The Map's Revelation

"Good Afternoon, boys," Gilderoy said as he leaned against the wall opposite the One-eyed Witch, buffing the nails on his right hand. He was impeccably dressed, of course, in lavender robes. He grinned at them, showing off his perfect smile.

The Weasley twins were staring at him, aghast, both carrying a crate of butterbeer for a planned celebration. They had checked before exiting the secret tunnel that there was no one in the area. How had they missed the Professor? Had the map been in error?

"Good Afternoon . . ."

". . . Professor Lockhart."

"Is there something . . . ,

". . . we can do for you?"

He could see them sweating slightly. Caught, red-handed, they could be expelled for this! They desperately tried to pretend nothing was wrong, that the contraband in their hands wasn't really there.

He put his nail buffer in his pocket. "It's not what you can do for me, but what I can do for you. And your first lesson you have already learned — the map is not infallible."

Their mouths dropped open. How had he learned of their map?

"The Marauders only put on the map what they knew, and there are things in Hogwarts that they never discovered. I used one of them to catch you." The Come-and-Go Room had created a temporary passage from itself to this location. He had simply waited until his alert charm told him the boys were coming out from their passage to come out of his. Except his passage disappeared as soon as he exited it. A mild Notice-Me-Not that he defeated when he spoke finished the prank. "If you ever see something on it you can't explain or understand, let me know.

"Now, then, the two of you are wasting your talents in pranks. You should be developing items that you can sell as pranks — such as invisible glasses that let you see through clothes. I'm sure every boy in Hogwarts would purchase a pair. And then an amulet that makes the glasses useless, that every girl in Hogwarts would buy, as well. In fact, once word of even one pair of glasses gets out, every girl will purchase the amulet! Imagine that, a product with a built-in purchaser base of five hundred students."

The twins stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Actually, you could probably sell the glasses outside Hogwarts," he said thoughtfully. "Perhaps even approach Madam Malkin about licensing to her the preventative charm to include with her robes. That would bring in a steady supply of galleons for expenses."

"Blimey!"

"That's . . . that's brilliant!"

"If you work hard enough on your pranks items, you might even be able to open a shop in competition to Zonko's." He paused to let that sink in. "I might even know someone who would be interested in investing in such an endeavour."

Their expressions ran the gamut from surprised to calculating in only a few moments.

"Let me know what you think." He turned to walk away, but stopped and turned back to them. "I expect to see your grades reflect your true intelligence. After all, you never know when an Owl or NEWT in a subject might grant you access to a supplier or expert who would otherwise ignore you." He walked off whistling cheerfully.

.....

"Ah, Miss Lovegood!" the D.A.D.A. Professor said as he came up behind her in the corridor. "How are you this fine evening?" He smiled his trademark smile, posing to show off his best side, his teeth gleaming and his plum-coloured robes perfectly arranged. "It's past curfew, shouldn't you be in your dorm?"

The little Witch turned around and looked up at him with large eyes and a dreamy I'm-not-here expression. "Oh, hello professor." She frowned slightly. "You seem remarkably free of wrackspurts." Her gaze sharpened for a moment, "Isn't it a tight fit for the two of you?"

Yes, this was definitely the Luna Lovegood he remembered. He laughed happily. "Not at all, my dear. Plenty of room. But sometimes we disagree terribly. I hope in a short while to become simply one again." The girl's insights into people frightened him, sometimes. She was so accurate, but seemed unconcerned with the consequences about blurting out things that might be better kept quiet. "Please don't tell anyone, it's a bit of a secret, you know," he added in a conspiratorial whisper.

She nodded and the far-away look returned.

"And your dorm?" he prompted.

"Oh, the Raven has forgotten its riddle. I blame the nargles."

Harry/Gilderoy smiled cheerily at the girl while seething inside. "Nargles indeed," he said under his breath. "Well, let's check it just one more time, shall we?" He surreptitiously cast a warming charm on the girl. A few minutes later, they were standing in front of Ravenclaw's door. The raven ornament eyed them uncertainly.

"Tell me, my good friend," Lockhart said, "What's the riddle today?"

Silence.

He cast a detection charm at the raven.

"I see." He sighed sadly, then perked up and smiled at the girl. "We'll get this sorted right quick, just you watch," he declared, teeth gleaming in the dimly lit corridor. "Miksy!"

With a POP, a house-elf appeared beside them. "Professor Two Sir has called Miksy?"

"Yes, yes I suppose did," said the professor jovially. "Would you mind fetching Professor Flitwick? Please tell him it's a matter of some importance to his House."

"Miksy does that," the elf said, POPing away.

He looked down at the girl, who was staring off down the corridor.

"I think, Miss Lovegood, that it would do you good to sit with Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom, and Miss Granger during meals. Ignore Mr. Weasley, he's an idiot and unworthy of your talents." He leaned closer. "Tell Miss Granger I said there are more things under the Sun than she has ever dreamed — and those things haven't, yet, made it into any books! For example, the Duck-billed Platypus was called impossible and a hoax until one was captured and brought back to England, alive."

The girl looked up at him questioningly.

He smiled back her encouragingly. "Have you seen the thestrals that pull the carriages?"

She nodded.

.....

Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my p*atreon right now.

2+ FREE ADVANCED CHAPTERS FOR ALL FREE MEMBERS.

60+ Premium chapters.

Link: p*atreon.com/Dream_Guardian (Remove the *)