AN: For Quidditch. My prompts were: Cho Chang, Care of Magical Creatures Classroom, Chess, Centaur. 919 words
It was a calm autumn afternoon as Cho Chang followed Cedric Diggory to their shared Care of Magical Creatures class. For once, Hagrid had decided to hold it in Professor Kettleburn's old classroom.
"Probably because he has a guest lecturer of some sort," Cho guessed. "And about time, too, since he's so hopeless at it."
"I wouldn't say he's hopeless," Cedric disagreed. "I think he's got a lot of experience."
"He's a joke!" Cho cried. "Have you seen him struggle with thestrals?"
Cedric frowned. "I thought that lesson was interesting."
"Right until Selwyn tried to feed an apple to a thestral," Cho pointed out. "Then he lost complete control of them."
"To be fair, he did say that you'd get that reaction if you baited them," Cedric said good-naturedly.
"But he didn't explain what would bait the animals!" Cho cried, as if making her winning move in chess.
Cedric found that most of his conversations with Cho Chang were games of Chess. What the objective was, he wasn't sure at times, but Cho had the fighting spirit of a Gryffindor, but with all the depth and intellect of a Ravenclaw.
"He could've told us that," Cedric conceded as they entered the old classroom. "But he isn't quite as incompetent as you Ravenclaws might think."
Cho shot him an icy glare as they sat down in seats next to a large painting of a centaur.
"What's wrong with the lady?" the centaur demanded in his stiff, unsympathetic tone.
"Nothing," Cho said. "Nothing that's any of your business, anyway."
"You know, some of the best teachers aren't always what we're used to," the centaur continued. "My teacher was rather unconventional as well in how he taught, and I resented it at first. Yet, after some time, I came to realize that he was one of the best teachers I could've possibly had."
"Thanks for your input," Cho grumbled as she slammed her notebook onto the desk, alarming some of the Hufflepuffs. "Very helpful."
As if he had not heard Cho, the centaur continued. "Do you know why he was one of the best teachers?"
Cho ignored him, angrily scribbling down unreadable notes in her notebook, spraying her color-changing ink all over the desk.
"Why?" Cedric asked, getting a feeling the centaur might further harass Cho.
"I want the lady to ask," the centaur said, a smirk tugging at his austere features.
Cedric nudged Cho with his elbow. "I think you should respond to the painting."
Cho rolled her eyes and swiveled around to face the painting, her thin eyebrows knotted together in sheer determination and anger.
"Why?" she demanded,
The centaur's back legs gave a little kick of joy. "Glad you asked, Miss-"
"Chang," Cho answered through gritted teeth, her face looking a little red.
"Yes, well, Miss Chang, my teacher, while unconventional, challenged me, just like I'm sure Mr. Hagrid will for you," the centaur finished.
Cedric knew Cho wouldn't let anyone beat her in her mental chess that easily.
"Your teacher was different," Cho said. "I assure you of that. Mr. Lupin was unconventional, but not like Hagrid."
"Open yourself up, Miss Chang, you might be surprised," the centaur said smugly, before he trotted off into another painting.
Cedric shrugged and looked up at the board as Hagrid barreled in.
"Terday," he said, "we have a guest comin' teh tell yeh about some creatures from America: Mr. Newt Scamander!"
"The famous magizoologist?" Cho whispered to Cedric, who nodded. As a Hufflepuff, he'd heard a lot about Newt. He was one of the most renowned and beloved Hufflepuffs, a shining contrast against the reputation of dullness and stupidity that ran amuck around Hufflepuffs.
A lanky man wearing a navy blue duster coat with short-cropped silver hair and a gleam in his eyes appeared from a side door into the room.
"Hello, everybody," Newt said. "I'm sure some among you have read the newly released edition of my book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?"
Heads shook around the classroom,
"There was a new edition?" Cho whispered.
"Unlike what Rita Skeeter alleged in her article, parts of the original book were not kept secret because of personal matters," Newt began, his cheeks flushing red at the part about personal matters. "They were kept secret because Seraphina Piquery herself wanted me to not publish it as to prevent poaching of animals such as thunderbirds."
"Thunderbirds?" Cho whispered again.
"Yes, Miss Chang, they're birds that are gold and white and bring rain," Newt said, his dark blue eyes locking onto Cho. She sat up straight, shocked to be called out upon for her whispers. Cedric knew she couldn't help it, it was just the way Cho was. It was how she learned things. She did that when they played Chess for the first time.
Ever since, she had won. She had a perfect memory for the strategy, ever since Cedric had first explained it.
"They live in Arizona," Newt continued. He paused. "Would you all like to meet one?"
Glances were exchanged. Here was a real animal handler, thought those like Cho and other Ravenclaws. Someone who was renown for his experience.
Then he opened his briefcase, and a flurry of feathers came out and it rained within the classroom.
Checkmate, Cedric thought as he ducked under the desks. He pulled Cho beneath with him and they waited there as Mr. Scamander attempted to run around and catch the bird. It turned out Mr. Scamander and Hagrid had won.