Fate's Request: A Harry Potter FanFiction

At his first night back at Hogwarts, in the Room of Requirement, David was tinkering away with various instruments that were soon going to be used to decipher the secrets of the Marauders Map. An act, he hoped, should prove to be quite simple, as he knew the passwords to both lock and unlock the Map.

One such instrument was a large dragon leather mat, a mat which David had learnt about in his light studies into Artificing. What the Artificers-Decipherer could do was create a list of every spell a magical item held, if all security measures were turned off once it was placed upon it. This was used to copy other Artificer's work in recent days, but it was first created to find the lost spells that ancient Witches and Wizards had used in creating powerful magical objects.

By not having the passwords, the Map's recreation would have set David back quite a lot in regard to time, as he would have had to brute force his way through the maps defences, to determine just how it was tied into the wards. Not to mention it would have resulted in the potential destruction of the map, ruining an important item for Harry. Luckily, he knew the passwords, just like anyone who had ever read the books.

David wasn't a hundred percent certain that the Map was tied to the wards if it wasn't and could decipher a person's true identity and location in real-time, the Marauders Map, would have had to be one of the most powerful magical items in existence. But he very much doubted that the Marauders were master-level Artificer's, strengthening his hypotheses that the Map was in fact powered and tied to very wards of Hogwarts. Whether the Marauders achieved this themselves or simply used an opening the Founder's had left was to be seen.

Bubbling away in the corner of the room David had created, was a cauldron with rolls of extra-thick parchment sticking out of.

The potion was something he had found thanks to Mel, who had requested the book containing it from the Room of Requirement while he was on holiday. It was a two-part potion, with the first being a mix of strengthening the parchment beyond what would be normal, while also laying the foundation for the 'locking' in of all spells that were to be placed upon the parchment, all the while preserving them and stopping tampering.

Following the hour the parchment needed to brew in the potion, a quick dip and imbuing in an invisible ink concoction and it would be ready to hold the spells needed.

David currently had Mel searching for the Map in the Weasley's twins dorm, something he needed to coax her to do, for she found breaking the trust of the Hogwarts Elves something abhorrent. With lots of promises that he would only borrow it for a few short minutes, and never get her to do something like this again, Mel had agreed.

It had been about ten minutes since she had gone off in search, and he was getting worried. Maybe he should have just knocked the twins out from behind and taken the map from their bags while disillusioned.

Thankfully, Mel appeared holding the Map, quite annoyed, just a few minutes after the ten-minute mark. Handing the Map to David with a glare, she didn't say a word and watched intently from the side.

David immediately opened the Map entirely and laid it out on the floor, before turning to his own clean sheets of parchment.

Following a quick dip in the invisible ink concoction, David laid his parchment alongside the originals and copied every single fold it had, creating a perfect, blank copy of the Map.

Folding both back up, David went over to his workbench, placed his empty parchment to the side and unlocked the Marauders Map with, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'. Following which he placed the Map upon the dragon leather mat, brought forth his wand and initiated the powerful Artificers-Decipherer with the, 'Initium' spell.

Immediately the mat's etched runes glowed a brilliant blue and a list of spells appeared out thin air above the Map. Grabbing his notebook quickly, David wrote down each and every spell that was before him and after triple-checking his work ended the spell that was deciphering the Marauders Map.

"Here you go Mel," David said, after turning the Map off and handing it to her.

It seemed Mel was impressed with the magic she had just seen and was quickly off to return to the Map to its owners.

Following Mel's departure, David sat on a comfy leather chair and began going over each of the spells he had written down in detail.

There were several of them and he knew each and everyone would tire him out considerably. Letting out a tired sigh, for he was going to be crafting his map until the early morning, David got up and started the very first spell for its creation, "Stellae Ianuam," which he assumed was tying the new Map to the Hogwarts Founders wards. He would decipher each spell another day, to quench his curiosity.

Letting out a groan, as he could feel his magic drain considerably, David sat back down and turned to Mel who had just returned and said, "We're going to need some coffee."

---

David was left considerably tired after working on his Map and walked towards the Infirmary, ragged.

He was soon looked scrutinisingly at by Poppy, with her eyes lingering on his pale face and eye-bags.

With a raise of her left brow, she asked, "Late night? Mr Cross," a little miffed he hadn't gotten much sleep.

"Sorry Poppy… had a lot on my mind," he lied.

Shaking her head and sighing, she placed the usual potions in front of him while keeping an extra in her palm.

"Well? What are you doing? Drink them!" she ordered with a shout.

"Sorry," he mumbled and downed the potions that were keeping him alive.

Nodding in satisfaction, she informed David about the new potion she wanted him to try, "This here is a new potion a colleague and I created. It is an altered version of the blood-replenishing potion, which, I believe you will learn to brew in your third-year."

"I see," was all David said as he looked at thick, red potion that Poppy was dangling in her fingertips.

Knowing that David would probably want an explanation, she added, "I got the idea from our conversations, the Malediction is spread through your body via blood, and while a normal blood-replenishing potion would be poison to you, as it merely speeds up the bodies natural ability to create new blood, this little marvel will create its own, neutral, blood for your body, slowly, over a month."

Catching on to her line of thought, David added, "Which will result in my own body producing less blood and slowing down the spread of the Malediction and lowering its strength!" he finished with a shout, "Its brilliant Poppy! I think this is going to help, a lot. Thank you."

Nodding as she heard David explain the genius of this potion, she quickly said as he finished, "Well? Down the hatch boy!"

Smiling, he downed the thick, red potion, which tasted like metal, without a complaint.

Seeing as he had finished the potion, Poppy added, "You'd better thank Professor Snape for that potion. He brews it far better than I could manage."

Nodding in agreement, David replied, "I will, and pass on my thanks to your colleague, Poppy. Thanks again, I better be off."

Finally showing a smile, Poppy said, "Very well David, take care and make sure you get some sleep tonight, stressing your body like that will only aid the Malediction."

---

David's first lesson of the day was with Professor Dumbledore. He might not have looked it, but David was truly looking forward to learning from the esteemed headmaster.

"Welcome, welcome," the Professor said, with a twinkle in his eye, "I'm sure it is of no surprise to you all that I am your Defence Professor, for a few short weeks."

Following the headmaster taking roll-call, he stood up and spoke to the class, "Now, textbooks away, please. Feel free to take notes, but we won't be using the text's today, this will be more of an interactive lesson."

"I believe it is my job, as an educator, and the job all your Professors here at Hogwarts, to leave you with the tools to survive and thrive, once you leave these hallowed halls. The Education we give is what shall remain when you have long forgotten the intricacies of transfiguring a porcupine, or the particular hand movements for the tongue-tying curse, the ability to act, and defend yourself, is what I wish to instil in you," he explained with a soft smile.

"Now! Before we continue with second-year material, I wish to see just how much you all remember of your first-year education. Who here remembers just how to deal with an unruly imp?" he asked the class at large.

It was Padma Patil who answered, "By throwing the Wizard Crackers they use as weapons right back at it, sir! Or a simple Knockback Jinx!"

Chuckling, Dumbledore replied, "Yes, the Wizard Crackers. Now, do you remember the incantation for the Knockback Jinx? It may be a first-year spell, but it will prove to be quite useful for many situations."

"Flipendo?" she asked, unsure.

Ignoring how she framed it as a question, he replied, "Quite right, Flipendo. Can you give me a demonstration, Miss Patil?"

Going red, she replied, "N-no, sorry, Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell focused more on theory…"

"Quite alright Miss Patil," he responded kindly, turning towards David and asking him the same question, "What about you Mr Cross? Can you demonstrate the Knockback Jinx?"

Struggling to stay awake, David responded groggily, "Uhh, the Knockback Jinx? Sure, in front of the class?"

Nodding to his question, the headmaster replied, "Yes, in front of the class would be best. Perhaps aimed at the training dummy to your right?" he suggested.

Nodding, David got up from his seat and made his way over to the front of the class, smoothly drew his wand from his wand holster and easily muttered, "Flipendo," with the correct wand-movements, sending the dummy barrelling into the wall.

Following the headmasters clapping, David returned to his seat and continued to struggle to pay attention to what was going on, feeling lousy and tired.

The lesson eventually ended, with David wishing it had taken place the next day, rather than today, he had found the content simple, but the headmaster made it interesting.

As the students slowly made their way out of the class, Albus Dumbledore watched them leave with a smile on his face. This smile soon turned to a frown as the last student left, the cause of said frown was David, who seemed even less interested than last year.

"Most worrying indeed," thought the headmaster while stroking his abnormally long beard.

---

David was ever so grateful when lunch began.

Noticing Luna sitting alone at the Ravenclaw table, David made his way over and sat next to her.

Rather than greeting her, however, David reached for a pot of coffee, poured it into a cup and following four cups, turned to Luna and introduced himself, "Hello, I'm David Cross. I saw you being sorted, Luna Lovegood, right?"

"Oh, hello," she replied, turning to David with a slightly dazed look.

After an awkward pause, Luna eventually replied properly, "Yes, I'm Luna Lovegood. Nice to meet you, David. Apologies, I had a lot on my mind."

Laughing inside, David said, "Quite alright, how's your first day been?"

"Oh, it's very interesting, especially History of Magic," she answered, to the shock of David, and everyone who was in the vicinity and could overhear them.

"Did I hear you right? History of Magic?" David asked in disbelief.

"Mmm," she hummed, "Daddy's written an article on Professor Binn's, according to multiple sources, he's a bit of racist. So, it was very interesting to see firsthand," she explained.

Agreeing to himself, that it would, in fact, be a little bit interesting to find out if Professor Binn's was a racist or not, decided to chat with Luna about her other classes, thoroughly enjoying speaking to the eccentric first-year.

---

AN: So, in the wiki, it states that the Marauders Map was made with the use of the Homonculous Charm. I felt that was a bit of a cop-out, as it seems to work right through Hogwarts wards.

I've read a theory that the Marauders simply used an already made system the Founders inlaid into Hogwarts during its building and wanted to use that somewhat as my explanation for its creation.

In my story, however, it wasn't the Founders who built the 'flaw' into the wards, it was Phineas Black, the most unpopular headmaster in Hogwarts history.

Seems like a pure-blood thing to do right? Invade peoples privacy for your own gain and give your family a possible leg up in the years to come. Anyway, it was Sirius who found the 'lost' notes, detailing the flaw he secretly built into the wards and the required spell to tap into it, 'Stellae Ianuam'.

I got the name for the spell after entering 'Stars Door' into an English to Latin translator, I felt 'star' fell in line with the whole Black thing about naming their children after constellations.

Thanks for reading!