Draco stared at the silent parchment, utterly bewildered.
The next ten minutes were ten minutes that shocked his worldview.
George and Fred explained how they got the parchment from Filch's drawer when they were in first year; then they demonstrated how to use this magical item called the "Marauder's Map".
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" Fred pointed his wand at the parchment, and the ink lines began to extend, revealing everything before his eyes.
"Wait—is this not Hogwarts?" Draco exclaimed.
That is amazing!
This map was depicting all the details of Hogwarts Castle and its grounds, as well as the names of everyone who was in it.
"That is right!" The twin brothers exchanged a glance and said smugly.
Most importantly, when Draco looked closely, he also discovered several passages leading to Hogsmeade village.
"This is—" Draco looked up at his twin brother in surprise.
"That is right, secret passages." George pointed to the route and said, "There are seven in total. Filch knows four of them, and only we know the other three… The passage with the mirror on the fifth floor that we told you about before has collapsed, and the Whomping Willow passage is also unusable… But! The one leading to Honeydukes' cellar is still usable. The entrance is right outside the classroom, by the one-eyed witch's hump."
"That is so cool!" Draco exclaimed in amazement.
"We have tried it several times," George said cheerfully. "Thanks to Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."
"Do not forget to say 'Mischief managed' after you are done," Fred winked at Draco. "See you at Honeydukes' sweetshop next Saturday—"
"Disguise yourself a bit, do not let anyone find out you are a second-year," George reminded him.
Draco's bewildered expression amused the twins greatly. Then, arm in arm, they walked out of the classroom, satisfied. "Have fun!" they said, turning back to him with smiles.
Draco had no time for them—this Marauder's Map was fascinating.
He could see that the area around his name was gradually becoming empty.
The names of the Weasley twins followed the footprints towards the Entrance Hall.
He could also clearly see that Hermione's name was in the girls' dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower, and not far from her, Harry and Ron's names were in the Gryffindor common room.
"A salute to Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," he murmured.
For the next few days, Draco was immersed in the novelty of the Marauder's Map.
Herpo's notebooks had fallen out of favour; his investigation into the feud between Colin Creevey and Filch had hit a dead end; and even his usual forte, Wizard's Chess, had failed to pique his interest.
"What exactly does he do every day?" Blaise asked Pansy coldly in the Slytherin common room.
He excitedly set up the chess pieces, only to be met with Draco's callous "I have other things to do" and a hurried departure, which infuriated him.
"Forget it, ignore him. I will play Wizard Chess with you." Pansy tossed the Witch Weekly aside and glanced at him.
"Who wants to play chess with a girl? It is no fun at all," he said dismissively, glancing at her.
"I wager you are too scared! You are afraid I will slaughter you without leaving a trace, are you not?" Pansy gave him a disdainful look.
"What is there to be afraid of?" Blaise sneered. "Do you think I am afraid of you? Do not cry if you lose!"
"Oh, that is spirited! If you lose, you will have to call me 'big sister,' all right?" Pansy said with a mischievous smile.
Draco remained unmoved by the tense atmosphere between Blaise and Pansy.
His favourite thing to do now was to look at a map all day long.
The entire school seemed to be under his control, and secrets could not be hidden from him.
This feeling of being in control was the strongest psychological comfort for someone who lacked a sense of security about everything.
He could see everything.
Irma Pince and Poppy Pomfrey's names occasionally appeared at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade, sitting together—he had no idea they were friends;
It was nothing new that Crabbe and Goyle's names frequently appeared in the Great Hall—they were probably feasting again.
There were also several couples who frequently hung out together: Percy Weasley of Gryffindor and Penelope Clearwater of Ravenclaw; Stebbins of Hufflepuff and Fawcett of Ravenclaw; even Blaise and Pansy were often alone together, and no one knew what they were doing... There were countless such gossips, keeping Draco busy.
Besides gossip, some old cases that had troubled him for years were finally solved.
The Head of House's name appeared in the men's bathroom at a fixed time each week. This proved that, although infrequently, Professor Snape did indeed shower and wash his hair.
And some trivial things that bothered him.
For example, he could see that Argus Filch's name lingered somewhere in the third-floor corridor, and he guessed that Mr Squib was sitting in that chair again, glaring fiercely at every passing student, hoping to catch the "murderer" who had hurt his beloved pet.
Unfortunately, the location of the Chamber of Secrets was not shown on this map, and the Basilisk was nowhere to be found. These skilled cartographers were probably not from Slytherin—they were unaware of the Chamber of Secrets.
One morning, Draco had just woken up and, as usual, lay on his bed in his dormitory, studying with great interest the names of people on the map beside his bed.
His gaze casually swept over the almost overlapping names of Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater, then glanced at the names of the Weasley twins who appeared in the Hogwarts kitchen, and then inexplicably noticed that the names of the Grey Lady and Luna Lovegood lingered on one side, as if they were talking.
"The Grey Lady can make friends now?" Draco raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He turned his gaze to check on the Gryffindor Tower, but was suddenly stunned by a name that appeared on the map.
"Peter Pettigrew," he murmured the name as if it were not real.