The trail was dark, but to Rigel's eyes, accustomed to the darkness of the sea, it seemed as clear as day, although for the other little ones it was a struggle to move forward without stumbling over branches and roots.
When they finally reached the boats, Rigel heard Hagrid's booming voice. "No more than four in each boat!"
Rigel, of course, had to sit with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle.
The pair had fallen more than once along the way, so they were clearly dirty.
Rigel raised his wand and cast two cleansing spells on them, leaving the three of them surprised.
The pair exchanged a thank you, Crabbe speaking first, followed by Goyle, clearly confused for a moment until he realized what had happened.
"A cleaning spell? How useless, don't you have a house-elf? I, on the other hand, focused on the most important things, I can conjure snakes! My mother didn't want to give me one, so my father taught me this spell, cool, isn't it?" Draco, once again, managed to steer the conversation completely back towards himself.
Fortunately, at that moment, the boats began to move, causing Draco to stagger and stare wide-eyed at the lake, he was also excited to see if anyone would fall overboard.
Fortunately, Draco's concentration span was limited, so Rigel escaped again, and instead, the adventure book opened once more before him.
[Achievement unlocked: A Magical Journey (Fragment - 2/4)]
[How to obtain: Follow these steps to unlock the achievement: First Fragment -> Board the Hogwarts Express / Second Fragment -> A Boat Trip / Third Fragment -> A Singing Hat / Fourth Fragment -> ...]
Rigel looked up from the book and turned to the castle in the distance. They sailed quickly past a low bridge where Hagrid shouted for them to lower their heads. Perhaps the older students had to do that, youngsters like them had plenty of room, but still, everyone ducked down, afraid of falling into the lake and embarrassing themselves.
Even Draco, although he cursed Hagrid, as if it were his fault that there was a bridge there.
When they finally reached the castle, Hagrid stood up from his boat, the boat visibly sinking with the effort of carrying the "giant", but Hagrid, accustomed to it, balanced himself perfectly and went down to the shore.
The students soon followed him, Draco was unhappy about getting his new shoes muddy, while Rigel didn't even hear the rest of his words, now admiring the castle up close.
He could feel the abundant energy of that place, it was almost palpable to those who could feel it.
Rigel took a deep breath, even the air there made him feel more cheerful.
"Come on, is everyone here?!" Hagrid shouted, then he pulled something out of his pocket, looked at Neville and said. "Hey kid, is this frog yours?"
"Trevor!" Neville shouted excitedly, quickly stepping forward and grabbing the toad, only to be met with laughter. Hagrid shook his head and turned towards the door, knocking loudly a few times.
Not long after, a woman appeared. Rigel was a little surprised, McGonagall didn't look like she did in the movies. Instead, she wore a long black robe with a pointed hat, her hair was black, her glasses were straight, and her gaze would make anyone unconsciously adjust their posture.
Although she didn't look young, she clearly looked more like she was in early middle age than old age.
Thinking about it, although the twins looked like the ones in the movies, they were still a little different, the same goes for Draco, even Narcissa had pure blonde hair.
He thought his aunt had just painted her and that was it, but although there were changes, there were still many similarities, so, unlike the others, McGonagall looked very different from the films, it was the most different version he had ever seen on screen.
Rigel blinked, curious, but the woman didn't notice his strange eyes, he just seemed like another curious little wizard.
She let them in, although the Adventure Book opened the moment he entered, but again, he didn't have time for that now, so he ignored it.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." said Professor McGonagall. "The opening feast for the school year will begin shortly, but before you take your seats, you will be sorted into houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be like a family to you at Hogwarts. You will attend classes with the other students in your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend your free time in the common room. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own honorable history, and each has produced extraordinary witches and wizards."
She paused for a moment, looking at them, searching for some confusion in those youthful faces, before continuing.
"While you are at Hogwarts, your successes will earn points for your house, while your mistakes will cause you to lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will receive the House Cup, a great honor. I hope that each of you will be a source of pride for the house you belong to. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in the presence of the entire school. I suggest you tidy yourselves up as best you can while you wait." She concluded, her gaze lingering for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, on Ron's dirty nose, and Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.
"I'll return when we're ready to receive you." Said Professor Minerva. "Please wait quietly."
The students were quiet for at least a few seconds, but soon after, the low whispers began again.
"My father told me the test is very easy, but he wouldn't tell me what it was." Draco frowned, clearly still unhappy about being denied the opportunity to brag among the newcomers.
Rigel shrugged, he could say what it was, but knowing who Draco was, as soon as he did, he would quickly turn up his nose and let everyone know he knew, just to get their attention.
Rigel didn't want that, so he simply said he didn't know either, and instead finally focused on the Adventure Book.
//-//
[[Congratulations to the writer for discovering the thousand-year-old castle, Hogwarts and receiving the reward: Hogwart's Blessing (Gold)]
[Congratulations on receiving: "Hogwart's Blessing (Gold)"]
[Effect: Your body naturally absorbs and filters the magic of the environment (Hogwarts), remaining at Hogwarts accelerates your normal magical growth rate by three times compared to a similarly 'chaotic' environment.]
[Absorb, retain, or donate?]
//-//
Rigel looked for a moment. Was it a good thing? Hard to say. He might find more ways to improve his magic in the future, but currently this was really good. In 7 years he could achieve three times what a normal wizard could, plus before the age of 17-18 magical growth is greater than after, so Rigel's growth would be better than spending another 14 years inside Hogwarts.
Finally, he absorbed it, he felt the change as soon as he did, the magic in the air that seemed to trickle down to him like a dirty coffee filter, now trickled down like a clean coffee filter. Rigel closed his eyes for a moment, feeling as if he had entered a warm, comfortable bathtub and didn't want to leave, but he was soon pulled from his pleasure.
At that moment, a girl from the group screamed, drawing their attention. From the wall, a group of ghosts appeared, making the Muggle-borns and less experienced nervous. Even those who knew about ghosts were uneasy, like Draco, who quickly tried to pretend he didn't care, although his pale skin and his subconscious movement of approaching Rigel betrayed his inner thoughts.
"Forgive and forget, I'd say, let's give him a second chance..." One of the ghosts, a chubby one, said.
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserved? He tarnishes our reputation, and, you know, he's not even a ghost. My goodness, what are these kids doing here?" A ghost, wearing a starched ruff collar and stockings, suddenly noticed the first-year students.
No one answered.
"New students!" said the chubby friar, smiling at them. "You're waiting to be selected, I imagine?"
Some of the boys nodded in confirmation, silently.
"I hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the friar. "My old house, you know?"
"Let's go now." said an energetic voice. "The selection ceremony is about to begin."
Professor Minerva returned, and one by one the ghosts flew out the opposite wall. "Now follow me."
And they continued on, some faster than others, Rigel being pulled ahead again by Draco, clearly already considering any position further ahead as his own.
At least Crabbe and Goyle served as natural barriers, which is perhaps why Draco liked them following him so much.