Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Ninety Eight |*|

|*| happy new year fam squad! |*|

Aquila was not happy-she was the opposite of happy; she was pissed.

Dolores Umbridge was a monster, and she deserved to burn in a terrible fire. Aquila would make sure to light the fire. As she left the hospital wing with her hand wrapped in bandages, she thought of the many ways to kill the professor. With her eagle claws, poisoned tea, Avada Kedavra...

"Miss Whitman, why are you out this late?" Professor McGonagall asked. "I hope you have a pass."

"I was just returning from the Hospital Wing," she said. "I hurt my hand in detention."

"Detention?" the professor asked. "With who?"

"Professor Umbridge," she answered.

The woman's face darkened. "Let me see your hand."

Aquila extended her arm to the professor. "It was a bad injury, ma'am," she explained.

"May I unwrap the bandages?" the professor asked.

"If you must," she said. Once the skin was shown, the professor gasped in horror. "Is it that bad? I can barely feel a thing."

"Tell me exactly what happened," Professor McGonagall said. "Don't leave anything out."

"Professor Umbridge handed me a cloth," Aquila said, "and I was to clean her cat plates with the utmost care. She didn't provide any water, which was a bit strange, but the cloth must've been enchanted. Anyway, I started cleaning the plates, and I must've cut my hand."

"Did she send you to the infirmary?"

"She made me wait until the end. It only got worse and worse... but that's what I get for being a nuisance."

The professor looked grave. "You are not a nuisance, and she should've sent you out at the moment of the injury. I will speak with her at once."

"I hope it prevents future accidents to younger students," Aquila said. "Hopefully, this doesn't become a serious issue."

She and the professor parted ways, and Aquila bandaged up her bloody hands. That was sure to leave a scar forever.

|*|*|*|

"Quil, what in Merlin's name is wrong with your hand?"

"I cut myself," she said. "Oh, don't worry, Ced! It was an accident!"

Her boyfriend was not relieved in the slightest. "Did you see Madam Promfrey? Will it heal? Does it hurt?"

"If you keep poking at it, it'll hurt again!" she scolded him. "It should heal up within a day or two."

"How did this happen?" he asked.

"I'm a careless idiot," she said. She didn't want to let Cedric worry about her safety around Umbridge. As far as he was concerned, the woman was unaware of Aquila's threat.

"Will you be okay for the meeting tomorrow?" he asked. "I think we are doing combat training or something."

"I'm so ready for combat," she said with a smirk. "I'll kick your ass."

"You can try, but all of my Quidditch expertise will really pay off," he informed her. "I️ don't think you'll be able to keep up."

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "I️ can take you down in an instant."

"We'll see about that," he said with a wink. She laughed and leaned on his shoulder, intertwining their hands.

"What's your go-to spell in combat?" she asked.

"Are you trying to learn my secrets?" he questioned, a joking tone to his voice.

"Not just learn them, but also steal them," she said. "You gotta know your enemy."

"And what are your favorite spells?" he asked.

"Oh, the usual ones," she said. "But I've got a system. Wanna hear it?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me anyways."

She told him anyways. "First, I stun them, so they can't run." She began swinging their arms around like a child. "Then, I summon them closer to me... to make it more fun. Lastly, if the enemy happens to be the greatest Quidditch captain in the world, I give him a kiss before reducing him to a pile of ashes."

"You talk a big game," he said, "but can you do it?"

"You'll have to find out tomorrow, now won't you?" She kissed him slowly, then grabbed his hand again and pulled him foreword at a run.

They ran down the corridors together, smiling and laughing, until they came to a grinding halt in front of Ethan. They stood in silence for a moment, the Aquila walked away with a glare. "He always ruins everything," she muttered.

"I still think we should give him a chance," Cedric said.

"He's a Death Eater," she reminded him. "He'll drag us into his shit and make us pay for it. I could've let him back into my life if he hadn't ruined his own."

|*|*|*|

At the DA meeting, Aquila noticed some of the other members had similar injuries to her own, and she thought about asking them what happened. She knew they wouldn't want to talk about it; reliving it was not a good idea for anyone. She decided not to point it out until the end when she talked to Hermione, Harry, and Ron alone.

"I want to help you guys more," she said. "We have to take Umbridge down. She's abusing power she shouldn't have, and no one here is making an effort to stop her."

"I completely agree," Hermione said. "She's been going foo far. The Inquisitorial Squad, the new rules and bans, Harry's ban from Quidditch and the... it has to stop."

"She's torturing students," Aquila said. "I'm sure you've noticed, but these cuts on my arm were her doing."

"She did that?" Ron asked. "Blimey, that's just like what happened to Harry!"

"What happened to you?" she asked. "Worse than this?"

"I'd say," he said. He showed Aquila his wrist with the words I must not tell lies written on it.

"That's awful," she said. "So you know this has to end."

"So what can you do?" Harry asked.

"I can deliver information," she said. "My brother works in the Ministry, and I believe I can get some information of value from him. Maybe something that could get her fired. But I want something from you in return."

"What?" Harry asked.

"I want to be with you and your Gryffindor gang-right in the center of this army. I want to help; I️ can provide information, be an inside man, and help protect the secrecy of this organization."

"What are you suggesting?" Hermione asked.

"I want to join the Inquisitorial Squad as a spy."

|*| the eagle is on the scene caw caw |*|