Harry Potter: I Get Stronger by Taking Loans - 186

Chapter 185: The Marauder’s Map

Outside the Ravenclaw common room.

Fred and George talked over each other as they excitedly reported their “battle results” from the past few days. They were so animated, gesturing and hopping about, that passing students could not help staring.

After all, The Seventh Workshop had only been open for a few days, and its profits already exceeded the twins’ combined pocket money from years of scraping and saving.

Once they calculated their cut and the agreed payment, Fred and George could practically see it. After graduation, opening a joke shop would no longer be a fantasy.

The Weasleys were short on money, and the twins had never even considered asking their family to fund them. They had always planned to save up on their own, however long it took.

After listening to them, Leonardo’s expression turned a bit strange.

“So the first customer for a custom map was Malfoy?”

“Yep,” Fred said cheerfully. “You told us to emphasise how special and prestigious custom work is to the rich pure-bloods. Malfoy’s kid just happened to be the first one along.”

George jumped in, smug as anything. “We were quick on our feet. Made up a reason on the spot and hooked him immediately. Got to admit, the script works. We’ll use the same routine to wind up the Slytherins from now on.”

“And the Malfoys might be annoying,” Fred added, “but they really are loaded. Fifty Galleons, just like that.”

He grinned. “I told him we’d rush his order first, guaranteed he’d be the first Slytherin, no, the first in the whole school, to have a custom map. He actually believed it.”

Leonardo rubbed his temples. He had not expected their first big cut to be made on someone they already knew. Malfoy, honestly.

Still, considering Draco’s personality, once he saw other pure-bloods ordering custom versions, he’d definitely keep up. He would never accept falling behind.

That was pure-bloods for you. They didn’t just want the best—they wanted the rarest. Draco was practically born to collect limited editions.

The whole point was standing apart. If you used the standard version, how were you supposed to prove you were special?

“All right,” Leonardo said. “What did Malfoy ask for? Family crest, personal seal?”

George pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it over.

“It’s all written down.”

Leonardo unfolded it. Even though he had expected something like this, he still could not hold back his smile. It read:

Engrave the Malfoy family crest: (see attached drawing). Engrave the Slytherin crest: (see attached drawing). Exclusive to Draco Malfoy. VIP Map No. 1.

Yes. Entirely Malfoy.

Leonardo tucked the parchment away. “Understood. I’ll make his first. If you’re free this weekend, want to come learn the basic compass and map crafting?”

The twins still did not know how to make the devices themselves. Custom maps were even more complex, and only Leonardo could produce them at the moment.

Custom work was mostly about selling uniqueness, but it also used better materials and offered more complete functions.

“Oh, and this is for you,” Leonardo added. “I’ve more or less finished analysing it.”

Since no one was passing by, he handed them a blank piece of parchment.

Fred tapped it with his wand and spoke clearly.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

Ink lines immediately surfaced and began to spread, sketching themselves in seconds into a detailed map of Hogwarts.

The Marauder’s Map.

It had been created by the Marauders, including Harry’s father, back in their school days.

It was an astonishing piece of magic. It could show the position of everyone in Hogwarts and reveal how to open hidden passages.

From the map, Leonardo could also tell how brilliant the four of them had been. The way the enchantments were fixed and maintained, and the way spellwork was combined with alchemy, was exceptional for their age.

James and Sirius came from pure-blood families, well-informed and naturally gifted.

Lupin was steady and capable, a true expert in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and highly knowledgeable about Dark creatures.

As for Peter Pettigrew… well, he was an Animagus.

In fact, it was precisely because they were Animagi, especially Peter, who could turn into a rat, that they had been able to explore every inch of Hogwarts and uncover so many secret routes.

Before designing the compass and map products, Leonardo had mentioned his ideas to the twins and admitted he still did not know Hogwarts’ layout well enough.

And, exactly as he had expected, the twins had produced the Marauder’s Map like it was a priceless treasure.

With the Marauder’s Map as a reference, Leonardo had saved himself a great deal of work and finished the compass and map items before the term began.

After analysing it these past days, he now understood how the Marauder’s Map worked.

Fred tucked the parchment away and chuckled.

“We nicked it from Filch’s drawer. A treasure like that, just sitting under dust.”

George spread his hands. “What else would happen? Filch can’t use magic, can he? Oh, and speaking of that, I saw something in there too. A Quickspell course brochure.”

He lowered his voice.

“Filch is probably a Squib. Leonardo, do you know what that means?”

Leonardo nodded. A Squib was someone born into a wizarding family who could not use magic.

It sounded like the reverse of a Muggle-born wizard, but Squibs were far rarer.

Worse, they could sense things Muggles could not. They could feel the wonder of magic, stand right beside it, and still never touch it.

That was far crueller than being a Muggle. They had seen something beautiful and could never have it.

Most Squibs lived quiet, powerless lives, often poor and overlooked.

Leonardo had once examined Filch with his Magic Sight and found something that surprised him. Filch did have magical circuits and a trace of magic, thin but real.

But many nodes in those circuits were blocked, or so narrow that magic could barely flow. The magic was consumed inside his own system long before it could resonate with a wand.

Leonardo had even considered inventing a special alchemical device, something that could draw out a Squib’s internal magic and release it as spell effects, though it would have to be simple, closer to parlour tricks than real combat magic.

The problem was the market. The target customers were too few, and most would not have much money to spend.

Squibs were rare, and even fewer had stable jobs like Filch.

Doing it would be closer to charity than business.

After chatting a bit more, Leonardo returned to his dormitory and kept working.

…

Breakfast.

In the Great Hall, Ron poured out his misery.

“Leonardo, you lot haven’t had Lockhart for Defence Against the Dark Arts yet, right? If you haven’t, don’t get your hopes up. I swear he’s even worse than Quirrell.”

“At least last year’s Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons didn’t involve a swarm of Cornish pixies biting my robes. I even saw Lockhart’s wand get nicked by one of them. Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, does it?”

Harry, clearly traumatised by the position at this point, swallowed his pumpkin porridge and nodded along.

“His stories are interesting, sure, but he himself is just…”

He grimaced. “In the end, it was still the three of us who caught the pixies. If we didn’t know the spells you taught us, Leonardo, it would’ve been a nightmare.”

Hermione looked as if she wanted to argue that perhaps Lockhart had meant it as practical experience, but Leonardo only smiled.

“So, you want a different Defence Against the Dark Arts professor?”

It might be time to start keeping an eye on how Lockhart and Tom Riddle’s diary were progressing.