{7th Floor Corridor, Hogwarts}
{6th Sep 1991}
{3rd Person POV}
The 7th floor was the topmost floor in Hogwarts, except maybe for the towers that did extend quite a bit above it, the main body of the castle only had 7 floors. Rigel was expecting the Room of Requirement to stand out because of his mana senses but if he hadn't known about it he surely wouldn't have been able to distinguish the legendary room from the castle's walls.
There were many rumors and theories in the fandom about the existence of the Room of Requirements, but Rigel suppressed his curiosity for now. He did find the tapestry of the troll so from what he could remember, the room should be around here. The reason he chose this place for a meeting was simply because the 7th floor was quite deserted.
'Or at least it should be otherwise the secret of the Room would have been released a long time ago.' Rigel thought he was pretty sure he was right in his assumptions because even though a lot of the fandom liked to bash Rowling and the wizarding world for their lack of common sense, after really integrating himself into the wizarding world, he could understand some of the decisions that they took.
Simple things like the backwardness of the architecture and the simplistic and rather mundane look of most of the clothing could be explained because of runes. Runes were the magical language that could affect the ambient mana of the world. It was the most convenient way to do magic without exhausting your personal reserves.
While it was not like wizards could not etch runes on houses made of bricks and mortar, according to the theory books he had read, the more processed the material, the less attuned to magic it became. That was why the long flowing robes that had been modified with minimalistic sewing held the majority of the enchantments of one's clothing.
Similarly, most of the wizarding homes were made of either wood or stone instead of bricks and mortar. There should be ways to counteract the phenomena as the Black family house where he stayed was made out of modern architectural designs. But Rigel hadn't come across how the problem was solved in that case, though he was guessing it had something to do with the glowing ward stone on the second floor of the house.
His musings were cut short as he sensed two unfamiliar magical signatures sneaking close to him, Rigel simply turned around but his greeting was cut short because no one was there. The slight shimmer of light gave him a hint and he couldn't help but be impressed by the Disillusionment Charm.
Rigel composed himself before he finally spoke to the seemingly empty air in front of him, "From the rumors I have heard, it seems almost impossible to believe that the two troublemakers of Hogwarts are this advanced in Charms of all subjects."
Both Fred and George were planning a small prank on Rigel but it seems their cover was blown, both of them shared a look that neither of them could perceive. After a few seconds of silence, Fred waved his wand canceling the Disillusionment Charm and George quickly followed suit.
"How did you know?" Fred asked curiously, several questions were popping through the twin's mind but his curiosity still got the best of him.
"Neither did you use the silencing charm to silence your footsteps nor did you use any charms to remove any smell. How neither of you have ever been caught and punished for half the shit you pull off I'll never know." Rigel responded. The atmosphere was a lot better than he thought it would be.
Neither Fred nor George were openly hostile to him so that was a start at the very least. He clapped his hand lightly gaining the twin's attention who was now thinking about the two points that Rigel had just mentioned, "Shall we get to the main point we are here?"
Fred stared at Rigel curiously for a moment and after sharing a look with George he finally spoke, "How does a Slytherin first year have the courage to meet with us anyway, haven't you heard horror stories about the 'Golden Days' of Slytherin?"
There was a hint of mischief in Fred's smirk but Rigel didn't know what context he was referencing, '...Likely some prank the two of them played on the house last year.' He guessed but then put the thought aside, house squabbles were the last thing on his mind at the moment.
"I have a deal for you, a thousand galleon investment in your Joke shop that you are planning in exchange for my Father's map." Rigel offered, he went straight for the jugular as he knew what buttons to press. Even if both Fred and George were notorious for being a Gryffindor-only family at least till now he hadn't seen any prejudice from them.
Both Fred and George froze upon hearing Rigel's words, the mischief was put aside instantly as they looked at each other again. Rigel could not tell if they had a twin bond or something like that but at least both of them had a pretty good understanding of each other.
The silence this time stretched a little longer and after a muted conversation that the two brothers had, George this time spoke up, "Who is your Father?"
There were several ways to answer that question and even though Rigel was straight-up lying he didn't hesitate in using his knowledge of the world to his advantage. He looked into George's eyes and replied, "Padfoot..."
George's eyes widened slightly as another short bout of silent communication was shared between the twins, Rigel was getting pretty annoyed at these silent discussions so he extended his hand out and spoke, "Do we have a deal, my Father's legacy in exchange for a chance to expand your nifty little business, plus you should already know the map like the back of your hand. I don't think you need it..."
...
The silence this time didn't last long as Fred accepted the deal, "Fine, but you are going to tell us who the Marauders are..."
Their obsession with the prankster group worked to his benefit as Rigel shrugged, he nodded agreeing to the request, and waved his hand, "The map?"
George looked at Fred with a questioning eyebrow and upon receiving a firm nod he shrugged and pulled out an old piece of parchment from inside his robes pocked and placed it in Rigel's waiting hand.
'Finally, I can get access to the biggest plot armor in the Wizarding World...'
...
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AN - 35+ Extra Chapters on P.atreon!