Star Stories PV Alex Douglas Closed

Alex was a new first year at Hogwarts. Having already gotten her schedule and her house placement, she was excited to start settling in. Once all of that was completed, she was able to spend the rest of the night just reading her books in her dorm room which was placed in Thestral Thicket. She absolutely adored thestrals, which made her even happier to be placed in that section of the dorms.

Through all of the excitement of having just gotten to Hogwarts, she barely noticed the time that had gone by. An entire month had already disappeared. Now, it was already November and Alex hadn't made as many friends. She was okay with that since she still had the rest of November and December before break started. Since it was the middle of November already, she decided that might as well start checking out some of the classes that she hadn't taken yet. Tomorrow, she would start with the Astronomy Tower.

Once the next day had begun, she went to all of her classes, wrote down almost every word that her teachers said and wrote, if only to stay on top of her schoolwork. Once lunch had finished and her last couple of classes went by in a flash, she hurried to her room to get all of her homework done quickly. By the time that she had finished her schoolwork, it was time for dinner. Going into the Great Hall to eat. She was worried about fitting in with the other Gryffindor students, mainly because she wasn't the greatest with socialising. Call it her weakness. So, instead of rushing to meet people like she wanted, she grabbed a plate of food and hurried out.

Since it was already dark, she went with her original idea of going to the Astronomy Tower until near curfew. She hoped no one would mind since it wasn't like she planning on destroying the place. She just wanted to be alone with the stars. Her favourite constellations were Cassiopeia, Aries, and the Corona Borealis.

Aries's story began with Athamas, the legendary kind of Thessaly. He had two children, Phrixus and Helle. When Athamas remarried, the stepmother Ino began to treat the two children horribly. They were treated so badly that Hermes took pity on them and sent a magical ram to take them away and escape their stepmother's wrath. Mounted on the ram's back, the children flew over land and sea to the east. Unfortunately, Helle failed to get a good hold on the fleece of the ram, and as they flew over the strait that separated Europe and Asia, she fell off and was drowned in the sea far below. That sea is called Hellespont to this day in honour of her memory. Phrixus landed safely at Colches, which is on the edge of the Black Sea. In gratitude for his safe deliverance, Phrixus sacrificed the ram and gave its golden fleece to the king of that country. In honour of the ram's great sacrifice in saving the children, Zeus placed the ram's constellation, Aries, in the night sky.

Aries was the constellation that Alex was born in, so of course, it was her favourite. However, she couldn't always see it on her birthday while in Europe. Tonight should've been a night that she felt she could see the constellation most clearly. So, as she got up to the Astronomy Tower where she was sure she'd be alone, she could already smell the chilly night air. She looked around to see a taller, young, blonde male standing at the railing. She froze with her plate of food in her hands and a blanket draped over her shoulders. She slowly started walking over to the male student with hesitant steps.

Hesitating, she began to speak to him. "E-Excuse me? Y-You're not the teacher, a-are you? I j-just wanted to look at the stars before c-curfew."

[652 words]

Simon didn't expect to hear a voice and jumped slightly before glancing over his shoulders to see the redhead approaching. He smiled, just a soft smile, in a playful sort of way that she'd think he might be the professor but not in a mocking sort of way. Simon had always been rather mature for his age, but usually wasn't mistaken for an adult just yet. Then again, he had gotten taller that year and the Astronomy Tower wasn't lit so that it could allow its viewers to focus on the planets and stars above.

"No, no, not a professor," he said quickly, hoping that would help ease any fear the girl had. Maybe she stuttered because she was nervous, or maybe she stuttered in general. It didn't matter to Simon either way. His eyes glanced down at the plate of food she had. "I'm just a grab and go-at-supper sort of student who came to visit the Astronomy Tower just like you. Come. There's plenty of room and I don't bite. The sky is so clear tonight." He welcomed her over to the railing where he was.

"I'm Simon. Simon Kincaid. Second Year Hufflepuff," he said with a smile. His bag had still been over his shoulder since he hadn't been standing there long before her arrival. He slowly set it down to the side, propped up against the ledge, and he brought his hand out but then smiled because she had her plate in her hand and probably couldn't place it down as easily to shake his hand.

Alex smiled slightly as she looked at the ground. Socialising... her worst nightmare. She nodded slightly when he told her that he wasn't the teacher. At least she was able to meet one student, not that she wanted to do that today. After a moment of silence, Alex decided that it would be a good idea to introduce herself. She looked up at Simon and thought of how to introduce herself.

"I-I'm a first year, sorted into G-Gr-Gryffindor. M-My name's Alex Douglas. Sorry, I thought y-you were the professor." Alex continued to stutter, even though she felt calmer than she did when she first got into the tower. She bowed lightly after introducing herself then moved her braids behind her ears. "I-I'm glad to know I'm not th-the only one interested in the stars."

Alex picked up her spoon and started to eat the mashed potatoes on her plate, going quiet again. Once she finished her potatoes, she started on her green beans, using her fork. She didn't want to touch the railing out of fear that she'd drop her plate. After she finished the food on her plate, she set it down next to Simon's bag. Then, she looked out into the night sky.

"C-Can you see Aries, Cassiopeia, o-or the Corona Borealis? Th-They're my favourite co-con-c-constellations. I was really hoping t-to see at least one of th-them tonight," Alex asked as she seemed to struggle saying 'constellation.'

[239 words]

"Aries would be...." he paused, trying to find some sort of marker to help him. There it was, the planet of Uranus. He pointed, showing her the planet first, just off to the East, a bit to their left. "Right there, see that?" he followed the path of the stars. "That right there is Aries. As for Cassiopeia, we're facing the wrong way, and to be honest, I don''t know anything about the Corona Borealis." He had to admit his ignorance on that last one.

"What is it about the night sky that interests you?" he asked. She said she was glad to know that she wasn't the only one interested in stars. Sometimes it seemed at a magical school like Hogwarts, everyone always favored Charms, Potions, or Herbology - the magical stuff. Many seemed to overlook the classes like Astronomy, which was sad. There was magic and wonder within the stars as well.

Feeling as though she might ask that question back, he went ahead with his answer before pausing so she could give hers. "I was born and raised in London so I never really got to see the night sky much...not like this. The city lights, they drown out the stars and all. Still, I like to read up on the myths behind a lot of things. It's an interesting perspective on looking at things."

[Word Count: 230]

Alex smiled softly as she leaned against the cold railing. She listened as Simon spoke of his interest in the stars. She started to space off and think about what she was going to say. However, that also meant that she wasn't going to hear what Simon said. Her thoughts started going everywhere, and she wasn't paying any attention to Simon at all. By the time she realised it, he had already finished talking. Alex sighed softly and turned her head towards him.

"Sorry, I-I started spacing off. I-I guess you could say that I lost track... I'm sorry. H-However, s-since I grew up here in S-Scotland, I always had a clear sky. I-I fell in love with the stars when I was like five. B-By the time I was six, I had, um, I had already memorised all of the constellations and their stories. I-I know what it might sound like: totally obsessed. But mythology is something I've always loved and the constellations are just an extension of that. You know? It's like... anything can happen. Somewhere out in space, there's another world looking at the stars just as we are. It's a world of unknown. One I'd like to see someday."

Alex hadn't realised that while rambling, she had stopped stuttering at a point. She smiled softly as her eyes filled with curiosity and joy. She looked out into the starry night, seeing it got darker already. Even though it had only been maybe an hour. She started searching the sky for Cassiopeia. She smiled brightly and pointed to the constellation just a minute later.

"Look! There's Cassiopeia! Do you know the story of her constellation? If not, I can always tell you," she offered before looking at Simon.

[291 words]

He didn't really mind if she wasn't listening to him. Simon wasn't really that important of a person at Hogwarts or in the big picture of life and so it was fine if he wasn't the center of attention. None of it was worth repeating either, she hadn't missed anything.

"I'm glad you're still captivated by the night sky after all this time," he said, knowing that some would become desensitized to it and not think of its greatness. He was glad that wasn't such a case for the girl. She still held an interest and a passion for it all those years.

"Cassiopeia, it's that W looking right over there, right?" he asked, tracing the stars and 'connecting the dots' of the constellation to where the girl was pointing. Yes, he had gotten it right. "Doesn't it have something to do with it being a crown or a throne or something?" but beyond that he didn't know the rest of the story.

He wouldn't project and take a guess though. It was probably best for the girl to talk. She seemed eager to have found it and he could only guess that she too probably knew the detailed story behind it, thus the excitement.

It was nice having met someone that knew a lot about this sort of thing, that way instead of just staring at silent stars, he could hear their stories being told. It made him somehow feel more connected to the past and more connected with the universe. It was crazy that once upon a time, this is all people had for entertainment during the dark months ahead.

"It's crown because she was the wife of King Cephus. She's also the mother of Andromeda, just off to the left a little is her constellation. Hehe, oh her story! So, Cassiopeia was very beautiful, and she always boasted about her beauty. Some time down the line, she got so full of herself that she started bragging that she was even more beautiful than the gods. Poseidon took great offence to that statement, for he created the most beautiful beings ever in the form of his sea nymphs. In his anger, Poseidon created a sea monster, Cetus, to ravage the seas, sinking ships, killing the sailors, and destroying towns and villages, along the sea coast. This created great fear among the people of Ethiopia. In an effort to stop this tremendous destruction, the people went to Poseidon and asked what could be done to stop this monster. Poseidon replied that if Cassiopeia would admit that his sea nymphs were indeed more beautiful than she, he would stop the monster. However, Cassiopeia refused. The people asked Poseidon if there were any other way to stop the destruction. He replied that if the beautiful Andromeda, Cassiopeia's only daughter, were to be sacrificed to Cetus, the destruction would stop. The people took Andromeda and chained her to a rock, which projected out into the sea to be sacrificed to Cetus. However, she was saved by Perseus, another constellation, and Cetus was turned to stone. Poseidon and his brother Zeus decreed that Cassiopeia be placed in the sky as a constellation, and as punishment for being so conceited about her looks, she would suffer the humiliating position of being upside down in the sky during the fall of the year, when her constellation is best seen."

Alex rambled on with the story of Cassiopeia. She thought it was ironic that Poseidon said that Cassiopeia would be forgiven if she sacrificed her daughter. Even though it was Cassiopeia that caused the entire mess in the first place. She started to look around the night sky again, wanting to climb up the railing to see out into the sky better. She started to pull herself up a little to place her feet on the first rod in the set of railings.

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"That's pretty crazy that by sacrificing her only daughter she could have been saved. It's not as if her daughter had a moral bearing on the wrongdoings of her mother and how she angered the gods." But then he remembered too how it was the townspeople that did it, they were the ones from Alex's story that chained Andromeda to a rock. Fearful people, people that were at the mercy of Cassiopeia and her doing, her angering of the gods.

"I wonder what would have happened if they had gone to Cassiopeia with that information. I wonder if she would have agreed to sacrifice her daughter." Probably though, she seemed conceited and self-centered, caring most about herself before others. Simon couldn't imagine.

Still, there were such people in the world. Someday Simon would see that very close up. He would meet a man that had some similarities to Cassiopeia, and a story line that would run parallel.

"Did you grab a drink?" he asked, only having seen her have the plate in her hands. "I grabbed an extra water earlier if you'd like one." Without her responding, he went ahead and leaned down to begin riffling through his bag in search of it.

There was a lot of notebooks in his bag and he had to shift some of them around to find it, but then he did and he brought it out and extended it to her.

While listening to Simon and his ideas of how the story could've gone, she had something of her own idea of what would've happened. "Simon, Cassiopeia let it happen. In any way that it could've gone. The end result would've been the same. A family lives together, and Andromeda was her daughter. Even if Cassiopeia wasn't told, there's no way that she wouldn't have found out. A bunch of townspeople took her from Andromeda from her home, the same place where Cassiopeia lives. In that case, Cassiopeia would've seen the townspeople taking her daughter away. She was so self-absorbed that she didn't care what happened to her daughter."

Alex explained her side of the story before watching Simon dig through his bag. Once he had found what he was looking for, she just stared at him. Noticing he was offering her some water, she hesitated before taking the bottle of water. She unscrewed the cap and started drinking from it. She stayed quiet, trying to ignore the silence while keeping in mind that it wasn't even an argument. It was just a difference of opinion, a harmless explanation. She looked out into the sky as she stopped drinking. She screwed the cap back on and then set the bottle down near the railing.

Without thinking, she took a step back from the railing, knocking the bottle over. She didn't even notice it until she heard the plastic cap hit the rod that held the railing. By the time she darted her eyes to the sound, the bottle was already about to fall over the edge of the platform. She squeaked and bent down to grab it, only to miss the timing and watch her bottle fall. "Oh no. This is a disaster. I'm gonna be in so much trouble if that bottle hits and breaks something. Oh no, no, no, no, no."

[312 words]