21

1976, 29 January- Thursday.

After lunch, Polaris headed straight towards the room of requirement with practising some spells in mind. Nathaniel had happened to follow him out of boredom as he was now currently lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling while Polaris was looking through a spell book.

"Do you ever wonder how life came to be?" Nathaniel randomly filled the silence that Polaris had asked for.

"No", Polaris answered, wanting him to stop talking, "Really? Not at all, not one bit?" Nathaniel asked again as he sat up on the floor, his back no longer pressed against the cold stone.

"Well, I said no, so no means no", Polaris replied again while he flicked through the book of advanced spells.

"Oh… well, I have, well not really but more so what the point of it is- do want to know what I've come up with?" Spoke Nathaniel.

Polaris sighed lightly, "Sure", he droned out. Nathaniel grinned, "Happiness", he spoke out again, which Polaris raised his brow at. No longer was he looking at the book in his hand but at Nathaniel.

"Happiness?" Polaris sounded out. Nathaniel nodded his head, "Yeah, happiness. I think it's the purpose of life, the aim and end of the human existence- don't you agree?"

"No, and yes, you now asking this question. I would say being successful. Asking what the meaning of life is a pointless and a cliché question. Everyone is different. We all have different outlooks on life and different thoughts. We all have different opinions. Like you said, you think Happiness is the meaning of life, while I found myself saying being successful is- like I said, we all have different opinions. We all have our reasons for giving the answers we do like you do." Polaris said, his eyes still on his book. He was trying to find a spell to catch Nathaniel off guard for their next duel since they were taking a break.

Polaris paused for a moment, then looked towards Nathaniel, who was sitting too far from him, where he decided to rest and spoke again, "I said being successful because that's what it feels like. We're born into this world solely to grow up, study then work. We're all encouraged to study hard and excel in our studies, whether to make others proud or to prevent ourselves from worrying about a terrible future. Although I find it to be a ridiculous question, really. Clearly, there is no right answer to it. It's just a personal opinion everyone has a say in. As life goes on, those opinions are most likely to change."

Again there was a pause, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying your opinion is wrong. It's the opposite. Well, it's just the correct answer for you, while for me, it isn't, which goes for everyone else unless you meet someone who happens to share your opinions." After speaking, he was back to scanning through the book. He wanted to try- he laughed. He didn't mean to but seeing that hex just made him laugh reading the words.

'Bat-bogey hex- a hex that transformed the target's bogeys into large bats that flew out of the victim's nose.' Perhaps he'll try this one. It's an O.W.L spell, so he wasn't completely positive he could do it on his first try, but with Nathaniel here, he can be the test subject.

Once Polaris had finished speaking, Nathaniel's mouth was slightly hung open, and he started to wonder if he should have just kept his mouth shut. He felt like all that could have been said in at least two sentences.

Nathaniel sighed and rested his back against the floor once again, and the room was filled with silence.

Polaris closed the book he had on him and headed towards the training area with his wand in hand but stopped where Nathaniel was staring at the ceiling. "Realistically, life is just to continue a cycle… anyways, you already know my older brother, right? Sirius."

"You Know who Sirius is, right?" Polaris asked. Nathaniel sat up once again and looked up at Polaris with a grin.

"Of course I do! Who wouldn't? He's one of the best pranksters here at Hogwarts, one of the Marauders, and he's your brother, the last name kind of makes it obvious."

Polaris raised a brow in thought, "Marauders?" he asked.

"Yeah, his friends and him aren't exactly quiet about it in the common room at times. They call themselves the Marauders sometimes, and they have these weird nicknames for each other they call each other sometimes." Nathaniel continued, only interesting Polaris more.

Polaris sat down on the ground in front of Nathaniel, seemingly interested in this information, "I'm guessing James Potter and Remus lupin are part of this 'Marauders'," Spoke Polaris.

"Yeah, and I think that Pettigrew guy too," Nathaniel added.

"Really, that guy? I still don't understand how he's friends with them lot," Polaris said unconsciously.

"Oh, yeah, same. He kind of just looks like a tag-along just as much as he seems out of place. He seems so weak and skittish most of the time." Nathaniel said. Polaris hummed in agreement.

"Have you seen them with a map of some sort before?" Polaris asked carefully.

Nathaniel scrunched his face in thought, "A map of some sort? Um…" the boy looked up slightly while in thought, and Polaris patiently waited for an answer.

"I think so?" Nathaniel finally answered.

"You think so?" Polaris drawled.

"Yeah, I think so. I think it was last month I saw them with something like that. I didn't really think too much into it. I was half asleep then. I only went to the common room to get Reign. It was practically the middle of the night, maybe like 2 am or something. They were in the common room and chanted something and the large parchment." Nathaniel spoke again. "Whose Reign?" Polaris questioned, unable to remember anyone by that name.

Nathaniel flushed, "It's nothing. Go on, continue with your questioning. Perhaps you practising to be Interrogator," Nathaniel spoke, "Right, I'll continue. You said they chanted something? Do you know what it was?" Again Polaris spoke, trying to understand a bit more.

"Not really. I only heard them say something about them being up to now good." Nathaniel replied, quite curious about what Polaris was trying to do.

Polaris hummed again in thought.

"Would you do me a favour?" Polaris asked the Gryffindor.

Nathaniel looked a bit shocked, not expecting Polaris Black to ask him for a favour, "Sure! Anything", he replied with a wide grin.

"Steal the map for me," Polaris flat out said. As he spoke, Nathaniel's grin depleted, and he stared at Polaris strangely.

"I guess I said anything… but maybe not that," Nathaniel said with a nervous chuckle.

"Come on, it shouldn't be that hard. You said the Pettigrew lad was part of their group, so it should be easier if you use him to get the map. Besides, if I have the map, I can figure it out and make one of my own." Polaris spoke, "What is this even about anyways, whats so special about this map?" Nathaniel asked if he was going to help. He wanted to know the reason.

"Ah, well, about that. Remember when we left Welby in the forest? Well, apparently, someone else was aware I wasn't in the school that night." Polaris calmly told him. Nathaniel's eyes slightly widened, "But I thought we wouldn#t get caught? It's planned and everything!" Nathaniel exclaimed.

"Well, I thought so too, but it seems as though my brother was able to track my whereabouts… he might have said something to me, asking where I was. The way he said it was enough to let me know that he knew I really wasn't in the castle…" Polaris said.

Nathaniel was quiet for a moment before asking another question, "Alright… so he knows you weren't in the castle, so does that mean he doesn't know about us not being in the castle?" Nathaniel asked.

"I have no idea how the map works. I'm not even sure if it showed him that I was in the forbidden forest. He didn't mention it, perhaps he was expecting them to own up to it myself, but if he did know I was in the forbidden forest, then… maybe he'll know who was with me? I'm not too sure how the map thing works. I just know it's definitely something I want. So will you help?"

Nathaniel sighed, "Wait, so the map…" he trailed off.

"Well, I have suspicion to believe that their map is able to track everyone's whereabouts on the Hogwarts school grounds," Polaris spoke again. " I mean, if he was able to track me with it, then surely he can track other people. I doubt he made it just to find me, and besides didn't you say they have some kind of group- they even have nicknames for each other."

Nathaniel's eyes widened, "It's a magical map," he mused in surprise while Polaris rolled his eyes.

"Well, obviously, why do you think they'd chant something at it? It was definitely used to activate it or something." Polaris spoke out again.

"Alright, alright. I'll see what I can do- do you think you'll be able to replicate it?" Nathaniel asked. Polaris shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not a genius. Besides, we'll have the room of requirement to help us." He responded. "Okay, just give me a week to get the map. I need time to think of a plan. Perhaps it won't take that long, seeing as they're careless sometimes- did you know Remus is- never mind. Are you going to dinner?"

Deciding to ignore what Nathaniel was going to say about Remus. He already guessed the Gryffindor knew about the 'fury problem', as Sirius had called it. He answered him about going to dinner, "After another duel, I want to go down with all smiles after I win against you again, making it 41-12", Polaris spoke.

Nathaniel rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms and spoke, "Nope, I'm heading down for dinner. I'm saving my energy to make it 13-40 tomorrow morning in D.A.D.A. We're going to partner up, and I can show everyone I'm way better than you- you're looking at the future Head Auror, Pol!"

"Head Auror, I guess I can see that happening", Polaris mused as they headed towards the door, "What about you, any idea what you're aiming for?"

Polaris opened the door, looking back at Nathaniel, "I'm eleven. Ask me again in like four years."

"Really? You have nothing in mind?" Nathaniel pried as he followed Polaris out the door. Polaris hummed in thought, "You're thinking of working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I suppose I wouldn't mind working in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Sound interesting and fun."

"Being an Auror sounds like more fun," Nathaniel told him.

1976, 12 May- Tuesday.

This was an awkward predicament. It's quatre past one, and their Astronomy Professor, Professor Sinistra, had just explained their assignment, which was due on the 29th of May, which would be contributed to the summer exams which would be starting the first week of June. He was already aware of what days and times his exams would be taking place.

They would be all taken within the classes of the subjects they had, and it depended on their professor which class they would be taken in.

The exams last for two weeks. For them, he had five in the first week and three in the second week. This class was the only one that was giving a project that was worth 5% of their grade. In the other classes, such as Charms, Transfiguration and Potions, they will be given an assessment worth 10% of their grade, while in the other subjects just as Herboloyg and D.A.D.A, their assessment is worth 20%.

They were given the task of creating their own Constellation as part of their project. 5 points for naming their constellation, another 5 points for mentioning where and when they could see it, and 50 points for developing a story about the constellation and how it was produced. The assignment was worth a total of 60 points.

This was a group project, with only two people in a group. So it was slightly awkward since, initially, they were aware of the project… so Polaris, Corvus and Aaron had decided to group up since they hadn't done a project in a group with each other before.

It wasn't much of a problem for long. They shared a class with the Hufflepuffs, and it seemed Amelia and her friends, Ella and Elizabeth, were having a similar problem. And Amelia came to the solution of letting her friends pair up and asked Polaris to be her partner since he too was in the same situation. He agreed now they were trying to think of a name for the constellation before the class ended.

"I can't think of anything…." Amelia murmured, scribbling random words on her parchment, seeing which one looked better. "What if we don't immediately decide on a name now? What if we create a story of a star that are constellation would be named after or something." Polaris offered.

Amelia hummed at the idea, "That's brilliant! We can create another story about a person who becomes a star or something, and the constellation was named in their honour, and that star lives in the constellation we'll create."

Polaris liked that idea, so he agreed, then they both started writing names of what they could call the star, "I can't think of anything…. perhaps I'm not what you call 'creative'," Polaris said dryly. He rested the side of his face on his right palm. His right elbow was on the desk as he glanced over at Amelia's sheet, she had a few names, but he wasn't too sure about them.

She turned him, giving him a weary smile, "I've got some names, but they're all bad. What if we… what if you use our names?!" she said, "Our named?" he drawled.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "I don't know, like using the letters that in both our names and see what we can create. You write six, and I write six, and we choose two. We don't have to have our constellation named after one person. It could be twins. We get to name one each." Sher responded, crossing a line through the names she had and jotted down their names at the top, 'Amelia' and 'Polaris'.

Another good idea, it gives them a limit of letters. He did just as she did and started taking letters from their names.

So far he had, 'Amis', 'Ames', 'Aris', 'Aaris' and 'Alris'.

He turned to her, "Already done?" she asked. He nodded proudly, "Yes, six names all there." He told her, pointing t the names he had, "What names did you come up with?" he asked her, leaning over again, looking at her sheet.

She shited her parchment on the desk, angling it so he could see it better. He read the names, from top to bottom, "Let's see, you've got Ameris, Alaris, Ameis, Amaris and Selris. Alright, we should do an elimination, you pick your favourite from yours, and I'll choose from mine."

In the end, she chose 'Selris' she liked how it sounded, it was beautiful. Polaris, on the other hand, liked both 'Aaris' and 'Alris'. What sounded better, Selris & Aaris, or Selris & Alris… he couldn't decide which one he liked better. He kept pronouncing the names out loud. They finished the class, and Polaris agreed to meet her during the weekend. By then, he would have decided on the name.

The day was done for the Slytherins at 3pm, after having their final class after Astronomy, which was Herbology, another class they had with the Hufflepuffs.

Polaris and Nathaniel had already decided to meet up then since Nathaniel had a free period before he would have to go to his last lesson at 4pm. They were still working on the map.

Polaris had learned the Homonculous Charm.It was used for the tracking element of the map. It hadn't taken too long to find the spell, having sued the room of requirement for books on such things. He practised the spell for a while, using copies of the map they were going to use until he finally perfected it. He wasn't too sure why he had a hard time casting it.

Once Polars had figured out his brother, Sirius had tried tracking him. He was able to make the correct assumption that his brother and his friends had a 'magical map', which Polaris found easy to steal- well, he didn't exactly steal it, Nathaniel did it, which to him still counts as stealing as he was the one that had orchestrated the act.

At first, Nathaniel had said he needed a week to retrieve the map, but it ended up taking about 2 weeks for Nathaniel to successfully retrieve the magical map from his brother and his goons. Once he had gotten it, he inspected it, observed it, and studied it.

At some point, they used it. It was fascinating. Luckily for them, before Nathaniel had taken the map from his brother, he was able to figure out what was to be spoken to the map before it could be accessed, which was why it took longer to retrieve.

Which was 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.' Which Polaris found seemingly stupid, but then again, it suited his brother. With just a mutter of the words and a wand pointed at the map, the content of the map had then revealed itself- it was pure genius!

He couldn't understand how Sirius and his friends were able to create such a thing- Gryffindor at that, but then again, he supposes that if a Gryffindor was encouraged enough, they could achieve great feats. With the Marauder's encouragement seeming to be that of being able to prank without getting caught.

About two days later, Polaris had finished having a look at the map and had an understanding of its workings and had Nathaniel discreetly giving the map back- which Polaris had assumed for him to drop it somewhere in the Gryffindor common room and act as though they had just dropped it.

Nathaniel didn't think that was a good idea and just walked towards his Pettigrew and announced that he saw him drop it. Polaris couldn't help but slap his forehead when he heard Nathaniel speak across the great hall during breakfast.

He had just hoped they wouldn't suspect Nathaniel of actually taking it, but it seemed the Marauders didn't suspect it and just got annoyed at poor Peter.

It had taken trial and error for Polaris to finally get the map created, but eventually, he was able to do so. Now all that was left was for the map to be constructed. Although they had yet to decide how to activate the map and deactivate it, at the moment, it had neither. It just immediately showed the map. Instead of focusing on that, Nathaniel was more interested in the naming of the map.

Polaris ended up working on constructing the map of the school and forest, while Nathaniel thought of a name for the man and how it should be accessed and how to hide the contents of the map. Mapping the school was easier said than done. When he finished, he gave the map to Nathaniel, who was still thinking of names.

"Alright, I'm going back to my dorms", Polaris stated as he turned back around to face Nathaniel.

"Wait! Are you leaving now? Don't you want to… I don't know? Look at the map?" Nathaniel questioned.

"Um, well, we have plenty of time to do that, but if you insist- it's not like I have anything better to do." With that said, both Nathaniel and Polaris walked down the hall.

"So where are we going," Nathaniel asked after a few moments of walking and silence.

Polaris completely stopped walking and looked the boy dead in the eyes, "…I was following you."

Nathaniel's brows furrowed, "… well I was following you," he responded back as he came to a stop as well.

"How does that even work? How are we both following each other? Besides, I'm the one that's supposed to be following you since you know where the map is." Polaris snapped.

Nathaniel threw his hands up defensively, "Take it easy. It's in the room of requirement."