Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| One Hundred Twelve |*|

Operation Infiltration (as Aquila liked to call it) wasn't going off without a hitch. Abby and Ethan-rather, Bethany and Robert-were having a tougher time getting the Gryffindors to trust them.

As a show of their bravery and selflessness, the two attempted to put on a real show during Dark Arts class, but they never got the chance to. Before they could move a muscle, four other Gryffindors already started to take a stand, pushing Bethany and Bob a day behind schedule.

Even after classes ended, they found no success in the common room. From what Abby told Aquila at the end of the day, their efforts went something like this:

"Hogwarts is pretty bad right now, huh?" Abby asked a nearby Gryffindor sixth year, Ginny Weasley.

"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one," Ginny responded. "Who did you say you were again?"

"I'm Bethany, and this is my brother Robert. We came here from far north."

"Why didn't you just stay up there?" a new Gryffindor asked. It was Neville Longbottom.

"Got a bit too cold," Ethan stupidly replied.

"Our parents had to relocate for work," Abby corrected, sticking to the story Aquila fashioned for them the day before. "We move a lot."

"Sucks that we ended up here," Ethan continued. "This place is hell."

"This place is our home," Neville defended. Abby could tell things were about to go downhill judging by his sharp tone. "And we aren't going to sit around and watch as it crumbles down."

"We totally hear you," Abby said.

"Yes, we do," Ethan reinforced.

"And," Abby continued, "we want to help you, uh, protect this place."

Neville opened his mouth, but Ginny answered her before he had a chance. "If we ever need an extra set of hands, we'll reach out to you... Bethany." The way Ginny articulated her false name gave Abby a bad feeling. "I'll see you in class tomorrow. Come on, Neville."

And the Gryffindors whispered a few things together, and Abby and Ethan knew they were screwed.

"You idiots fucked everything up!" Cassie shouted at them during their nightly meeting. "Weasley knows you're imposters!"

"She doesn't know shit, Carrow!" Abby informed her loudly. "We still can get in-"

"No, you can't!" Aquila yelled, entering the conversation at last. "You might not remember this, Abby, but your identical twin spent the entire summer with the Weasleys! Ginny knows what you look like, and those glasses aren't fooling her!"

"Aquila's right," Ethan said. "There's no way we can get into Dumbledore's Army with Ginny Weasley breathing down our necks. We should stop this charade before it goes to far."

Cassie took a step towards Ethan. "You were sent here by the Dark Lord to carry out this mission!" she bellowed. "You can not return home empty handed!"

"If Ginny Weasley knows who we are-"

"Then she knows we mean business," Cassie interrupted. "We need a new plan on getting you two fools in the group."

"I have an idea," Aquila said. "But it's got its share of potential flaws."

"Kill Ginny Weasley?" Abby asked.

"No, that's a stupid waste of time and effort," Aquila said. "Just like using her to get into the group is a stupid waste of time. We thought that starting from the top would do the trick, but what if we start from the bottom?"

"Can you stop speaking in metaphors and explain yourself, Star Girl?" Cassie spat.

"We thought that finding the leaders was the best course of action, but it's not going to work anymore thanks to Abby's face and Ethan's incompetence," Aquila continued. "So, find a younger, more gullible member and use them for entrance."

"Do you have any suggestions on who to search out?" Ethan asked.

"That's not my problem," Aquila said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be off. Eagle business."

|*|*|*|

Aquila was tasked with night time patrols of the castle. Because her senses were heightened as the eagle, she was the best fit for the job. This arrangement allowed the Carrows to get a good night's rest for another day of torturing children in the morning.

She would have to avoid Filch and his cat because everyone was supposed to remain unaware of the eagle's presence at the school. Unfortunately, on her first night of patrolling, she ran into some familiar faces roaming the corridors at four a.m.: Richard's friends Hannah and Isaac.

She couldn't help but fly down closer and eavesdrop on their conversation. Firstly because it was her job, and secondly because she wanted to hear some friendly voices.

"Everything enjoyable about Hogwarts is gone," Hannah whispered to Isaac. "They disbanded everything-I cant even play my fluba anymore."

"I still think you should call it a tute," Isaac told her in an attempt at humor.

"Humor doesn't feel right right now," Hannah said.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood," he said. "Do what Richard would do."

"Well, Richard isn't here," she said sadly, "and there's no use pretending he is."

"I know you miss him," Isaac said. "I miss him too, and it sucks that we can't even send the boy an owl, but he's gone for his own protection. They're hunting muggleborns now, and he wouldn't be safe here."

"He's not a muggleborn," she denied. "He's adopted, and there's no record of his birth parents on file anywhere. For all we know, he's a pureblood like we are."

"They would kill him anyways."

|*|*|*|

Aquila spent the majority of her evenings sifting through all of the mail that would enter and exit Hogwarts. It was too menial of a task for anyone else, so she picked it up herself. Everything was normal with the letters. Parental concern to the headmaster, children asking the parents to take them from the school, one girl asking her mother to owl in a fresh pack of tampons... nothing out of the ordinary until she reached this letter.

About that time I spilled tea on you over the summer. Bummer your shirt was ruined. But I was wondering how school is going for you. Your marks still high? Good. Really sorry I didn't owl sooner. Everything has been busy at the shop! Even though I've got help, it's still a lot of work. Never imagined I'd get so many customers. Will you be coming home for the holidays? A lot of our relatives want to see you again. Looks like I'm almost out of ink. Love you, Ginny.

It was not signed by anyone, but the letter was addressed to Ginny Weasley. The wording seemed very odd, and the sentences seemed randomly generated. Aquila was going to let this letter pass, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with the letter. Was it a code? A secret message?

She tried counting letters, reading it backwards, putting it through a decoder, and marking strange phrases, but nothing was coming back. Nothing until she remembered the old trick she and Nash used to use when they ran around the house, pretending to be spies.

She took the first letter of each sentence and put them together to reveal a name.

Abby Greenwall.