CHAPTER FIVE
"You take care of yourself, OK?" Harry reminded Hermione as she and Ron got
ready to leave for Hogsmeade.
"You too," Hermione replied. She planted a kiss on Harry's lips as Ron closed his eyes and grimaced. Luckily no one saw his reaction.
"Hey man!" Harry called out to Ron as he started fumbling with his trunk. Ron looked up immediately. "Huh?"
"What're you looking for?" Harry inquired.
"Oh. I. I was looking for. um. my wand," Ron stuttered.
"It's right there on your bed," Harry pointed out. "Anyway, I want you to look out for Hermione, OK? Don't let her get into any trouble."
"Oh, sure! You bet!" Ron grinned from ear to ear. You have no idea how much I'd love to take care of Hermione, thought Ron.
"Well, c'mon you two," motioned Harry. "You' don't want to be left behind, do you?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked towards the entrance hall where they saw a lot of people lined up to go out. Argus Filch, the caretaker, was ticking names off the list, making sure no one without permission went out to Hogsmeade. He wore a sulked face and glared at each student who went out.
"Poor Filch probably hasn't seen Hogsmeade yet, that's why he loathes everyone who goes out," whispered Ron, making Harry and Hermione snicker.
"You're not allowed in Hogsmeade, Potter," said a cold voice from behind them. The trio steered around to find Snape, the Potions Master, glaring at them. "So what in the world are you doing here at the entrance gate? Not planning to escape, are you?"
"Oh no sir," Harry said calmly. "I was just seeing my friends Hermione and Ron as they went out. Afterwards I would be going straight to the common room. That's all sir."
Snape recognized the calmness in Harry's voice and the innocence in his eyes. He walked away, his long black robes billowing behind him.
"Snape tried to frame you again," Ron commented.
"Clearly he wasn't successful," said Hermione.
"Get moving, you two!" Filch cried. "You're not allowed, Potter, go back to your ruddy common room where you belong!"
"Take care, you two!" Harry called as Filch pushed Ron and Hermione out of the way.
Harry was alone - again. He didn't feel like going back to the common room where all the first and second years were hanging out. Not that he had anything against first and second years - after all, he had been a first year two years ago and a second year just last year.
He decided to go to the library and find something to read. He figured rereading Quidditch Through The Ages wouldn't hurt anyone.
Once he was in the library, the first thing he noticed was a pretty girl, maybe in her fourth or fifth year, talking to Madam Pince. His heart skipped a beat. It seemed that the girl was looking for something.
Hey, wait a minute, thought Harry, I know this girl.
He didn't notice where he was going and he accidentally bumped into the girl. Both of them beamed, but the girl spoke first.
"Hi Harry! It's so nice for us to meet again!"
Harry put on a puzzled look.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I believe we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Cho Chang, by the way. A fifth year Ravenclaw," the girl said, extending her hand for Harry to shake.
Harry took her hand and shook it. "H. Hi Cho. The name's Harry. Harry Potter. But of course you know that."
"Yeah, I do. So, anyway, what're you doing down here? I believe you should be in Hogsmeade with your friends?" queried Cho as she led Harry to an empty table with two chairs.
"Oh, that." Harry's face fell as he took his seat. "I. I'm not allowed to go to Hogsmeade."
"Really? Oh, I'm sorry. But I'm telling you, once you've got about three to five visits to Hogsmeade, it won't be so much fun anymore. Trust me." Cho smiled, mesmerizing Harry.
Harry snapped himself back to reality. "How 'bout you? What're you doing here?"
"Oh, I have some research to do for Snape."
"Ooh. Too bad. Snape's horrible."
"Tell me about it. Anyway, you still haven't answered my question. What're you doing here?"
"I just wanted to have a bit of light reading, I guess." Harry shrugged. "Oh, d'you know where copies of Quidditch Through The Ages are kept? That's the book I'd like to read."
"It's over there." Cho pointed to a shelf that Harry couldn't quite make out. "I'd love to read that too, you know. It's just that I don't have much time. You know, with schoolwork and Quidditch practice. You know, Roger's been really frantic. It's not his usual self."
"Roger?" Harry repeated.
"Oh, sorry. Roger's our team captain. Roger Davies."
"Oh OK." Harry got up from the chair. "Hey, I could direct you to a shelf where they've got all these books about Potions, if you want. I'm sure you could use one of those books for your research."
"That would be great!" Cho exclaimed, practically jumping from her chair.
Madam Pince glared at the two and put a finger to her lips. Cho mouthed "sorry ma'am."
Harry nodded to Cho, motioning for her to follow him. Harry led Cho through thousands of shelves of books. Their journey seemed endless. Finally, Harry stopped in front of a shelf labeled Potions.
"Well, here we are," Harry declared. They walked through the small aisle and scanned the book titles.
"Hey, maybe this would come in handy," Cho said, pulling down a book entitled All About Potions.
"Maybe it would," said Harry. He pulled another book entitled A Better Guide to Comprehending Complicated Potions. "How about this?" he asked, showing Cho the book.
"I think so," said Cho, grabbing the book from Harry's grasp. "Well, I should think this is enough for now. C'mon Harry." She grabbed Harry's hand and led him to their table. She let go of Harry's hand as she put the books down on the table.
"C'mon, I'll show you where Quidditch Through The Ages is kept." She grabbed Harry's hand again and led him to a shelf on the far end of the library and showed him a shelf labeled Quidditch. In it were copies of Quidditch Through the Ages, Which Broomstick, The Best of International Quidditch Teams, A Record of the Best (and Longest) Quidditch Games Ever Played, and many more.
"This is the shelf I go to whenever I want to read something about Quidditch," said Cho.
Harry was in awe. He'd never seen this many books regarding Quidditch before. In fact, he's only read one of these books: Quidditch Through The Ages. He had seen Fred and George Weasley pass around a copy of Which Broomstick in the common room, but he'd never gotten the chance to get hold of it and read it.
Harry grabbed Quidditch Through The Ages and Which Broomstick before leaving and muttering "I'll be back; wait for me" under his breath.
Once Harry and Cho got to their table, both of them pored over the books they got. Cho was busy tasking notes from A Better Guide to Comprehending Complicated Potions as Harry pored over Which Broomstick, admiring every broomstick he saw. (But nothing can come close to my Nimbus, he thought.)
Cho looked up from the book and glanced at the wall clock behind Madam Pince's counter. "Oh, it's eleven o'clock already?"
Harry looked at the clock as well. "It is eleven o'clock," he said.
"I'd better get going," said Cho as she hurriedly gathered her things. "I'm just going to take this to the common room. Are you going to stay here?" she asked, turning to Harry.
"Me? No, I think I'd better go back to the common room as well. Besides, there's only one more hour to go before lunch." Harry got up. "C'mon, let's ask Madam Pince to sign these, then we get out of here."
The two walked towards Madam Pince's counter and asked her to sign the books. Once the books were signed and they were given the proper due dates, Harry and Cho went out of the library.
"Thank you so much for your help, Harry," Cho thanked him, giving him one of her mesmerizing smiles once more. Harry returned her smile.
"Sure, no problem. It was nice meeting you. Oh, and by the way, good luck for the match."
"Oh. yeah. the match. Thanks. Good luck to you too." Then Cho enveloped Harry in a tight, friendly hug.
"I'll be going now. I'll see you in the Great Hall for lunch," said Cho the moment the two of them parted. Her eyes lingered on Harry's emerald-green eyes before turning away and saying goodbye.
"Yeah, I'll see you," muttered Harry under his breath.
"You too," Hermione replied. She planted a kiss on Harry's lips as Ron closed his eyes and grimaced. Luckily no one saw his reaction.
"Hey man!" Harry called out to Ron as he started fumbling with his trunk. Ron looked up immediately. "Huh?"
"What're you looking for?" Harry inquired.
"Oh. I. I was looking for. um. my wand," Ron stuttered.
"It's right there on your bed," Harry pointed out. "Anyway, I want you to look out for Hermione, OK? Don't let her get into any trouble."
"Oh, sure! You bet!" Ron grinned from ear to ear. You have no idea how much I'd love to take care of Hermione, thought Ron.
"Well, c'mon you two," motioned Harry. "You' don't want to be left behind, do you?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked towards the entrance hall where they saw a lot of people lined up to go out. Argus Filch, the caretaker, was ticking names off the list, making sure no one without permission went out to Hogsmeade. He wore a sulked face and glared at each student who went out.
"Poor Filch probably hasn't seen Hogsmeade yet, that's why he loathes everyone who goes out," whispered Ron, making Harry and Hermione snicker.
"You're not allowed in Hogsmeade, Potter," said a cold voice from behind them. The trio steered around to find Snape, the Potions Master, glaring at them. "So what in the world are you doing here at the entrance gate? Not planning to escape, are you?"
"Oh no sir," Harry said calmly. "I was just seeing my friends Hermione and Ron as they went out. Afterwards I would be going straight to the common room. That's all sir."
Snape recognized the calmness in Harry's voice and the innocence in his eyes. He walked away, his long black robes billowing behind him.
"Snape tried to frame you again," Ron commented.
"Clearly he wasn't successful," said Hermione.
"Get moving, you two!" Filch cried. "You're not allowed, Potter, go back to your ruddy common room where you belong!"
"Take care, you two!" Harry called as Filch pushed Ron and Hermione out of the way.
Harry was alone - again. He didn't feel like going back to the common room where all the first and second years were hanging out. Not that he had anything against first and second years - after all, he had been a first year two years ago and a second year just last year.
He decided to go to the library and find something to read. He figured rereading Quidditch Through The Ages wouldn't hurt anyone.
Once he was in the library, the first thing he noticed was a pretty girl, maybe in her fourth or fifth year, talking to Madam Pince. His heart skipped a beat. It seemed that the girl was looking for something.
Hey, wait a minute, thought Harry, I know this girl.
He didn't notice where he was going and he accidentally bumped into the girl. Both of them beamed, but the girl spoke first.
"Hi Harry! It's so nice for us to meet again!"
Harry put on a puzzled look.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I believe we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Cho Chang, by the way. A fifth year Ravenclaw," the girl said, extending her hand for Harry to shake.
Harry took her hand and shook it. "H. Hi Cho. The name's Harry. Harry Potter. But of course you know that."
"Yeah, I do. So, anyway, what're you doing down here? I believe you should be in Hogsmeade with your friends?" queried Cho as she led Harry to an empty table with two chairs.
"Oh, that." Harry's face fell as he took his seat. "I. I'm not allowed to go to Hogsmeade."
"Really? Oh, I'm sorry. But I'm telling you, once you've got about three to five visits to Hogsmeade, it won't be so much fun anymore. Trust me." Cho smiled, mesmerizing Harry.
Harry snapped himself back to reality. "How 'bout you? What're you doing here?"
"Oh, I have some research to do for Snape."
"Ooh. Too bad. Snape's horrible."
"Tell me about it. Anyway, you still haven't answered my question. What're you doing here?"
"I just wanted to have a bit of light reading, I guess." Harry shrugged. "Oh, d'you know where copies of Quidditch Through The Ages are kept? That's the book I'd like to read."
"It's over there." Cho pointed to a shelf that Harry couldn't quite make out. "I'd love to read that too, you know. It's just that I don't have much time. You know, with schoolwork and Quidditch practice. You know, Roger's been really frantic. It's not his usual self."
"Roger?" Harry repeated.
"Oh, sorry. Roger's our team captain. Roger Davies."
"Oh OK." Harry got up from the chair. "Hey, I could direct you to a shelf where they've got all these books about Potions, if you want. I'm sure you could use one of those books for your research."
"That would be great!" Cho exclaimed, practically jumping from her chair.
Madam Pince glared at the two and put a finger to her lips. Cho mouthed "sorry ma'am."
Harry nodded to Cho, motioning for her to follow him. Harry led Cho through thousands of shelves of books. Their journey seemed endless. Finally, Harry stopped in front of a shelf labeled Potions.
"Well, here we are," Harry declared. They walked through the small aisle and scanned the book titles.
"Hey, maybe this would come in handy," Cho said, pulling down a book entitled All About Potions.
"Maybe it would," said Harry. He pulled another book entitled A Better Guide to Comprehending Complicated Potions. "How about this?" he asked, showing Cho the book.
"I think so," said Cho, grabbing the book from Harry's grasp. "Well, I should think this is enough for now. C'mon Harry." She grabbed Harry's hand and led him to their table. She let go of Harry's hand as she put the books down on the table.
"C'mon, I'll show you where Quidditch Through The Ages is kept." She grabbed Harry's hand again and led him to a shelf on the far end of the library and showed him a shelf labeled Quidditch. In it were copies of Quidditch Through the Ages, Which Broomstick, The Best of International Quidditch Teams, A Record of the Best (and Longest) Quidditch Games Ever Played, and many more.
"This is the shelf I go to whenever I want to read something about Quidditch," said Cho.
Harry was in awe. He'd never seen this many books regarding Quidditch before. In fact, he's only read one of these books: Quidditch Through The Ages. He had seen Fred and George Weasley pass around a copy of Which Broomstick in the common room, but he'd never gotten the chance to get hold of it and read it.
Harry grabbed Quidditch Through The Ages and Which Broomstick before leaving and muttering "I'll be back; wait for me" under his breath.
Once Harry and Cho got to their table, both of them pored over the books they got. Cho was busy tasking notes from A Better Guide to Comprehending Complicated Potions as Harry pored over Which Broomstick, admiring every broomstick he saw. (But nothing can come close to my Nimbus, he thought.)
Cho looked up from the book and glanced at the wall clock behind Madam Pince's counter. "Oh, it's eleven o'clock already?"
Harry looked at the clock as well. "It is eleven o'clock," he said.
"I'd better get going," said Cho as she hurriedly gathered her things. "I'm just going to take this to the common room. Are you going to stay here?" she asked, turning to Harry.
"Me? No, I think I'd better go back to the common room as well. Besides, there's only one more hour to go before lunch." Harry got up. "C'mon, let's ask Madam Pince to sign these, then we get out of here."
The two walked towards Madam Pince's counter and asked her to sign the books. Once the books were signed and they were given the proper due dates, Harry and Cho went out of the library.
"Thank you so much for your help, Harry," Cho thanked him, giving him one of her mesmerizing smiles once more. Harry returned her smile.
"Sure, no problem. It was nice meeting you. Oh, and by the way, good luck for the match."
"Oh. yeah. the match. Thanks. Good luck to you too." Then Cho enveloped Harry in a tight, friendly hug.
"I'll be going now. I'll see you in the Great Hall for lunch," said Cho the moment the two of them parted. Her eyes lingered on Harry's emerald-green eyes before turning away and saying goodbye.
"Yeah, I'll see you," muttered Harry under his breath.