Kreacher look at them for a while and then without saying anything spread the parachment on the table, now all of their eyes glued to the table where the parchment lay, glowing faintly, and Kreacher, stood before them with a sharp look of suspicion in his eyes.
"Where did you get this parchment?" Kreacher demanded, squinting at the piece of paper with clear disdain.
Peter, unable to contain himself, blurted out, "From the Room of Requirement!"
Immediately, the others froze, their eyes wide. James nearly hit him. Why would Peter say that out loud? He mentally face-palmed, while Sirius shot Peter a quick, scathing glare.
Peter's face turned beet red. "I mean, uh, the... the library! Yeah, definitely the library!"
Kreacher's eyes narrowed, but instead of continuing his interrogation, he raised his wand and muttered, "Scourgify."
Nothing happened.
Sirius tilted his head, confused. "Kreacher, nothing happened. The map's still there. It's not dirty."
Kreacher, still not looking up, murmured, "Anything invisible doesn't mean it does not exist."
"But you have failed twice now", Peter added again.
Hearing this and without saying another word, the house-elf vanished into thin air, leaving only a faint, lingering smell of musty old robes.
The four of them stood in stunned silence. And looked sirously at peter.
"Did he just—?" James began, trying to take the attention from peter away.
"Vanished without even a pop?" Remus said, eyes wide. "That's some elf magic for you."
"Did he want to help us, or not?" Peter muttered, still staring at the spot where Kreacher had vanished.
A moment of quiet tension passed, and then thinking nothing of it, and understanding the absurdity of the situation they didn't think of it anymore.
But as James reached to fold the parchment, planning to hide it again, a sudden pop startled everyone again. Kreacher reappeared, holding something small and almost... ancient-looking in his hand. His expression was a mixture of annoyance and determination.
He eyed James carefully as the boy quickly jerked his hand away from the parchment. "What—what have you got there?" Sirius asked, his voice betraying the tiniest hint of concern.
Kreacher didn't answer immediately. Instead, he moved toward the table and laid what looked like a small pouch of dirt onto the parchment.
The room grew silent as Kreacher began to delicately spread the dirt across the parchment.
"What's that?" Peter asked, unable to suppress his curiosity.
Kreacher glared at them. "Soil from all parts of Hogwarts—where magic runs thick, where secrets are buried, where old powers still linger," he muttered cryptically. "This is how the map will reveal its true form."
"Wait, so this dirt is magical?" Sirius asked, baffled. "It's from Hogwarts? Like, the entire school?"
Kreacher nodded curtly, without saying anything. James leaned in closer. "And now we spread it on the map?" he asked, sounding half incredulous, half excited.
Kreacher didn't answer. Instead, he took the pouch and scattered the soil evenly across the parchment. His hands moved with a deliberate slowness as he muttered an incantation under his breath.
"Malla totalum," Kreacher intoned, his voice deepening. "Revelio!"
The room grew eerily still as the soil began to shimmer under Kreacher's words. A faint glow emanated from the map. And then the soil disappeared into the parchment.
Four of them looked at each other and then at kreacher, "Kreacher!?" Sirius gave a questioning look to the elf but before the elf could say anything, slowly lines of ink began to form on the parchment, creeping across its surface like a river of liquid black. Scribbled words appeared and vanished, and a few moments later, something else emerged.
A name.
"No way," Sirius whispered, his eyes wide as the map finally revealed itself in full, detailed glory. "It's... it's actually working."
The whole room seemed to breathe as the map suddenly came alive before their eyes. It wasn't just a collection of meaningless lines anymore. The entire school—every corridor, every secret passage—appeared, even rooms they'd never been to before. And it was alive—a living map.
Everyone stared at it in stunned amazement.
James, wide-eyed, pointed. "Look! There! The room with all the broomsticks!"
"It's showing everything," Remus added, voice low. "The moving corridors... the hidden doors... and—oh, look—the common room!"
Peter's eyes were about to pop out of his head. "How is this even possible?"
James grinned, shaking his head in disbelief. "I don't know, but I think we just cracked the code, we've done it!"
The four of them stood around the map, overwhelmed by the success of their work, letting the glow of the map reflect in their eyes.
Kreacher, looking remarkably smug, nodded in approval. "This is a map of your making. A map of your loyalty. But do not forget," he warned, voice lowering, "it does not reveal all secrets. Only those you deserve to know."
With that cryptic statement, Kreacher turned and disappeared once again, leaving behind an odd silence.
Sirius broke it with a chuckle. "Okay, so that was insane."
"I don't think I'll ever get used to him vanishing like that," Peter said, eyes still darting around.
"But it works!" James added, excitement creeping back into his voice. "We can actually see the whole school now!"
Remus, still watching the map with a smile on his face, added quietly, "It's more than that. This... this is our legacy. A part of us."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you're getting all sentimental on us?"
Remus gave a soft laugh. "Maybe. But I think it's because, for once, we've done something bigger than us."
James slapped him on the back. And Sirius smirked. "Let's not forget, we've also created the ultimate cheat sheet. This'll make pranking a hundred times easier."
Peter's eyes sparkled. "What if we use it to sneak into the Slytherin common room?"
James rolled his eyes but grinned. "As much as I love a good prank, let's keep this map under wraps for now. We don't want it getting into the wrong hands."
Remus nodded. "Agreed. We've worked hard for this."
The group paused, standing around the table, watching as the map continued to glow softly in the dim light of Grimmauld Place.
"Should we… test it?" Peter asked, unable to contain his excitement.
"We will," James said with a wink.