{Hogsmeade station, Hogsmeade}
{1st Sep 1991}
...
"...Right, then. First years, this way, please! Come on, now, first years, don't be shy. Come on now, hurry up." A big man could be seen shouting at the top of his lungs. Rigel looked at Hagrid as he took a deep breath and stepped out of the Hogwarts Express.
His vision was a mess of names and numbers as almost everyone rushed away, most of the older students went in a different direction while the level 1 and 2s huddled around Hagrid. He was not that much taller than him but he was definitely a grade or two larger. The lantern dangled as Hagrid waited for everyone to gather but Rigel's focus was not on the half-giant anymore.
He turned around to look at the Boy Who Lived. Harry didn't look like the actor who played his part in the movies. His scar, his dry and wavy hair, and his green eyes were easily recognizable though. The thing that got his attention was the pulsating second source of magic that he could feel in his scar.
Both Harry's and his scar's magic was surprisingly almost indistinguishable color-wise, but they both sparked at different frequencies. Another fact was that Harry had surprisingly large mana reserves, more like 3 times his own.
'Is this change because of the prophecy, because in this world normal wizards and witches are not supposed to practice with an actual wand until they are 18.' Rigel pondered but he was brought out of his musings by Daphne.
"Rigel! You okay?" Daphne asked.
"Yeah, was just surprised by something, let's go." Rigel nodded as their small group huddled along. Hagrid did a little counting thing but all of Rigel's focus was on the Horcrux in Harry's head. For something that had a similar mana color to Harry's, it simply stood out to him.
The fact that Harry had two sources of mana flowing through him just seemed bizarre.
'Was this how the Prophecy was intended to work, by trying to kill Harry as a baby he created a wizard who had 2 times the mana of a normal wizard.' Rigel pondered as the whole group walked along. They didn't have to walk far as they arrived at the Black Lake. He could see boats laying perfectly still on the water, so still that the whole scenery was bizarre.
The black lake stood up to its name, it was pitch black as it reflected the night sky, and whatever charm was making it perfectly still had the added effect of making the whole thing work like a mirror. Even if he wasn't normally impressed by nature and the beauty of sceneries Rigel had to admit the sight was beautiful.
Daphne seemed to share his view and so did everyone else as most of them took a second to take the sight in. Of course, Hagrid had to go ahead and break the atmosphere by shouting, "Come one, let's go. No more than 4 on a boat."
'Are we really going to Hogwarts in these old-looking boats?' Rigel thought.
While Daphne went back to her default setting, Rigel walked forward to the nearest boat to their group. He extended his hand to either side of him as he carefully stepped into the boat. The old-looking boat was surprisingly stable and Rigel didn't hear it creak even once. He was especially looking for one.
He turned around and shrugged as he extended a hand to Daphne. The blond teen still looked slightly unsure but she grabbed hold of his hand and allowed him to pull her over. The boat wobbled slightly but other than that it was surprisingly still. The water also remained undisturbed.
'Hmm, the magic is surprisingly durable, who cast this, Dumbledore?' Rigel thought as he offered his hand to Tracy. Who was a lot less assured by his shrugged as she almost lost her balance when she jumped over. Rigel had to carefully grab her waist and stabilize her which caused the young witch to blush.
"You okay?" Rigel asked and Tracy nodded as she hurriedly took a step back, she looked at Daphne who had a stoic look before she sat down next to her.
In the movies, the boat had been a lot smaller as 11-year-olds were meant to travel through them. In this reality, though the boat was a lot higher thankfully so they didn't have to squat the whole way. Rigel looked back and noticed another level 2 was looking at him with a questioning look.
...
[Blaise Zabini Lv 2]
...
'Why not, let's make it a cliche storyline' Rigel thought.
"You want a hand too?" Rigel spoke to Blaise.
"Nah, I'll just hop on over," Blaise spoke as a small smirk came onto his face. Rigel took a step back and Blaise easily hopped onto the boat.
'Blaise is a lot better than the rest of the Slytherin bunch in my year, he was among the Slytherins who didn't fight with the death eaters I think...' Rigel thought as he settled down.
Since their boat was filled in their boat automatically drifted in front of the pack and another boat took their place. The whole boarding process later for a little bit as Rigel turned to regard the new addition to their little group.
"My name's Rigel Black, heir apparent to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black." Rigel introduced himself, he shared a look with Daphne who nodded to him slightly.
"Ah yes, My name's Blaise Zabini, we aren't yet qualified to be a house in England though." Blaise shrugged, he wasn't really intimidated by Rigel's introduction and he even maintained a hint of arrogance.
'Hmm, interesting. I admit I know nothing about his character, I kind of invited him because of all the fanon in my head.' Rigel thought as Daphne and Tracy introduced themselves one by one.
By the time they were done with the introduction the boat jerked as Hagrid asked/shouted, "Everyone in?"
'Is there even a point in asking this when the boat automatically recognized that everyone was already in? I wonder what kind of charms were placed on this thing...' Rigel thought as he looked to the side.
Even though the boat was zooming it didn't generate any ripples on the water and the mirror effect was maintained. He dipped his hand in the water and the ripples his hand generated were smothered out before they even reached 1-2m away from the boat. The whole lake glowed a light blue to his mana sense indicating that the massive charm was acting on the boat creating this beautiful scene.
"Everyone duck!" Hagrid shouted and Rigel had to admit he was surprised as they passed through a cave and the scene revealed itself. Instead of seeing the castle itself, the first glimpse of Hogwarts he saw was on the reflection in the lake.
'Wow!'
...
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AN - I know I'm slowing down the story slightly, but I wanted to introduce Harry's mark from Rigel's senses!
P.S. - 29 Extra chapters on P.atreon.