to Hogsmeade. Filch knows about four of them, according to Fred. The one behind the mirror on the fourth floor has caved in, and is blocked; there is one other inaccessible passageway: the twins don't "reckon anyone's used this one, because the Whomping Willow is planted right over the entrance" (PA18).
The last passageway, however, the twins have employed several times; the entrance is through the hump of the one-eyed witch statue, right outside the room, and it leads to the cellar of Honeydukes.
Lastly, the twins teach Harry how to wipe the Map clean ("Mischief managed!") so no one can read it. They say goodbye, hoping to meet him soon in Honeydukes.
This chapter summary is not done yet. Please be patient.
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