{Rigel's Room, Slytherin Dorm, Hogwarts}
{6th Sep 1991}
{3rd Person POV}
Rigel carefully lifted the cauldron of the fire as he prepared to add the final ingredient to the shimmering potion. He was recreating the cure for boils potion that they had made in class last week but he was doing it this time alone. During the class Daphne had done almost all of the work as the Cure for Boils is a simple potion. While Rigel didn't mind the free grade he got, he still needed to learn and see if his abilities affected the potions.
He had used some potions in the past 2 months, most of them had been consumed by Maria but they had been bought by Kreacher from the market. He hadn't tried brewing one because, honestly, he was more interested in the spells and sex. Now though after Daphne's explanation, he realized that most branches of magic were closely linked with each other, and he simply couldn't ignore a facet of knowledge because he had to wait exactly 33-45 minutes for the potion to brew.
Still, that wasn't the only thing that caught his interest though as the process of how potions were made was far more appealing to him. Because of his mana sense, he had a far more accurate picture of how potions were made. Interestingly enough, although he was guessing that the main ingredient of the Cure for Boils Potion was the snake fangs, in reality, the main ingredient was the horned slug.
Every step of the mana that was introduced into the mixture somehow reacted with each other but in the end, the main purpose of the rest of the ingredients was to extract the mana from the horned slugs. He followed two different recipes for the potions at the same time and observed how two different combinations of ingredients managed to give the same pinkish hue to the mixture.
The smoke coming out of his potion at the end was the same dark pink and he could sense a large amount of mana from the horned slug dissipating into the environment. Still, the difference was pretty clear, the reference book he got from the library had a better but slightly more complicated recipe. Still, as the potion finally shimmered down and its light pink hue cooled down, a new panel appeared in front of him marking his success official.
...
[New Potion Learned: Boil Cure Potion]
[First Potion Recipe learned... Potions tab unlocked!]
[+5 Exp]
...
The exp was a welcome boost but still the thing that interested Rigel was the second message. He quickly opened the new tab with a thought and read through the description of the first potion that was listed on this new panel.
...
[Boil Cure Potion: Lv - 1(20/100)]
[A Cure for Boil potion is a magical remedy created before 900 BC. The potion is designed to treat boils, which are skin lesions that can be magically induced. In the wizarding community, where magical maladies are not uncommon, potions play a crucial role in healing various ailments.]
[- Removes status affect {Boils} and other minor skin lesions]
...
The change was not immediate but when Rigel turned back to the potion shimmering in his cauldron he could tell that his potion was correct as a small tag with the potion's name was floating above it. A convenient feature but most likely it would only be available for potions that he knew.
'Still that would make spiking my food with potions a lot harder... at least the standard ones, who knows what kind of mixture the Weasley twins would create.' Rigel thought. Speaking of the Weasley twins they were his next target, he needed to get the map if he wanted to track down Pettigrew and track Sirius as he hovered around the castle. At least he hadn't seen any mentions of the dementors stationed around Hogwarts so he didn't need to focus on learning the Patronus charm as of yet.
He was having a headache about how he would go about that. The Accio charm might work but Rigel kind of doubted that the parchment wouldn't be counter-charmed against it, still after all the head-scratching he decided that a straightforward approach was probably for the best.
'It's not like they were the worst characters in the book, I quite liked the infernal twins, if I could give Blaise a chance based on his Fanfiction persona I could surely talk to them without schemes of stealing the map...' Rigel decided as he drained the potion into small glass vials and stored them in his inventory. He still was quite a way away from filling his personal storage, because of all the changes he had totally forgotten to visit the Room of Forgotten Things and search for valuables.
'I'll do that before I go home for Christmas.' Rigel thought as he closed the door behind him and walked out. He took a deep breath as fresh air filled his lungs. A feeling of freshness washed over the fatigue he was feeling as he walked toward the common room entrance.
'And I need to find a spare classroom or maybe even start using the Room of Requirement for creating potions. I don't want to end up with a pale chapped-up face like Snape...' Rigel opened the door to the common room and walked out. Even if he decided on his approach he still needed to figure out where George and Fred might be.
After thinking about it for a moment he called out, "Tweak?"
It took just a moment and a small house elf popped out in front of him, it was the same one that had responded to his request when Rita was around. The house elf looked at Rigel with shining eyes and asked, "What can Tweak do for you, Mr Black?"
"Can you take a message to Fred Weasley for me, tell him that I have a deal for him about his joke shop, if he wants to talk to me the map will guide him to me, I'll be on the 7th floor," Rigel spoke. Tweak's eyes widened as his eyes bobbed up and down at his words. After mumbling to himself he nodded to Rigel and snapped his fingers.
'Well, I guess I should go up to the 7th floor...'
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AN - Next target, the Map.
P.S.- 35+ Chapters ahead at P.atreon!
{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!
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