Sors Stellae
╭── ⋅ ⋅ ミ✩ Act 2 — Scriptum in Stellarum ✩彡 ⋅ ⋅ ──╮
✩Written in the Stars✩
Remus woke to the sound of steady breathing. Steady breathing? He thought, confused. Aren't I supposed to be alone in the Shrieking Shack? Did I eat something or someone? Who's— Merlin!
He jumped in surprise seeing five girls closely huddled together on the...magically expanded bed? Where did they come from? They're not wearing Hogwarts uniforms. Did I hurt them? Or bite them? Remus tried to sit up, but failed and let out a pained cry as the bones creaked painfully.
This caused Andromeda, the lightest sleeper of the five, to stir and accidentally elbowed Cassiopeia in the stomach, who kicked out in defense and hit Hydra, who groaned and turned over, kneeing Libra, whose hair tickled Aquila's face, causing the latter to sneeze. Remus stifled a laugh as the collective groans of the five unknown girls were to be heard. "Andromeda!" The one with blue hair and blue eyes scowled as she sat up slowly, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "It's not even daybreak!"
"Sorry!" Andromeda, the girl with short hair apologised. "I heard something."
"Wha's happening?" The girl at the side yawned and opened her eyes, revealing startling emerald green eyes.
"Nothing, except that Andromeda so kindly decided to elbow my stomach, causing me to wake." Blue-hair said.
"Come on, Cass, you must admit your annoyed face is pretty funny." The girl who sneezed laughed, sitting up as well.
Blue hair's name is Cass? Remus wondered. She looks pretty.
"I told you, Aquila, my name is Cassiopeia!" Blue-hair protested.
Remus stifled a laugh once again.
"Shut up and let me sleep." The girl with green glasses mumbled. "And your name is too long, Cassie."
"Get up, Libra and Hydra. We've got things to do." Cassiopeia said, pulling the blanket off the dozing two.
"Cassie!" Libra protested.
"Do you two have brains? Or you have forgotten why and how we were here?" Cassiopeia scolded.
"Mother hen." Hydra groaned.
"As much as I would like to let you two sleep, Cassie's right." Aquila sighed. "We do have things to do. Where's the wolf you found yesterday, Cass? Remus Lupin, was it?"
Remus froze. How did they know me? Did I bite them or hurt them? Oh, no, no, no—
"He's right there." Andromeda said, pointing at him.
"Could you be less like someone who spotted their prey?" Libra hissed. "He's obviously not happy that he's a werewolf."
"Of course, he's scared that he hurt us." Cassiopeia said. "Remus, it's fine, you were helpful, you lead us here without a scratch."
Remus blinked. "Oh, okay."
Could you have been less stupid? His brain yelled at himself. Couldn't you say something?
"Well, I guess we should head to the hospital wing and Dumbledore's office now." Hydra said, getting up and stretching.
"Cass, could you smooth our dresses or something?" Andromeda said. "They're all wrinkled—oh."
Her dress had straightened automatically. "Cassiopeia, was that you?"
"No, that wasn't. Congratulations, you are a witch!" Aquila smiled.
"Wait, Hydra, your eyes—-" Libra pointed out. "They're emerald green!"
"Cool!" Hydra said. "Suits me — my constellation's the water serpent anyways."
"Hospital Wing first everyone? Remus needs to go there." Cassiopeia said. "He's obviously not fine."
"Madam Pomfrey should be coming when the sun rises, what are you doing — hey!" Remus protested. "I'm fine — ow!"
"Told you you weren't fine." Cassiopeia replied briskly. "Come on, Aquila, get the others?"
Cassiopeia somehow managed to levitate Remus up from the ground, and Aquila herded the other girls together and they trudged out of the Shrieking Shack in a single file.
They went out of the Whomping Willow, narrowly avoiding the castle's lower windows in case anyone saw them, and ducked down to avoid the willow's swinging branches. Up the great doors they went, and Cassiopeia started sprinting up stairs, the girls following. "Aren't you girls tired?" Remus asked as Cassiopeia turned a corner sharply with Aquila leading the way. "And where did you come from? How do you know where to go? You're not from Hogwarts." Remus was very bewildered and rather suspicious at how the girls did not pant at all or looked exhausted from running.
Aquila and Cassiopeia smirked, and looked at each other. "Experience." They said, leaving Remus bewildered.
Libra knocked on the Hospital Wing doors, and Madam Pomfrey opened it. "Who are you?"
"That doesn't matter." Hydra waved a hand, we've got a patient injured from a moon."
"What do you mean — Mr. Lupin!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, hurriedly relieving Cassiopeia from Remus's weight. "Why are you up so early?"
"Uhm, something woke me." He said truthfully. "The girls were in — found me." He hurriedly corrected, seeing Andromeda's warning look.
"I see." Madam Pomfrey still looked a bit suspicious, but ignored the girls. "Eat some chocolate, young man."
"Well, we'll be off to see Dumbledore then." Aquila smiled. "I think we'll meet again sooner than you think."
"What do you mean, sooner than I think?" Remus said. What were they talking about?
"Until then, Remus." Cassiopeia dropped into a perfect curtsy, and so did the others. I'm not royalty, why are they curtsying at me?
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." Cassiopeia turned to the mediwitch.
"May the stars guide your way, and may Helga be with you. See you, Remus!" She waved, and the others followed her, hurrying out of the Hospital Wing before they had to face Madam Pomfrey's wrath.
How could the girls not pant when they ran so fast? And what did they mean by I'll be seeing them later? Remus wondered. How old are they? Is Cassiopeia a Hufflepuff? But I've never seen her anywhere in Hogwarts.
The quintet, now The Constellations, hurried along a corridor, with Cassiopeia and Aquila leading the way.
"Where is Dumbledore's office?" Andromeda asked as they turned yet another corner. "How do you remember this from reading?"
"We read in detail." Cassiopeia said.
"We've also watched the movies." Aquila added and they stopped in front of two stone gargoyles.
"Which of you have the note?" Aquila asked. "I think the password's on there."
"No need for the note, I remember the password, but I guess you should take it out to show Dumbledore, to confirm who we are." Cassiopeia said, and turned to the stone gargoyle. "Cockroach Clusters." She said clearly, and the gargoyle sprung aside, revealing a twisting wooden staircase.
"A quick warning: the staircase moves. It's like the escalators, except it's circular." Aquila said before stepping onto the stairs behind Cassiopeia.
They reached the door with a huge knocker, and Cassiopeia shook her head at Libra when she tried to knock on the door. "Use the knocker." She said.
"Huh? What knocker?" Libra looked around, confused.
Hydra shook her head as well. "It's in front of you, Libra."
Andromeda stepped forward and tugged on the knocker, and three resonating knocks sounded.
"Oh." Libra said, understanding what was a knocker. Andromeda laughed.
The door opened, and they saw Dumbledore standing in front of them. "I assume you are the Constellations?" He asked.
Hydra blinked. "Huh?"
Cassiopeia rolled her eyes at her friend. "Yes, Professor Dumbledore, we are indeed the Constellations. I am Cassiopeia Winters, they are..."
"Aquila Autumns."
"Hydra Summers."
"Libra Springs."
"Andromeda Rivers."
"I assume they are not your real names?" Professor Dumbledore smiled. "There is no need to tell me your real identity, Miss Winters. However, I must tell you that there is a prophecy with your names on it. Your fake identity, of course."
Aquila gasped in shock. "We're in a prophecy? Are you joking?"
Professor Dumbledore shook his head seriously. "Unfortunately I am not, Miss Autumns. Would you like to know the prophecy?"
Cassiopeia was shocked. They weren't even of age! Harry Potter didn't know about the prophecy until he was what, 17? "Aren't we too young?" She asked.
"Ah, I forgot to ask you." Professor Dumbledore said, "What are your actual ages?"
"I'm 12, the others are all 13." Cassiopeia frowned slightly. "I am the youngest by a few months."
"Your birthday is in September?" Dumbledore asked.
Cassiopeia shook her head. "October. But do not separate me from the others? It is fine where we came from, we were in the same year."
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "You five are a bit young. But you are a special case. The prophecy will be told to you when you are of age then. Now, we shall sort you in the Great Hall during breakfast later. We have already bought you all the necessities you need, they are in the Entrance Hall. Take a look and see if everything is fine. If yes, go to the Great Hall and wait beside the staff table. I assume you know where it is?"
The Constellations nodded.
"Perfect!" Professor Dumbledore exclaimed. "You will be in your second year. Now, off you go."
The Constellations left for the entrance hall, chattering.
"We don't have our Hogwarts uniform yet, and how do we get sorted?" Hydra said as their trunks arrived in sight.
"Well, I guess we can wear this school uniform first, then change afterwards? After all we are a group." Aquila said,
Cassiopeia smiled. "Of course. Friends stick together no matter what, right? Who cares what houses we are – we are our own person. We are The Constellations, and we will shine like stars. As for the sorting, we have to try on a hat."
"A hat?" Libra said incredulously. "A simple hat? How can hats sort us into houses?"
"But it's not an ordinary hat, is it?" Andromeda supplied as they found their respective trunks, each labelled with their initials.
"The hat can look through your minds." Cassiopeia said. "It'll sort you all right. Oh, and we don't have wands, do we? Are they in the trunks or something?"
Hydra shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe it is."
The Constellations quickly dug through their trunks, fishing out their wands. Cassiopeia's one was the strangest one, intricate carvings of the different constellations, flowers and vines wrapped around the light, almost white wood. Hydra's wand had a snake, or a water serpent curling around the base, while one end of Libra's wand had a carving of a balance, Andromeda's wand had vines wrapped around as well, and Aquila's wand was of a totally black color.
Labels were stuck on the wands, and Cassiopeia noticed that all of them except for Libra had Phoenix wand cores. Libra, curiously, had a Thestral wand core. "Try it out, guys?" Libra suggested, swishing her wand. Green sparks emitted from the wand-tip, and the nearest fire-torch mounted on the wall had fallen to the ground and...moved?
It stood up and meowed at Libra.
"Aww! Cassie, look! It's so cute!" Libra fawned over the green-eyed cat, hurrying over and scooping it up. "I think it's a he. I'll name it...Nox."
"He is indeed adorable." Cassiopeia said, gently petting the kitten's head. "How about I have a try?" Cassiopeia slashed her wand sharply in the air, and a fire erupted from her wand tip, rushing high into the air, then falling to the ground onto the cold stones. But the fire didn't extinguish. Instead, it burned more violently, and after a few tense seconds, a tiny chirp was to be heard from the pile of ashes.
"Huh?" Aquila said, confused and rather shaken. "What was that?"
Another chirp.
"A bird is in there?" Hydra squeaked and rushed over, not caring that the smouldering remains of a violent fire had been there. "Oh my goodness! Cass! Look what you conjured!"
Her friend held out the tiny chirping bundle cupped in her hand, and Cassiopeia took it gently and carefully. "A baby phoenix!" She breathed in wonder. Phoenixes were–are extremely rare, how did I conjure it?
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the tiny bird's cute little chirps. It's slightly bald head raised up, and nudged Cassiopeia's finger gently. "I'm sorry, little buddy, I don't have food for you right now. Maybe I'll give you some bread crumbs in an hour?"
The little phoenix seemed to agree, and Cassiopeia gave a rare full smile. "Now, shall I name you Wisteria?" The bird chirped twice and nodded its head violently. "And are you a she?" She murmured at the bird, holding it closely and carefully. The bird agreed to Cassiopeia's statement once again, and Cassiopeia smiled once again.
Hydra had flicked her wand lazily at the stone wall, and out slithered a snake, which was rather fitting. The constellation Hydra was the water serpent after all. It was quite adorable, Cassiopeia admitted, its large yellow eyes stared cutely at its owner.
Aquila and Andromeda both conjured owls. Aquila's owl was a Eurasian Eagle Owl. He – later named Twilight because its eyes looked like the setting sun – had an uncanny similarity to Aquila herself, which rather scared Libra. Andromeda's owl was a beautiful and gentle barn owl which affectionately pecked her ear as she flew and landed on Andromeda's shoulder. Andromeda named her Queenie because of its prim and proper stature.
After they had set their pets safely away into the cages that stood on their trunks, they went over to the Great Hall and stood in a circle, standing straight and confident as other Hogwarts students went past, whispering to each other.
Cassiopeia suddenly turned to her friends. "Let's meet up here after breakfast?" She asked.
The others nodded their heads, half-afraid and half-excited as they looked forward to their sorting. "Good luck." Cassiopeia whispered, and led them to stand in front of the staff table in a single line, proudly standing with chins up. Cassiopeia had arranged her hair into her usual high ponytail, Aquila's being as fluffy and bouncy as usual – she had already given up on trying to straighten her hair ages ago, Hydra's bun was as usual falling apart, Libra just left her hair down which fell down in waves and Andromeda her standard "mushroom-head" look.
After nearly every table had been filled with people, Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat once, and the hall fell silent. "May I have your attention, students?" He announced, "There is an important announcement I would like to make. We have several new students joining us this year," Dumbledore gestured to the five standing girls. "Please make them welcome. They will be second-year students, and now we shall sort them."
At that, a black-haired witch clad in emerald-green robes brought over a stool and a rather ratty hat. "Winters, Cassiopeia!" The Professor called, and Cassiopeia stepped out of line, her head still held high, and sat primly on the stool, back straight and legs crossed, giving off the casual but feminine vibe most girls envied.
"Ah, a time traveller." The hat said into her ear. "Difficult. Very, very difficult, You are suitable for all houses! You have plenty of courage, a very sharp and calculating mind, a lot of ambition and talent, and kindness too. Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness. But there is no doubt that Hufflepuff suits you best. Interesting...now where shall I put you? Ravenclaw will quench your thirst for knowledge, Gryffindor will give you a lifetime of friends."
Cassiopeia pursed her lips slightly, and murmured in her mind, Will Hufflepuff be fine? I would like to unite all houses.
"Very impressive, Miss Winters! You are perhaps the first one in history who turned your ambition into kindness. Are you sure you want to go there?"
Cassiopeia smirked. Of course. I will change history – I will let everyone know that Hufflepuffs are not weak.
"I wish you luck on your journey." The hat said, "It is written in the stars. I hope you succeed. HUFFLEPUFF!"
Cassiopeia took off the hat gently, did a slight but only noticeable to the staff curtsy and walked gracefully to the Hufflepuff Table, sitting the closest to the Gryffindor one where Remus Lupin sat. He waved frantically at her, turning to his friends and then scooting over to sit beside her. "Hello again, Cassiopeia. I see what you mean by that we will meet again soon." He smiled.
"Hi, Remus." She said, smiling slightly, then turned back to look at her friends. "Which house do you think they will be in?"
"I dunno...maybe all of them are Hufflepuffs?" Remus wondered.
Cassiopeia shrugged. "I'm not sure about the lot of them being Puffs like me." She laugned slightly and watched as her friend Hydra put on the hat.
"SLYTHERIN!" The hat called, and Cassiopeia smiled, clapping. "Hydra always liked snakes." She told Remus. "She's quite the protective snake."
"But aren't snakes bad?" Remus asked.
"The hat was going to put me in all of the houses, but I chose Hufflepuff." Cassiopeia shrugged. "Most people are biased, thinking that all Slytherins are bad. No, I don't agree with that at all. Hydra's not bad at all. Only those under the wrong influences become Death Eaters, and since Voldemort himself is from Slytherin, it is just normal that there are more followers in that house."
Remus flinched slightly as Cassiopeia said You-know-who's name.
They turned back to watch the sorting, and Aquila was sorted into Ravenclaw. Cassiopeia applauded too, and added to Remus, "Aquila was the one in our group with sharp-eyes. She surprisingly has a Eagle Owl too."
Remus smothered a laugh at that. "Nice coincidence, eh?"
Andromeda was sorted into Ravenclaw as well, joining Aquila. Libra was a proud Lion, and skipped over to plonk down beside Remus. "Hello again, Remus."
"Hello, Libra. I see you're now my housemate."
She nodded. "At least I know someone from there. Cassiopeia and Hydra don't really need someone, Cassiopeia likes to be alone and Hydra's just friendly to everyone."
Remus looked slightly surprised. "You like to be alone, Cass?"
Cassiopeia blushed slightly at the nickname, then nodded. "I don't really smile that much, and I'm just...more solitary I guess."
Remus laughed. "You're like me."
From down the table, James Potter and Sirius Black grinned widely at the sight of their Moony already talking with the new girl as if they already knew each other for a long time.
"I bet you 10 galleons they'll end up together before they graduate." Sirius Black whispered into James Potter's ear.
"I bet you 10 galleons that they'll kiss before 5th year." Potter replied, bumping his friends' fist.
"They are destined to be together, to do great things." Lily Evans commented, "It's written in the stars."
From afar, Dumbledore smiled to himself. "It is indeed written in the stars, Miss Evans."
╭── ⋅ ⋅ ミ✩ Act 3 — Amici in Perpetuum ✩彡 ⋅ ⋅ ──╮
✩Forever Friends✩
Years had passed, and
-DISCONTINUED-