Chapter Two
"Morning, Rigel! Wake up!" Rigel Black gave a groan and buried her face in her pillow. Her brothers drew open the heavy curtains, allowing the blinding sunlight to filter in.
"Fred...George...Go away..." Rigel said, her voice muffled by the pillow. The twins did not relent, however. Identical twins, Fred and George Black sat down on her bed. Both were covered in freckles, had gray eyes, and dark red hair. Rigel, however, was quite the opposite. While the twins had gotten their eyes from their father, Sirius Black, and their hair from their mother, Lily Black, Rigel had done the exact opposite. She had shaggy black hair usually pulled back in a pony-tail, and brilliant green eyes.
But the most curious thing about Rigel Black was the lightning-bolt shaped scar on her forehead. She had had it since she was a baby, and a famous story was behind that scar.
When Rigel Black was a year old, her father had taken the twins out to do some trick-or-treating, a muggle activity their neighborhood participated in every Halloween. Rigel was still learning how to walk, so she had stayed home with her mother to pass out candy.
That night proved to be the night of Lily Black's tragic demise.
For nearly eleven years, an evil wizard bent on taking over the Wizarding world, Lord Voldemort, paid a visit to the Black house. He came and murdered Lily, destroying the house in the process. He turned his wand on baby Rigel, but for some reason, unknown to anyone, the spell backfired, diminishing Voldemort to almost nothing, and leaving a lightning bolt cut on her forehead.
Sirius Black, on seeing the flames from the explosion, ran home, where he found his house destroyed. Upon searching through the rubble, he found Rigel, crying hysterically. When Sirius had laid eyes on the scar, he knew that Voldemort would return for his family, especially his daughter.
Determined to protect her, Sirius Black moved into his parents' old house, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.
Ten years after that fateful Halloween night, Rigel was eleven. "Come on, wake up, Rigs! We've got a surprise for you!" Heaving a sigh, Rigel crawled out of bed and shuffled down to the kitchen, still in her pajamas.
"Morning, Rigs!" Sirius Black said, cheerfully, wielding a frying pan. He began to dump sausages onto her plate. "There's an owl waiting for you," he said, nodding at a tawny owl that was perched in the window. Rigel jumped up and hurried to remove the letter. The owl flew off with a hoot, and she broke the wax seal.
Unfolding it, she nearly had a heart attack.
"Dear Miss Black," she squealed. "We are pleased to inform you that you have been ACCEPTED TO HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY!"
She began to leap about, dancing with her brother's broom. "I'm going to Hogwarts! I'm going to Hogwarts!" she chanted, grinning, madly. Her father ushered her to her seat and shoved a plate piled high with eggs, sausages, and bacon under her nose.
Rigel ate ravenously, and her brothers watched in amazement. "Slow down, Rigs! You're going to explode!" Fred exclaimed, but she ignored him. When the last of her eggs were gone, she said, "Can we go to Diagon Alley?" Sirius Black shook his head.
"Let the rest of us eat first," he laughed, "and then we'll go to Diagon Alley." Rigel waited, impatiently, as her brothers and her father ate, and when they were finished, she dragged them to the fireplace.
"Let's go already!" They Floo powdered their way to The Leaky Cauldron, and Rigel tumbled out into the crowded inn/pub.
Immediately, heads turned and stared at Rigel, their eyes wide. Tom, the toothless caretaker, stepped forward with a hushed, "Rigel Black?"
"Um...yes?" she said, trying to sound polite, but wondering why on earth people were staring at her. Then it hit her. Her scar, of course. Instantly, people were crowding around, shaking her hand and introducing themselves excitedly. She smiled and nodded, with a few "hellos" here and there, and then Sirius Black shoved his way through the crowd.
"Yes, yes, thank you very much, but I'm afraid we have to get her school thing," he said, loudly, guiding Rigel to the back of the room, into a back alley. He pulled out his wand, tapped one of the bricks, and a hole appeared, widening quickly, to form the entrance to Diagon Alley.
Rigel was bouncing with excitement as she entered the crowded street.