Ever since mastering the Animagus transformation, the small animals that the Marauders turned into had become practically ubiquitous at Hogwarts. Over the past four years, they had figured out almost all of the secret passages—why not all of them? Hogwarts had stood for over ten centuries, with a long and storied history; completely mapping out every single one of its secrets would probably take several more years.
Yet this was hardly enough to stump them. Troubles still arose, however, such as Filch, whose cat Mrs. Norris possessed an uncanny nose for finding clues, leaving Peter terrified time and again. Whenever that happened, Sirius would step in like a cat's mortal enemy to block the way—sometimes even when Filch was right there, entirely unable to tell whether the large dog before him was actually a transformed human.
Even so, this certainly interfered with the joy of their nocturnal adventures. Thus, when the four of them returned to their dormitory, Remus took off the Invisibility Cloak while James and the others shifted back into human form, leaping onto Remus's somewhat untidy bed as if deep in thought. Frustrated and annoyed, James ruffled his hair and sat up.
Chapter 38