October arrived with a snap of cold wind and the first thin frost tracing silver along the window edges.
The castle slipped into its usual autumn rhythm—students shuffling to class in thicker robes, Hagrid tending to a patch of pumpkins the size of small cows across the grounds, and the staff growing increasingly twitchy as Halloween aproached once more, a source of trouble for the last few years now was coming closer and closer.
Cassius had other things on his mind.
First and formost was his course work, making sure no one threatened to unseat him as the top student of his year, which Hermione was making tougher and tougher seeing as how she openly dropped a few classes after deciding they werent for her, while Cassius retained his full course load.
Secondly was his relationship with the girls... Afterall they were entering that age when kids start to notice one another, and well getting to live exclusively with him surrounded by rivals... things were getting quite heated to the point he had to lay down some simple common room rules, like setting up a might is right policy in that when a dispute arises a duel happens in the Dorm training space and the winner of the duel wins the arguement no questions asked.
This was a tool to keep the girls ever growing and developing their spellcraft without slacking off just cause they wanted to have a better position at the dinner table, or who gets to sit next to him in the library.
Or worse yet the ever changing order of seating for riding the train home for winter break.
Thirdly was his ongoing prank wark against Sirius and Lupin.
Lupin was roped in as reinforcements as Sirius could barely hangon just fighting me alone, but now i had Fred and George on my side, so he stood no chance.
Thanks to his involvement in the war, Cassius's priority was not dying from the prank Sirius Black had—once again—attempted and failed to unleash upon him.
It had begun with a harmless diversion: a floating box of Honeydukes chocolates left temptingly outside the Draconis common room.
Cassius had simply transfigured the sweets into rubber ducks without touching them, at which point the box had exploded in a cloud of technicolor smoke and triggered half a dozen hexes meant to turn him into a rainbow porcupine.
He walked through them without a scratch.
Sirius, hiding under Disillusionment at the far end of the corridor, let out a strangled sound of frustration.
Cassius didn't bother suppressing the smirk.
"Better luck next time, Professor," he said calmly, stepping past the settling smoke.
"Oh no you don't, Pup—STOP."
The word snapped like a whip.
Vocals akin to magic jolted through the corridor as Sirius invoked teacher authority.
Cassius froze mid-stride, locked in place as if invisible chains wrapped him head to toe.
He blinked.
"…Seriously?"
Sirius marched up, hair windswept, robes half open, eyes blazing with the manic determination of a man who refused—refused—to lose to a thirteen-year-old.
"You think you can prank-dodge me and just walk away?" Sirius demanded. "Me? Me? Padfoot the Uncatchable, Terror of the Prefects, Slayer of School Rules, He Who Turned the Great Hall Ceiling Pink for Three Days—"
Cassius cleared his throat. "It was still patchy on day four."
"—and you think you can mock me with that tone—well I—"
Sirius abruptly stopped mid-rant.
His expression shifted from righteous fury to something far more serious.
"…take this," he said softly.
He reached into his robes.
Cassius immediately tensed.
Sirius flicked something at his chest.
A folded bit of parchment hit Cassius right over the sternum, fluttered downward, and bounced off his shoe.
"Try calling that incomplete, Lil Pup," Sirius said, voice strangely level. "Go on. I dare you."
Cassius stared.
Before he could speak, Sirius had disappeared, without adding a single insult, lecture, or smug taunt—without even gloating—he had simply turned and strode away.
No manic grin.
No dramatic cape twirl.
No challenge yelled over his shoulder.
Just… gone.
Cassius frowned slowly.
That was not normal behaviour.
Not for Sirius.
Not for any Marauder, really.
Even of the new generation Fred, and George had gotten even more unruly than their OG selves were in that other timeline, with a true master to learn from they were practically unhinged, even getting investment not only from Cassius for their products, but Sirius had also joined in seeing great value in the twins products and their desires to make Zonko products look like garbage in comparison.
He bent down and picked up the parchment.
Picking it up he could tell, this bit of spare parchment was something... different, only unlike before there was quite a bit more parchment to the bundle.
"…oh," Cassius murmured.
He stepped into an empty alcove, raised his wand, and whispered:
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Ink bled across the parchment like veins waking under skin.
The traditional seal appeared announcing the four origional creators, and at the bottom a new line of text featuring Scaly, Piper, and Nicker.
Citing Cassius, Fred, and George.
Like usual the naming was chosen based off traits, as Cassius is a Snape, and heir of Draconis the house of dragons, Scaly was his.
Meanwhile for the twins their names were practically chosen by Cassius as he cited them to be like magpies, joy when in two, sorrow when alone as they were always together bringing joy.
This of course was also forknowledge as when they finally got around to learning patronus's both theirs would in fact be a Magpie.
And then the castle unfolded.
But it wasn't the cramped, narrow layout of the original map.
This one stretched—expanded—like a living tapestry blooming open.
The castle walls were broader and represented in far greater detail.
Towers, floors, cells, niches, crawlspaces, sublevels—whole regions that hadn't existed on the previous map were outlined in clean enchanted script.
And then the castle boundary ended—
But the map didn't.
It continued outward.
The lawns.
The lake shore.
Hagrid's hut.
The first several acres of the Forbidden Forest.
Even the outer border of Hogsmeade village flickered faintly at the far edge, like a half-drawn thought that would soon grow more defined with time.
The Marauders Map, reborn.
"…well done, Sirius," Cassius whispered.
He traced the map with his eyes, checking for anomalies out of habit.
Students moving through halls.
Professors pacing classrooms.
Even ghosts drifting in lazy, looping patterns.
The castle breathed and shifted under the map like a living organism.
Then—
A name blinked into existence at the very edge of the grounds.
Cassius's blood iced.
The name moved fast.
Too fast.
Not wandering.
Not strolling.
Running.
Running straight toward the castle.
Peter Pettigrew
Cassius's breath caught.
There he was.
Not hiding.
Not blending with the walls.
Not slipping unseen between gaps in ancient stone.
He was outside—and coming straight for Hogwarts.
Cassius snapped the map shut with a vicious motion.
His heart hammered once, hard.
"So," he whispered, voice low and cold.
"It begins."