Just to everyone warn everyone I am knew at this.
I was just curious to know if anyone elese thought that it was odd how Fred and George knew how to use the Map. Or why they would have taken a blank piece of paper anyway.
Now I'm not saying their are bad guys when I say this it's just an idea. I'm just courious. I find it odd that one of the map makers a certain *rat* lives with them. Maybe he could have given them a little hint. I would like to hear what other people think. (I really do think they are on Harry's side that's why I want to hear other people's ideas.)

I always figured that the map showed itself to those " worthy" of being marauders. They found it in Filches office right? Maybe the map was already activated for some reason, and they figured out how to close it.

Who knows how they figured it out... It was created by the Marauders (who were the biggest trouble makers at Hogwarts during their time) and it was found by Fred and George (the biggest trouble makers at Hogwarts during their time). It's possible it had something to do with that, but I'm not really sure. I highly doubt that Fred and George just randomly decided to hold their wands to a blank piece of parchment and say, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good,"

Since the map seems to be all powerful, it must know when the hands holding it belong to someone worthy of causing pranks. So when Fred and George found the parchment they took it and the map activated or revealed a spell for them to say because it knew that the twins were worthy pranksters!

Hmm but why would they steal an empty piece of parchment from Filch's office? Maybe, someone didn't say "Mischief managed" and the ink was still there. All they had to do was follow the directions on the map.

P.S. Welcome to the forums Tialeigh!

I've wondered how they knew to work it too. Now taking it, they do that kind of stuff, but figuring out how to work it.... well it's Fred and George, anything to get in trouble- they're good at it.

I don't know but I probably couldn't have done it.

MOD EDIT : Could you please make sure that your posts relate to the topic and push the arguments forward? Comments like this just to get post counts up do not.

Well, the password needed to open it does seem rather like something the Weasleys would make up... I think that MargeuxBlack has an interesting point that it might have already been activated, but I think then Filch would have taken more care about it... after all, then he could use it to make sure no students were out of bed during the night LOL....

The map also shows itself to 'have a mind of its own' when Snape catches Harry with it and it starts insulting him. So yes, it could well have revealed itself to those worthy of it.

I'm guessing that they did a spell like Snape did "releave you secrets" only it didn't insult them or it did and they thought it was funny. And they kept asking it and they did actually say "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good" adentiually, or the said something like "I'm up to no good" and it started to do stuff and they worked it out, I don't know, they seem pretty smart, they just don't apply themselves to anything.

They're smart, they probably figured out how to use it.

maybe they just said a whole bunch of funny incantatrions and figureds it out.

Or the map knew what they would use it for. I have to wonder if Harry found it, how would it react?

how does the map know who it is though? how did it know that it was snape..?maybe snape knew about it a long time ago and tried to steale it once before.

Because Snap said something like "I Professor Serves Snap command you to relieve your secrets." And mabye Fred or Geogre said the same thing and it did, relieve it's secrets.

To answer a question that was asked before, I believe that Fred and George took the blank parchment because it was in a file cabinet in Filch's office, and that obviously (without any other clues) said that this was a forbidden object. That definitely would intrigue the Weasley twins.

Sayonara.

well if you read the third book close enough you'd realize that it said they found it blank but they thought that if filch had confiscated a blank piece of parchment then it would have to be something important. also ii think that it would have just shown its self to them because it saw them as "worthy"

well i think that the marauders of the map considered fred and george true mischeif makers and taught them how to use the map. the marauders truly considered them loyal mischeif makers and thought that they were worth enough to have the map or in any other case they probably found it activated already and learned how to use it. well, they are very intelligent they just don't use in the right place.

For some reason I think I remember reading that Filch didn't know exactly what it was...or maybe he didn't know exactly how to use it... but I think if he got it activated he would have put it to his own use and not just confiscated it...hmm...not sure

Even if he did know how to use it though, he couldn't have because he's a Squib, isn't he?

**tee hee** Must have driven him mad...knowing what it was and knowing he couldn't get into it.....

But then again, I suppose he could have asked Snape, couldn't he? So I guess he couldn't have known......

Ah, well....it was fun to think of Filch ripping out handfuls of his spartan hair in frustration....

Ok.... Maybe when Fred and George took the map they tried everything to find out what it was hiding then they tried this:

"We somenly swear that we are up to no good" and ... then it suddenly appears ... reading the potter books it not surprising me that Fred and George would try everything ... and Filch, he probably tried to find out to ... but it insulted him, so he confiscated it of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter ...

Well thats my opinion


SlytherinRuler

about filch and the map-
one reason to support the argument that the map was not open when filch confiscated it (if he was the one who confiscated it) is the fact that if he had seen the map he would have known about all the secret passageways, including the one eyed witch one, and the whole time sirius was on the loose and the security in and around the castle was completely locked down, there was nothing around the one eyed witch (as harry himself points out in the book). if filch knew about it, he probably would have had some sort of security around it (even though the chances of sirius coming in through that passageway were pretty slim), especially since the passageway goes off the map, so even if filch suspected it went to hogsmeade, he wouldn't know exactly where it ended.

fred and george was always troubble makers so maybe they just kept saying words until they figured out how to work the map. i mean there are alot of ways that they could have figured out how to work the map, and i do not think that wormtail is one of them, because i do not think that fred and george would keep a secret like this.

swirlctw

Joeshmoe.......I really like your theory. I think you could be right. But maybe they figured out how to use it because they are smart.

Yes, if you put a box labelled "Forbidden (objects)" in front of Fred & George, that's practically waving an open invitation in front of them welcoming them to examine its contents! They couldn't possibly resist.

Maybe Filch saw its previous owners before Fred & George huddled over it somewhere in a hidden corner of Hogwarts and they were trouble-lovers themselves, so Filch figured since they were being so secretive with it, it must be very valuable and therefore dangerous. Thus he confiscated it.

Little did he anticipate the most troublesome of them all (the lovely Twins), being drawn to its whereabouts like magnets after he'd put it away for good.
I reckon Fred & George spent many hours huddled up in dark corners too, trying to figure out how to use it. They're intelligent wizards so i don't think it would have taken them long.

I think the map must have some kind of spell included in it that determines whether it wants to reveal itself to the kind of (good, or at least noble) person who'll do justice to it and not just any sort of person (like Snape). But once it's been opened and all various trails are revealed, i think anyone can see it and use it to their advantage.

Yeah, I think we can give the Maurauders more credit than that. They would have definitly put safeguards on it so that someone could figure out how to open it. I wonder how Filch came to confiscate it in the first place, though? And we know that the map has some sort of thinking capabilities: it made fun of Snape and Lupins comment of how their school boy selves would have found it amusing to lure Harry out of school. We also know that Fred and George are experimental guys, and very intelligent.

If you add all this together, you end with Fred and George, possibly with a little help from Map!Maurauders, finding the secret of the Maurauders Map.

Yeah exactly, sometimes i think people don't give enough credit to Fred & George. Sure they're jokers on the face of it, but it shouldn't be all that people attribute to them. Because to be as successful as they are, with all their experiments and for the most part, out-smarting a lot of the Hogwarts' professors and fellow students, it requires strength of intellect and resourcefulness.

I'm sure the map must have granted the Twins a clue somehow after it figured these boys were okay to divulge its secret to. The original Marauders, being as bright as they were, would have accounted for all possibilities of the map's possession, be it in their hands or another's. So i'm positive the map has some sort of 'brain', for want of a better word.

And if it does have a "brain" then the Map is possibly more dangerous than we imagine.

"Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps it's brains"

I think that Arthur Weasley has had his share of bewitched objects that can think for themselves but have no obvious brain. They're dangerous and unpredictable. ex. Riddles diary.

I am not saying that every AI object in the magical world is dangerous, nor do I think that the Maurauders would have intentionally created something dangerous.
But danger wasn't too high on their list of things to worry about, so if the Map does have a brain, we should be weary of it.

At least a little.

I can't say this anybettter so I'll quote someone from another forum.
I had this same question also

Hermoine, what do you mean with already open? Because if it was showing the map of the castle, Filch would have been able to use it.
My bet is that the map showed them how to use it, because it's made for mischeafmakers, and who better apply to that name than the weasley twins??

You know the mp speaks to you when you ask's it? (snape PoA) so maybe that's how they Found out? they asked it outm the map got to know the twins and somehow trusted them and then the map showed them how to use it?
it could be an idea?

Hello!!! This is my first time to post here!!!

Anyway, I think that the Marauder's Map is for made for their fellow mischievious schoolmates. I agree with Lulu that the map speaks to those who are talking to them. Actually, it really remind me of Tom Riddle's diary. You know, they have preserved something to talk to even though they're not present (or not existing).

okie dokie...... here's my opinion!
they found it in filch's office, and that's the only thing that is mentioned in the book right???

ummmmm......
i think the map has a charm that would persuade others to use it especially for bullies like fred and george!
maybe that's one of the requirements of mr. moony, wormtail, padfoot and prongs....... like them bullies in the school!
well, that was just an opinion of mine!

or maybe the map was left open while in filch's office and they saw it!
and then just guess for the word on how to close it!

stay cool guys!

This is something that I've been wondering about for a very long time. The fact that Fred and George are troublemakers, just like the Marauders, probably does have something to do with it. I'm sure they wanted to spread their mischief. It's likely that the Marauders designed the map so that troublemakers in later generations would be able to benefit from the map.

Exactly what I was thinking, Magically Delicious. Maybe the Marauders, when it was time for them to leave Hogwarts, left it somewhere where they knew Filch would find it. And, the people who usually go into Filch's office are pranksters, so the Marauders knew that pranksters usually go searching around, planning more pranks, thus, they would find the Marauder's Map, and it would only show itself to people who are worthy of it.

I agree with a lot of people on the fact that the map showed them how to work it because we already know that it can insult people so whats to say it isn't able to tell when someone really wants to get up to no good. Also I didn't have time to read all the posts but it was the part about why Fred and George took the parchment that astounded me. I'm not trying to put people down but it tells you in the books why they took the parchment. it says that Fred and George were in Filches office for setting off a Dungbomb and they noticed a drawer marked 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous' and being Fred and George they just couldn't help themselves so Fred stuck his hand in while George created a diversion and they got the map. Therefore I doubt the map was left with anything on it because then Filch would have been using it for his own good to see what pupils were up to. Sorry if it seems as though I'mputting anyones ideas down but I just thought I'd point out that bit in the book.

maybe they were just talking to each other and said something close to "i solemly swear i am up to know good" but didnt exactly say it but the make started showing little bits of itself. Fred and George arent the smartest people, but i think they would have figured out that something they said triggered a reaction from the map.

Well come on we know fred and george are decent wizards, they just use all their talent for mischief. They probably had their own way of figuring it out. Just look at how good they are at making joke items, I mean some of them have pretty advanced enchantments on them. They said they nicked it from filches office so I'm guessing they took a lot of stuff and decided to take the parchment too.

I think that the map showed itself to them or that they somehow figuerd it out. They are pretty smart,

i think the map was deffinetly not activated when they first found it and filch left them in his office and they were snooping around and they came across it and picked it up and it must have said something in order for them to keep messing with it. So my guess is it more or less revealed some of what it did and they figured the rest out.

I think maybe the map senced they were troublemakers like its origional owners, and gave them some sort of clue. I guess it is pretty misterious, but like Ginny says "growing up with Fred and George makes anything seem possible". Maybe they just pointed their wands at the map for hours untill they finaly found the right words. Sounds kinda stupid though.