Saturday finally arrived with the taunting chant from Slytherin when they heard the news Rigel would be the Seeker for Gryffindor and much anger now erupted from Gryffindor. But for whatever the reason is, Rigel walked down the Quidditch pitch as Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He strolled down the field with Ron, Eliza, and Hermione, who talking constantly to cheer him up and to block the unpleasant chant from Slytherin.
Rigel entered the locker room along with Ron and Ginny. Eliza and Katie were already there with the team Beater, Coote and Peakes, sitting on the bench, using their bat and tapping on the ground. Rigel quickly put on his scarlet robes, checking his boots one last time, and pick up Firebolt, carrying it on his shoulder along the way. Before heading out to the field, Rigel said one last thing to the whole team; "Let's make Harry proud." The Captain received agreement from everyone
Rigel walked out onto the pitch to a roaring and booing, both of which came from Gryffindor because of sheer anger. Along with Slytherin shouting and booing, it seemed that they were against all odds.
"Oh dear," Luna said from the commentator's podium. "It seemed that no one likes Rigel being the team captain. No worry Rigel, I'll cheer for you."
A smile appeared on Rigel's face because against all odds, he still has his friend. And Rigel was sure that somewhere in the crowd, Hermione also cheering for him. Rigel stepped up to Madam Hooch, the referee, who was ready to release the balls from the crate.
"Captain shake hands," she said, Rigel and Cho Chang shook hands. "Mount your broom. On the whistle... three... two... one..."
Rigel kicked off hard and he was away. Rigel burst upward, leaving the field for the Chasers and to have a better view of the grounds as he looked around for the Snitch. But soon enough, the Ravenclaw Chaser has the Quaffle and was heading toward Ron. The Ravenclaw chaser Jackson passed the Quaffle to Harper, with Chamber staying back, they had scored first, leading the game. But with a quick response from Ginny, they leveled.
Cho Chang was hovering on the air along with Rigel, looking for the Snitch as their teammates keep scoring and defending constantly, saves were made by both Keepers, and Chasers from both teams scored. Rigel had to dodge the Bludger a few times as the Ravenclaw beater keep knocking the ball toward him. It was getting annoying at this point.
"Ravenclaw scored again," said Luna dreamily. "It is seventy-fifty for Ravenclaw."
But then Cho Chang immediately zoomed forward, and Rigel hurried behind. They were behind, and if Cho catch the Snitch now, they would lose. Rigel noted the Snitch was speeding along high above them, glinting against the clear blue sky as the two keepers raced to get it. But Rigel could not catch it just yet, so instead, he sped up and leaned against Cho, steering away from the Snitch and letting it lose from their sight once again.
"Quite a clever Rigel, steer away from the Snitch and keep the Gryffindor fighting chance alive," Luna cheered happily from the podium as the game continued.
For the next half hour, the Gryffindor team finally take the lead with Dean scoring the goal, making it one hundred to eighty for Gryffindor. And from then, they were on a roll, with Eliza and Ginny constantly scoring goals, passing to each other, three fourth of the goals coming from the girls; Coote and Peakes blocking and retrieving Quaffle for the Chaser by knocking the Quaffle out of Ravenclaw's chaser grip by fear of the Bludger coming their way; and Ron, blocking every shot coming from their opponent team, saves after saves after saves.
"It's two hundred and ninety to one hundred and forty for Gryffindor," cried Luna, who seemed to be very focused on the game.
But that was when Rigel saw a glint of gold far below them. It was hovering on the ground, zigzagged on the ground, as it was toying with the Seekers. Rigel dived down, he pushed his body close to the broom to avoid any unnecessary blockage. Cho Chang was right behind Rigel as he dived.
"Gryffindor scored another one," Luna said lazily.
Three hundred to one hundred and forty. The number popped into his head as a Bludger came toward him. Rigel steer away, clear of the Bludger, and so did Cho, but Rigel wasn't going to give up that easy as the Snitch now sped up forward. Rigel is back on his track again, with Cho now next to him. The two Seeker were on a race, but this time there was no finish line, only a Snitch to catch. Both of them close up onto the Snitch, both have hands outstretched, both have an audience looking at them. But Rigel did the unthinkable, he leap for it, abandoning his broom behind. And with that little thrust from the jump, Rigel grabbed the Snitch before falling on the ground, rolled a few times then stop with his face up the sky, arms laying out. The whole stand quite a little as Rigel slowly opens his hand with a golden Snitch inside it.
The whole crowd erupted in shouting and cheering. Gryffindor team soaring down next to him, carrying him up their shoulder before Professor McGonagall placed the cup on his hands. They were shouting all the way into the locker room before all headed up to the common room, celebrating their victory with the whole house, and not even bother to change. The moment the team entered, the whole place erupted with music, cheers and roars. Rigel moved past everyone in the common room, with each person he pasted, the Black heir received a pat on the back, multiple pats actually, and so did every member of the team. Rigel headed for the center with music lowing down. Standing on a chair, Rigel looked around before raising the Quidditch Cup up, he screamed and so did everyone along with him.
The Cup moved around the players of the team, around the common room that night. Rigel was tired, so tired he sunken himself on the couch with Eliza sitting next to him, snuggling her head on his shoulder. They both have a bottle of butterbeer in their hand, drinking as they watch their team celebrating. The moment they erupted with a roar again was when Harry entered the common room. Ron immediately brandished the Cup at Harry.
"We won!" he yelled. "We won! Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty! We won!"
Rigel could have only grinned at that moment because everything around them was almost perfect. What Rigel didn't expect was when Ginny, ran toward Harry and threw her arms around him. And right there, at that moment, Harry kissed Ginny.
The whole room had gone quiet. Then several people wolf-whistle and there was an outbreak of nervous giggling. Dean Thomas was holding a shattered glass in his hand, Romilda Vane looking as though she might throw something, Rigel was beaming and so were Eliza and Hermione. Ron though only looked at Harry and gave him a tiny jerk of the head that say, "Well if you must."
Rigel grabbed Ron from behind, pounded Ron's chest, who then smiled before Ginny and Harry headed out of the common room through the portrait.
The fact that Harry was going out with Ginny seemed to interest a great number of people, most of the girls though.
"You'd think people had better things to gossip about," said Ginny, as she sat on the common-room floor, leaning against Harry's legs and reading the Daily Prophet. "Three Dementor attacks in a week and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it's true you've got a Hippogriff tattooed across your chest."
Eliza, Ron, Rigel, and Hermione burst out laughing.
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her it's a Hungarian Horntail," said Ginny, turning a page of the newspaper idly. "Much more macho."
"Thanks," said Harry, grinning. "And did anyone ask about Ron's?"
"Yeah I told her he's got a Pygmy Puff, but I didn't say where."
Rigel and Hermione rolled around laughing with Ron scowled.
"Watch it," he said, pointing warningly at Harry and Ginny. "Just because I've given my permission doesn't mean I can't withdraw it-"
"'Your permission' ", scoffed Ginny. "Since when did you give me permission to do anything? Anyway, you said yourself you'd rather it was Harry than Michael or Dean."
"Yeah, I would," said Ron grudgingly. "And just as long as you don't start snogging each other in public-"
"You filthy hypocrite! What about you and Lavender, thrashing around like a pair of eels all over the place?" demanded Ginny.
They began to move into June, and with, the both of them were constantly forced to revise for hours into the night. Rigel was with Hermione in the common room that night along with Harry and Ron, when Ginny was somewhere in the library. As Hermione helped Rigel, she could not the urge to talk to Harry, because something had come up in her mind.
"I need to talk to you, Harry."
"What about?" said Harry suspiciously. Only the previous day, Hermione had told him off for distracting Ginny when she ought to be working hard for her examinations.
"The so-called Half-Blood Prince."
"Oh, not again," he groaned. "Will you please drop it?"
"I'm not dropping it," said Hermione firmly, "until you've heard me out. Now, I've been trying to find out a bit about who might make a hobby of inventing Dark spells-"
"He didn't make a hobby of it-"
"He, he-who says it's a he?"
"We've been through this," said Harry crossly. "Prince, Hermione, Prince!"
"Right!" said Hermione, red patches blazing in her cheeks as she pulled a very old piece of newsprint out of her pocket and slammed it down on the table in front of Harry. "Look at that! Look at the picture!"
Harry picked up the crumbling piece of paper and stared at the moving photograph, yellowed with age before passing to Eliza; Rigel and Ron also leaned over for a look. The picture showed a skinny girl of around fifteen. She was not pretty; she looked simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy brows and a long, pallid face. Underneath the photograph was the caption: Eileen Prince, Captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team.
"So?" said Harry.
"Her name was Eileen Prince. Prince, Harry."
They looked at each other and Harry seemed to realize what Hermione was trying to say. He burst out laughing.
"No way."
"What?"
"You think she was the Half-Blood...? Oh, come on."
"Well, why not? Harry, there aren't any real princes in the wizarding world! It's either a nickname, a made-up title somebody's given themselves, or it could be their actual name, couldn't it? No, listen! If, say, her father was a wizard whose surname was 'Prince', and her mother was a Muggle, then that would make her a 'half-blood Prince'!"
"No, it can't be," Rigel spoke up. Harry and Hermione turned towards him. "Look Hermione, sure there arent any Prince's anymore, I agree but the Prince family were purebloods before their extinction."
"Ha!" Harry said while Hermione looked disappointed.
"But it could-"
"It can't be here," Rigel said firmly. "Look the Prince family were as bad as the Black's and Notts and that's saying something. But what they lacked is wealth. Maybe a Prince actually married a muggle and had a half-blood son-"
"Yes!" Hermione jumped. "Thank you, Rigel!" she said and jumped into the portrait hole
"Great," Eliza mumbled.
"She's just never got over you outperforming her in Potions," said Ron.
"You don't think I'm mad, wanting that book back, do you?"
"Course not," said Ron robustly. "He was a genius, the Prince."
"What about you, Rigel," Harry turned toward him. "What do you think?"
"Just be careful mate," Rigel said. "If the curse you use is really that dangerous then you need to be careful if you ever found out who the Prince is."
"But you're all healed," said Ron. "Back on his feet in no time."
"Yea, but that was when Snape was around," Eliza countered. "What if there isn't one next time, you could have killed him, Harry!"
"What about detention, you still got detention with Snape this Saturday?" Ron continued.
"Yeah, and the Saturday after that, and the Saturday after that," sighed Harry. "And he's hinting now that if I don't get all the boxes done by the end of term, we'll carry on next year."
Harry was begin to dream about his worst nightmare, stacking boxes and boxes before being shaken from it by the appearance of Jimmy Peakes, who was holding out a scroll of parchment.
"Thanks, Jimmy ... hey, it's from Dumbledore!" said Harry excitedly, unrolling the parchment and scanning it. "He wants me to go to his office as quick as I can!"
'Good luck!' shouted Rigel.
'I haven't got much time,' Harry panted as he returned, 'Dumbledore thinks I'm getting my Invisibility Cloak. Listen...'
Quickly he told them where he was going, and why. He did not pause either for Hermione's gasps of horror, Eliza's teary eyes, Rigel's wide eyes, or Ron's hasty questions; they could work out the finer details for themselves later.
'... so you see what this means?' Harry finished at a gallop. 'Dumbledore won't be here tonight, so Malfoy's going to have another clear shot at whatever he's up to. No, listen to me!' he hissed angrily, as the four showed every sign of interrupting. 'I know it was Malfoy celebrating in the room of Requirement. Here –' He shoved the Marauder's Map into Hermione's hand. 'You've got to watch him and you've got to watch Snape, too. Use anyone else who you can rustle up from the DA. Hermione, those contact Galleons will still work, right? Dumbledore says he's put extra protection in the school, but if Snape's involved, he'll know what Dumbledore's protection is, and how to avoid it – but he won't be expecting you lot to be on the watch, will he?'
'Harry –' began Eliza, her eyes huge with fear.
'I haven't got time to argue,' said Harry curtly. 'Take this as well –' He thrust the socks into Ron's hands.
'Thanks,' said Ron. 'Er – why do I need socks?'
'You need what's wrapped in them, it's the Felix Felicis. Share it between yourselves and Ginny too. Say goodbye to her from me. I'd better go Dumbledore's waiting –'
'No!' said Hermione, as Ron unwrapped the tiny little bottle of golden potion, looking awestruck. 'We don't want it, you take it, who knows what you're going to be facing?'
'I'll be fine, I'll be with Dumbledore,' said Harry. 'I want to know you lot are OK ... don't look like that, Hermione, I'll see you later ...' he turned to Rigel. 'Keep Eliza safe for me yeah?'
Rigel looked at him gulping slightly before nodding at him.
"I promise."
Harry kissed Eliza's forehead and he was off, hurrying back through the portrait hole towards the Entrance Hall.