Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Twenty |*|

Harry Potter really knew how to ruin Aquila's year.

He didn't come at her personally-it was actually Dumbledore-but she needed someone to blame, so she chose Potter.

Everything was going really well for her during her third year. Alexis never found out it was Aquila who ruined the wondrous relationship her and Carlos; she forgave Ethan, and their friendship was saved; she got her revenge on Cassie because that girl deserved it; she formed a beautiful friendship with Jennifer Trelawney and Moaning Myrtle; the Weasley twins promised that when they perfected their jokes, they'd give Aquila a free stock for life (as payment for her help with some advanced spells); and Slytherin won the House Cup.

Well, they would've won if it wasn't for Harry Potter and his gang of crackpot friends from Gryffindor. Just because some little shit played a game of chess, another brainiac solved a freaking riddle, some little dude failed at talking his friends out of doing something stupid, and the new celebrity decided to be a big shot and defeat the Dark Lord with nothing but a mirror and his bare hands, Dumbledore decided to screw with Slytherin and make Gryffindor win the cup.

The green haired Slytherin-along with most others in her house-was anti-Dumbledore. The headmaster was nothing but a crazy old man with fancy glasses and a cool beard. Aquila felt cheated after the Cup was practically handed to Harry Potter. Even though her housemates weren't her favorite people (the first years that year were just vile), they all worked hard for that Cup, and Slytherin deserved it. They deserved it way more than Potter and friends.

Seriously, he was just a boy; what was the big deal about him.

Oh, I know, Aquila sassily thought, he's Harry freakin' Potter.

Frankly, Aquila wasn't a fan.

All she talked about during the train ride back to London was how annoying Potter was. Cedric and Ethan (Fred and George chose to sit with some other Gryffindors) were growing tired of hearing Aquila ranting.

"I swear, he thinks he's entitled to whatever he wants just because of that damn scar on his forehead!" Aquila ranted. "Well, I've got a scar too! I fell over and cut myself on the sharp edge of a table this year! The mark's still there!"

"Why are you so anti-Potter?" Ethan asked.

"Are you daft, Ethan?" Aquila asked. "He stole the House Cup from me!"

"I don't think he intended to," Cedric said. "It must've been Dumbledore's doing."

"Oh, I've got a whole lot to say about that Hippogriff fart!" Aquila yelled. "His point system is complete bogus! I'd like to know the logic behind that! And, if he's so smart and wise and all-knowing, why wasn't he sorted into Ravenclaw?"

"I don't know," Cedric said. "Maybe-"

"It's because he's a fraud!" Aquila declared. "Those Gryffindors and their egos! Can't even say hello to one without getting the, 'oh, I'm so much better than you because I've got the heart of a lion'. That's bologna! Guess what, Lion Heart! I'm a snake! And this snake is a venomous boa constrictor that will suffocate your lion ass!"

"Calm your venom, boa constrictor!" Ethan demanded. "Maybe there was a good reason they got those points."

"Yeah, because Ron Weasley can play chess," Cedric said. "Okay, now I realize how stupid that sounds."

"Everyone agrees with me," Aquila said. "Even Carlos and the Greenwalls."

"You're friends with them?" Ethan asked.

"Of course not! We just all have a mutual disliking for Potter and Dumbledore and Gryffindors."

"Fred and George are Gryffindors," Cedric pointed out.

"They're the only exception," Aquila said. "They're making me explosives."

"Typical Quil," Cedric said. "Only in it for the explosions."

"Well duh!" she said. "If you have explosives, we are already 153 percent friends."

"But I don't have explosives," Cedric said.

"Ah, but what good are the explosives without a Cedric to tell me not to use them?"

"No good, obviously," he said.

"What about me?" Ethan asked.

Aquila shrugged, "I guess I need a test dummy."

Ethan's eyes grew wide, "I thought you forgave me!"

"It was a joke, Ethan," she promised. "Maybe..."

"Better watch your back, mate," Cedric warned. "She's deadly."

"Oh!" Aquila said randomly. "We should all have code names!"

"Where did this come from?" Ethan asked.

"When I talk to you through the stars, I should use code names!"

"Okay," Ethan said. "What should they be?"

"Aquila should be Boa Constrictor," Cedric suggested.

"And you'll be Responsible Mom," Aquila told him.

"What about me?" Ethan asked.

"Test Dummy?" Aquila asked.

"Fine," he said. "I think it would be smart not to fight you on this."

"A wise decision indeed," Aquila said. "I'll be using the codes tonight; keep watch!"

"Do us all a favor and don't rant about Dumbledore tonight," Cedric said.

"Ugh, Dumbledore," Aquila muttered. "What even runs through his mind sometimes? Why does he wear only half of his glasses? Who even employed him? Probably someone even more messed up, if that's possible..."

|*| Merlin, Quil! Give Dumbledore some credit he has to put up with you |*|