The Golden Mare - Cedric Diggory

First day

The next morning was the first day of classes. Aurora put on her new Gryffindor robes, which she found rather unflattering. At her old school, they wore pretty skirts and cashmere sweaters. She fastened her golden blonde hair into a long braid, but left out some strands to border her face. Aurora walked down to the Gryffindor common room.

"Ready to go down?" Hermione asked. She was wearing the same robes as Aurora. It looked like she had straightened her hair, as it was less frizzy then the night before.

Aurora nodded as she gave one more look in the mirror. She turned back to Hermione. "I'm ready."

Aurora and Hermione exited Gryffindor tower and started walking down the hallway.

"Hermione, would you mind showing me where the bathrooms are? I would like to go before class starts."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, they are just down the hall, to the right. Do you want me to wait for you?"

Aurora shook her head. "You go on. I'll meet you at breakfast."

After Aurora finished using the bathroom, she walked back into the hallway. After taking a few steps, she halted, realizing that she couldn't remember her way to the dining room. She started peering down nearby hallways to look for help. Soon, she spotted someone. He was a few years older than her, and quite a bit taller. He had a muscular build and a defined jawline. His collar was yellow, indicating to Aurora that he was a Hufflepuff.

Well, Hufflepuff's are supposed to be kind, so I'm sure he'll tell me where the dining hall is, she thought.

"Hello!" She called. The boy turned his head and started walking toward her. "Hi. I'm new, and I forget where the dining hall is. Could you show me?" She asked.

Up close, she could see that this boy's eyes were hazel, and his hair was a lucious brown.

"Yes, of course. It's just down there- make a right at the end of the hallway." He asked.

"Ok, thank you." Aurora nodded and the boy started to walk away. She hesitated for a moment, and then called, "Hey! I didn't catch your name!"

The boy turned back around. "My name's Cedric. Cedric Diggory. And I believe your name is Aurora?"

"Yup, that's me."

"Well, Aurora, hopefully I'll see you around." He left her with a grin and then waltzed down toward the dining hall.

Gosh, I wasn't expecting there to be this many cute guys at this school...

Once Aurora arrived at the dining hall, she sat down next to Hermione, Harry and Ron, who were all scarfing down food. She grabbed a muffin for herself, and began to eat it hungrily.

"Hey, what's that?" Aurora asked. Harry looked up at her, and she was once again dazzled by his emerald orbs.

"Oh, these are our schedules. Here's yours." He said, and passed over a sheet to Aurora.

Aurora peered down at the paper. Year 6 transfiguration, Year 4 potions....

"Hey, you're taking year six transfiguration?" Hermione asked, looking over at Aurora's schedule. Aurora nodded shyly.

Hermione stared at her in alarm. Aurora could almost read her thoughts: why am I not doing that?

"Why would you do that?" Ron asked, looking puzzled.

"Well, I guess my old school is ahead of yours in transfiguration. A lot of students are even able to transform into an animagus by the time they graduate." Aurora said.

"Wow, that's incredible", Harry remarked. "You know my godfather is an animagus? He can turn into a dog..." Harry was cut off as both Hermione and Ron were glaring at him. He quickly went silent.

Aurora looked back and forth at them in confusion. "What's wrong?" She asked curiously.

They all looked at eachother and answered simultaneously, "Nothing!"

Aurora let out a sigh. "Oh, come on. Just tell me. I won't tell anyone!"

Harry seemed to be pondering the thought for a moment before he spoke. "Okay, I'll tell you. But you must promise to not tell anyone, understand?"

Aurora nodded eagerly, and soon Harry delved into the story of how last year, the suspected murderer Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban. Ron's rat, Scabbers, turned out to be an aminagus that Sirius was after, who framed him for murder. Sirius turned out to be innocent, and was Harry's godfather.

"People still think Sirius is a murderer, and he's still wanted back in Azkaban, so we aren't supposed to talk about him", Harry said in a hushed whisper. Aurora nodded understandingly.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Aurora looked down at her schedule again, and noticed that she had potions first. "Can you guys help show me where the potions classroom is?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, sure. And we better get going. I'm not in the mood to deal with Snape's wrath today." He murmured, rolling his eyes.

Aurora blinked. "Who's Snape?"

Ron raised his eyebrows, and spoke between the mouthfuls of porridge that he was forcing down. "You'll find out soon enough!"