"How are you, Rigel? Jasmine told me her account of what happened, and I'm eager to listen to your own."
"Are you going to pull up a chair next to Professor McGonagall then, or just loom over me awkwardly?"
With a wave of his hand, another chair slid over the stone floor and he sat, both somewhat amused by the boy's fiery attitude and pitying him for the pain he'd suffered. When the two had come in Pomfrey had told him the boy had been held under the cruciatus curse for over twenty seconds, being released and reinflicted to drag out the pain without breaking him. "There. Now Rigel, if you would recount everything that happened within the forest."
Rigel began with the truth, and he continued telling the truth. The long walk, the meeting of centaurs, Malfoy playing a prank, and the groups being resorted, finding the unicorn. The difference was that Rigel omitted any description of mage sight. Even if there was a spell that detected lies, it wouldn't trigger, as he hadn't as of yet. "Once Fang ran off, barking and howling, the thing noticed us. I stepped to the side to give it two targets, rather than one, as Quirrell taught us in DADA, and stabbed its leg with some rocks and bound it with a tree root."
"And how did you accomplish this?" Pomfrey asked, remaining far out of the loop due to her position as matron.
McGonagall explained, "Rigel has an incredible talent in transfiguration, even beyond his talent in charms. He's at a late third-year level with transfigurations, and mid-second in charms according to Flitwick. I've also been privately tutoring him in basic transfiguration applications." Both Dumbledore and Pomfrey were impressed, looking at the boy with a different understanding.
"Anyway," Rigel said, continuing his tale of omitted truths. "The thing conjured a whip of flame, and I dove out of the way, but before I could respond, a red light hit me and all I felt was pain." The three senior wizards and witches twitched at the mention of red light, each having seen or heard of loved ones and friends held under its effects, most dying shortly after. McGonagall was feeling apologetic, as her detention was what sent the boy out there, and as teachers, each felt some level of responsibility for the safety of the students. "I remember watching it turn to Jaz after it finished with me, and the centaur showed up and took us to Hagrid. Then nothing."
The professors asked a series of questions, sometimes getting the boy to repeat his account, however, the story held true since it was the truth, and Dumbledore soon left. "I'm so sorry Rigel," McGonagall said, stroking the back of his hand. "I should have pushed for a safer punishment. I'm not sure what Dumbledore was thinking." At these words, Rigel seethed. 'Of course, he knew. Hagrid would have told him about the bitten and drained unicorns, and Dumbledore would have seen it as perfectly safe with Hagrid's existence, forgetting Hagrid would leave students alone with a dog in said forest.' In order to focus his rage, Rigel focused on healing, focusing on the absorption of surrounding magic and attempting to actively accelerate it, if only marginally.
For 15 minutes McGonagall sat with him, talking about his father in school, and a story of herself as a young witch, until Pomfrey escorted a rather stern-looking man dressed in a finely tailored suit with silver hair and a lord's ring. "Do you know who did it? He asked the matron, who shook her head. "Were the nerves damaged?"
"No Lord Black, Rigel's nerves are recovering on their own rather well, though they will be incredibly sensitive for another week. To be honest, even without my assistance, he would have fully recovered in a fortnight."
Arcturus swept with a noble gait to his heir, looking at the odd relationship between the teacher and student. He'd been told that she had been providing private lessons, however, the older witch seemed to care for his grandson, and for that he was grateful. "I received your letter, Rigel. Do you know who did it? How did it happen?" Rigel recounted the same story he had told Dumbledore but with one added detail.
"He spoke, though only once. Never in this life have I heard his voice, it was terrible. He hissed, like a snake, though his voice seemed raspy?" At the mention of a hiss, all three of them tensed, but only two relaxed again, mistaking it for a child's memory of traumatic events. Arcturus was incensed. Voldemort had gotten into Hogwarts and tortured his heir. The family had lost Regulus, Bellatrix and Narcissa to the Death Eaters, had almost lost Sirius to imprisonment caused by another Death Eater, and by Morgana, he wasn't going to lose anyone else. He was an old man. A tired man. With VERY little left to lose.
McGonagall got up to leave with a pat on Rigel's hand, "I'll be sure to let your friends know you're awake tomorrow, Rigel. If you'll excuse me."
Pomfrey also allowed herself to return to her office, allowing the two wizards privacy if one ignored a sleeping Jasmine, who remained unaware due to some minor soundproofing privacy charms placed in the curtains. "Are you okay? I mean really, not just what you're going to tell your professors."
"I'm hurting, but I'm mentally fine I think. I-I messed up. I thought he'd try to kill me after I stabbed him, but I forgot what a sadist he is."
"He never was the sanest person Rigel. Learn from it, and preparing to defend against the worst-case scenario is almost never a bad decision. Your body is healing quickly, thanks to your…nature. I brought an old family remedy for the cruciatus's effect on the body, but it seems it will only speed up the process a little, and I can tell you, the taste almost won't be worth it."
"How much do I have to drink?"
"Well, you are fairly light, and young, so maybe 7-8 drops. Much more could leave your nerves numb to all sensations for a day or two." He looked over at the gap in the curtains, observing Jasmine. "Did she see?"
"He was originally targeting her, so yeah. She needs to see a therapist, or whatever you call them here. And to do more work on combat skills, even if it means teaching her in advance. We will have the whole holidays to work on it at home."
"I'll get a mind healer arranged for her. Sirius was out tonight, so I'll tell him when he gets home. Stay safe Rigel. You both have incredible potential, and you have the will to carry yourself to the top, but you can still be clipped before you reach your peak. Take care, my boy," Arcturus spoke softly, his hand gently patting the young boy's head, even knowing he hates it, before he turns and leaves out the door.
Unfortunately for Rigel, absorbing the surrounding magic not only healed him, but energised him, so sleep would elude him for a while. Pulling the pouch of sand from his pocket, he tips it onto the bedside table, transfiguring the sand into glass, forming a shape then altering the glass back into a sand pile, repeating the process with different shapes of varying difficulty. He was interrupted turning the sand into Fang, the cowardly dog, by Pomfrey, who vanished the sand and gave him a dose of dreamless sleep draught, so that she could return to sleep.
~~~
When he woke up, Rigel was feeling remarkably better, whatever was in the potion his grandfather gave him was a miracle worker, if probably illegal in most countries. "Psst, Rigel, we need to talk."
"Jaz, if you're going to apologise, don't, it's fine."
"I was, but also, Firenze told me something. About who was drinking the unicorn blood and who Snape's stealing the stone for. It's-"
"Voldemort… I know. I was partially awake while on his back."
"Hermione was in here this morning, but you were dosed up pretty heavily. Anyway, she said the stone is safe, so long as Dumbledore's inside the castle. Voldemort was afraid of him, so we don't have to worry."
"So long as Dumbledore REMAINS in the castle," Rigel added, jumping up from his bed. "Madam Pomfrey, I'd like to be released."
~~~
The exams, if one could call them that, were laughable. An introductory examination to test whether students have a decent understanding of basic and beginner spells, potions and theory, was merely a time waster for Rigel. Even Jasmine found the practicals for charms and DADA easy. Rigel made his pineapple perform an ice-skating routine on top of the table, spinning, sliding and leaping by itself, earning high praise from the short professor Flitwick. Admittedly, his memory of Herbology theory and History of magic hadn't been perfect, despite his occlumency, but there was no doubt he passed.
The day the final exam finished, Rigel had gone to the great hall to celebrate the end of his forced participation in two-hour written exams that should only require half an hour for anyone with a brain, and an hour for even Ron. Jasmine had gone outside for some fresh air, hoping the outdoors might help relieve her of the tingling sensation in her scar. Hermione had assumed it was stress, and some leftover trauma from the detention, not that she mentioned that bit to her friend, and played it off. Rigel sat with Neville, both with fruit juice in their cups, as Neville decided to switch over from pumpkin juice a few months back, discussing their exams and what they think they scored. Rigel talked with the boy and the few other Gryffindors that joined the conversation, eager for high marks or dreading poor ones, when Jasmine and Hermione came rushing into the great hall with reckless abandon.
"Rigel, thank Merlin." Jasmine almost yanked the boy standing, both girls whispering to him about Hagrid's stupidity in revealing how to pacify a dangerous tier 4-5 creature as they moved upward in the castle. 'I wondered when this would happen, to be honest, I remember the movies better than the books, and the movies weren't that great in specifying WHEN Dumbledore vanished, just that he did.'
The trio nearly crashed into Professor McGonagall as they rounded a corner, "Professor, we desperately need to speak to Dumbledore, where could we find him?" Hermione asked in her best ass-kisser tone.
"What for?"
"It's a secret," Jasmine said, causing the Scottish Witch to scowl fiercely, and Rigel bet if she were transformed, her back would be in full arch at that comment. She was livid.
Rigel, not wanting to break his teacher's trust, decided to bluntly describe the reason. "Hagrid revealed to a suspicious person how to pacify Fluffy, and get through the trapdoor while drunk and bought out with a dragon egg."
"Wh-But. How?"
"Professor," he pushed. "Dumbledore, where is he?"
"He left 10 minutes ago to go to the Ministry. He got an urgent call." Jasmine and Hermione cursed in ways only muggles could conjure, though apparently, witches could understand. "Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said, still in full faith of the manipulative goat.
"That's not good enough," Jasmine said in anxious anger.
"And what is more important than the ministry?"
"Absolutely anything," Rigel muttered, earning a quick glance from the witch.
Jasmine looked at Hermione and sighed, spilling out all they knew about the philosopher's stone and that the same person that was drinking unicorn blood would be wanting the stone. "Again, Miss Potter, I'm not sure how you learned of this, though I have a suspicion, the stone is well and truly safe. Now off with you."
The three had a shared agreement to meet and go to the trapdoor tonight, as 'Snape,' would definitely travel by night. Jasmine had been returned her family's invisibility cloak by Dumbledore, "Just in Case," after the detention, walking back to her dorms and finding it there, and it was with this cloak, that the three would escape to the third-floor corridor at night.
The three raced to the third floor, opening the locked door with incredible ease. Hermione had studied a vast array of simplistic utility spells, from bluebell flames to adhesive sticking spells. There was no way between the two highest-graded students, a simple wooden door was ever going to keep them out. "Alohomora," Hermione called, yet again reminding Rigel that the traps were designed to test first years. He could have used transfiguration to simply form a key if he were honest.
Behind the barely locked door was the best doggy in the Harry Potter universe. "Oh by Merlin, he is gorgeous," Rigel gasped, drawing his wand and casting a second-year animation charm on the Harp that was sitting in the corner, keeping the soft lullaby soothing the air, and the 35-foot, three-headed dog. Rigel had never seen Fluffy. Despite his interest, partly because he had no reason to, and also he was worried McGonagall might smell it on him. She had a very sensitive nose and had reprimanded him for going down to the kitchens several times because of it.
"Trapdoor, now." Jasmine and Hermione instantly reached and tried to shift the dog's paw with their hands, while Rigel stood wondering why they bothered learning magic if they were going to try and muscle through situations. Casting a low levitation on the paw that covered the trapdoor, the trapdoor was revealed, and most importantly, Rigel gave the three heads a pat before he too jumped down the trapdoor, casting lumos as he fell. He landed in a pile of writhing, slithering vines before being dropped just as quickly, falling to the floor below.
"Cast Lumos, it's just a Devil's Snare."
"JUST?!" Hermione spit out, before casting a lumos of her own, dropping down to meet him, Jasmine not far behind her. "Devil's Snare is an extremely dangerous plant that will smother and strangle you, before using your body for nutrients."
"It's only dangerous for non-wizards and people without a source of light," he argued. Barely a defence, as most adults should be capable of casting a small lumos wandlessly."
Jasmine loved her friends, but between Hermione's cautious panic and Rigel's brazen confidence, the two never saw eye to eye. "Nevermind the blasted plant, let's go. Snape's further up ahead." As the trio walked down the dark and slightly damp tunnelled corridor, a humming sound. Entering into a small chamber the size of a classroom, with high ceilings and a door on the other side.
"They're birds, do you reckon they'll attack us if we cross to the other side of the room?" Hermione asked, apparently not noticing the shine coming from the 'birds.' Rigel didn't answer, walking over to the lock to ensure it is the same old-fashioned and silver lock as the book, and thus the same, bent-winged key.
"Door's locked bushy tail, and those aren't birds."
"They're keys," Jasmine exclaimed, "one of which opens the door."
"Probably the old, silver key that looks like it's been grabbed and used before." Jasmine spotted some old brooms in the corner, but despite his skill in quidditch, he nor Hermione were seekers, and unlike the quidditch field, this floor wasn't enchanted. With a jab of his wand, he turned a small section of the stone wall into a somewhat detailed stone dragon, repeating the spell to add detail to it.
"What're you doing?" Jasmine called out, passing Hermione a broom.
"Draconifors," he called, slashing his wand at the statue, which became a near-lifelike replica of Norbert, whom he had witnessed and had time to observe. "Hey buddy, go get me the injured silver key and bring it to me, go." The small dragon, unlike its muse, was fully capable of flight and took off into the air with hearty flaps of its long, leathery wings. "You two, get over here now." As the two raced over, Hermione annoyed she hadn't thought up that solution, Norbert 2.0 was diving like a bird of prey, curling in its wings to gain speed as it torpedoed towards the keys. It snatched the large, silver key, breathing a short plume of flame towards the other nearby keys, gliding back towards its creator, who untransfigured it as it released the key. "Thank you little one," Rigel whispered, reverting the statue back to stone. He hated ending the pseudo-life of his creations, but there was no emotion, no pain, only a command programmed into the creation. Shoving the key into the lock and turning, the three slipped inside the door before the remaining keys assaulted the door, much like the avifors spell that Hermione launched at Ron in the 6th film.
The new room they found themselves in was expansive, well-lit by braziers and with rough rock walls, demonstrating that the students were now in the basement levels of the castle, or that McGonagall has an interesting style of décor. "Ugh, we should have brought Ron along," Hermione groaned, looking at the transfigured chess pieces. "We have to play the game and win in order to pass." Jasmine was equally discomforted, being known publicly as dreadful at chess, somehow even worse than Hermione.
"Hermione have you considered…oh, I don't know, magic?" Rigel asked. "Think, girls, think," he said in his best Omniman impression. Drawing his wand and pointing it at the opposing white king, he cancelled the transfiguration, "contra mutationem." A white beam shot from his wand, piercing through the marble statue, which quickly lost its sheen. He then strode across the chessboard, not believing for a second that Quirrell had played a game of chess. The girls waited until he covered half the board without an incident before they followed, nervous about the several head higher than them statues armed with weapons. 'First years are taught how to undo partial transformations, but spending so much time with McGonagall has allowed me to witness her cast the full reversal so many times the spell is ingrained into me,' he thought, stepping off the board and down another set of stairs.
"Thanks, Rigel. We probably would have gotten stuck trying to play the game of chess," Jasmine said with a fist bump to the arm. "How'd you know it would work?"
"McGonagall has a magic tea set that move, pour and brew the tea for her, but if the transfiguration ends for the pot, the teacups stop working too. I figured the transfigured chess set was her work, and the kings were the same as the teapot. Kill the king, win the game." While Jasmine was awestruck, Hermione was chiding herself for not realising the same thing. "Don't worry, I'm sure Snape's one will be right up your alley, Hermione."
As the three pushed through a smaller door, a horrific stench filled their noses. "Urgh, God I'm gonna be sick," Jasmine groaned. A large troll, just the same as the one Rigel killed on Halloween lay unconscious on the floor, a bloody lump on its head. Rigel had thought about killing this one in order to determine if the achievement would still empower him, but he didn't for three reasons. Firstly, he didn't think defeating a downed opponent would provide him anything, and reasons two and three were that the girls and Dumbledore were probably watching, and the unnecessary cruelty would raise flags.
So, with careful steps, they slipped through another set of doors, to Snape's sex dun- Snape's test.