Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| One Hundred Eighteen |*|

It was late in the night at Hogwarts as the school year was nearing its close when Aquila felt the mark on her forearm burn. The conversation across the room between Ethan and Cassiopeia stopped short, and the two of them looked down at their arms as well.

"He's here!" Cassie cheered, sprinting to the door. "They've caught him, just as the Dark Lord predicted they would!"

Earlier that night, Snape had gathered Hogwarts' remaining Death Eaters and positioned Alecto Carrow in the Ravenclaw Tower. "The Dark Lord has sent word," the headmaster told them, "that Potter will be arriving at Hogwarts, and we can catch him in the Ravenclaw Tower."

"Why the Ravenclaw Tower?" Amycus asked. "He's not even a bloody Ravenclaw."

"The whys and hows of the circumstances are for the Dark Lord to process," Snape replied. "All you must know is that he will be here. Alecto, have Flitwick escort you to the Ravenclaw common room and wait until you have Potter trapped to summon the Dark Lord."

"Yes, Severus," Alecto said. "I will go there at once."

"She should have someone else with her," Cassie piped up. "In case things go wrong."

"Oh, let me guess," Amycus said, taking a few terrifying steps towards his daughter. "You think you should be the one to accompany her, don't you?"

"I do," she said firmly, not backing down from her father.

"Foolish child," he said with malice in his eyes. "What protection would you offer? You can't even cast the torture curse effectively-you'd do no good to anyone."

Aquila let out a puff of air from her nose, snickering quietly to herself. Cassie turned her head towards the dark haired Slytherin and raised her wand to Aquila's neck. "And you think you could do better."

"I know I could," she whispered. The smirk on her face almost dared Cassie to try casting a spell.

Snape stepped in, pushing Cassie's wand away from Aquila. "Enough of this outlandish behavior, Cassie," he said. "There will be plenty of time for malicious wand-waving when Potter arrives."

"I'd hardly call that malicious," Aquila said under her breath, earning a glare from Snape, telling her to silence herself before he did it for her.

And now, as Aquila sprinted behind Cassie towards the Ravenclaw Tower, the fight between the Dark Lord and Harry Potter would finally begin. Behind her, Ethan's and Abby's footsteps echoed as they followed, wands out in case of an emergency encounter. When the four of them neared the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower, Aquila caught sight of Professor McGonagall. "Everyone, stop," she told the group of four. "Fall back and take cover. I'll scout out the situation and report back. Things might've gotten ugly." She quickly switched to her Animagus form, flying above the scene to keep her identity a secret.

"May I ask what you are doing, Professor Carrow?" asked McGonagall, reminding oddly calm next to the bellowing figure of Amycus Carrow. The man was pulling with all his might at the eagle knocker, hoping that it would fall off due to his strength.

"Trying-to get-through this damned- door!" he shouted. "Go and get Flitwick! Get him to open it, now!"

They had a quick back and forth over who would be opening the door before McGonagall answered the riddle herself and let the professor into the room. Alecto Carrow was found stunned on the floor, prompting her brother to throw a fit and begin blaming the students of Ravenclaw for her incompetence. He shouted at the old professor some more before spatting at her, causing the strangest chain of events Aquila had ever witnessed.

Lightning Scar him-bloody-self appeared out of thin air and shouted, "Crucio!" After Amycus had fallen limp on the floor, the Potter boy mentioned something about Bellatrix Lestrange being right. Professor McGonagall had been shocked upon the random appearance of Lightning Scar, and shortly after, the woman fell back in terror when Luna Lovegood also appeared out of thin air. In the end, McGonagall tied Alecto and Amycus together with a magical rope, and they left the tower, beginning to plan for the coming attack.