Work Text:
A halfblood wizard went to school,
To Hogwarts fair went he,
Eleven years of age but still
As cunning as can be.
’Neath Ministerial tyranny
He risked both life and limb,
With Rigel as his sobriquet
And Black, his pseudonym.
Dear Rigel had an aptitude
For magic and for more,
But potions was the only thing
He wanted to explore.
The Sorting Hat directed him
To Slytherin right quick,
For there he’ll meet both friends most dear
And foes most politic.
Our hero tried his best to stay
As subtle as he could,
But fate’s a fickle mistress that
Refused to be withstood.
For all that Rigel claimed that he
Lived quite a life of lies,
A friend that turned out traitorous
Gave him a sad surprise.
The worst of enemies are those
Pretending to be kind
When secretly they have designs
To stab you from behind.
A threat of injury most dire
Was what forced Rigel’s hand;
With powers great and magic strong
He firmly made his stand.
But strength like Rigel’s cannot stay
Forever kept obscure,
And powers fearing their decline
Were made quite insecure.
Perhaps that’s why a mage unknown
Sent plague unnatural
To Hogwarts where the boys and girls
Caught blight ephemeral.
But lo, behold our hero bold—
Our worries were in vain—
He saved the day with potions brewed
And mental arts arcane.
Successfully completed now,
The school year’s at its end,
But what has yet to finish is
This grim game of pretend.
The holidays serve as a break
For students young and old,
But Rigel has a ruse that he
Must struggle to uphold.
Society demands the lords
And ladies to convene
In manor houses grim or gay
To mingle and to preen.
Such gatherings are treacherous
With perils well-disguised,
Yet Rigel, ever-vigilant—
He could not be surprised.
His caution saved an elder from
A fatal final drink,
And though from danger he quails not,
From glory he does shrink.
Of course we know now why that is
And so we now may cry
At Rigel Black’s audacity,
Which we cannot deny.
But let us now return again
To Rigel’s chronicle
Which carries on in Hogwarts with
Heroics criminal.
The British Isles’ securest lands
They say are fortified
By a beloved school to which
Our children we confide.
Yet evil forces near and far
Were forming wicked schemes
To stir awake a mythic beast—
Of nightmares, not of dreams.
The basilisk of Slytherin
Had slept a thousand years,
But hunger then was driving it
To feast on Rigel’s peers.
Our fearless hero couldn’t sit
Unharmed and safe while friends,
Caught all alone and one by one,
met temporary ends.
Though Slytherin’s pet monster lived
Down in a chamber vast,
The secret was unveiled with wit
And bravery steadfast.
When finally he sallied forth
To slay the serpent vile,
He went alone with aid from none
And won the fight with style.
Another year then came and passed
And Rigel Black matured,
And yet alas to fame and praise
He never was inured.
But then came time they plotted the
Triwizard Tournament
And chose our bashful hero’s school
To host this grand event.
Nine representatives they sought
From nine academies
Nine youths whose skills and excellence
Could be confirmed with ease.
Three Muggleborns, three halfbloods, and
Three students pure in birth,
They would compete amongst themselves
To verify their worth.
Then one in each blood stratum would
Be left to help attest
That without fail the purebloods still
Will prove to be the best.
Of course for Hogwarts Rigel Black
Was slated to be made
The candidate they would submit
To play in this charade.
Perhaps he’d been coerced to join
The farcical display,
Or maybe he aimed to defeat
The status quo one day.
No matter what it was that caused
Our hero to accept,
The manager of this event
Must now feel quite inept.
For although Rigel Black endured
And never did he fail,
Those bigoted agendas he
Did soundly countervail.
And now this ballad will extol
Our hero’s feats of might,
Each grand but all exceeded by
His final fight then flight.
The forest’s beasts were hurdles for
The task that took place there,
When Rigel fought with tactics and
Resolve beyond compare.
The second task was built of an
Array of daunting traps,
But Rigel showed such prowess that
He caused them to collapse.
Then finally they were arranged
To duel before a crowd,
And after four opponents still
Our hero stood unbowed.
The three preliminary tasks
Eliminated six,
And left him as the figurehead
Of pureblood politics.
Returning from the holidays
To face three tasks anew,
The clever Rigel Black would give
His enemies their due.
A search in frigid waters made
Without excess delays
Resulted in complete success
And gave him well earned praise.
The fifth ordeal however was
A bit more strenuous:
A climb to lofty heights with grasp
On truth made tenuous.
Of three contestants one fell prone
Which forced her to a stop,
Then Rigel stunned the other one
And reached the very top.
The final task consisted of
A complex labyrinth,
Through which the champions had to fight
To reach the central plinth.
Our hero made it through the maze
and reached the middle fine,
But when he left his luck began
To go into decline.
A group of terrorists arrived
And caught the boy and took
His magic for their leader who
All decency forsook.
The villain Voldemort made use
Of ritual most depraved,
But Rigel persevered again;
These wicked deeds he braved.
These criminals ironically
Made Rigel’s consequence
An asset to his allies as
They laid bare his pretence.
The spectacle that they devised
Revealed our hero to
Be lacking in blood purity
But still a champion true.
And in the end escaped the boy
That has us all beguiled:
The legend known as Rigel Black,
That brilliant halfblood child.
And now our ballad ends here with
A message of support:
Society’s unfairnesses
We’ll all unite to thwart.