My name is Layla Stark, the author of The Hogwarts Eagle.

For a long time, I've been drawn to the character Cho Chang. Though often hated by most people I met, I found her quite intriguing. Possibly, that was because we know so little about her which gives us the chance to make out own history about her. Since 2008, I've desperately wanted to write a story exploring her life in a little more detail and (as I would have preferred it) what would have happened if Harry Potter had successfully asked her to the Yule Ball. That became the intent of the story, but as you can see I was a little delayed in actually publishing it. It's nearing the end of 2012 and only now have I gotten around to writing it.

Of course, I knew that I couldn't have been the only person out there to have written a story exploring what would happen if Harry has successfully asked her to the Yule Ball. I wasn't surprised to find that there was already an extremely well written story out there. I would like to thank Lord Akiyama for giving me permission to write this. My story will in no way be anywhere near as good as their's for upon starting to read it, I've come to love it. So, while I'm here, I have no intent to copy the writer's work and I'm very appreciative they're letting me write this.

With all that being said, of course, I should mention that I don't own anything related to Harry Potter. I am, quite simply, an avid fan of the series (particularly Sirius Black, but there's a story for another day). I hope that the few of you who read this enjoy my work. While I do not expect reviews, I'm happy to receive constructive criticism As I plan to one day publish my own works, advice would be much appreciated if you do have any suggestions.

Spread Love,

LS
x.

THE HOGWARTS EAGLE

- Chapter One: Mind Of A Ravenclaw -

The evening brought with it a faint glow of sunlight that illuminated the small compartment. Hours has passed by since the train first rattled into life, taking its occupants far away from the comforts of their households and into a world quite unlike anything else. For Cho Chang, there remained something indisputably thrilling about the journey back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for the atmosphere always buzzed with copious amounts of energy. Nervous first years spoke with a distinct quaver in their voices as they discussed the endless possibilities of what rested ahead of them with their newly formed friends. On the other hand, the older students were either elated at the prospect of returning to the castle once more or they dreaded the intense examinations that surely rested ahead of them.

'You're doing it again, Cho,' whispered a voice in her ear and, blinking, she looked up and gazed at Marietta Edgecombe. Hidden behind her waves of reddish-blonde hair was a concerned expression.

There was little need for Cho to ask what her friend was talking about. In an instant, she snapped the Daily Prophet in front of her face and frowned while she pretended to be intrigued by the article. Or at least, it would have worked if she hadn't dropped the newspaper onto the floor in her haste.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' Cho insisted and rushed to scoop up the pages from the floor, but already a shoe promptly landed on top of it and kicked it out of reach. She frowned and made to look as though there was something fascinating about the button on her bag instead but try as she might, even she could not suppress the grin that crept upon her expression.

'Oh!' Lucinda Logan chirruped across from her. 'Did something happen with Cedric Diggory?'

'I've told you already, we're just friends,' Cho said, but it already seemed to be much too late, for every girl in the compartment halted what they were doing to join in on the conversation. Isabella, who had been playing with a joyful new kitten, now absentmindedly scratched behind its ears and listened intently. Next to her was Mia who blotched ink all over a letter to her boyfriend in time to hear what was said. Seconds ago, Pattie had been on the verge of sleep but now appeared wide awake as she stared eagerly at Cho. As more of the girls looked up expectantly, Cho sunk into her seat and wished somebody could find something else worthy of discussion.

'Let's get something clear,' Marietta started slowly. 'You have to be realistic about this. You're Cho Chang, possibly Ravenclaw's most popular student, not to mention our Quidditch team's seeker. Then, there's Cedric, Hufflepuff seeker and also extremely popular. He's also awfully handsome. It's not like there's any point in denying that he likes you. The boy is crazy about you, so why not just go for it while you still can?'

'He's just being nice,' Cho said. 'You know how he is. Cedric gets along with everyone.'

'Just like Harry Potter spills water all over himself whenever he sees a girl?' Lucinda giggled and in an instant, the occupants of the compartment turned their attention towards her. 'That's right. At the Quidditch World Cup. I saw it happen. He turned to a puddle of goo the moment he looked at Cho.'

There was a chorus of giggles and Cho blushed furiously, wracking her brain for a possible change of conversation. She knew the attempt would be futile. If she mentioned what could possibly be so special about Hogwarts this year, the conversation would end too quickly. They had already eagerly discussed the topic of what the Ministry of Magic had planned so much that there was nothing more to say about it without repeating themselves one too many times. The hooded figures at the Quidditch World Cup also seemed out of the option, since a few of the girls were of Muggle descent and preferred not to think about it. It seemed that not all was lost though, for somebody chose that exact moment to slide open the compartment door.

'Hello,' said a dreamy voice that if anything made no amendments to the situation. When everyone turned to face their guest, a larger fit of giggles exploded. 'You can laugh now, but when the Wigglypinks get annoyed at you for doing it, you'll be sorry for it.'

'Why's that, Luna?' Cho asked, seizing the opportunity for a change of subject before the girl with dirty blonde hair could depart. This seemed to wipe the slightly exasperated expression from Luna Lovegood, who looked relaxed at the mere prospect of explaining herself. Before she could start though, Cho shot a glare at her friends that silenced them immediately.

'Oh, Wigglypinks like the quiet,' Luna explained. 'My father told me that laughter's their greatest enemy. They've been known to murder when highly disturbed and I'm positive some of them have been let loose on the train.'

'There's no such thing as Wigglypinks, Looney,' Marietta said scathingly and rolled her eyes at the younger girl. 'And not to be mean or anything, but shouldn't you be hanging around with people your own age? You can go now. Please. Actually, that's an order.'

'Not to worry. I had no intention of staying. This compartment's crawling with Wigglypinks.' As if to prove her point, Luna sidestepped into the corridor to ensure her safety and said, 'I just thought I ought to tell you we'll be arriving shortly.'

With that, Luna skipped out of view quite merrily, obviously not bothered by the less than warm welcoming she had received. The group of Ravenclaws allowed themselves a few more moments to laugh, murmuring in agreement that the third year girl was blatantly out of her mind. Then, even though it would be a long time before the topic of Cedric and Harry would truly be forgotten, proceeded to change into their robes. It didn't take them long to get changed but by the time they had, darkness loomed outside and a light rain pattered against the window. The weather seemed almost foreboding, as though it indicated a melancholic beginning of the year. At that particular thought, Cho was pleased to be in the company of her friends.

Despite longing to stay with her Marietta and the rest of the girls, Cho reluctantly picked up her belongings and offered her words of farewell to her friends for the time being. The holidays, despite being riddled with fear after the Quidditch World Cup, had ended with a pleasant surprise when in the mail she had received her Prefects badge. She told herself that the position had been unexpected, but when her friends discovered that she had acquired the role, not even a trace of shock flickered on their expression. To them, it was just another reason to be enormously pleased with their friend.

She made her way towards the Prefect's compartment as quickly as she could, having been instructed she would be required to help other students off the train in an orderly fashion. Though it was true that she had arrived well before she was supposed to, Cho was greeted by one of the Slytherin prefects who instantly demanded that she should begin rounding up the first years and quit lazing around. With no desire to argue, she did precisely as she was told, feeling that a sufficient meal and bedtime was far away from her.

September 1st, 1994

My name is Cho and this is the beginning of my fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

I arrived at Hogwarts well over an hour and a half ago and I've already been quite well fed. The food was delicious as always, though now I'm extremely tired. To be honest, I never realised just how much I've missed my friends (who still insist that Cedric and I are more than friends—urgh) and Hogwarts.

Oh, and we've finally found out what's so special about Hogwarts this year. Apparently, Hogwarts is going to be hosting the Triwizard Tournament, which we're told hasn't been around for years. Needless to say, I'm glad that we under seventeen can't enter. I don't know what I'll do if one of my friends were to have entered, though I know Cedric will.

Here's hoping the Triwizard Tournament isn't as dangerous as they say.

'Come on,' somebody whispered into her ear but Cho, in a haze of exhaustion, merely rolled over and continued to sleep. 'Cho, you have to wake up.'

'What is it?' she mumbled, but remained unwilling to listen. Instead, she lazily seized her pillow and threw it over her head.

'Wake up, Cho!'

This time, there was no chance for her to protest. Her unwelcome visitor took hold of her arm with a vicelike grip and with very little effort hauled her out of the bed. Cho fell to the floor with a thud. Much to her chagrin, her head collided with the bedside table and in an instant she felt it throb painfully. The commotion in the dormitory caused every girl to wake up, identical looks of displeasure shining on all of their expressions. There seemed to be no point in trying to sleep again now, though the desire to throw her pillow at Marietta's face was unsurprisingly overpowering.

'What do you want now, Marietta?' she asked indignantly, but that emotion faded when she caught the expression of her friend through tired eyes. To say the very least, remorse engulfed Marietta's face and judging by the bitter air that wafter around her, she had held no desire to wake Cho up.

'You have Quidditch practice,' Marietta said.

'Quidditch?' Cho's brows knitted together. 'But Professor Dumbledore said that there's no Cup this year because of the Triwizard Tournament.'

'I know that,' Marietta huffed as she sat down on the edge of Cho's bed, fuming. 'I can guarantee you that I gave Roger a decent shouting at, but no. He insists that if Ravenclaw wants to place first next year, then the team needs all the practice it can get. Starting now.'

'Well, Roger's going to have to make do without me,' Cho decided as she pulled herself back onto her bed. 'It's the first day back and classes haven't even started yet. I don't see the point of attending practicing something we won't even be playing for this year. There's no way he can force us to do something so pointless. It's just ridiculous.'

'Cho,' Marietta said softly, though the exasperation at Roger was still in her voice. 'He's really annoyed at you. I don't know how, but he's managed to convince the rest of the team to go down to the Quidditch pitch. I'm sorry, but I don't think you should keep him waiting.'

'You're impossible,' Cho hissed, but nevertheless chose to reluctantly give in. She shot upwards and started to extract her Quidditch robes from her suitcase. 'One minute you're defending me and the next, you're telling me I should do what Roger says. What's gotten into you?'

Marietta simply shrugged her shoulders.

As Cho pulled on the last of her uniform for Quidditch, her frustration at having been woken up at an unholy hour in the morning, coupled with the prospect of continuing on with practice, eventually faded. She offered a hasty goodbye and a promise that they would see one another later to Marietta who went back to bed as she left. Cho made her way out of her dormitory and through the corridor, the need to play Quidditch once more both sudden and yet expected. Over the summer, she had come to miss playing Quidditch. It was in her fourth year that she had acquired the position of the Ravenclaw seeker, making her the only female in the entire team.

Though people had been friendly to her before she had made the team, afterwards had been a completely different story. For one, many more boys went out of their way to talk to her, though most of those conversations were about Quidditch. Why that was the case, she was unsure but at the very least she knew that Marietta had at least twelve theories why—all of which, no doubt, were immature to cringing point. There was once a time when she preferred to keep to her Ravenclaw friends all of the time, but now people from Gryffindor and especially Hufflepuff made the effort to talk to her. The Slytherins, on the other hand, continued to shoot nasty glares at her though why, she did not know. Cho had never argued with anybody from that house. She had played a memorable match against the Boy Who Lived a few months ago and now, she had somehow become close friends with Cedric Diggory. Her lips tugged upwards at the corners into a smile. Her life had been peaceful before she had tried out for the Ravenclaw team, never expecting that she would be awarded the position, but now she had received more than she had ever asked for.

Yet Cho did not admire being on the team simply for the admiration she had gained. In many ways, that type of popularity was both a blessing and a curse. If she ever did something that upset at least one person, then people disapproved of her completely for days. No argument she put forth could have amended that. Sometimes it felt as though there was barely an opportunity for her to breathe and the thought that she was always doing everything for somebody else rather than herself disheartened her. Grateful though she was for the friendships that had stemmed from Quidditch, the reason she enjoyed being on the team was simply because Quidditch was fun. There was a thrilling sensation involved with gathering speed and soaring through the air like an eagle. The delight that followed clasping the walnut sized snitch was indescribable, but winning the game and cheering until her voice was hoarse was by far the greatest sensation of them all.

'What took you so long, Cho?'

Cho jumped, startled about having been unexpectedly addressed in a irritable tone of voice. She'd wandered to the Great Hall, where the Ravenclaw team sat wearing robes of blue while they shovelled breakfast into their mouths. She offered Roger a tentative smile.

'I'm sorry,' Cho said as she took her seat beside Jeremy Stretton and Duncan Inglebee. 'Marietta only just told me that we had practice. Speaking of which, how did she know about that before I did?'

'Oh, that's nothing,' Roger insisted, dismissing the thought with a wave of a hand as he passed Cho the coffee. 'Hurry up, will you? We want to get down to the pitch as soon as we can.'

Cho did precisely as she was told; she scooped fruit into her bowl and poured coffee into an empty mug. While she ate and sipped as rapidly as she could without bringing on indigestion, Cho listened to her teammates discussing tactics for Quidditch next year. As they joked about subtly knocking other teams off their brooms, or jinxing the snitch so it was caught by their side as soon as the game started, or even disguising their own members in red, yellow or green robes. Cho couldn't help but laugh at their schemes, all of which they knew were impossible and would have them disqualified from every match. It may have been far too early in the morning for anyone else to consider being wide awake, but the thought that she was back amongst her Quidditch team where she belonged, dreaming about one day winning the Cup, urged her to join in on their shared euphoria.

That day seemed to have rapidly disappeared into nightfall. The Quidditch practice hadn't gone entirely as Roger Davies had planned. It was found that with the excitement of the Quidditch World Cup, not one of them had thought to spend at the very least a few hours on their own broomsticks. Everybody was much too busy supporting Ireland and Bulgaria to care, or else they had dedicated their holidays to visiting friends. Roger had punished them by giving them a cold shoulder and demanding that that they all woke up early every morning to practice—but halfway through that speech, Peeves had chosen to attack the team with ketchup, leaving them covered in the sticky red sauce. Roger had stormed off instantly, too horrified to speak as the team chortled at him.

The weekend had also slipped by faster than what could possibly have been deemed fair. Classes were expected to start on Monday and the fifth years dreaded the upcoming O. , which they were sure meant that their workload was to be colossal. Cho could have sworn she overheard a couple of Gryffindor students scheming to ask Professor McGonogall to cancel the examinations, what with the Triwizard Tournament that would take up the year. When they had tried, however, all they had managed to achieve a stern berating that they should consider themselves lucky that the Triwizard Tournament would provide them with a longer than necessary break from their studies. After that, nobody dared to so much as think about convincing the teachers to cancel the O.W.L.s.

By Sunday afternoon, many of the Ravenclaw fifth years had already plunged into studying their books, taking notes on what they thought might be necessary. Cho, who although had flicked through her notes from previous years during the summer holidays and had even managed to peruse the pages of her textbooks not long after that had been purchased, chose to join her hardworking friends in the common room. The sound of quills scratching against the parchment soothed her but after two hours of working, Cho closed her book and opted to spend what little time she had left of the day down by the lake.

It was quite secluded when she arrived. A small handful of younger students sat far across from her, poking their fingers in the water presumably to play with the giant squid. A few minutes of silence passed by as Cho closed her eyes, soaking up the last moments of relaxation she would be entitled to this year, but the sound approaching footsteps made her look up.

'Hi Cedric,' she greeted, beaming up at her friend. It was the first time she had seen the young Diggory since school had started, for Cho wasn't often alone. When she wasn't accompanied by a group of what was possibly slightly intimidating Ravenclaw girls, then she was joined by her Quidditch team or other people who wanted to speak to her for whatever reason. There hadn't yet been a chance to talk to Cedric up until this very point in time. 'Shouldn't you be with your Hufflepuff friends?'

'If I knew my presence wasn't welcome, I wouldn't have come,' he said, but the grin on his face told her that he knew it was all playful. He sat down impossibly close to her and rested his head against the rock nearby. 'Had a good summer?'

'Yeah,' she said. 'It was lovely. And the Quidditch World Cup was lots of fun, too.'

'Fun?' he asked, raising his eyebrows. 'Weren't you scared of the Death Eaters?'

'Death Eaters?'

'They're supposedly You-Know-Who's followers,' Cedric explained. 'Dad told me they were those people who invaded the Quidditch World Cup at the end. Hasn't your mother told you that?'

'Oh. No, she hasn't had the chance to.' Cho considered this for a moment and frowned. 'Well, obviously I was scared at the time, but I didn't think it was anything that serious. Now that you put it that way, I hope my brother and father are alright.'

'They are,' he offered with a reassuring smile. At Cho's quizzical look, he went on. 'We would have heard if there'd been any other attacks like that. It was all a bit out of the blue though, if you ask me. Completely wrong, mind you, just stirring up a bit of disaster when there were thousands of witches and wizards around. Besides, your mother would have told you if anything happened to the rest of your family.'

'I guess you're right,' Cho conceded, grateful as ever for his words of reassurance. 'How was your summer, by the way?'

'It was great,' Cedric smiled up at her once more, stretching comfortably onto the grass as he did so. 'Especially that part when I saw you at the match.'

Cho blushed furiously at his words and turned away, hoping that he wouldn't notice. 'You. Stop that,' she giggled despite herself. 'It'll be enough to get my friends talking.'

'Your group of girls?' Cedric chuckled. 'Do they know I'm down here with you?'

'Well…' Cho looked up at the sky, gathering that they had delved deeper into the afternoon. 'I'm sure they'll figure it out when if I'm not back in five minutes. You know how they are. The first thing they'll ask me when I'm back is how you're going.'

'Really now?' Cedric looked amused. 'Are they still convinced that you and I are dating?'

'Yes,' she rolled her eyes, trying to sound frustrated, but all she could muster in her tone was a hint that the suggestion had entertained her—and perhaps, somewhere deep down where she did not know, just a trace of hope.

'So, tell me,' Cedric started, propping his head up on his hand. 'Are you planning on entering the Triwizard Tournament?'

'Me?' A horrified look crossed her at the thought. 'Of course not! Are you crazy? I'm not allowed to and I doubt I'd survive for five minutes. Are you?'

'Give yourself more credit than that. I'm sure you'd do fine,' Cedric said. 'But yes, I'm planning on entering.'

The excited sensation that had developed inside her at being in the company of Cedric quickly dissolved as her suspicions had been confirmed. She knew that it would come to this, for there was no denying that Cedric had the courage akin to a Gryffindor. Longing though she was to advise against him entering, she forced a look of pride on her face. There was no way she could possibly let him down by confessing that she was worried he might hurt himself. Still, she hoped that perhaps another Hogwarts student would be chosen rather than her friend.

'Well, good luck with that,' she said, but her tone sounded much too gleeful than she had intended. 'Do you think you'll get it?'

'I can only hope, but I doubt it,' the boy confessed. 'I've heard that there's a lot of younger students planning to enter. Your Quidditch Captain, included.'

'Roger's entering?' Cho laughed at the thought, but shook her head. 'Dumbledore's too intelligent for him, even if Roger's a Ravenclaw. I doubt any underage students will be able to enter.'

'Well, that's good,' he said after a momentary pause.

'Because you'll stand a better chance of getting in?'

'Because it means you won't enter,' Cedric amended. 'I'd hate to see you get hurt.'

'Cedric, you know that I wouldn't even if I could,' she admitted with a reassuring pat on his arm. 'Remember when Professor Lupin was here? He realised that our class hadn't been taught how to fight off Boggarts at that point because Professor Lockhart was too busy seeing who could do the best impersonation of him. I could barely manage fighting off the Boggart and don't even get me started on how terribly I imitated Lockhart. The Triwizard Tournament would do me more harm than good.'

'Not to mention,' Cedric began in an attempt to lighten the conversation, 'Roger would probably kill you if you put your life at risk like that. You're the seeker, after all.'

'That's true,' Cho nodded and just as quickly as the fear of Cedric entering had overwhelmed her, it faded away. Any worries she ever had, in fact, seemed to be in the distant past.

They spent the rest of that afternoon together in one another's company, wondering what the Triwizard Tournament could possibly involve, discussing the Quidditch World Cup, bickering playfully about who would receive the most house points this year out of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and dreading about the beginning of school tomorrow. The second that Cho mentioned that she had been worried about her O. which would take place towards the middle of next year, Cedric had kindly offered her assistance. They sat by the lake for half an hour as he taught her as many spells he could have possibly remembered and even offered her a study tip or two. It was only after the sunlight threatened to disappear when they decided that it was time to end the day.

'It's getting late,' Cedric pointed out. At that point, Cho's stomach let out an involuntary rumble. 'And you're hungry.'

'So it seems,' Cho giggled and pulled herself upright, but found that she had no desire to leave in spite of her growing hunger. 'We should make our way back up to the castle.'

'Yeah,' he agreed and before either of them protest, he stood up and held out a hand to help her. 'If you'd like, I can tutor you so you can be sure to pass your O.W.L.s.'

'I'd like that,' she said smiling. 'As long as you focus on your exams more. Yours are probably more important than mine, after all.'

'Don't worry,' he assured. 'I'll be fine. Let's go and eat.'

Together, they made their way towards the castle in a blissful silence. Cho noticed that every now and then, the two bumped into each other, chuckled awkwardly and continued to walk. She assumed it meant nothing, coming to the conclusion that Cedric had the habit of being affectionate with his friends.

It didn't take them long to reach their destination, but as soon as they did, they were greeted with an explosion of pleasant scents. The feast had obviously started and students were slowly but surely filing into the Great Hall. Before too long had passed, Cedric and Cho were separated by the crowd and there was no time to say goodnight to one another. Disappointed that their time together was cut short, Cho made her way towards the Ravenclaw table. It was there that she was met by her friends, all of whom had their heads together and were giggling rather furiously. She knew without asking why and as soon as she sat down, Cho was bombarded with questions.

'How was he, Cho?'

'Did he ask you out?'

'What did you say?'

'She said yes, of course!'

'Is he your boyfriend now?'

'When's your first date?'

'Did you kiss?'

'Oh my Hippogriff!'

'Of course they did!'

'What was it like?'

Cho forced nonchalance to linger on her expression as she pretended she had not heard a single word her friends has spoken. With a smile on her expression that suggested she was partially unaware of their presence, she pulled the pot of soup towards her and ladled its contents into her bowl.

'I'm starving. The food smells delicious tonight,' she noted, much to the dismay of her friends, who proceeded to poke her and hiss furiously at her in the hopes that she might have gossip for them to engage in deep into the night. She didn't have anything of interest to say, however, and allowed herself to keep on serving her food.

But when Cho looked up for just a second, she stopped what she was doing and her heart skipped a beat. Across the hall, and completely abandoning the food on his plate, Harry Potter was looking at her. When he seemed to realise that she had noticed this, he smiled nervously but brightly all the same.

Cho could feel his eyes on her for the rest of the meal.