OR DIE TRYING: CHO CHANG'S SEVENTH YEAR

By monkeymouse

NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms. And one of the great things about JKR telling the story from Harry's point of view is that stuff could be happening all over Hogwarts that Harry isn't aware of.

Rated: PG

Spoilers: Everything

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9. Team Work

As soon as she left the Great Hall that Wednesday evening, Cho went up to her room in Ravenclaw and dashed off a quick note:

"Dear Roger,

By now, I'm sure you heard that they made me Captain. I wish I could have avoided it, but here it is and Ravenclaw expects me to do my best. I just never thought in these terms before. Maybe I'm being a nuisance, or maybe I don't have the right to ask, but I could use a little help in figuring how to hold the tryouts. We have to replace…" She struck the last part. "I have to replace quite a few players beside you, including the reserves, and I would appreciate any helpful advice you could send me by this Sunday."

Even as Cho signed the parchment, even as she attached it to Quan Yin's leg and sent her off to find Roger Davies, she knew what would happen. Roger's feelings for her had been decidedly mixed: he respected her as a Seeker, and also confessed that he found himself attracted to her. Cho couldn't handle that; she simply didn't feel that way about him.

Friday night, Quan Yin returned, with the message to Roger still intact and unanswered. Cho expected as much, and found she was actually relieved. She was still clueless as to how to proceed, with two days before tryouts, but she was actually relieved that Roger wouldn't complicate things any more than they already were.

xxx

Sunday morning after breakfast, she went back up to her dormitory room. The weather seemed to be more pleasant than Saturday, with sunny skies and a light breeze, although still cool. She didn't know if she herself would be flying or not during the tryouts; as usual, though, after a summer away from her broom, she really felt as if she wanted, needed, to just fly and fly and fly. It's what witches do, after all, she told herself; no, she scolded herself, that's not it. It's what I do. It's what I was born here and now to do. She chose a pair of jeans—not too loose, not too tight, but showing enough ankle to indicate she'd grown another couple of inches without realizing it—and a pullover shirt, pinned on her captain's badge, put the sign-up list into her pocket and went out to the stadium.

She was on the pitch an hour before the tryouts were supposed to be held. She went into Madam Hooch's office, got the case of Quidditch balls, and took it out onto the pitch. Nobody was in the stands yet. Good; she didn't want anyone around to see what might happen next. She went to where the team brooms were kept, and there it was: her Comet Two Sixty, just where it was supposed to be. Madam Hooch must have brought it in after that final disastrous game. She didn't pin a note to Cho on the broom, and Cho was glad for that; it would have been too much. She felt bad enough about what she'd done as it was.

She was almost afraid to touch the broom as she took it down, feeling the heft of it, balancing it as if she had never ridden it before, afraid that any growth spurt over the summer would make the broom too small for her now, useless to her, or perhaps the broom itself would resent what she had done…

She took the broom out onto the pitch, settled onto it, and was in the air in a second. At that moment, instinct—maybe hers, maybe the broom's, maybe both—took over, and Cho sailed quickly around the stadium, climbing, diving, looping, hovering in place then going into a controlled power dive.

It's still here, Cho smiled, still inside me. I never lost it.

She continued flying for half an hour until she saw a small body in the stands, looking even smaller from her height, now almost level with the Astronomy Tower. She quickly dropped down to the pitch, then walked over to the spectator.

It was the young witch who had been the first Sorted into Ravenclaw this year. Cho fished the list out of her pocket. "Miss Anand, is it?"

The girl nodded happily. "The name's Sarasvati, but you can call me Sara; everybody does."

As she did at the Sorting, Cho couldn't help but smile; this girl just naturally seemed to cheer her up. "Have you done much flying, then, Sara?"

"Just this past year. I mean, my family's had flying carpets forever, but I just started on a broom."

"I suppose you've already had a class with Madam Hooch."

"Yes, and it was very easy. I was quite surprised."

"And you're going out for the team, then?"

"Well, Hogwarts: A History says First Years aren't supposed to be on the House teams."

"Did Hogwarts: A History also tell you that an exception was made a few years ago?"

"They let a First Year on?!"

Cho nodded, and tried to suppress the thrill in her voice, but it came out anyway: "Harry Potter."

"Then there's a chance for me?!"

"Well, I'll have to see you fly first," Cho laughed. "That's what tryouts are for."

"I know all about that," Sara nodded. "I watched the Gryffindor tryouts the other day."

"You did?" Cho asked, trying to sound casual. "How, erm, how was it?"

"Well, it was a bit of a muddle at first. So many people showed up that didn't even want to play on the team. Just wanted to see Potter, I expect. But he had them doing speed trials and that sorted them out. Then he went through picking players for the positions. Funny thing, though."

"What was funny?"

"He never picked an alternate Seeker."

"I expect he doesn't plan to miss any matches this year." But Sara had brought up a point, Cho realized. She'd have to keep an eye out for a replacement Seeker, if only to take over the position next year. If there is a next year for Quidditch at Hogwarts—no! This is Quidditch, not the DA. Don't overthink this, even if you are a Ravenclaw.

By now, a few of the names on the list were entering the stadium, as were returning members of the team. Cho recognized them at once and waved them over.

One of the new arrivals waved back, and Cho realized it was Luna Lovegood. Luna dashed over to sit on Cho's other side. "Lovely day, isn't it?" she said. Cho could see that Luna was wearing some of her odd jewelry again; this time, it was a necklace made of seaweed decorated with small shells.

"Going out for the team?" Cho asked.

"Probably not," Luna smiled at Cho, or at least in Cho's direction; as usual, her gaze seemed to be focused somewhere else. "I love flying, but Thestrals are more in my line. Too bad we can't use Thestrals instead of brooms. That's how they play Quidditch in Transylvania, you know."

Cho simply nodded without answering; what could anyone say to that?

When everybody who had signed up was there (along with a few spectators), Cho got up and walked out onto the pitch to face the others. She'd never done this before, actually saying and doing things as a Quidditch captain, and her captain's badge suddenly felt as heavy as a hippogriff.

"Yes. Well. Erm, sorry," she almost chuckled. She knew she was starting to blush, but couldn't stop it. "I guess I'm just still used to being on the team instead of running it."

"Doing fine so far," Pablo Molina smiled.

That reassurance from another Seventh Year, another Quidditch veteran, was what Cho needed at that moment. She took a breath and went on.

"We're here to fill spots on the team, which is why we do this every year. But we're also filling spots for the next year, and maybe the year after that. I want us to win the Cup, of course, but we'll only do that by building a side that's very well rounded and well developed. We all know that Quidditch is never as easy as it looks, and sometimes it looks harder than Arithmancy."

Some of the Ravenclaws chuckled at that. But one of them piped up, "Speak for yourself; I like Arithmancy!" That made them all laugh, including Cho.

"Right. Well, no more speeches, then. I know we have one First Year here; are there any others?" Four or five hands went up. "Give us three laps around the pitch, then."

Most of them couldn't quite manage the full three laps. One wizard got off the ground, then proceeded to plow into two of the others, sending them all to the ground. "No fair," the one who caused the pile-up complained in a thick Liverpudlian accent; "you didn't tell us which direction."

Cho was partly amused and partly frustrated. Is this what Roger had to put up with? "Sorry, but you were Sorted into Ravenclaw; you should have been able to figure that out for yourself. Pick yourselves up and try again."

They did try, but only two of them finished the three laps without mishap; Sara was one of them.

"Good job, Sara," Cho smiled, and Sara smiled back radiantly. This reminded Cho of what Sara had told her about the Gryffindor tryouts the day before. "Everybody else, now. Get on the pitch with your brooms, and line up." She had them count off by fours. "One group at a time, we'll be going for the fastest flying you can do."

Each group had a returning player or two; they ended up setting the pace for the others to follow. There were only one or two mishaps. Maybe it was this lack of accidents that told Cho that, while some of them were fast, they still weren't fast enough.

"Right. I want you to do that again, then, all of you, and I want it faster."

"Not me," said a Third Year named Stewart Ackerley, who nearly went into the stands taking a turn a bit too wide. "My parents want me to become a Healer, not visit one."

"Well, that's not really the right attitude for Quidditch," Cho told Stewart, then addressed the rest of them. "It's never been a safe game; if you read the history, you'll see that. And it's not because Quidditch is more dangerous than, say, tending carnivorous plants or trying to tame dragons. And it's not that the really great players, like Murray or Llewellyn, were mad. They did everything they could think to do, they went as fast as they could, and then pushed it a little bit faster. Sometimes they lost control, but more often they found that they had it in themselves to get the control back. And the next time they'd push a little faster and a little farther, just to see how much control they could still find in themselves."

"You expect us to do that?" asked another Third Year, Orla Quirke.

"I'm not asking you to be professional Quidditch players," Cho smiled, "but I need to know if you can think like one. The ones who can, even just a bit, can be useful in the kind of team we need to put together. Group One, then; try it again, and this time remember to push yourselves, and each other, just a bit more."

That seemed to do the trick. The rest of the tryouts saw Cho in much better spirits, since she'd seen all of the Ravenclaws improve in the speed trials. They really were flying at their best.

After that, she had them go around again, only with a Quaffle among them. Some, like Quirk, couldn't fly and handle a foreign object at the same time. Others, however, took to it readily.

It was lunchtime before any of them seemed to notice it. By then, Cho had weeded out those who were merely good fliers, focusing on those who were able to handle objects like Quaffles and bats with ease while flying. "Great job, everyone," Cho told the others. "Most of last year's team is still here, but we need a strong set of reserves, and you never know when they'll be needed. Besides, as I said, we're also building a team for the future. I'll post the results in a day or two. So, let's just call it a day. Pablo, can I have a quick word with you?"

As most of the others left the stadium, chatting animatedly about what had gone on in the tryouts, Cho approached Pablo Molina, a Chaser whose parents forbade him to play the year before because of his grades.

"How's it going, then?" Cho asked.

"Not too badly," Pablo smiled. Cho took that to mean that his marks were high enough now so that his parents felt comfortable with him playing Quidditch again.

"Even though this is our N.E.W.T. year?"

"That's right. Funny thing, I…" He glanced into the stands, and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I couldn't have done it without old Umbitch. She asked us to do so little, I just played along and got decent marks for doing next to nothing. The rest came easy."

"Somehow I doubt this year will be easy, in anything."

"Just don't give it another thought, Captain Chang. The Cup is ours this year."

They were almost the last ones left in the stadium. Pablo shouldered his broom and left; Luna Lovegood, who had been reading the Quibbler in the stands, closed the magazine and followed. Cho returned the equipment to the box, stopping before she closed it to run her fingers over the so-familiar Snitch.

"May I touch that?"

It was Sara Anand; Cho hadn't realized that the First Year was still there. She was standing behind Cho and looking down at the box. It was a look Cho recognized at once.

"Come here," Cho smiled, speaking barely above a whisper.

Sara knelt beside Cho and ran one fingertip along the surface of the Snitch. "I never saw one up close before. I like the way it feels alive," Sara said after a minute. "I want one as a pet."

"Nobody can tame a Snitch," Cho laughed, "which is why Seekers have to chase after them." Cho paused. "Is that what you want, then, Sara?"

"Yes, please. I'd like to be a Seeker."

Cho realized in that moment that, even if it seemed horribly vain, this must be the reason why fate had made her Captain. She was expected to return the favour that Madam Hooch had done her years ago. She would train Sara Anand to be a Seeker.

For now, Cho just smiled at the First Year. "We can talk about it after lunch."

xxx

To be continued in part 10, wherein Cho visits Hogsmeade on a disastrous day…