They arrived at the Great Hall shortly after, Dean was a little surprised, he didn't even notice how they got there, but he didn't think much about it, instead, they went to the table where some older students were already sitting, chatting or studying.
For some, especially fifth and seventh year students, this was no normal year, instead, they would have important exams that could define their futures. The Ravenclaw table clearly had more students studying than the other tables.
Rigel had not yet visited the library, but he imagined there must already be students there.
Approaching the table, which already had plenty of food, all preserved with magic to maintain its quality and warmth, Rigel and Dean sat down. Dean began to talk about Quidditch, while Rigel mostly listened. He took some eggs, fried fish, bacon, and bread, along with a cup of coffee.
Dean grabbed some sausages, eggs, and toast, along with a glass of pumpkin juice.
Even while eating, he continued to talk, luckily they were sitting side by side, or Rigel would have already been sprayed with food in his mouth.
Jack was already on the table, away from them, being fed a piece of orange cake by an older Gryffindor girl. Her friends were clearly having fun playing with Jack, so Rigel ignored the monkey.
He glanced at the professors' table, there were few people there, just McGonagall and Professor Sinistra, the astronomy professor, who was calmly conversing with her.
After they had eaten, Rigel called Jack, who quickly jumped away from the girls. They saw Jack leaving with Rigel and felt it was a shame, but soon they started talking about something more interesting: Harry Potter was at Hogwarts.
Rigel overheard more than one conversation about it, the savior of the 'wizarding world' sitting at the same table as them, but soon the novelty would wear off and they would realize that Harry was just another little wizard, much to Harry's delight.
However, in the first few weeks, Harry would still have some trouble adapting.
Rigel decided to take a walk with Dean to digest his food. They went outside, Rigel wanted to take a look at the Black Lake, and Dean wanted to go to the Quidditch pitch. They walked along the lake while Dean talked about the drawings he made, he was good at it, showing some to Rigel. He even mentioned that he had discovered a spell to animate them, but he hadn't learned it yet.
When they arrived at the Quidditch pitch, he and Dean climbed the stands, looking down at that enormous field from a high point, it was truly the kind of place that made you feel small.
They continued exploring until they came near Hagrid's hut, who was outside feeding his chickens with Fang beside him, barking occasionally, causing Hagrid to grumble and take some treats out of his pocket, tossing them to him.
As soon as he saw two students approaching, Hagrid became serious, his main job was to keep those brats away from the Forbidden Forest, so he placed the bucket of worms beside him and approached.
"Hey, you two! You're not thinking of going into the forest, are you?" He asked, his eyes narrowed. His long beard made his nose and eyes appear smaller than they should, but for a half-giant, it was still quite large for the two boys.
Dean looked completely terrified. He had seen Hagrid before, but this time he was standing right in front of him, and Hagrid had a serious expression on his face. To a normal boy, Hagrid seemed utterly frightening.
Rigel wasn't afraid of Hagrid, besides, he knew the giant was just a big silly.
"No, sir, we're just exploring the Hogwarts grounds. We're first-year students, you know? We've already seen the Black Lake and the Quidditch pitch, we didn't know we were heading towards the Forbidden Forest." Rigel explained.
Hagrid snorted slightly, a little skeptical, but it made sense, so he just waved his large hand as he turned and headed back to the henhouse. "Anyway, don't go any further, the forest is incredibly dangerous, don't get close or something might jump out and eat your heads."
Dean paled even more, wanting to turn around immediately. Just because he was a Gryffindor didn't mean he was stupid, he was just a boy who barely knew how to use a spell, so he agreed with Hagrid.
"Rigel, let's go back anyway, classes are about to start." Dean said, trying not to sound scared, but his faltering voice didn't help much.
Rigel pretended not to notice and spoke. "Right."
The pair quickly turned around, Rigel picked up the class schedule and saw that there was half an hour left until the first class. He concentrated on the power of the compass, using occlumency to wish to arrive at class, and soon felt his 'intuition' pointing in the right direction.
Dean remained silent for a few minutes, but back at the castle, he regained his composure, soon returning to talking about interesting things in the Muggle world. He already knew that Rigel came from a wizarding family, so he spoke about the things he found interesting in the wizarding world and how their versions were in the Muggle world.
Rigel knew all of that, but still feigned surprise at appropriate moments.
Dean said he brought a soccer ball from home, he could teach him how to play in the future, and they could bring their roommates and make teams of three.
Rigel agreed, he really wanted to see how Neville would fare in a soccer match, if the ball didn't hit him in the face before the end, Rigel would eat his own pants. They continued the conversation as they walked, soon arrived at the classroom.
Jack didn't go to class with Rigel, although animals were allowed, Rigel couldn't bring them into the classroom unless they fit in a pocket or something, like Ron's 'rat' and Neville's toad.
Rigel had already seen the rat, but he wasn't in a hurry to deal with it, after all, he didn't know if dealing with the rat now would mean losing something he had achieved. The plot of the third film was practically based on it, or at least it was the reason everything started.
He had already learned his lesson when he went to Davy Jones' Locker without Jack to save, rushing ahead wasn't always the solution. Anyway, he wasn't in a hurry, he had plenty of time. Besides, he wasn't the one who had to cuddle a pot-bellied, middle-aged man to get to sleep.
Ron actually took it well, but Rigel felt he'd need therapy after that.
Rigel let Jack have his fun, after making it clear that although he could wander around, if he caused trouble, he would be sent back to Kreacher. The monkey quickly nodded, promised, and left.
What would he do? Rigel had no idea, later, Rigel could simply use the compass to find him.
The class was already practically full, with only a few students missing. Rigel found Seamus and Neville. Seamus waved quickly to them, his expression showing irritation, he was annoyed that they had left without him.
Rigel ignored it for a moment and saw McGonagall, in cat form, on the table.
He just looked, feeling particularly mischievous, he went over and patted the cat on the head a few times. Dean also liked cats, so he imitated him. None of the students cared much about it, but Minerva was stunned.
Meowing in protest, she gave them a fierce look, the eyeglass-shaped marks making her angry eyes even more prominent.
Rigel and Dean moved away and went to sit with Seamus and Neville, who sat in the chairs behind them. Seamus turned to face them immediately.