My father wanted a son, and, when I was five, he learned that he had received a daughter instead. I think my mother always knew, somehow. Perhaps she had to convince my father to accept me, or perhaps my father was always an understanding man. Regardless, seven weeks after my fifth birthday, I decided upon my given name with their help: 秋.
Had we still lived in my mother's city in Qinghai, I would have received a bat summoning 章秋 to the 凤凰魔法学校. But I was born in England, and I received an owl summoning Cho Chang to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.
I was an excellent student in Ravenclaw, and quite the Seeker as well. I fell in love with a Vietnamese-British boy named Cedric Diggory, and he passed from me within a year. I fought as part of Dumbledore's Army in the Battle of Hogwarts, where the Second War ended.
Most people remember me as Cedric's girlfriend. Many remember me as only that, though I like to think that some, such as Harry Potter, remember me as more than that. But these are my stories that I pen, in the aftermath of all the things I went through, the good and the bad, the thrills and the heartaches.
After all, each of us has a tale inside us, waiting to break out, like a phoenix from its flames.
Notes:
秋 is Qiu, and is a Chinese girl's name meaning Autumn, but to Western ears is pronounced like "Cho."
章 is Zhang, and in this case is a Korean surname (it could be Chinese as well). To Western ears it is pronounced like "Chang."
凤凰 means Phoenix; 魔法 means magic, of the witchcraft rather than magician kind; and 学校 means school. Put together, you have the Phoenix School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.