Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Ninety Five |*|

Aquila did something stupid. Very stupid.

Amid the excitement she felt after her first transformation, she decided to test out her new wings. She was not a natural flyer, but she decided to go for it and jump off the Astronomy Tower in the middle of the dark night. Cedric advised her to wait until morning, but as the eagle, her senses felt sharper, and she allowed herself to become over confident. She prepared to jump off the side of the tower, and her boyfriend could barely watch as she jumped.

Before flying up, Aquila fell down. She fell down like Neville Longbottom on the stairs, quickly and sloppily. Frantically, she flapped her new wings; her heart pounded in her chest, and she almost felt her face hit into the walls of the school. Finally, she was able to stop falling and fly in place.

Holy shit, I'm going to die, she thought. Cedric was right. I'm an idiot. Stupid, stupid, stupid... but I still have to get all the way back up there somehow...

She flapped her wings harder and harder, using all of the strength she could muster and barely made it to the tower. Cedric was dangling his head over the edge, and when he caught sight of her, he reached his hand out, hoping to help her up.

Aquila was tired, but seeing his face made her flap harder, and she made it back to the top, instantly collapsing on the ground with her wings spread out. It was truly a sight to see, and Cedric couldn't help but chuckle at the majestic bird looking dramatically tired.

"Quil, change back already," he told her, sitting down on the ground beside her. He stroked her back feathers, and the she cooed. In a flash of green light, she was herself again, and she was laying face down on the ground beside her boyfriend.

"That was amazing!" she exclaimed through her heavy breathing. "I flew! Caw freaking caw!"

Cedric sighed. "You almost died!"

"Take special note of the almost," she told him. "It's very important."

"Next time you decide to fly into the air, do it in the daylight," Cedric told her. "It's safer."

"Yeah, but I could be spotted," she said. "The last thing I want are those stupid DA people finding out about this."

"Why?" he asked. "You could be a huge help to them."

"That's why," she said. "I've got enough shit to do as it is. Cassie revenge to plan. I'm going to shit on her clothes."

"You could get intel from Umbridge," he pointed out.

"But I don't want to," she explained. "When we walked in on that secret meeting, I never planned to join a student resistance. I figured I'd learn a few more spells, but I'm not going to save the world."

"You're wasting your gift, Quil," Cedric told her. "You could do so much good if we told the DA."

"Smartypants already wants to use my star moving ability to her advantage, and I said no. That's our thing, Ced. I don't want to share it with those loathsome Gryffindors."

"You're being selfish. You should use the stars and the eagle to our advantage. There's a war brewing, and you can help."

"I want to help, but I have my own agenda right now," she told him. "After I get my revenge on that Ravenclaw bitch, I'll tell Lightning Scar and his gang of Gryffindors what I can do to help. I'm not going to jump into this until I know what I'm jumping into."

"Says the girl who jumped off a tower into complete darkness."

"That's different!"

|*|*|*|

For a week, Aquila meticulously planned her revenge on Cassie with the help of Carlos and Alexis. She couldn't practice flying during class, but whenever she could, she'd look out a window and watch the birds and the way they moved. She would go outside after classes and hide in the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest to practice flying. She was able now to fly with less effort, and after a few days in the forest, she was ready to put her plan into action.

On a Tuesday morning, the green haired girl wasn't at breakfast. Cedric was the only person who seemed to notice, and he questioned Alexis and Carlos about her whereabouts. "Must've slept in," Alexis said. "She was up late last night."

"What was she doing?" Cedric asked.

"Reading, I'll bet," Carlos guessed. Beside him, Alexis nodded, confirming his statement.

"Reading?" the Hufflepuff asked. "Reading what?"

"She's been obsessed with books on birds lately," Carlos explained. "Haven't you noticed?"

"Was she in the dorm when you woke up?" Cedric asked Alexis.

She looked at the ground. "I don't remember exactly. I was more concerned with making it here on time."

"What is she planning?" he asked. "I know something's up, and you're in on it, so you'd better tell me."

"Up to something?" she asked. "What makes you think that?"

"She only reads when she's planning something," he informed them. "So what is it?"

"How should we know?" Carlos asked. "It's not like we helped her or anything."

"I swear on Merlin's oversized toes, if you don't tell me what's going on, I'll-"

His words were drowned out by the sounds of the mail owls, chirping loudly. He looked up at the ceiling and noticed immediately there was something off. His eyes latched on to a bird with a stripe of green feathers, and his mouth fell open. Alexis and Carlos faintly heard him whisper, "Curse the Green Queen."

The out of place bird swooped dangerously close to the Ravenclaw table, its eyes latched onto its target, blocking out all other distractions. Its senses were sharper than they'd ever been, and the bird stretched its sharp talons out in front of it, the razor-like claws pointed right at its target's face.

Cassiopeia Carrow rolled off of her seat at the last second, landing on the floor with a thump and keeping her face covered with her hands. The hall erupted into chaos around the Ravenclaws, but the students on the opposite end of the room pointed in fear and awe at the fight between eagle and girl.

Aquila whooshed back around on Cassie, letting out a deafening screech from her beak. Cassie ran for the door faster than she ever did before, but she couldn't outrun the speed of Aquila's flight. The delivery owls had taken notice of the situation, and they joined in on the pursuit. A swarm of flying creatures caused every student to take cover, hiding under the tables or behind taller students.

The birds drove the Ravenclaw into a corner, and Aquila was about to do what she waited so long for. She hovered over the girl's head and prepared to shit on her, but her revenge never came. At the last second, Dolores Umbridge pushed Cassie aside, ready to cast a charm on Aquila and the other birds, but the green striped eagle ended up pooping on the professor, catching her off guard and giving Aquila enough time to fly away and take the other birds with her.

Umbridge nearly let a curse slip, and she rushed out of the Hall, instructing the students to clean up the feathery mess left from the flock.

From under the Slytherin table, Alexis and Carlos exchanged a high five. Although the plan didn't go exactly as anticipated, it took a brilliant turn at the end. Seeing the toad like woman covered in bird droppings was the funniest thing they ever witnessed.

A minute later, Aquila walked into the hall and found her friends. "So," she said with a smirk. "What did I miss?"

|*| umbridge had a shitty hair day lol |*|