After the late-night breakthrough in the Room of Requirement, the four of them carefully gathered the parchment, vials, runes, and enchanted thread, packing them into an enchanted satchel James had charmed to be feather-light.
"Right," Sirius said, stretching. "We've got a half-working magical map and no idea why it dies a minute in."
"So," Peter said, hesitantly, "we tell professor?"
" Dumbledore?" remus asked
He is talking about Professor Gelatea Merrythought, Sirius interrupted.
James nodded. "hmm… well, she did ask us to do our research and that she will guide us …. And here in this case when we're ever dealing with advanced enchantments beyond our understanding, she'd rather we came to her before someone ends up with their eyebrows hexed off."
Remus muttered, "we should go to her then…"
The next day, The four boys sat awkwardly across from the elderly professor. The scent of lemon drops and old parchment hung in the air. Her walls were lined with odd magical artifacts: a glass case of werewolf claws, enchanted trap mirrors, and a crooked blackboard with dueling notes half-erased.
"You've been… busy," she said after they finished explaining. She peered at the Moonstone Parchment through her thin spectacles, tapping it gently with her wand.
"Mmm. The spells are well-structured, impressive for fourth-years. But there's something missing. You see this?" She pointed to a faint magical residue.
"Residual Arcana," Remus murmured. "From failed anchoring spells?"
"Exactly, my boy. You've laid brilliant groundwork. But none of it's anchored to anything permanent. It's like drawing on water. It holds… for a moment. Then it fades."
"So what's the fix? We tried to, but couldn't really get it solved…" James asked, leaning forward.
Merrythought smiled. "Magic this complex requires living memory, Potter. It needs a bond, a deeper magical connection to the place you're mapping, and to yourselves. You must cast the foundation spells not from theory, but from experience. Hmm I would suggest you all to go Roam the castle. Let it know you. Let the parchment learn with you."
Sirius blinked. "You're saying… the map has to be alive?"
"In a manner of speaking," she said. "Magic is more art than science. This map you see has to live you… and you must live the map."
This is was a difficult task for them. They couldn't understand anything. Remus buried himself in the books again and james started looking into things.
Back in the Room of Requirement, they cast the spells again, this time focusing not on Hogwarts in theory, but on memories. Of getting lost in the dungeons, of hiding behind statues, of running from Peeves. The parchment shimmered... and this time, it held for nearly two minutes.
"That's... it's working!" Peter said, eyes wide.
The map pulsed with light and faded gradually, instead of vanishing instantly.
"It's still not showing everything," Sirius muttered. "No names, no secret passages..."
"But it's progress," Remus said, quietly hopeful. "It's remembering us."
This is not a progress, its not working! Sirius said.
But this spark of success will be enough to keep us going. For a while. Atleast we know we are going in right direction", james said with an optimistic pause.
But as the days passed, nothing changed. The map stayed static, refusing to expand. The magic was not working and their every effort was stalled.
They sat in the common room, parchment rolled up and untouched for days.
"I'm starting to think we've hit a dead end," Peter said, flopping onto a cushion.
"We haven't failed," Remus said. "Just… paused."
James stared into the fire. "We need a new approach."
Sirius perked up suddenly. "What if... we walk the castle? Like actually walk it. And let the map follow us. Manually."
James suddenly added, " The map must live you and you must live the map."
Remus blinked. "That's... actually not a terrible idea."
Peter groaned. "It'll take forever."
"Forever's shorter when we divide it," James said. "One day each. We carry the map, record what we see. No shortcuts. We map it ourselves." He said, with a determination.
They drew up a schedule and Remus took the first day. He wandered through the second floor, past classrooms and trophy cases, the Marauder's Map held loosely in one hand. It stayed blank at first, until he noticed something odd. His footprint had appeared—just one dot labeled Remus Lupin, with a translucent glow surrounding it, a half-kilometer radius.
Curious, he stepped forward. The dot moved. And so did the faint lines around it. Remus stopped, he looked surprised and held the parachment tightly. It was a success. He took another step. More lines appeared, ever so slightly. His eyes widened. And then He broke into a run, in a certain direction while looking at the map. He traced his way up to the seventh floor, heart racing, and used the glowing radius to find the others near the Astronomy Tower.
"Guys! GUYS!"
James turned, surprised. "Remus? What—?"
"The map—it's learning as we move! Look!"
He opened the parchment. Now there were faint hallways, stairs—new lines where he had walked. Like footprints slowly forming a path. But it was only half a kilometer around him.
"No way," Sirius whispered, staring. "So it's... working?"
"Exactly," Remus said, breathless. "it senses the one who is holding the map and shows the area around him.
James grinned wide. "This... is bloody brilliant."
Peter stared at the parchment. "It's going to take ages."