Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Three |*|

The stars shown brightly in the sky when the students exited to train. To Aquila, it appeared as if the stars were just as excited as she was, and she could feel their energy radiating from billions of kilometers away. The joy of seeing the stars found its way to her face, and Aquila's smile was possibly the brightest of all the other first years.

In order to get to the Hogwarts castle, the first years had to take a boat across a fairly large lake. Aquila shared a boat with Cedric and two girls who looked strikingly similar. They said their names were Alexis and Abby Greenwall, twins.

"Do you two have twin telepathy?" Aquila asked, intrigued.

They both shrugged at the same time and said in unison, "No, there's no such thing."

Aquila's eyes widened in amazement, and her jaw dropped.

The twins laughed. "We do that on purpose," Abby explained.

"It's hilarious!" Alexis laughed, snorting.

"It's brilliant!" Aquila cheered. "You got me."

"Me as well," Cedric added.

"It's a gift," the twins said in unison.

|*|*|*|

"Blake, Carlos!" McGonagall called. A tall boy walked up to the hat and a few seconds later joined his new friends at the Slytherin table. Aquila smiled; she couldn't wait to be cheered on as she marched to the Slytherin table herself.

A few other names were called before Cedric's. "Diggory, Cedric!"

Cedric walked to the hat, and after about a minute, he was declared a Hufflepuff. Aquila thought nothing less of him. Her entire family seemed to have something against Hufflepuffs, but she didn't. They were witches and wizards just like everyone else. In fact, after listening to Nash read her Hogwarts: A History one night when she couldn't fall asleep, she learned that Hufflepuff was actually the best House to be in. Its Founder, Helga Hufflepuff, said she'd teach any student, regardless of intelligence, courage, or blood purity, and Aquila thought that was really cool.

"Greenwall, Abby!"

Slytherin, and so was Alexis. Aquila clapped loudly for her soon-to-be house mates. She figured that they'd get along nicely together since their boat ride was pleasant enough. She took a liking to the twins, especially Alexis. There was something about the way she smiled like she'd never smiled before that intrigued Aquila.

"Weasley, Fred!"

"YOU'RE NOT FRED WEASLEY!"

The real Fred Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor, and his brother, George, who had tried to take his place, was also placed in Gryffindor. Aquila had to admit that she enjoyed their little joke, and she laughed incredibly hard.

Gryffindor seems like such a fun House, she thought to herself. After realizing what she was doing, she shook her head. No, no, Quil. Slytherin is a fun House. Way more funner than dumb, smelly Gryffindor. Who would want to be a lion when you could be a snake like the rest of your family?

Finally, her name was called. "Whitman, Aquila!"

Happily, she rushed up to the stool, and the hat was placed on her head. Instantly, it sprang to life, and began scanning through the very depths of her brain. She could hear it whispering things in a raggedy voice, but all she thought the entire time was Slytherin. Slytherin. Slytherin.

"Hmm... you'd well in a number of Houses," the Hat mused. "Where to put you?"

"If I might interrupt," Aquila said. "I think Slytherin would be a great choice for me."