Chapter 151: Chap.148 - ‘Gryffindor’ day.

On the open sea, the Ragnarok cut through the waves as it advanced without a set destination.

Rigel was sitting in the middle of the deck, staring at his own hand with narrowed eyes, completely focused.

His hand was straight, fingers together pointing forward, occasionally, veins seemed to bulge from his skin, his nails curled, slowly growing into a pointed shape. It was slow, incredibly slow. Rigel sweated continuously, his teeth clenched, he didn't give up.

Soon a tired smile appeared on his face, his hand looked completely different, its veins were bulging while his fingers had thickened with thicker, stiffer skin, his nails had become black, long and sharp.

Next to Rigel, a steel plate appeared. Rigel stood up, looking at the plate, concentrating his strength in his right arm and making a stabbing motion directly at the thick steel plate.

The plate tore, bending, but Rigel wasn't having fun, his wrist was twisted and swelling rapidly. He bit his lip to keep from screaming, sighing. The plate disappeared as he jumped into the water, the water quickly healing his injured wrist.

He had forgotten to change that part as well.

Even so, the progress made him very excited.

His class of transmuters has great potential, changing matter, energy, and even the soul. Currently, he's still stuck in physical transformation, but how far can he go in the future?

He watched his hand heal as it slowly undid what he had done, his hand returning to its normal appearance.

It wasn't transfiguration, it was transmutation, if he hadn't done anything, that hand would have remained like that permanently, no counter-spell would make it return to normal.

Rigel was laying the groundwork for the future, slowly transmuting his body within the dragon's dream, he wasn't afraid to fail, so he could push himself to the limit.

However, when he tried to overdo it, he realized it didn't help, he needed to understand the change slowly, not tear apart his current form all at once. So he started little by little, changing his hair color, modifying his physical appearance, adding and removing things.

It was useful, painful, but useful.

He could even say he was having fun, it wasn't like he enjoyed pain or had become a masochist, but when he woke up, the trauma disappeared, leaving only a sense of accomplishment from the progress made.

As the days accumulated, the more time passed, the happier Rigel became at making progress.

The count's coffin was truly one of the best rewards he received for learning magic.

Rigel returned to Ragnarok, sitting down again, continuing his training. This time he transformed his skin into scales while changing the inside to accumulate flesh and fat. His fist doubled in size when he finished. He conjured another plate, this time punching.

The scales broke, blood dripped, but he didn't feel much pain. Smiling, he healed himself again, trying once more, this time attempting to increase the rigidity of the scales.

Rigel thought that getting a physical example would be good, he would ask Calypso for some dragon scales, although he felt that was still far from imitating magical creatures, it could still serve as a basis.

The night continued to wear on as Rigel continued to practice.

//-//

In the morning, as always, Rigel was the first to wake up.

Sighing, it was Saturday, Rigel stood still for a moment, he was used to following the routine of classes, so now that he was free, he was momentarily unsure what to do. It was truly a welcome change, he felt his state of mind slowly returning to the calm of civility.

Except for the 'small' incident with Snape, of course.

As he was thinking, an owl flew in through the window, it was Nero. Rigel narrowed his eyes, but felt nothing, it really was Nero.

The owl hooted at Rigel, dropping the letter onto the windowsill.

Rigel stood up slowly, slipping on his slippers and black acromantula silk pajamas. He approached, stroked Nero's head, placed a handful of owl treats in a bowl and gave it to him. Taking the letter, he opened it and read it.

The beginning of the letter made Rigel laugh, it was basically Calypso informing him that Jack was begging to be able to come back soon. He knew he was wrong and wouldn't do it again. Rigel highly doubted this, but he didn't intend to change his mind, he would get him back on Monday.

The other part of the letter said that Calypso had obtained permission for Rigel to go to Hogsmeade since his first year at the Ministry, the fact that Rigel's home was in Hogsmeade made everything easier, he didn't even need to set a precedent, most wizards who live in Hogsmeade can do that.

Rigel was a little surprised, but it was a welcome change. He looked at the sheet on the back of the card and saw that it was the authorization, he was to deliver it to his head of house, deputy headmaster, or headmaster, in Rigel's case, both of these were the same person, so he would simply look for McGonagall later.

Finally, Calypso's letter included an invitation for tea, which was ironic because Calypso knew Rigel didn't particularly like tea, so she put it in parentheses (or coffee), making Rigel snort through his nose, hiding a laugh.

Shrugging, he wrote back a letter, informing her that he would go there in the afternoon. He hadn't been gone long, but in any case, being able to come and go home, even if only on Saturdays and Sundays, was already very good.

After Nero was satisfied, he nibbled a little on Rigel's finger in thanks, then took the letter and flew away.

Rigel looked out the window for a moment, feeling that from up there the world below was truly beautiful.

For a moment, he was glad he had chosen Gryffindor, although the view from inside the Black Lake wasn't bad, he didn't think he would like it more than the view he was seeing now.

Setting the view aside, Rigel didn't wake the others as usual, if he did, most of them would yell at him, after all, it was Saturday.

In fact, judging by their sleepy state, he could easily convince them that it was still a weekday and that he had class.

Rigel felt it would be very wicked to do that, but thinking about it, that's Gryffindor for you, right?

A slow smile began to form on Rigel's lips, he felt the twins' influence on him growing stronger.

Rigel finished the act quickly, getting dressed as if it were a normal school day and starting to wake the groggy boys. He woke them looking anxious, saying they had overslept and needed to rush to McGonagall's class. They groaned, but didn't realize something was wrong, getting up hurriedly, afraid of irritating the stern woman, except for Harry, who opened his mouth, confused, ready to say it was Saturday, but Rigel quickly noticed and winked at him, putting a finger to his lips.

Harry was stunned, for a moment, still sleepy, he hadn't understood the purpose of all this, but seeing the smile on Rigel's lips, he finally understood.

Harry was speechless, but soon, seeing Dean, Seamus, Neville, and even Ron looking like zombies trying to get ready as quickly as they could, he bit his lip, he almost burst out laughing, in the end, he joined Rigel, it wouldn't hurt anyone and it was quite funny, so Harry actively participated.

Finally, it was while they were running to class that Dean realized something was wrong, there were no students in the hallways, and the sun seemed a little too soft for it to be class time. It was now that he had time to think that he froze, stopping halfway. "Wait, it's Saturday!"

Seamus, Ron, and Neville froze. Neville almost tripped and fell, but Rigel caught him, no longer able to hide his laughter, and began to guffaw.

Harry wasn't much better off, laughing a lot.

The boys looked at Rigel and Harry confused for a moment, then they understood it was a prank.

Ron blushed with embarrassment and anger. He didn't blame Harry, but he thought it had all been Rigel's idea! Ron stared at him, his cheeks flushed and tight with irritation. Ironically, he wasn't wrong this time.

Dean, realizing the situation, joined in the laughter, thinking it had been a good prank. Seamus seemed like he wanted to get angry, but in the end he joined them laughing.

Only Neville was still confused. "So... there's no class?"

This made the group stop, look at Neville, and then burst into laughter again.

Even Ron put aside his irritation, the group had to accept that they were already awake, so they went to have breakfast.

Ron complained a little more, but in the end nobody cared much about it, quickly letting it go.

It was just another 'Gryffindor' day.