Chapter 28: The Map Becomes Unbreakable
But it's totally possible! I read that paintings can be used to spy on people, and there are artifacts that let you communicate face-to-face with people over long distances, and people use Supersensory Charms all the time!
All of this is possible individually. We just need to figure out a way to put it all together.
First, figure out how to hide the map.
Ugh. Fine.
Hey, Room of Requirement! Can we have some books on how to hide contents of a piece of paper? Maybe even make it into a decoy?
Oh, and if we have something on how to make it automatically return to us if someone finds it by accident and throws it away, that would be great.
I don't think it can hear you.
Well, fine then. Why don't you do it.
No need to get all salty on me; sheesh.
Normally, Tom would only be in the Room of Requirement for a few hours or so, and at least give himself some sleep, but this was too important to let go.
They could not risk the Map falling into wrong hands. It was an extremely powerful tool. They had already been carrying it around for a while as they worked on it (the tracking charms planted around Hogwarts had only taken one night to do, but learning the rest of the enchantments had taken nearly two months), and it was a miracle that nothing had happened yet. It was time they secured it before something did happen.
Eleven years old and already pulling all-nighters. I'm so proud of you.
So Tom and Jerry spent the whole night spelling a passcode and several illusionary concealment charms into The Map.
Tom was about to faint into his eggs and toast at breakfast that morning, but it was totally worth it.
Now, if anyone ever managed to glimpse the paper by accident, all they would see was a rudimentary diagram of the political spats that led to the least important Goblin War that people paid even less attention to compared to everything else Binns talked about.
And, speaking of Binns, they were lucky – they had double History of Magic this morning, so Tom got to sleep for two hours in that class.
It definitely wasn't enough (Tom, physically, was only eleven, after all), but now, at least, Tom had enough energy to sleep sitting up. Something that Jerry continued to adamantly claim was entirely possible.
Hey! If Muggle secondary school students with zero period science classes can figure it out, you can, too!
What do zero period science classes have to do with anything?
Because generally those classes have tall stools and lab counters instead of individual chairs and desks, so you can't lean against anything like in other classes. Also, since those classes generally start at seven in the morning, everyone's still half-asleep.
What? Mmph…how the hell am I supposed to sleep sitting up?
Fold one hand under your chin, but not over your cheek, because there's nothing that yells "I'm sleeping!" more obviously than leaning, except putting your head down. Lay your elbow against the tabletop.
Now you have a triangle between your neck, forearms, and desk. Loosely hold a pen in your other hand and put a book or something in front of you, and angle your face at around thirty degrees from vertical so it looks like you're looking down and taking notes.
That way it looks less obvious than slouching or putting your head down and covering your face.
It's really uncomfortable…
I know. I'm sorry.
It's not your fault. The Map had to be secured. I'll get used to it.
Just sleep. I'll can still hear things even if your eyes are closed. I'll wake you up if anyone calls on you. Hey – thank the gods of genetics you have super long eyelashes. At this angle, no one can tell if your eyes are opened or closed.
Thanks,
No problem. Teacher's pet.
Mmph.
Miraculously, they made it through the rest of that day without getting caught by any teachers (first year was mostly theory work and it wasn't uncommon for all the note-taking days to fall on the same day).
Besides that, they had all of the "non-important" subjects today.
Of all the days to come after their first all-nighter, it was a pretty lucky one.
Winter break came and passed. Tom, naturally, opted to turn twelve at Hogwarts rather than back at the orphanage.
It was blissfully empty except for a few people, and there were no classes, making running about easier than ever.
Even Professor Dumbledore was gone – off on some "research" missions around Europe (probably having something to do with the brewing tensions building up in Nazi Germany).
Tom made sure to owl him a package of woolly socks, though. All of his teachers got simple presents and "heartfelt" notes from him. Because he totally genuinely cared about them, and not because he was trying to kiss up to them or anything, you know?
In the months that came along, Tom would add extra modifications to the Map, like an automatic search function for any one person as long as they knew the name, zoom functions, in case they wanted to view a certain area in more detail, and even fingerprint-based passcodes so that even if some suspicious stalking busybody managed to overhear the "password", they wouldn't be able to reopen the map.
-----
Want to jump 30+ chapters ahead right now?
You can read the advanced chapters and support me directly on p 4 treon.
Link in the synopsis & profile: p 4 treon > ForgottenDaoist