Narrator's POV

At the first DADA lesson, Remus spoke to the class, "Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces: wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks —I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?"

Hermione put up her hand, "It's a shape-shifter. It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Remus said "So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. This means, that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake -- tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening. The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please...riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" The class said together

"This class is ridiculous." Ron muttered, sneering

"I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical." Remus instructed

The room went quiet.

"Everyone ready? I'll go first." Remus said, using magic to open the wardrobe, causing a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of him, "Riddikulus!"

The orb quickly turned into a cockroach and Remus said, "Five points to Slytherin for every person to tackle the Boggart. Slytherin will go first so Gryffindor will have to go outside —I don't anyone to be picked on for their fears."

Once Gryffindor was gone, Remus added, "Mr. LeStrange will go first."

Neville stood forward and Remus said, "Neville, we're going to back away, let you have a clear field, all right? Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot."

They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe; Neville had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.

"On the count of three, Neville," Remus said, pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe, "One. Two. Three. Now!"

The wardrobe slammed open and the bodies of Luna, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan fell to the ground —covered in blood.

"Riddikulus!" Neville laughed, tears in his eyes

The Boggart's form changed to Bellatrix in a fancy gown, but her makeup was a mess —she looked like a clown.

"Great job, Neville, five points." Remus congratulated "Mr. Malfoy, you're up next."

Neville and Draco changed spots, and the Boggart changed to Hermione's and himself with slit throats.

He managed to laugh sadly saying, "Riddikulus!" causing the Boggart to change to a giggling snowman.

Hermione went next: her fear was failure, Pansy's was drowning, Theo's was being disowned, Luna's was losing her future-seeing-gift, Crabbe's was spiders, Goyle's was Goblins, and Zabini's was isolation.

Slytherin was up 45 points.

"Last but not least, Mr. Potter, it's your turn." Remus said and Harry stood forward

The Boggart stared at him for a few moments before changing to a person Harry knew all too well: it changed to a tall, pale man with dark brown, slightly curled hair, and red eyes.

It was Tom —good thing Weasley wasn't hear or he would have recognized him from the diary horcrux.

"Who is that?" Remus whispered to Draco, who only shrugged

The Boggart began to speak to Harry, but no one else could hear it's words, "I don't love you, Harry, you're just a convenience. You couldn't possibly think that I actually cared about you, much less loved you."

"Riddikulus!" Harry managed to choke out, tears fuzzing his vision

The Boggart changed from Tom to Dudley, his fat floating like a blimp.

"Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me and hand it in on Monday. That will be all." Remus told, since the Slytherins were done

The Slytherins went outside, sat on the floor to do their homework and the Gryffindors re-entered the classroom for their turn.

***

Several weeks passed, Qudditch was played, Hogsmeade trips were fun, and Sirius Black broke into the school and attacked the Gryffindor Dorm.

On the day before they would leave for the Yule Break, the Weasley twins confronted Harry, "Psst, Harry!"

"What are you doing?" Harry asked

"We've come to give you a bit of festive cheer before we go," Fred, replied "Come here."

He followed Fred and George inside, George closed the door quietly and then turned, beaming, to look at Harry, "Early Yuletide present for you, Harry,"

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?"

"This, Harry, is the secret of our success." George said, patting the parchment lovingly

"It's a wrench, giving it to you," Fred added, "but we decided last night, your need's greater than ours."

"Anyway, we know it 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?" Harry asked

"A bit of old parchment!" Fred, said "Explain, George."

"Well, when we were in our first year, Harry —young, carefree, and innocent— well, more innocent than we are now— we got into a spot of bother with Filch." George answered, "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—" Fred added

"—Disembowelment—"

"—And we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous. 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," George added, "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?" Harry asked

"Oh yes." Fred answered, smirking. "This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."

George 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 crisscrossed, 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 were the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labeled with a name in minuscule writing.

Astounded, Harry bent over it.

A labeled 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 Harry's eyes traveled up and down the familiar corridors, he noticed something else.

This map showed a set of passages he had never entered.

"There are seven in all. Now, Filch knows about these four" Fred 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," George sighed, patting the heading of the map, "we owe them so much."

"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers," Fred said, whiling a tear

"Right," George reminded "don't forget to wipe it after you've used it—"

"—or anyone can read it." Fred warned

"Just tap it again and say, "Mischief managed!" And it'll go blank."

"So, young Harry, mind you behave yourself." Fred winked and they left...