บท 66: The Marauders Map! Part-2
{7th Floor Corridor, Hogwarts}
{6th Sep 1991}
{3rd Person POV}
'Finally, I can get access to the biggest plot armor in the Wizarding World...' Rigel thought as he gazed at the map in interest. The map was one of the few magical artifacts mentioned in the books and Rigel was eager to study it.
The parchment was made of old paper. It felt fragile to touch and the texture and hardness of the paper were quite different than the paper that Rigel used in his classes, even though they looked the same. He was tempted to check if Pettigrew was still in the castle, but he suppressed his curiosity for now.
The rat shouldn't be desperate to escape just yet, he left for Hagrid's hut in canon because Sirius attempted to force his way into the dormitory. At least that's what he knew from the book.
"Do you even know how to use it?" Fred asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion once again. His face told Rigel that the older redhead was regretting handing over the map without getting anything in return.
"I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good?" Rigel questioned, "Yeah, clever, broadcasting to everyone that they were responsible for all the pranks..." Rigel replied a little sarcastically.
He pretended to place the map into his robe but in reality, with a mental command, he stored it in his inventory. With that out of the way he turned to Fred and George and questioned, "A thousand Galleons should be enough right?"
The shock that appeared on their face couldn't be hidden as both of them immediately nodded, Rigel knew that Harry had given them his winnings from the Triwizard tournaments, so a 1000 should be enough for them to recreate the business that they had.
'And maybe even expand their product line...' Rigel thought as he pondered over the next step. From the scene depicted in the movies, the business that the twins set up looked lucrative and he wouldn't mind getting his hands on some of those profits.
Rigel pointed toward the empty classroom and spoke, "Should we discuss the terms?"
Fred and George shared a telepathic nod before they followed Rigel into the room, a quick locking charm closed the door behind him as the twins looked at his wand apprehensively. Rigel put his wand away again and spoke, "It hasn't been that long but I have heard several legends regarding the infamous terror twins. What I'm interested in knowing is whether you two are just school bullies or do you have a greater purpose?"
Fred seemed offended at Rigel's insinuation as he quickly defended himself, "We aren't bullies!"
At Rigel's raised eyebrow he frowned and continued, "...While I admit that most of the pranks are directed at Slytherin, it's more a tradition if nothing else. Plus it keeps your house in check..."
"Ah yes, you guys do try to emulate the Marauders a little." Rigel hummed, "...But the Marauders hated Slytherin, though times were a little different back then." Rigel admitted.
"The Marauders hated Slytherin? Because of Death Eaters?" George asked instantly, his eyes sparkling in interest.
"Not technically but maybe true in the end," Rigel replied as he shrugged. "Since you gave me the map, I'll tell you who the Marauders were. And then we will see if you can figure it out..."
"Padfoot was Sirius Black, Moony was Remus Lupin, Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew and Prongs was James Potter," Rigel replied he didn't need to lie anymore, the map was already in his possession. Even if Fred and George could deduce that he lied about the map belonging to his parents they would not be able to do anything, at least not without resorting to force.
George's face flickered when he heard the last name, he glared at Fred for a moment before his gaze turned to Rigel's pocket for a moment. "Harry has as much of a claim on that map as you..." Fred accused.
He stood up and his wand flew to his hands, Fred was uncertain but he didn't stop his brother and simply stood up. Rigel stared at the wand that was not pointed at him, trying to stop himself from reacting and starting a scene when he could sense that the Gryffindor hadn't started gathering any mana yet, at least the Gryffindor was not going straight for violence.
"True," Rigel acknowledged, his eyes staring into George as he calmly stated, "The Marauders had two such artifacts, one was the map that you just gave to me. The other was an invisibility cloak. Harry will receive the cloak as a gift this Christmas and the other two members of the group are MIA, I'm taking the map. Harry gets the cloak. You can check with Harry after Christmas."
...
The silence that followed Rigel's statement was uncomfortable as they just stared at one another, after a while, George's shoulders sagged. His thoughts were unknown to Rigel but after a while, he spoke, "We won't take gold for the map..."
The statement was a surprise to Rigel although the way Fred smiled slightly at George told him that the twin had expected this outcome, "Don't..." George started but his voice trailed off as he shook his head, the twin was quite confused at the situation as he simply shook his head and began walking away.
The situation was quite ideal for Rigel, he got the map without even having to spend his gold, he didn't know what was going on in George's head but still, this was the time to push a little bit more.
'Was it Because Sirius Black was convicted of mass-murderer and now they don't want to associate with him or the map? This would make using of their genius a lot more difficult.' Rigel frowned.
He spoke before George pointed his wand at the door to open it, "In that case, I have another proposal..." His words caused the twins to pause once again, "...I know you are a little prejudiced against Slytherin and Sirius Black, but since you both carry on the legacy left behind by the broken group I have a proposition. Sirius Black had only one family and that was his four friends, even though the end was disastrous, I don't want those pranks to fade away with time..."
Rigel couldn't tell if his little speech infuriated them a little or not but he continued since he had their attention, "I'll invest a 1000 Galleons in you two, we'll each get 33.33% of the business you create and I'll just be the silent investor, never interfering in the business decisions."
...
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AN - I'm back! It was a short Hiatus, and everything's fine now. Though I have a minor case of cold so I'm stuck in bed...
P.S- 38+ Chapters on P.atreon!
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