 because the Whomping 
Willow's planted right over the entrance. But this one here, this one 
leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times. 
And as you might've noticed, the entrance is right outside this room, 
through that one-eyed old crone's hump." 


"Moony, Wormtaill Padfoot, and Prongs," sighed George, patting the 
heading of the map. "We owe them so much." 


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"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers," 
said Fred solemnly. 

"Right," said George briskly. "Don't forget to wipe it after you've used 
it or anyone can read it," Fred said warningly. 

"Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' And it'll go blank." 

"So, young Harry," said Fred, in an uncanny impersonation of Percy, 
"mind you behave yourself." 

"See you in Honeydukes," said George, winking. 

They left the room, both smirking in a satisfied sort of way. 

Harry stood there, gazing at the miraculous map. He watched the tiny ink 
Mrs. Norris turn left and pause to sniff at something on the floor. If 
Filch really didn't know... he wouldn't have to pass the dementors at 
all.... 

But even as he stood there, flooded with excitement, something Harry had 
once heard Mr. Weasley say came floating out of his memory. 

Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where 
it keeps its brain. 

This map was one of those dangerous magical objects Mr. Weasley had been 
warning against.... Aids for Magical Mischief Makers... but then, Harry 
reasoned, he only wanted to use it to get into Hogsmeade, it wasn't as 
though he wanted to steal anything or attack anyone... and Fred and 
George had been using it for years without anything horrible 
happening.... 

Harry traced the secret passage to Honeydukes with his finger. 

Then, quite suddenly, as though following orders, he rolled up the map, 
stuffed it inside his robes, and hurried to the door of the classroom. 
He opened it a couple of inches. There was no one outside. Very 
carefully, he edged out of the room and behind the statue of the 

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one-eyed witch. 

What did he have to do? He pulled out the map again and saw to his 
astonishment, that a new ink figure had appeared upon it, labeled Harry 
Potter. This figure was standing exactly where the real Harry was 
standing, about halfway down the third-floor corridor. 

Harry watched carefully. His little Ink self appeared to be tapping the 
witch with his minute wand. Harry quickly took out his real wand and 
tapped the statue. Nothing happened. He looked back at the map. The 
tiniest speech bubble had appeared next to his figure. The word inside 
said, "Dissendium." 

"Dissendium!" Harry whispered, tapping the stone witch again. 

At once, the statue's hump opened wide enough to admit a fairly thin 
person. Harry glanced quickly up and down the corridor, then tucked the 
map away again, hoisted himself into the hole headfirst, and pushed 
himself forward. 

He slid a considerable way down what felt like a stone slide, then 
landed on cold, damp earth. He stood up, looking around. It was 

pitch dark. He held up his wand, muttered, "Lumos! " and saw that he was 
in a very narrow, low, earthy passageway. He raised the map, tapped it 
with the tip of his wand, and muttered, "Mischief managed!" The map went 
blank at once. He folded it carefully, tucked it inside his robes, then, 
heart beating fast, both excited and apprehensive, he set off. 

The passage twisted and turned, more like the burrow of a giant rabbit 
than anything else. Harry hurried along it, stumbling now and then on 
the uneven floor, holding his wand out in front of him. 

It took ages, but Harry had the thought of Honeydukes to sustain him. 
After what felt like an hour, the passage began to rise. Panting, Harry 
sped up, his face hot, his feet very cold. 

Ten minutes later, he came to the foot of some worn stone steps, which 
rose out of sight above him. Careful not to make any noise, Harry began 
to climb. A hundred steps, two hundred steps, he lost count as he 

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climbed, watching his feet.... Then, without warning, his head hit 
something hard. 

It seemed to be a trapdoor. Harry stood there, massaging the top of his 
head, listening. He couldn't hear any sounds above him. Very slowly, he 
pushed the trapdoor open and peered over the edge. 

He was in a cellar, which was full of wooden crates and boxes. Harry 
climbed out of the trapdoor and replaced it -- it blended so perfectly 
with the dusty floor that it was impossible to tell it was there. Harry 
crept slowly toward the wooden staircase that led upstairs. Now he could 
definitely hear voices, not to mention the tinkle of a bell and the 
opening and shutting of a door. 

Wondering what he ought to do, he suddenly heard a door open much closer 
at hand; somebody was about to come downstairs. 

"And get another box of Jelly Slugs, dear, they've nearly cleaned us out 
--" said a woman's voice. 

A pair of feet was coming down the staircase. Harry leapt behind an 
enormous crate and waited for the footsteps to pass. He heard the man 
shifting boxes against the opposite wall. He might not get another 
chance -


Quickly and silently, Harry dodged out from his hiding place and climbed 
the stairs; looking back, he saw an enormous backside and shiny bald 
head, buried in a box. Harry reached the door at the top of the stairs, 
slipped through it, and found himself behind the counter of Honeydukes 
-- he ducked, crept sideways, and then straightened up. 

Honeydukes was so crowded with Hogwarts students that no one looked 
twice at Harry. He edged among them, looking around, and suppressed a 
laugh as he imagined the look that would spread over Dudley's piggy face 
if he could see where Harry was now. 

There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets 
imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut 
ice, fat, honey-colored toffees; hundreds of different kinds of 
chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavor Beans, 

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and another of Fizzing Whizbees, the levitating sherbert balls that Ron 
had mentioned; along yet another wall were "Special Effects" -- sweets: 
Droobles Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-colored 
bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery 
Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps ("breathe fire for 
your friends!"), Ice Mice ("hear your teeth chatter and squeak!"), 
peppermint creams shaped like toads ("hop realistically in the 
stomach!"), fragile sugar-spun quills, and exploding bonbons. 

Harry squeezed himself through a crowd of sixth years and saw a sign 
hanging in the farthest corner of the shop (UNUSUAL TASTES). Ron and 
Hermione were standing underneath it, examining a tray of blood-flavored 
lollipops. Harry sneaked up behind them. 

"Ugh, no, Harry won't want one of those, they're for vampires, I 
expect," Hermione was saying. 

"How about these?" said Ron, shoving a jar of Cockroach Clusters under 
Hermione's nose. 

"Definitely not," said Harry. 

Ron nearly dropped the jar. 

"Harry!" squealed Hermione. "What are you doing here? How -- how did you 
--?" 

"Wow!" said Ron, looking very impressed, "you've learned to Apparate!" 

"'Course I haven't," said Harry. He dropped his voice so that none of 
the sixth years could hear him and told them all about the Marauder's 
Map. 

"How come Fred and George never gave it to me!" said Ron, outraged. "I'm 
their brother!" 

"But Harry isn't going to keep it!" said Hermione, as though the idea 
were ludicrous. "He's going to hand it in to Professor McGonagall, 
aren't you, Harry?" 

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"No, I'm not!" said Harry. 

"Are you mad?" said Ron, goggling at Hermione. "Hand in something that 
good?" 

"If I hand it in, I'll have to say where I got it! Filch would know Fred 
and George had nicked it!" 

"But what about Sirius Black?" Hermione hissed. "He could be using one 
of the passages on that map to get into the castle! The teachers have 
got to know!" 

"He can't be getting in through a passage," said Harry quickly. "There 
are seven secret tunnels on the map, right? Fred and George reckon Filch 
already knows about four of them. And of the other three -- one of 
them's caved in, so no one can get through it. one of them's got the 
Whomping Willow planted over the entrance, so you can't get out of it. 
And the one I just came through -well - - it's really hard to see the 
entrance to it down in the cellar, so unless he knew it was there..." 

Harry hesistated. What if Black did know the passage was there? 

Ron, however, cleared his throat significantly, and pointed to a notice 
pasted on the inside of the sweetshop door. 

--------BY ORDER OF -------- THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC 

Customers are reminded that until further notice, dementors will be 
patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade every night after sundown. This 
measure has been put in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and 
will be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is therefore 
advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall. 

Merry Christmas! 

"See?" said Ron quietly. "I'd like to see Black try and break into 
Honeydukes with dementors swarming all over the village. Anyway, 
Hermione, the Honeydukes owners would hear a break-in, wouldn't they? 
They live over the shop!" 

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"Yes, but but --" Hermoine seemed to be struggling to find another 
problem. "Look, Harry still shouldn't be coming into Hogsmeade. He 
hasn't got a signed form! If anyone finds out, he'll be in so much 
trouble! And it's not nightfall yet -- what if Sirius Black turns up 
today? Now?" 

"He'd have a job spotting Harry in this," said R