Disclaimer: Harry Potter theme = JKR. Plot and some characters = mine!
Author's Note: I LOVE QUIDDITCH! The best sport ever, next to tennis and maybe even equal to volleyball. Yeah, so that's what this chapter is all about. Quidditch does the body good! This may seem long, but it's got an easy plot to it.
This chapter is SUPER long, I guess it's cos I had to talk about Professor Trelawney cos she's hilarious. And a bit about the journal. And the rest is about the Quidditch. But it's not all what I wanted to say about Quidditch (there's so much more to go over). So I've decided to split the chapter up to Part I and Part II cos I'm sure y'all don't wanna read a 4000 word chapter! So this is Part I- I'll be posting up Part II soon enough.
Oh, and I started reading "Quidditch Through the Ages" (great book, btw), using it as an aid for my story. The team that Cedric was to be signed up with, the Montrose Magpies, are number one in their league, meaning that Ced had to be really good to be signed up. Just a little trivia- thought y'all might be interested!
Rating: PG-13
Thanks to: Jessie, again, for always coming back to check out my stories. Y'all have to check out her stories- RainShadow. She's got real good ones about HP and LoTR. ALL you reviewers- you all don't now how much your reviews mean! Heather- yep, this IS a really sad story, huh? I'm really glad you like it. Christie- I love the kiss too- it's one of my favorite parts, even if it's sad! Lilaznpinky525- keep on reading the story. won't give you any hints of what I'm gonna do but you'll enjoy it, I'm sure!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Year After: Cho's Story
Chapter 4: Part I- Learning to Fly Again
After Transfiguration, Ravenclaw had Charms with Hufflepuff where they took tedious notes on the complicated Lokiarment Charm which locked a room that could not be opened, even with the Alohomora Spell, without the spell placer's permission. The Lokiarment Charm sounded easy to do, but the incantation was so close to the Binding Spell that if you said one syllable wrong, you could put a binding spell on yourself that was difficult to undo. For this, Professor Flitwick insisted that they take thorough notes on the charm and practice saying it over and over again before attempting it. Even though Cho loved Charms class, she couldn't wait for lunch after the first four parchments of notes.
"Oh, thank goodness, food," Kiersten sighed, plopping down at the Ravenclaw table.
"Cho," Landon Matts seated himself next to Cho. "We're having a Quidditch meeting today before supper to discuss new plans and players."
Cho felt her face turn red. "Actually, Landon, I wanted to talk to you about that."
Landon poured pumpkin juice into his goblet. "I'm all ears," he said, drinking his juice.
"I don't know if I want to stay on the team."
Pumpkin juice sprayed all over the Ravenclaw table.
"WHAT? But, but you CAN'T! You're the best Seeker we've had in year. WHY would you want to leave the team?" Landon exclaimed, looking bewildered.
Cho lowered her voice down to a whisper. "I just don't feel like flying anymore."
Landon's gaze softened. "Cho, I know it's been hard since Cedric died. But I'm sure that he'd want you to keep on playing."
Cho looked down at her empty plate. "I know. It's just really hard. Cedric really loved Quidditch and every time I even think of it, I'm reminded more and more of him. Did you know he was to be signed up with the Montrose Magpies?"
"No," Landon said softly.
Cho looked up at the enchanted Great Hall ceiling, today a very clear sky blue color. She wasn't going to start tearing up in front of Landon.
"When I heard you turned down the Ravenclaw captain position, I knew it had to do with Cedric but I didn't think you'd give up Quidditch all together. Cho, you were born to be a Seeker. At least come to the meeting and think about it. Our first practice isn't until a few weeks."
Cho nodded. "Ok." She was too tired to argue with Landon- she knew well enough from Quidditch how Landon always won in arguments.
After she was done with lunch, Cho left the Great Hall early for Divination with Tabitha, and Faye Marths and Arie Lynch, both from Hufflepuff, who all had Divination with Cho. As the girls walked through the corridors to Professor Trelawney's classroom, Cho saw Harry heading down a different case of stairs above her. Ron Weasley was right in front of him, jabbering on with his twin brothers. Cho caught Harry's eye and they looked at each other. Suddenly, Cho's staircase began to shift, as the Hogwarts staircases usually did. Harry gave her one more look and walked out of sight.
Just seeing him made Cho feel awkward. If only last night didn't happen.
Divination actually wasn't as bad as Cho dreaded. This was the first day the class learned the basics of scrying, which took plenty of concentration but was easy to fake. Professor Trelawney was so pleased with the class's effort that she didn't even assign them any homework.
"Miss Chang, would you stay behind one moment please?"
Tabitha, Faye, and Arie gave Cho a pitiable look as they climbed down the silver ladder back to the corridors. Whenever Professor Trelaney wanted to talk to Cho privately, that was never good. She always wanted to talk about what she saw in Cho's future.
Cho sat back down on one of the squashy armchairs around the fireplace.
"Miss Chang, I see your aura has become terribly weak. It does not expand out at long lengths as it used to. Your overall aura is still the bright golden color describing your personality, but there is now a smoky grey mist surrounding it, which gives out that you are troubled and despondent."
Obviously. You didn't need to be able to read auras to know that.
"Would you like to take a look into the crystal ball, Miss Chang? Tell me what you see?" Professor Trelawney, looking quite excited, quickly grabbed her large transparent crystal ball from the wooden bookshelf by her desk.
Cho stood up. "Errr, no thanks Professor. I should be going back to my tower now- plenty of homework to do." The fact of the matter was that neither McGonagall nor Flitwick gave her homework at all today. Cho knew exactly what Professor Trelawney was trying to do- get her to talk about Cedric's death.
"Oh, come now, Miss Chang! How about some tea leaves?" Professor Trelawney waved her wand towards the pink kettle on her stove and it immediately sang with steam.
"I really have to go Professor. Maybe some other time." Cho said politely, leaning over to open the round trapdoor.
"Tarot cards! I know you enjoy that! Or alectromancy! I'll just conjure up one of Hagrid's roosters." Cho heard Professor Trelawney go on as she carefully, but very hastily, climbed down the silver rungs, closing the trapdoor above her.
"Mental," Cho mumbled to noone in particular as she walked swiftly through the corridors to the Ravenclaw Tower. She turned the corner and saw a statue of The Knight. "Omniphilorus," she said to the statue. The Knight glided aside, revealing a wide hole as Cho walked inside.
Cho walked straight up to her dormitory, ignoring Adelyn and Kiersten's glances in the Common Room. She hadn't had a good look in Cedric's book yet, even last night when she saw the picture.
Cho walked briskly up the stone stairway into the room, opening up her trunk. The golden yellow book was still lying there on Cho's navy blue Quidditch robes. She sat down on her bed with the journal, pulling out her wand out of her robes. "Lokiarranduportia," she spoke, her wand to the door. There was a clicking sound as the door locked itself.
She opened the book and gazed at the first page. 'September 2.'
'When Muggles fall in love the moment they see each other, they call it "love at first sight". I like the way the Muggles think sometimes. Easy, straight to the point without much thought. "Love at first sight." I knew I was in love at first sight when I first saw her at Platform 93/4. She was what I imagined an angel to be, the way she smiled and the way she carried herself; the way she laughed and the way she spoke. Even her name rolls off my tongue beautifully- Cho Chang.'
Cho blushed. She never knew Cedric was so poetic.
'I didn't officially meet her until after the Feast. I reckon she was searching for her friends out in the corridors (that wasn't exactly right. Cho remembered she was trying to find the nearest lavatory) but she looked quite lost. I took the opportunity to walk up to her and ask her if she needed anything. And then I made the mistake of looking into her deep chocolate eyes. Love at first sight? More like love at all sights.'
The next paragraphs went on to describing Cedric's first day of his third year at Hogwarts. Cho read each and every word, over and over again. She smiled. Cedric WAS the incredibly wonderful guy everyone thought him to be. He didn't have anything bad to say about anyone or anything in his journal. He was so optimistic.
Cho suddenly straightened up. She just remembered the Quidditch meeting that was supposed to go on before supper.
"Templis," she said as bright digital green numbers appeared from her wand reading "4:48".
"Oh no." Cho jumped out of her bed and put the journal back safely in her trunk. Pulling out her wand, she said "Unlocartia", pointing to the door. It clicked open and Cho ran down the stairs.
"See you at supper- Quidditch meeting!" Cho managed to say as she ran by Adelyn, who was reading her Muggle Studies book (Extreme Living: Muggles without Magic) on one of the couches in the Common Room. Kiersten was nowhere to be found.
Cho didn't stop sprinting until she got down to the Quidditch fields. She ran beneath the stands, throwing open the doors of the locker room.
"Hi--- everyone," Cho said, out of breath. Everyone smiled at her, greeting her back as Cho took a seat next to one of the Chasers from the year before, Michael Blake.
Landon looked at her from the front of the room. "All right there Cho? Did you run all the way from the tower?"
Cho grinned. "Yeah- sorry about that. At least I've had some pre-season training. Am I late?"
Landon shook his head. "No- I was just telling the new players about tryouts."
As Landon started talking about Quidditch trials that were to take place the following week, Cho started to look around the room. There were only four people left from their most recent Quidditch team the tear before, including Landon, Michael, Cho, and the other team Chaser, Julian Keats. There were six other people in the room of whom Cho all knew. Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin Entwhistle, both fifth years, were leaning against the wall. Sara Fawcett was the only girl in the room other than Cho. She was looking at Landon while twirling her delicate blonde curls anxiously. Fourth year Nicholas Hartwhig sat across from Cho's row, nervously fidgeting with his robes next to Drewan Lisle, a short third year with brown hair and a concentrated look on his face as Landon talked on. Tall, lanky Hugh Richett sat next to Drewan, obviously the youngest out of the groups with his extremely young second year face.
"So everyone is to be here on Saturday morning before breakfast. Alright, that's it for new players. Will the returnees please stay behind?"
Landon waited until all the new players left the locker room before speaking to the remaining members of his old team.
"This year, competition is as brutal as ever. Gryffindor has six returning players and I've just found out that they're letting Ron Weasley in as Keeper in the place of Wood's old position. Five of their players are all seventh years- the Weasley twins, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet. And there's always Harry Potter, who was given the position of the Gryffindor Captain."
Cho stirred when Landon mentioned Harry's name. Harry, Seeker and Captain of Gryffindor? Good for him- he deserved it.
Landon went on. "Gryffindor wants the Cup again more than ever. Slytherin hasn't got that stupid git Flint anymore, since he already graduated. They're all brainless gits, so I don't reckon they haven't got a clue of what to do first." Cho thought back to Thomas Friskin and his words in Tranfiguration. "Ready to get slaughtered in Quidditch?"
"Hufflepuff- well, we all know about Hufflepuff." Everyone glanced at Cho.
"It's really ok, Landon- go ahead, speak your mind about Hufflepuff. They've never been good, except for when Ced was in their team. We all know that. We should beat them," Cho offered.
Landon smiled weakly. "Thank you Cho. Well, that's all I have to say for now. Just remember to be here on Saturday morning. I want you all to help me during the trials."
Julian raised his hand jokingly. "Oh Captain Matts sir? May I ask a question?"
Landon rolled his eyes.
"Do you think we may win the cup this year?"
Landon looked up at the ceiling, pondering at this question for a moment. "Hufflepuff- no problem as Cho said. We SHOULD beat Slytherin as well, for the first time in years. Never know about them though- always playing dirty with awful tricks up their sleeves. Gryffindor will, of course, be the hardest to beat, but not if we practice hard. Practice, practice, practice. As Muggles say, "Practice makes perfect.""
Michael and Julian both groaned. "You're not going to turn into another obsessive Wood, are you? Wake us up early in the morning, play in rain, hail, and snow?"
Landon shrugged. "I should take a leaf out of Wood's book. They DID win, didn't they?"
They all groaned again.
"Just messing with you! Just messing!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
***Chapter 4: Part II Short Synopsis: So what's a girl to do with Quidditch?***
Author's Note: I LOVE QUIDDITCH! The best sport ever, next to tennis and maybe even equal to volleyball. Yeah, so that's what this chapter is all about. Quidditch does the body good! This may seem long, but it's got an easy plot to it.
This chapter is SUPER long, I guess it's cos I had to talk about Professor Trelawney cos she's hilarious. And a bit about the journal. And the rest is about the Quidditch. But it's not all what I wanted to say about Quidditch (there's so much more to go over). So I've decided to split the chapter up to Part I and Part II cos I'm sure y'all don't wanna read a 4000 word chapter! So this is Part I- I'll be posting up Part II soon enough.
Oh, and I started reading "Quidditch Through the Ages" (great book, btw), using it as an aid for my story. The team that Cedric was to be signed up with, the Montrose Magpies, are number one in their league, meaning that Ced had to be really good to be signed up. Just a little trivia- thought y'all might be interested!
Rating: PG-13
Thanks to: Jessie, again, for always coming back to check out my stories. Y'all have to check out her stories- RainShadow. She's got real good ones about HP and LoTR. ALL you reviewers- you all don't now how much your reviews mean! Heather- yep, this IS a really sad story, huh? I'm really glad you like it. Christie- I love the kiss too- it's one of my favorite parts, even if it's sad! Lilaznpinky525- keep on reading the story. won't give you any hints of what I'm gonna do but you'll enjoy it, I'm sure!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Year After: Cho's Story
Chapter 4: Part I- Learning to Fly Again
After Transfiguration, Ravenclaw had Charms with Hufflepuff where they took tedious notes on the complicated Lokiarment Charm which locked a room that could not be opened, even with the Alohomora Spell, without the spell placer's permission. The Lokiarment Charm sounded easy to do, but the incantation was so close to the Binding Spell that if you said one syllable wrong, you could put a binding spell on yourself that was difficult to undo. For this, Professor Flitwick insisted that they take thorough notes on the charm and practice saying it over and over again before attempting it. Even though Cho loved Charms class, she couldn't wait for lunch after the first four parchments of notes.
"Oh, thank goodness, food," Kiersten sighed, plopping down at the Ravenclaw table.
"Cho," Landon Matts seated himself next to Cho. "We're having a Quidditch meeting today before supper to discuss new plans and players."
Cho felt her face turn red. "Actually, Landon, I wanted to talk to you about that."
Landon poured pumpkin juice into his goblet. "I'm all ears," he said, drinking his juice.
"I don't know if I want to stay on the team."
Pumpkin juice sprayed all over the Ravenclaw table.
"WHAT? But, but you CAN'T! You're the best Seeker we've had in year. WHY would you want to leave the team?" Landon exclaimed, looking bewildered.
Cho lowered her voice down to a whisper. "I just don't feel like flying anymore."
Landon's gaze softened. "Cho, I know it's been hard since Cedric died. But I'm sure that he'd want you to keep on playing."
Cho looked down at her empty plate. "I know. It's just really hard. Cedric really loved Quidditch and every time I even think of it, I'm reminded more and more of him. Did you know he was to be signed up with the Montrose Magpies?"
"No," Landon said softly.
Cho looked up at the enchanted Great Hall ceiling, today a very clear sky blue color. She wasn't going to start tearing up in front of Landon.
"When I heard you turned down the Ravenclaw captain position, I knew it had to do with Cedric but I didn't think you'd give up Quidditch all together. Cho, you were born to be a Seeker. At least come to the meeting and think about it. Our first practice isn't until a few weeks."
Cho nodded. "Ok." She was too tired to argue with Landon- she knew well enough from Quidditch how Landon always won in arguments.
After she was done with lunch, Cho left the Great Hall early for Divination with Tabitha, and Faye Marths and Arie Lynch, both from Hufflepuff, who all had Divination with Cho. As the girls walked through the corridors to Professor Trelawney's classroom, Cho saw Harry heading down a different case of stairs above her. Ron Weasley was right in front of him, jabbering on with his twin brothers. Cho caught Harry's eye and they looked at each other. Suddenly, Cho's staircase began to shift, as the Hogwarts staircases usually did. Harry gave her one more look and walked out of sight.
Just seeing him made Cho feel awkward. If only last night didn't happen.
Divination actually wasn't as bad as Cho dreaded. This was the first day the class learned the basics of scrying, which took plenty of concentration but was easy to fake. Professor Trelawney was so pleased with the class's effort that she didn't even assign them any homework.
"Miss Chang, would you stay behind one moment please?"
Tabitha, Faye, and Arie gave Cho a pitiable look as they climbed down the silver ladder back to the corridors. Whenever Professor Trelaney wanted to talk to Cho privately, that was never good. She always wanted to talk about what she saw in Cho's future.
Cho sat back down on one of the squashy armchairs around the fireplace.
"Miss Chang, I see your aura has become terribly weak. It does not expand out at long lengths as it used to. Your overall aura is still the bright golden color describing your personality, but there is now a smoky grey mist surrounding it, which gives out that you are troubled and despondent."
Obviously. You didn't need to be able to read auras to know that.
"Would you like to take a look into the crystal ball, Miss Chang? Tell me what you see?" Professor Trelawney, looking quite excited, quickly grabbed her large transparent crystal ball from the wooden bookshelf by her desk.
Cho stood up. "Errr, no thanks Professor. I should be going back to my tower now- plenty of homework to do." The fact of the matter was that neither McGonagall nor Flitwick gave her homework at all today. Cho knew exactly what Professor Trelawney was trying to do- get her to talk about Cedric's death.
"Oh, come now, Miss Chang! How about some tea leaves?" Professor Trelawney waved her wand towards the pink kettle on her stove and it immediately sang with steam.
"I really have to go Professor. Maybe some other time." Cho said politely, leaning over to open the round trapdoor.
"Tarot cards! I know you enjoy that! Or alectromancy! I'll just conjure up one of Hagrid's roosters." Cho heard Professor Trelawney go on as she carefully, but very hastily, climbed down the silver rungs, closing the trapdoor above her.
"Mental," Cho mumbled to noone in particular as she walked swiftly through the corridors to the Ravenclaw Tower. She turned the corner and saw a statue of The Knight. "Omniphilorus," she said to the statue. The Knight glided aside, revealing a wide hole as Cho walked inside.
Cho walked straight up to her dormitory, ignoring Adelyn and Kiersten's glances in the Common Room. She hadn't had a good look in Cedric's book yet, even last night when she saw the picture.
Cho walked briskly up the stone stairway into the room, opening up her trunk. The golden yellow book was still lying there on Cho's navy blue Quidditch robes. She sat down on her bed with the journal, pulling out her wand out of her robes. "Lokiarranduportia," she spoke, her wand to the door. There was a clicking sound as the door locked itself.
She opened the book and gazed at the first page. 'September 2.'
'When Muggles fall in love the moment they see each other, they call it "love at first sight". I like the way the Muggles think sometimes. Easy, straight to the point without much thought. "Love at first sight." I knew I was in love at first sight when I first saw her at Platform 93/4. She was what I imagined an angel to be, the way she smiled and the way she carried herself; the way she laughed and the way she spoke. Even her name rolls off my tongue beautifully- Cho Chang.'
Cho blushed. She never knew Cedric was so poetic.
'I didn't officially meet her until after the Feast. I reckon she was searching for her friends out in the corridors (that wasn't exactly right. Cho remembered she was trying to find the nearest lavatory) but she looked quite lost. I took the opportunity to walk up to her and ask her if she needed anything. And then I made the mistake of looking into her deep chocolate eyes. Love at first sight? More like love at all sights.'
The next paragraphs went on to describing Cedric's first day of his third year at Hogwarts. Cho read each and every word, over and over again. She smiled. Cedric WAS the incredibly wonderful guy everyone thought him to be. He didn't have anything bad to say about anyone or anything in his journal. He was so optimistic.
Cho suddenly straightened up. She just remembered the Quidditch meeting that was supposed to go on before supper.
"Templis," she said as bright digital green numbers appeared from her wand reading "4:48".
"Oh no." Cho jumped out of her bed and put the journal back safely in her trunk. Pulling out her wand, she said "Unlocartia", pointing to the door. It clicked open and Cho ran down the stairs.
"See you at supper- Quidditch meeting!" Cho managed to say as she ran by Adelyn, who was reading her Muggle Studies book (Extreme Living: Muggles without Magic) on one of the couches in the Common Room. Kiersten was nowhere to be found.
Cho didn't stop sprinting until she got down to the Quidditch fields. She ran beneath the stands, throwing open the doors of the locker room.
"Hi--- everyone," Cho said, out of breath. Everyone smiled at her, greeting her back as Cho took a seat next to one of the Chasers from the year before, Michael Blake.
Landon looked at her from the front of the room. "All right there Cho? Did you run all the way from the tower?"
Cho grinned. "Yeah- sorry about that. At least I've had some pre-season training. Am I late?"
Landon shook his head. "No- I was just telling the new players about tryouts."
As Landon started talking about Quidditch trials that were to take place the following week, Cho started to look around the room. There were only four people left from their most recent Quidditch team the tear before, including Landon, Michael, Cho, and the other team Chaser, Julian Keats. There were six other people in the room of whom Cho all knew. Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin Entwhistle, both fifth years, were leaning against the wall. Sara Fawcett was the only girl in the room other than Cho. She was looking at Landon while twirling her delicate blonde curls anxiously. Fourth year Nicholas Hartwhig sat across from Cho's row, nervously fidgeting with his robes next to Drewan Lisle, a short third year with brown hair and a concentrated look on his face as Landon talked on. Tall, lanky Hugh Richett sat next to Drewan, obviously the youngest out of the groups with his extremely young second year face.
"So everyone is to be here on Saturday morning before breakfast. Alright, that's it for new players. Will the returnees please stay behind?"
Landon waited until all the new players left the locker room before speaking to the remaining members of his old team.
"This year, competition is as brutal as ever. Gryffindor has six returning players and I've just found out that they're letting Ron Weasley in as Keeper in the place of Wood's old position. Five of their players are all seventh years- the Weasley twins, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet. And there's always Harry Potter, who was given the position of the Gryffindor Captain."
Cho stirred when Landon mentioned Harry's name. Harry, Seeker and Captain of Gryffindor? Good for him- he deserved it.
Landon went on. "Gryffindor wants the Cup again more than ever. Slytherin hasn't got that stupid git Flint anymore, since he already graduated. They're all brainless gits, so I don't reckon they haven't got a clue of what to do first." Cho thought back to Thomas Friskin and his words in Tranfiguration. "Ready to get slaughtered in Quidditch?"
"Hufflepuff- well, we all know about Hufflepuff." Everyone glanced at Cho.
"It's really ok, Landon- go ahead, speak your mind about Hufflepuff. They've never been good, except for when Ced was in their team. We all know that. We should beat them," Cho offered.
Landon smiled weakly. "Thank you Cho. Well, that's all I have to say for now. Just remember to be here on Saturday morning. I want you all to help me during the trials."
Julian raised his hand jokingly. "Oh Captain Matts sir? May I ask a question?"
Landon rolled his eyes.
"Do you think we may win the cup this year?"
Landon looked up at the ceiling, pondering at this question for a moment. "Hufflepuff- no problem as Cho said. We SHOULD beat Slytherin as well, for the first time in years. Never know about them though- always playing dirty with awful tricks up their sleeves. Gryffindor will, of course, be the hardest to beat, but not if we practice hard. Practice, practice, practice. As Muggles say, "Practice makes perfect.""
Michael and Julian both groaned. "You're not going to turn into another obsessive Wood, are you? Wake us up early in the morning, play in rain, hail, and snow?"
Landon shrugged. "I should take a leaf out of Wood's book. They DID win, didn't they?"
They all groaned again.
"Just messing with you! Just messing!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
***Chapter 4: Part II Short Synopsis: So what's a girl to do with Quidditch?***
