Rigel's seventeenth birthday came and it was the best one he had ever had. Remus, Mrs. Weasley, Andromeda, and his friends had made four birthday cakes and Rigel ate one of them as breakfast. He also got some really nice presents also. Andromeda got him a gold watch, a crate of his favorite of Ogden's Firewhiskey from Tonks (He ended up drunk) a very large basket of chocolate from Remus, and a basket of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes products.
With the Apparition test approaching on the weekend, Ron, Rigel, and Hermione with the rest of the sixth year who would turn seventeen in time to take the test in a fortnight. Harry thought, has a different plan on his mind, as he decided to use the time to attempt another assault on the Room of Requirement.
"You'd do better," said Hermione, when he confided this plan to Ron, Rigel, and her in the entrance hall, "to go straight to Slughorn's office and try and get that memory from him."
"I've been trying!" said Harry crossly. "He doesn't want to talk to me, Hermione! He can tell I've been trying to get him on his own again, and he's not going to let it happen!"
"Well, you've just got to keep at it, haven't you?"
The short queue of people waiting to file past Filch, who was doing his usual prodding act with the Secrecy Sensor, moved forward a few steps. Harry wished Ron, Rigel, and Hermione good luck on their practice session before turning and climbing the marble staircase again. Not before long when Filch finished inspecting and let them head to Hogsmeade. The session occurred only for about two hours that Sunday morning, but they did fairly before heading to the Three Broomstick for a quick drink and returning to Hogwarts for an early lunch.
"I did it well, kind of!" Ron told Harry enthusiastically when he caught sight of him. "I was supposed to be Apparating to outside Madam Puddifoots' Tea Shop and I overshot it a bit, ended up near Scrivenshafts, but at least I moved!"
"Good one," said Harry. "How about you two? How'd you do?"
"They did perfect obviously," said Ron. "Perfect deliberation, divination, and desperation or whatever the hell it is-we all went for a quick drink in the Three Broomsticks after and you should've heard Twycross going on about them-"
"And what about you?" asked Hermione, ignoring Ron. "Have you been up at the Room of Requirement all this time?"
"Yep," said Harry. "And guess who I ran into up there? Tonks!"
"Tonks?" repeated Ron, Rigel, Eliza, and Hermione together, looking surprised.
"Yeah, she said she'd come to visit Dumbledore."
"It's a bit odd," said Hermione, who for some reason looked very concerned. "She's supposed to be guarding the school, why did she suddenly abandons her post to come and see Dumbledore when he's not even here?"
"I'll tell why it's a bit odd," said Ron, who shoveling mashed potato into his mouth. "She's gone a bit funny. Lost her nerve after what happened at the Ministry. Women," he said wisely to Harry and Rigel. "they're easily upset."
"And yet," said Hermione, coming out of her reverie, "I doubt you'd find a woman who sulked for half an hour because Madam Rosmerta didn't laugh at their joke about the hag, the Healer, and the Mimbulus mimbletonia."
Ron scowled. A smile appeared on Rigel's face.
Patches of bright blue sky were beginning to appear over the castle turrets, but these signs of approaching summer did not lift Rigel's, his Apparition test was also on the horizon, plus the constant bickering between Harry and Eliza about how to get Slughorn's memory.
"For the last time, just forget about Malfoy," Eliza told Harry firmly.
They were sitting in a sunny corner of the courtyard after lunch. Rigel was supposed to head back to the common room to look through some more books but Hermione had dragged him outside instead, saying he needs to relax or he's gonna end up once again in the Hospital Wings. Hermione and Ron were both clutching a Ministry of Magic leaflet: Common Apparition Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. The three would take their test that very afternoon and Hermione was reading the leaflet to Rigel with a soothing voice.
"It isn't Lavender," said Hermione wearily.
"Oh, good," said Ron, relaxing.
"Good?" Rigel whispered, looking at Hermione who just shrugged.
"Harry Potter?" said the girl. "I was asked to give you this."
"Thanks..."
Once the girl was out of earshot he said, "Dumbledore said we wouldn't be having any more lessons until I got the memory!"
"Maybe he wants to check on how you're doing?" suggested Hermione, as Harry unrolled the parchment. "Look at this," said Harry, handing the note to Hermione.
"Oh, for heaven's sake," she said, scanning it quickly and passing it to Ron, who read it through looking increasingly incredulous.
"He's mental," he said furiously. "That thing told its mates to eat Harry, Rigel, and me! Told them to help themselves! And now Hagrid expects us to go down there and cry over its horrible hairy body!"
"What is it?" Rigel asked instead of reading the note.
"Aragog is dead," said Eliza. "And it's not just that. He's asking us to leave the castle at night and he knows security's a million times tighter and how much trouble we'd be in if we were caught."
"We've been down to see him by night before," said Harry.
"Yes, but for something like this?" said Hermione. "We've risked a lot to help Hagrid out, but after all-Aragog's dead. If it were a question of saving him -"
"- I'd want to go even less," said Ron firmly. "You didn't meet him, Hermione. Believe me, being dead will have improved him a lot."
Harry took the note back and stared down at it.
"Harry, you can't be thinking of going," said Hermione. "It's such a pointless thing to get detention for."
Harry sighed.
"Yeah, I know," he said. "I s'pose Hagrid'll have to bury Aragog without us."
"Yes, he will," said Hermione, looking relieved. "Look, Potions will be almost empty this afternoon, with us all off doing our tests... try and soften Slughorn up a bit then!"
"Fifty-seventh time lucky, you think?" said Harry bitterly.
"Lucky!" said Rigel suddenly. "That's it you rascal-use lucky."
"What d'you mean?"
"Use your lucky potion!"
"Rigel, that's-that's it!" said Eliza, sounding stunned. "Of course! Why didn't we think of it?"
Harry stared at them. "Felix Felicis?" he said. "I dunno... I was sort of saving it..."
"What for?" demanded Ron incredulously. "A rainy day?"
"What on earth is more important than this memory, Harry?" asked Hermione.
Harry was in his own world until Hermione snapped him out of it.
"Harry? Are you still with us?" asked Hermione.
"Wha-?... Yeah, of course," he said, pulling himself together. "Well... okay. If I can't get Slughorn to talk this afternoon, I'll take some Felix and have another go this evening."
"That's decided, then," said Hermione briskly, getting to her feet and performing a graceful pirouette. "Destination... determination... deliberation..." she murmured.
Rigel peered over Hermione's shoulder when he saw two girls.
"Blimey, they don't look happy, do they?" said Ron, as Rigel kept watching the girls.
"They're the Montgomery sisters and of course, they don't look happy, didn't you hear what happened to their little brother?" said Hermione.
"I'm losing track of what's happening to everyone's relatives, to be honest," said Ron.
"Well, their brother was attacked by a werewolf. The rumor is that their mother refused to help the Death Eaters. Anyway, the boy was only five and he died in St. Mungo's, they couldn't save him."
"He died?" repeated Harry, shocked. "But surely werewolves don't kill, they just turn you into one of them?"
"They sometimes kill," said Ron, who looked unusually grave now. "I've heard of it happening when the werewolf gets carried away."
Rigel looked oddly blank then the friends realized that he was one of those victims.
He had only told them in Christmas that was in fact Fenrir Gryeback that killed his mother. Greyback also tried to kill Rigel but his mother had held him off until the aurors and by that time, she was dead and Rigel was badly injured.
The aurors had immediately brought him to Azkaban and he had left the hospital with horrible claw marks from his throat to his upper arm.
"What was the werewolf's name?" said Harry quickly.
"The rumor is that it was that Fenrir Greyback," Eliza said.
"I knew it-the maniac who likes attacking kids, the one Lupin told me about!" said Harry angrily.
Hermione looked at him bleakly.
"Harry, you've got to get that memory," she said. "It's all about stopping Voldemort, isn't it? These dreadful things that are happening are all down to him..."
The bell rang overhead in the castle, and with that, Rigel, Hermione, and Ron jumped to their feet and headed to the Entrance Hall.
"You'll do fine," Eliza kissed him. "Good luck."
"And you too!" said Hermione.
Ron, Rigel, and Hermione were standing in a long line of students waiting for their turn to take the test. Rigel was humming and tapping his foot at the same time, although he was sure he would pass the test, he was still human and he was still worried. Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder, assuring him that he will do just fine. And when Rigel finally get his turn, he had performed it remarkably and passed the test along with Hermione, who also passed. Ron thought, he had failed the test and will join Harry the next time.
"It was just bad luck, a tiny thing, the examiner just spotted that he'd left half an eyebrow behind... how did it go with Slughorn?" Rigel asked.
"No joy," said Harry, as Ron joined them. "Bad luck, mate, but you'll pass next time-we can take it together."
"Yeah, I s'pose," said Ron grumpily. "But half an eyebrow! Like that matters!"
"I know," said Hermione soothingly, "it does seem really harsh..."
They spent most of their dinner roundly abusing the Apparition examiner, and Ron looked fractionally more cheerful by the time they set off back to the common room, now discussing the continuing problem of Slughorn and the memory.
"So, Harry-you going to use the Felix Felicis or what?" Ron demanded.
"Yeah, I s'pose I'd better," said Harry. "I don't reckon I'll need all of it, not twenty-four hours' worth, it can't take all night... I'll just take a mouthful. Two or three hours should do it."
"It's a great feeling when you take it," said Ron reminiscently. "Like you can't do anything wrong."
"What are you talking about?" said Hermione, laughing. "You've never taken any!"
"Yeah, but I thought I had, didn't I?" said Ron, as though explaining the obvious. "Same difference really ..."
As they had only just seen Slughorn enter the Great Hall and knew that he liked to take time over meals, they lingered for a while in the common room, the plan being that Harry should go to Slughorn's office once the teacher had had time to get back there. When the sun had sunk to the level of the treetops in the Forbidden Forest, they decided the moment had come, and after checking carefully that Neville, Dean, and Seamus were all in the common room, sneaked up to the boys' dormitory.
Harry took out the rolled-up socks at the bottom of his trunk and extracted the tiny, gleaming bottle.
"Well, here goes," said Harry, and he raised the little bottle and took a carefully measured gulp.
"What does it feel like?" whispered Hermione.
Harry did not answer for a moment. Then he got to his feet, smiling.
"Excellent," he said. "Really excellent. Right... I'm going down to Hagrid's."
"What?" said Ron, Eliza, Rigel, and Hermione altogether, looking aghast.
"No, Harry-you got to go and see Slughorn, remember?" said Hermione.
"No," said Harry confidently. "I'm going to Hagrid's, I've got a good feeling about going to Hagrid's."
"You've got a good feeling about burying a giant spider?" asked Ron, looking stunned.
"Yeah," said Harry, pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of his bag. "I feel like it's the place to be tonight, you know what I mean?"
"No," said the four altogether once again.
"This is Felix Felicis, I suppose?" said Hermione anxiously, holding up the bottle to the light. "You haven't got another little bottle full of- I don't know -"
"Essence of Insanity?" suggested Ron, as Harry swung his cloak over his shoulders.
Harry laughed, making his twin laugh nervously and the four looked alarmed.
"Trust me," he said. "I know what I'm doing ... or at least..." he strolled confidently to the door, "Felix does."
Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak over his head and set off down the stairs. Ron, Rigel, Eliza and Hermione hurried along behind him before Lavender Brown stopped them at the foot of the stairs, saying she needs to talk with Ron. And it made them lose track of Harry, as Ginny and Dean entered the common room through the portrait, Ginny looked somewhat annoyed by Dean. And by the end of that night, the two split up.
"Does he look a little stone to you?" Rigel asked. He and Eliza had settled down next to the fire while Ron and Lavender headed outside for their talk.
"Yes, and overly confidence as well," Hermione said.
"Well, it's all in his hand now."
Rigel and Eliza waited in the Common room for Harry to come back, as well as Ron. And while they waited, Hermione suggested that it's best to make it useful, so Rigel grabbed his books and tried to finish his herbology homework.
By the following morning's breakfast, Harry told them everything that happened in Dumbledore's office. He whispered about the Horcruxes, about how Voldemort had created six of them, and out of those six, Harry and Dumbledore had destroyed two, Tom Riddle's diary and Marvolo Gaunt's Ring. The other four though, Dumbledore could only be guessed that they were the Slytherin's locket, the Hufflepuff's Cup, Nagini, and one of the founder's artifacts. He had also found out another Horcrux's location and agreed that Harry would venture to destroy it with him.
Rigel noticed Lavender Brown, far down the table with red eyes and a stiff nose as she takes in every breath with difficulty.
"We split up," he told Harry out of the corner of his mouth."Last night. When she saw me coming out of the dormitory with Hermione. Obviously, she couldn't see you, so she thought it had just been the two of us."
"Sorry mate," said Harry, patting Ron's back.
"Ah," said Harry. "Well — you don't mind it's over, do you?"
"No," Ron admitted. "It was pretty bad while she was yelling, but at least I didn't have to finish it."
"Coward," said Hermione, though she looked amused."Well, it was a bad night for romance all around. Ginny And Dean split up too, Harry."
"How come?"
"Oh, something really silly . . . She said he was always trying to help her through the portrait hole like she couldn't climb in herself . . . but they've been a bit rocky for ages."
Harry glanced over at Dean. Eliza and Rigel shared a knowing grin
"Of course, this puts you in a bit of a dilemma, doesn't it?" said Hermione.
"What d'you mean?" said Harry quickly.
"The Quidditch team," said Hermione. "If Ginny and Dean aren't speaking..."
"Oh-oh yeah," said Harry.
The five-headed to the common room for there was no class, as they climbed through the portrait hole into the sunny common room, there was a small group of seventh-years clustered together there, and in the middle was Katie Bell, looking completely healthy and surrounded by her jubilant friends.
"Katie! You're back! Are you okay?" Rigel called.
"I'm really well!" she said happily. "They let me out of St. Mungo's on Monday, I had a couple of days at home with Mum and Dad and then came back here this morning. Leanne was just telling me about McLaggen and the last match, Harry..."
"Yeah," said Harry, "well, now you're back and Ron's fit, we'll have a decent chance of thrashing Ravenclaw, which means we could still be in the running for the Cup. Listen, Katie, that necklace, can you remember who gave it to you now?"
"No," said Katie, shaking her head ruefully. "Everyone's been asking me, but I haven't got a clue. The last thing I remember was walking into the ladies' in the Three Broomsticks."
"You definitely went into the bathroom, then?" Eliza asked.
"Well, I know I pushed open the door," said Katie, "so I suppose whoever Imperiused me was standing just behind it. After that, my memory was blank until about two weeks ago in St. Mungos. Listen, I have to go now, catch up with some friends, later."
She caught up her bag and books and hurried after her friends, leaving Harry, Ron, Rigel, and Hermione to sit down at a window table and ponder what she had told them.
"So it must have been a girl or a woman who gave Katie the necklace," said Eliza, "to be in the ladies' bathroom."
"Or someone who looked like a girl or a woman," said Rigel. "Don't forget, there was a cauldron full of Polyjuice Potion at Hogwarts. We know some of it got stolen..."
"I think I'm going to take another swig of Felix," said Harry, "and have a go at the Room of Requirement again."
"That would be a complete waste of potion," said Hermione flatly, putting down the copy of Spellman's Syllabary she had just taken out of her bag. "Luck can only get you so far, Harry. The situation with Slughorn was different; you always had the ability to persuade him, you just needed to tweak the circumstances a bit. Luck isn't enough to get you through a powerful enchantment, though. Don't go wasting the rest of that potion! You'll need all the luck you can get if Dumbledore takes you along with him ..." She dropped her voice to a whisper.
"Couldn't we make some more?" Ron asked Harry, ignoring Hermione. "It'd be great to have a stock of it... have a look in the book... "
"No, it will take six months." Eliza shook her head. "You've got to let it stew..."
"Typical," said Ron.
The only person who was not particularly pleased to see Katie Bell back at school was Dean Thomas, because he would no longer be required to fill her place as Chaser. Though Dean had tried to convince Harry that he should let go of Rigel (who had attacked McLaggen) and replaced him instead, Harry won't do that, because he was too, pleased to be rid of McLaggen as they had the best practices.
Ginny does not seem at all upset about the breakup with Dean, as she was the life and soul of the team. Her imitations of Ron anxiously bobbing up and down in front of the goalposts as the Quaffle sped toward him, or of Rigel punched McLaggen and broke his nose, or of Harry bellowing orders at McLaggen before being knocked out cold, kept them all highly amused. They all laughed during the practice all the way when it finally ended and they headed to the locker room. The final Quidditch of the season was looming on the horizon, and they will face Ravenclaw.
Though this match was quite unique; interest in the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game was running extremely high throughout the school, for the match would decide the Championship, which was still wide open. If Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw by a margin of three hundred points (a tall order but they think they can manage it) then they would win the Championship. If they won by less than three hundred points, they would come second to Ravenclaw; if they lost by a hundred points they would be third behind Hufflepuff and if they lost by more than a hundred, they would be in fourth place.
The run-up to this crucial match had all the usual features: members of rival Houses attempting to intimidate opposing teams in the corridors; unpleasant chants about individual players being rehearsed loudly as they passed; the team members themselves either swaggering around enjoying all the attention or else dashing into bathrooms between classes to throw up.
"So, any interesting developments with Ginny?" Rigel asked as he walked to dinner with Harry a few days before the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Quidditch match. Ron had run off to throw up (the nerves were really getting to him) and Hermione had gone to see Professor Vector about a mistake she was worried she'd made on her last essay while Eliza was already at dinner with Neville.
"No, you know there aren't," Harry said quietly.
"Harry, what are you waiting for? She's split up with Dean, now's your chance before somebody else asks her out. She's a popular girl."
"What about Ron?"
"Oh! Gotta say Harry I really didn't see that..."
"Shut up, you know what I mean!" Harry said as Rigel just smirked at him. As they turned down the corridor to the seventh floor, Harry was still obsessed with Malfoy and Rigel noticed how often they deviated from the quickest route to pass by this corridor.
"Ron won't mind, he can't really say anything."
"What do you mean? Of course, he can, she's his sister!"
"And I'm dating your sister! You Buffon!" Rigel said shaking his head.
"That's different but... you really don't think he'll mind?"
"No, you're his best friend, so he obviously likes you. He can't have a go at Ginny for liking you too, it would be hypocritical."
"Do you think she likes me?"
"What was the wording? His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled..."
"That was years ago!"
"Yeah but now she's now a mature woman, not a silly fangirl." Rigel countered. "I'll meet you in the Hall I just need to pop to the loo." Harry nodded and walked off down the corridor as Eliza walked into the bathroom.
She could hear the sounds of someone crying.
"No one can help me...I can't do it...I can't....it won't work...and unless I do it soon...he says he'll kill me..."
Rigel moved further into the bathroom and realised it was Draco Malfoy and he was talking to Moaning Myrtle. He planned to back away slowly but Malfoy looked up and saw him in the mirror.
He gasped and whirled around, grabbing his wand.
"What are you doing here, Black?" He yelled,
"Well, it is the toilet Draco," Rigel said raising his hands in a surrender gesture.
"How much did you hear?"
"Listen I didn't hear any-"
Suddenly Harry was there and he looked angry.
"Get away from him, Malfoy!" He said, pulling out his wand and firing a spell at Malfoy which he dodged. Malfoy also fired a hex that missed Harry's head by inches.
"No STOP!" Rigel yelled
There was a loud bang and the bin behind Harry exploded;Harry attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off thewall behind Malfoy's ear and smashed the cistern beneathMoaning Myrtle who was yelling the two boys to stop.
"Crucio!"
"Sectumsempra!"
Rigel jumped right in the middle of the two spells. The crucio hit him on the small of his back and then Sectumsempra.
It was like being slashed by hot pokers. But Sectumsempra hit him on the mark. He would often get flashbacks of his kidnapping and his body would ache until he woke up realizing he wasn't in Bellatrix's clutches.
But now it was coming back to him.
Crucio!
Crucio!
knife on the leg
"Come on baby Black" Bellatrix taunted. "Tell me everything NOW!"
"Diffindo"
SECTUMSEMPRA!
Rigel staggeredbackward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with agreat splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand. The last thing he heard was someone yelling murder.
Harry stared horrified at what he had just done.
Then suddenly Eliza barged in, the twin bond must've conveyed his emotions.
"What did you do!?" Eliza yelled as she ran towards the pale form of Rigel. She dropped herself onto her knees cradling his shoulders. She took out her wand and fired every healing charm she knew but the wounds in fact became even worse and Eliza just held onto the slashes.
"I — I didn't —" Harry was muttering to himself, not knowing what he was even saying. Did he just kill the person he considered his brother?
Draco just stood paler than usual? Why did Rigel the cousin he hated would take a curse for him? Was it because he felt indebt for what his mother had done. Draco knew Riel was captured. Heck, it was in a cottage his family-owned. Did Rigel feel that he owed the Malfoys because of his mother's actions?
Moaning Myrtle let out a deafening scream:"MURDER!MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!"
The door banged open for the second time and Harry saw Snape burst into the room, his face livid.Pushing Harry and Eliza roughly aside, he knelt over the unconscious Rigel
The flow of blood seemed to ease; Snape wiped theresidue from Rigel's face and repeated his spell. Now thewounds seemed to be knitting and color filled the seventeen-year-old's face.
"Rennervate," Snape said and Rigel opened his eyes before taking a wide gasp of air and then coughing.
Harry, Eliza, and Draco were both watching him, looking horrified as they were soaked and covered in blood. Moaning Myrtle was still sobbing and wailing overhead.
Snape helped Rigel up "You need the hospital wing. There may be a certainamount of scarring, but if you take dittany immediately wemight avoid even that. Draco, Miss Potter, take Mr Black to the hospital wing, I need to have a word with 'The Chosen One'."
Draco and Eliza each took an arm and dragged Rigel to the hospital wing.
For a while, neither of them spoke nor looked at each other.
"Oh, dear..." Madam Pomfrey gasped as she saw Rigel. He must've looked terrible, with his robes slashed up. Madam Pomfrey helped him toward one of the beds inside the ward. "What happened?"
But none of them answered. Madam Pomfrey drew the curtains around his bed then rubbed dittany on his wounds. But when she was done, it was obvious that Rigel was going to carry a few of them as scars for the rest of his life.
Later that night, Harry announced the news that he won't be able to play this Saturday because Harry had detention with Snape every Saturday for the rest of term.
So instead, Rigel (He had declared fine) will have to fill in Harry's place as Seeker once again, and Katie Bell will take over Rigel's position as Chaser.
"I told you there was something wrong with that Prince person," Hermione said, evidently unable to stop herself. "And I was right, wasn't I."
"No, I don't think you were," said Harry stubbornly.
"Harry," said Hermione, "how can you still stick up for that book when that spell -"
"Will you stop harping on about the book!" snapped Harry. "The Prince only copied it out! It's not like he was advising anyone to use it! For all we know, he was making a note of something that had been used against him!"
"I don't believe this," said Hermione. "You're actually defending-"
"I'm not defending what I did!" said Harry quickly. "I wish I hadn't done it, and not just because I've got about a dozen detentions. You know I wouldn't've used a spell like that, not even on Malfoy, but you can't blame the Prince, he hadn't written 'Try this out, it's really good-he was just making notes for himself, wasn't he, not for anyone else..."
"Are you telling me," said Hermione, "that you're going to go back-?"
"And get the book? Yeah, I am," said Harry forcefully. "Listen, without the Prince I'd never have won the Felix Felicis. I'd never have known how to save Ron from poisoning, I'd never have -"
"- got a reputation for Potions brilliance you don't deserve," said Hermione nastily.
"Give it a rest, Hermione!" Eliza snapped. "By the sound of it, Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse on my brother, you should be glad Harry had something good up his sleeve!"
"Well, of course, I'm glad Harry wasn't cursed!" said Hermione, clearly stung. "But you can't call that Sectumsempra spell good, Eliza, look where it's landed him! He nearly put Rigel in a coma!" (Once again Harry looked guilty) "And I'd have thought, seeing what this has done to your chances in the match -"
"Oh, don't start acting as though you understand Quidditch," Eliza snapped, "you'll only embarrass yourself."
Rigel and Harry stared at each other: Hermione and Eliza, who had always got on together very well, were now sitting with their arms folded, glaring in opposite directions. Ron grabbed a book at random and hid behind it. For the rest of the night, none of them spoke again.