After the game ended, George and Fred didn't even bother attending Gryffindor's victory celebration. Instead, they immediately sought out Adrian, and the three conspirators gathered quietly in an empty classroom.
Adrian spread their winnings across a desk: fifteen Galleons gleaming in the candlelight, along with a substantial pile of Sickles and Knuts.
According to their pre-negotiated profit-sharing agreement, Adrian claimed his forty percent cut, six Galleons, nineteen Sickles, and twenty-eight Knuts. The remainder belonged to the Weasley twins.
Adrian's portion included his separate winnings from the bet with Malfoy, of course.
"This much?" George stared at the money with undisguised excitement.
Sure, they'd scraped together five Galleons before the match, but that represented their combined savings over years of careful budgeting. Never before had they earned such a substantial sum so easily.
"If we could pull this off once a year, we'd be rich!" Fred said dreamily.
"Forget it," Adrian said, shaking his head to dispel their unrealistic fantasies. "This kind of operation isn't something we should make a habit of. One time is enough. Besides, secrecy charms aren't foolproof, if we kept this up, we'd eventually get caught."
George and Fred exchanged glances, their smiles fading as the wisdom of Adrian's words sank in. They nodded soberly.
"You're right, of course. We don't want to get expelled," George agreed. "But this money should be enough to fund our initial product development. Soon we'll be earning honest income selling our joke items!"
"Actually, we've been discussing this," Fred said, his grin returning as the conversation shifted to their favorite topic. The room's serious atmosphere evaporated instantly. "We'd like to hire you as our special consultant."
"No problem, as long as I have time," Adrian agreed without hesitation. After all, his Magical Item Creation skill had been gathering dust in his mental skill tree. Working with the Weasley twins might finally give him a chance to improve his proficiency.
"We'll need to purchase some supplies first, but before that, we have a gift for you." George reached into his robes with flair and produced a rectangular piece of folded parchment that resembled an envelope, handing it to Adrian with ceremony.
"See if you can figure out how this works," Fred said with barely contained excitement.
Adrian recognized the Marauder's Map immediately, though he tried to hide his surge of anticipation. He took the parchment and spread it flat on the desk. The yellowed surface appeared completely blank.
This didn't surprise him. He raised his wand, touched it to the parchment, and spoke the activation phrase with appropriate solemnity: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Delicate ink lines suddenly burst from beneath his wand tip, spreading like an intricate spider web across the entire parchment. Green text began forming at the top:
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and ProngsPurveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makersare proud to presentTHE MARAUDER'S MAP
The moment Adrian activated the map, his eyes immediately began scanning the moving labels scattered across Hogwarts' layout.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione's names clustered together in the Gryffindor common room, probably celebrating their Quidditch victory. Adrian searched more carefully and soon located the name he was looking for: Peter Pettigrew, positioned not far from Ron's dot.
Adrian had always wondered, in his previous life, why the Weasley twins, who possessed this very map, had never noticed that someone named Peter Pettigrew had been following their little brother around for multiple semesters.
Now, seeing the map in action, Adrian understood its limitations.
The parchment was relatively small while Hogwarts was enormous, so it could only show approximate locations of everyone present. With thousands of student and professor names crowded together, especially in densely populated areas like dormitories and common rooms, a small dot labeled "Peter" would be nearly invisible among the chaos.
Adrian immediately searched for Quirrell's position, curious whether the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle" might appear beside it.
He found Quirrell quickly enough, located in the professors' quarters, but disappointingly only his own name appeared on the map. Perhaps this was because Voldemort wasn't technically alive in any conventional sense.
While Adrian studied the map thoughtfully, the Weasley twins watched his expert handling with amazement. When they'd first acquired the Marauder's Map, it had taken them considerable time and effort to crack its activation phrase.
"Adrian, have you used something similar before?" George asked suspiciously.
Adrian shook his head and offered a carefully truthful explanation. "No, but I happen to know something about the map's creators."
"By the way," Adrian continued, curiosity getting the better of him, "how could you give me something this valuable?"
The importance of the map to the Weasley twins, notorious for their school pranks, couldn't be overstated. With this artifact, they could wander Hogwarts with virtual impunity, never worrying about being caught by professors or prefects.
George's expression grew slightly more serious as he glanced at the Galleons scattered across the table.
"Fred and I don't know what you need all that money for," he said quietly, "but we suspect you won't be staying safely within school grounds once you have it."
"We've memorized the entire map's contents," Fred added. "It'll be far more useful in your hands than gathering dust in ours."
"Besides," George concluded with a pat on Adrian's shoulder, "we don't want anything happening to our newly appointed special consultant."
"Thank you," Adrian said, genuinely touched by their gesture. He didn't elaborate with flowery speeches, but he filed their generosity away in his memory.
If he ever had the power to change things, he'd do his best to rewrite Fred's eventual fate. Both brothers had proven themselves worth saving.
"By the way," Adrian said, carefully folding the map and tucking it away, "have either of you been to Hogsmeade Village?"
"Of course we have. Were you planning to go there?" Fred asked, though he and George exchanged slightly worried glances. They'd actually debated this possibility before giving Adrian the map, concerned he might slip out of Hogwarts and venture somewhere dangerous.
Learning that Adrian only wanted to visit Hogsmeade Village was reassuring, relatively speaking, it was quite safe there.
The twins didn't hesitate to share everything they knew about the village, though their knowledge was somewhat limited. While the Marauder's Map had enabled several successful sneaking expeditions, they'd never stayed long enough to become true experts on the area.
After recounting various amusing incidents from their Hogsmeade adventures, George's expression grew serious again.
"Look, Adrian," he said carefully, "even though you're the Hero of Gryffindor and managed to kill that troll, I still need to warn you, be careful out there. The wizards you'll encounter outside Hogwarts are a lot more dangerous than any troll."