Marauder's Map

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 130528

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Kelly Pelton 
<kc_bryantpelton at y...> wrote:

Kelly:
> Just a quick question, does anyone know if the Chamber of Secrets 
appears on the Marauder's Map?

Geoff:
I'm mildly surprised that no one has referred to the following piece 
of canon which I turned to straight away.

'"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets 
so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived 
at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of 
Secrets, unleash the horror within and use it to purge the school of 
all who were unworthy to study magic."
There was silence as he finished telling the story but it wasn't the 
usual sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns' classes. There was 
unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for 
more. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.
"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, 
the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many 
times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A 
tale told to frighten the gullible".....

...."That will do," he said sharply. "It is a myth! It does not 
exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so 
much as a secret broom cupboard!...."

(COS "The Writing on the Wall" pp.114-115 UK edition)

The implication of this is that, although it is a known fact to 
staff, it is not mentioned generally so that pupils probably do not 
know about the story and so it would not be on the Marauders' Map 
anyway.

It is noticeable that it is Hermione who asks Binns the question and 
she is probably the only person in the school who has bothered to 
read "Hogwarts: A History" where there might be a mention....