{Rigel's room, Slytherin Dorm, Hogwarts}
{4th Sep 1991}
{3rd Person POV}
"The Dark Lord is alive?" Rita blurted as she walked out of the wardrobe. Her earlier dissatisfaction at not seeing Narcissa treated a bit more roughly was pushed aside because of the conversation she had heard just now.
'The Dark Lord's Diary, his Locket, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets...' The mention of any one of these events or items could become a blockbuster story in itself, but the way these secrets were casually mentioned by Rigel boggled her mind.
The thought that Rigel knew a lot more than he should once again popped into her mind as she waited for his response.
"Of course he's alive, he's in a state of half-dead spirit state, but he hasn't departed from our world yet, and if my guess is right, he won't be dying anytime soon..." Rigel responded, unlike his usual casual way of going through conversation, Rita noticed he was absolutely serious about this topic. From as far as she could tell, he had been very serious since Narcissa threatened him.
'Though he does not seem to be worried about her threat...' Rita guessed.
"So he can come back alive?" Rita asked her voice a mixture of fear and revulsion.
Rigel looked at her a little confused, he knew she was a Slytherin and mixed well with the socialites of the Wizarding World. Even her bio said she was a batchmate of Bellatrix Lestrange and was influenced by arguments of pureblood supremacy.
"It's not a question of an 'if' but rather 'when'," Rigel replied. He looked back at his door and then continued, "Don't mention anything about him for now, there is still time to delay his return, and if his faithful don't know that he's alive it would go a long way."
Rigel sighed and sat down, for now, he needed a new plan and he still needed to make do with an old one. The escape of Pettigrew was something that he could not allow to happen, so first of all he needed to deal with that.
"Alright, I need your help with something," Rigel spoke as he stood up and walked over to his desk, he pulled out a roll of parchment from his backpack and a self-inking quill.
"I need you to find anything that can trap an animagus," Rigel started, "...It's not for you, there is another animagus hiding in Hogwarts, don't mention anything about it for now, I have a juicy story for you later." Rigel continued as he scribbled the basic requirement on a piece of paper.
"Also I need a larger trunk, I should have bought the 7-compartment one earlier but I decided to cheap out..." Rigel muttered as he looked at the list, and then he decided to add the diagram of a simple rat cage.
"There is an animagus hiding in Hogwarts? Why would someone hide here, is it because of the school library?" Rita asked, being an animagus herself she could understand how difficult it was to stay as one for an extended duration of time.
"No he's a dark wizard from Voldemort's side," Rigel replied as he gave her the list. It was a small errand but he needed this as soon as possible. Rigel wanted to capture crabbers as soon as possible and considering he hadn't even begun on the threshold of runes, creating a new runic scheme to trap scabbers like his original plan doesn't seem likely.
He looked as if Rita was still hesitating so he further elaborated, "Trust me we are more helpful to each other as allies rather than enemies. Plus I could get you an exclusive interview with a death eater and a man who is currently believed to be dead, think about the headlines..." Rigel enticed getting a glare from Rita.
"Fine," Rita agreed as she sighed, for better or for worse she knew that she was stuck with him for now. At least this gave her a unique opportunity to bargain for more information on how Rigel was able to sniff her out.
"Thanks, was there anything else?" Rigel asked and Rita blushed slightly, she was hoping that like last time Narcissa would end up on her knees and she could enjoy herself again but she was too embarrassed to actually ask to be fucked. She shook her head and immediately transformed into her animagus form.
Rigel chuckled slightly as he grabbed his bag, meanwhile, Rita once again slipped into his robe pocket. He was heading for the Library and since Daphne would still be there he could ask some questions about Potions. He walked out of his room and went toward the entrance of the common room.
...
{Fireplace Landing, Malfoy Manor, Unplottable}
{4rd Sep 1991}
{3rd Person POV}
Through a whirl of flames, Narcissa walked out, she had hurried out of Rigel's room and slipped into Draco's room. After that, she used Severus's fireplace to floo back home all the while she stewed on what Rigel had said.
'He was pretty confident in the Dark Lord being alive...' Narcissa thought and a grimace made its way onto her face. The time when Lucuis served as a circus crew with other masked crusaders was the worst time she could remember. She didn't have any freedom and even the financials of House Malfoy were under the Dark Lord's control.
The Death Eater raids were also the start of Lucius's promiscuous days. Before then he was entirely wrapped around in her grasp but even years after his 'death' Lucius and the rest of the Purebloods Lords have gotten used to their sadistic sides. Narcissa barely recognized this Lucius, the man she married was far different from what he is today. He is still smart and cunning but his main focus is not on the ascension of House Malfoy anymore.
'Though maybe it is, with Rigel's allegations he is slowly edging me out from the decisions while thinking about swallowing the fortunes and political power of House Black.' The thought popped into Narcissa's head as she walked toward Lucius's office.
She walked through the door without a knock and immediately noticed that something was off. Lucious was working on the document like always but his face was flushed, from the distracted look in her eyes she could tell that the muggle-born whore was down there underneath his table.
...
'You've got to be kidding me...'
AN- 36+ chapters ahead on Patreon!