A/N:
The original story was partly inspired by comparisons on the PoU email
list between Cho and Zhang Zi Yi of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
fame, but the martial arts was out of place in the original story. Thus,
I have edited out most of the silliness--especially that which had nothing
to do with the world of Harry Potter--in this revised version of Relic
of Power. In addition, the initially verbose author's notes have been shortened
for your sakes!
To see a really cool picture of
Cho, check out Starling's Hogwarts students pic: http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/i/z/izcovich.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the
characters, locations, or ideas from J.K. Rowling's books or the movie
Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Chapter 2: New Acquantainces
Aboard the Hogwarts express at the
beginning of this fifth year, Harry Potter was not quite himself. The strong
urge to talk to a certain girl made him more nervous than usual. He had
greeted Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger somewhat distantly, and they immediately
noticed he was distracted. In fact, from the moment he had arrived at King's
Cross Station, he had been keeping an eye out for Cho Chang.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had little
catching up to do, since they had, as usual, spent the last few weeks of
the summer at the Burrow. While Ron and Hermione argued over something
so trivial that Harry had already forgotten how it had started, Harry restlessly
shifted in his seat and tried to concentrate on what he was going to say
to her.
Of course, he had been thinking
about it all summer, but he still couldn't find the right words. He wanted
to apologize to Cho, his crush, for the death of Cedric. She would be the
first one to know of his guilt over Cedric's death, but not the first person
to suspect; Ron and Hermione had sensed his guilt somewhat, but they had
both individually made conscious efforts not to bring up the situation
until Harry was ready.
And he wasn't ready. But before
he knew it, he was slipping out of the compartment his friends and he were
sharing, and he was on his way to look for Cho.
Ginny Weasley saw him leave, sighed,
and then reluctantly turned her attention toward Ron and Hermione's bickering.
Harry made his way through a sea
of familiar and unfamiliar faces. The Gryffindors he knew all smiled at
him and greeted him, but most of them were too deep in conversation to
do much more than that. Harry was gratified, however, and he kept a look
out continually for any member of the Ravenclaw house, especially any friend
of Cho's who could point him in the right direction. Along the way, his
determined mood made it unusually easy to ignore the Slytherins' comments
towards him. He had almost reached the train when he had seen someone who
he had vaguely remembered as one of Cho's friends. It was just before he
had asked Cho to the ball in the previous year. He tried to think of her
name, but couldn't quite remember. He walked up to her. "Hi," he said shakily.
"Hi, Harry," the girl cheerfully
replied. She smiled easily. "I'm Carolyn Green." The girl had blonde, curly
hair, was about Harry's height, and was relatively skinny. For some reason,
Harry realized, there were very few blondes in Ravenclaw. [A/N: I'm
sorry; that was below the belt!]
"Er, Carolyn, right. Um, have you
seen Cho?"
"Cho and her family live in Hogsmeade,
so they don't take this train. You might see her just before you board
your carriage for the school."
"Thanks." He felt somewhat hopeful.
Then he felt he probably owed her some conversation. There were some empty
bags next to her in the otherwise empty compartment, so her friends seemed
to be away for a while. "So, are you a 6th year, like Cho?"
"Yes I am."
She probably meets a lot of guys
just because she' Cho's friend, Harry thought. He resisted the urge to
ask her to verify that.
Carolyn hesitated, and then said,
"You know, Cho's a really busy person. Kind of like your friend, Hermione.
But she doesn't really study a lot, more like an extracurricular reader.
Tutors students sometimes, with Dumbledore's permission. She wants to be
a doctor, so she works really hard." She paused. "I'm rambling, right?"
"No, not really." Harry found this
information rather interesting. Harry had spent more time in the hospital
ward than half the students in the school combined. He was beginning to
admire people like Madame Pomfrey, though they were sometimes
"Oh, it looks like I've discouraged
you. Actually, well, I haven't told this to any boy but, you're such a
nice one, and good-looking, too." Harry blushed slightly. "Did you know
that Cho runs early every morning? That's why I think she's always in shape.
She's really into Quidditch you know."
"So am I," said Harry. "So are you
saying that--"
"Yeah," she interrupted in a friendly
tone. "That's what I'm saying. I bet she's really fast." She looked up
at the sound of her friends' voices and saw three of them enter the compartment.
"My girls are here," she said simply.
Harry had no objections to meeting
more Ravenclaw girls, especially if they were friends of Cho's who could
help him get on her good side. He chatted with them for about fifteen minutes,
getting to know the tall red-head Stacey Brown (no relation to Lavendar)
and a shy brunette named Maggie Smith. Harry and Carolyn both met a stunning
brunette transfer named Lindsay McCourt.
All the while, he resisted the urge
to interrogate them about Cho. When he finally felt that he should see
what his friends were up to, he said bye to his new acquaintances and headed
back for his original compartment.
When Harry returned to the compartment,
he saw his friends all turn their heads at once. Ron had a curious look
on his face that seemed to ask Harry where he had been.
"I went to talk to some of Cho's
friends."
None of them had expected that.
They had all been talking about how he had probably found some place where
he could be alone with his thoughts.
"Not on purpose I'm sure," Hermione
teased.
Ron looked at Hermione and then
realized what she had meant. "Oh, right, you meant to find Cho. I've actually
never seen her on this train."
"Cho who?" Ginny asked.
"Cho Chang," said Hermione simply.
Ginny's expression seemed to ask for more information, so Hermione obliged.
"A sixth year Ravenclaw who plays seeker like Harry."
"I see," said Ginny, and she fell
silent. .
Harry explained the conversation
he had had with Cho's friends. "I'm going to take her advice and look for
Cho as soon as we arrive."
"That's good," said Ron. "You know,
I might want to catch a glimpse of her, too. I don't really have a good
idea of what she looks like, but people say that she's really pretty."
"That's so typical of you, Ron,"
came Hermione's condescending tone, but she in a more teasing that vicious
tone.
Harry stifled a laugh, but Ginny
couldn't help but giggle. He looked at the smirk on Hermione's face, and
then at Ron. "She's the prettiest girl in the school, I think," said Harry
finally. "If you want to catch a glimpse of her, by all means go for it."
Ginny almost flinched at Harry's
words.
Hermione groaned. "Didn't I just
say that looks aren't everything?"
"She's the top student in her class,"
said Harry eagerly. "A really amazing girl, that one."
Hermione did not reply.
"Does she have cute friends?" Ron
asked eagerly. Ginny and Hermione both rolled their eyes.
"There's no point getting through
to them," Ginny said to Hermione. "Come on, Hermione, let's go see what
the others are up to." Harry and Ron, so engrossed in their own conversation,
barely noticed the girls leave.
It wasn't raining outside like it
was last year when the train arrived at Hogwarts. Amid all the shouting,
hugging, and hand-shaking, Harry immediately darted towards what looked
like a crowd of Ravenclaws to look for Cho. Ron was about to follow when
he heard a familiar voice call out his name.
He turned around and saw Hermione,
Ginny, and an Oriental girl smiling at him. He just stared breathlessly
at the dark-haired girl with the large eyes and high cheekbones.
"Ron," Ginny continued. "This is
Cho Chang."
"I'm Ron Weasley," he said finally.
"Nice to meet you," he managed as he stretched out his hand.
Cho took it eagerly and shaked his
hand in a way that was somehow firm yet very feminine. "Nice to meet you,
too. I've heard that you're a great chess player."
Ron's face went red. "Um, yes, do
you . . play chess?"
"Sometimes, but I'm not very good
actually." She smiled again at him, and then looked at Ginny and Hermione.
"Do you two play also?"
Instantly, Hermione said, "Yes."
Ginny said, "No, not really."
"I always beat Hermione," Ron boasted.
"Oh, do you?" Cho said. "I bet it's
just luck," Cho teased.
Hermione stifled a giggle and gave
Ron a look behind Cho's back.
"You would have enjoyed living in
Ravenclaw, Hermione, if that was the house to which you were assigned.
But your friends in Gryffindor are obviously irreplaceable."
Hermione looked at Cho and then
quietly thanked her for the compliment. Ginny blushed slightly. Ron turned
beet red.
Harry had ended up getting into
an involved conversation with Colin and Dennis Creevey, but in spite of
himself, he obliged them. He found out that if he was patient with him,
he would actually be rewarded. They told him that their family had gone
camping together over the summer, and they spent the last few weeks visiting
France.
Perhaps, Harry thought, this would
be a good excuse to put off his apology. Now that he was so close to telling
her, he felt scared to do it. Besides, these stories were pretty interesting,
especially because Harry had never been to France. Harry's attention had
dwindled by the time they were talking about Helga Hufflepuff's birthplace
in central France. When Harry saw the carriages were about to leave, he
breathed a sigh of relief, bade farewell to the Creeveys, and ran after
the carriages where he was sure the others must be. Dennis called out after
Harry, "You're an inspiration to us all!"
The opening banquet and the Sorting
Process was complete, and all the Gryffindors were in the common room catching
up on each other's summer experiences.
"I tried to be nice to Dudley,"
said Harry to break a silence. "He just stares at the TV and ignores me.
I give up."
"Must be frustrating," said Ron
as he chewed some of Bertie Blott's Every Flavor Beans. After the large
banquet, at which he had eaten everything put in front of him, he was still
eating. Ron had been constantly eating over the summer to feed his usual
summer growth-spurt.
"No, not really." Harry admitted.
"Let's just say that I have more important things on my mind that make
it easy to ignore what used to annoy me."
"You mean Cho," said Ron knowingly.
"So even Dudley knows you have a
crush on Cho?" Ron asked.
"Yeah." Harry replied.
"She's a nice girl," chimed in Hermione.
"I'll say," said Ron enthusiastically.
Hermione gave him an ambiguous look.
"You've met her?" Harry asked.
Ron filled him in.
Harry felt only slightly peeved.
He filled them in on the Creevey brothers' summer experiences.
"Cho is gorgeous," said Ron plainly
as soon as Harry finished talking.
Harry didn't mind. "Yes she is."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's
smart, too. Maybe she and I can discuss some things."
"Like Spew?" Ron was joking. He
saw the look on her face and frowned. "I was just kidding, you know."
"Of course you were," teased Harry.
"So Hermione," Ron began, "you broke
up with Krum?"
"Yes," said Hermione, sounding solemn.
"He was a nice person, but definitely not my type."
"Okay, Ron's satisfied," teased
Harry.
"What are you talking about?" Ron
objected.
"Give it up, Ron," Hermione said
playfully, "It was pretty obvious by the way you reacted to me during and
after the ball."
"Well, I would have liked to tell
her in a more dramatic way," Ron said with a little bit of frustration
in his voice, "but yeah you read right through me. Satisfied?"
"I wanted to go, and I was wondering
if his offer was the only chance I'd get."
"Oh. So you just couldn't say no,
because you didn't think anyone was gonna ask you? Well, I was planning
to ask you," Ron said.
"Sure you were, Ron, you spent the
whole time chasing down the prettiest girls in the school and were lucky
to end up with a date at all!" Hermione said self-righteously.
"Forget it, Hermione," Ron said
slightly impatiently. "Who's up for wizard chess?"
"Count me out," said Harry. "I'm
going to bed." He got up and walked towards the stairs to the boys dormitory.
The next day, Harry woke up to his
6 AM alarm, grabbed his invisibility cloak, and snuck out of the room without
waking anybody up. When he finally left out the front doors of the castle,
he saw a girl, who looked like Cho, jogging away from him towards the forbidden
forest. Harry put on his own invisibility cloak, not wanting to get caught
in that forest without permission, and jogged after her at a much slower
pace. He continued to follow her at a distance and eventually came to a
clearing.
Cho proved to be quite a fast runner.
Harry struggled to keep up; the push-ups he had done in his room over the
summer didn't appear to have improved his conditioning much. They ran for
nearly half an hour until Harry asked, through panted breaths, for them
to stop.
The slight coldness in the air stung
at Harry's skin and a beautiful sunrise began. Cho had never looked more
beautiful and more intriguing. Harry sat down on the grass without examining
the spot first. Cho continued to stand, looking at him patiently. She had
hardly broken a sweat.
"Thanks again for writing to me
over the summer," said Cho quietly. She turned her face away from him somewhat,
and Harry hoped that she was blushing.
"Thanks for writing back," said
Harry, trying to sound casual. "Do you run to help yourself be a better
Quidditch player?" Harry asked.
"Yes," said Cho, "but I know that
it doesn't help much." She gave him an expression of mock jealousy, and
he chuckled. "I actually just like to run. I play catch with my Dad to
practice for Quidditch," she added.
"You're really competitive, aren't
you?" said Harry.
"Yes," she said sheepishly. "I suppose
I am. It's just that there are so many things I want to do with my life,"
she said enthusiastically.
"I don't even know what to do with
mine," said Harry honestly.
"You haven't had much opportunity
to think about it," said Cho encouragingly.
Harry nodded, still trying to regain
his breath. They waited in silence, listening to the chirping of the birds.
Harry looked at Cho's face. "You look troubled."
Cho was startled from her reverie.
"Oh, I guess I'm a bit worried."
"Why?" asked Harry with some concern.
"My Dad's been getting anonymous
threats. It's because he writes these scathing articles about dark wizards--Death
Eaters especially." Harry frowned, but she continued hurriedly. "Oh he's
getting round-the-clock protection from the ministry. I don't mean to--"
But Harry had had a thought that
made him want to talk about this. "Cho," he interrupted excitedly, "do
you know what a secret-keeper is?"
"No . . "
Harry explained.
"My parents trust a lot of people,
but it may be hard for them to decide."
Harry thought for a while, and then
his eyes lit up. "I know somebody who won't fail you. He lives in the area,
too. Can I set up a meeting between him, us, and your parents?"
Cho looked at him curiously. "Please
do. I think my parents will be interested."
A meeting was arranged for the next
evening at the cave in Hogsmeade where Sirius had stayed before. Cho and
her parents arrived and waited outside like Harry had told them to. Harry
introduced himself.
Harry learned that Cho's parents
were named David and Jen. Jen was the wizard betweent hem. David was a
journalist for the wizard newspaper The Weekly Oracle. Jen wrote
poetry. "We're never on the same page," David said.
"And we don't know where our daughter's
smarts come from," Jen said.
Just as they entered the cave, a
thought suddenly came to him. "Snuffles! Don't transfigure yet," he said.
The black dog stopped and gave Harry
a strange look, but he did not transfigure.
Harry told them everything. He told
them that Snuffles was really the animagus form of Sirius Black. Cho's
parents were suddenly very afraid, but Harry convinced them to listen.
Harry explained why his parents trusted Sirius, how Sirius had doubted
himself, how Peter Pettigrew had betrayed them all, and how Pettigrew was
still at large. "I know that Sirius would never give away your secret and
that he would never ask you to switch secret-keepers," he concluded.
Cho and her parents were speechless.
"Harry," Cho began. "Why do you trust us so much with this information?"
"Because," Harry began with difficulty.
"I think it's a great idea. Sirius, you can transform now." Sirius changed
into his human form. The Changs gasped as they recognized his face from
the Daily Prophet, but they did not react with fear.
Sirius shook the hands of the Changs.
"I fight Voldemort with every ounce of life I have. Harry does the same.
If you don't trust me, then please trust Harry."
Cho's parents looked at their daughter.
"I trust him," she said solemnly.
"We trust you, Cho," said Mrs. Chang.
"David, I think we should agree to it."
"I think so too, dear," said Mr.
Chang. "All right, where do we start?"
Sirius remembered every detail of
the spell. After the spell had been performed, Mr. and Mrs. Chang thanked
them and left the cave to go home. Cho insisted on waiting outside for
Harry. Sirius stopped Harry as he was about to leave. "You don't know how
much what you did means to me."
"Don't mention it," said Harry.
Sirius nodded. "That's what your
father would say."
When Harry left, Cho was still there.
They walked back to Hogwarts together.
The next morning, Harry met Cho
out in the Forest again.
After chatting a few minutes in
the clearing, an awful scream came from the direction of Hogwarts. Harry
and Cho sudenly looked in the direction from which the scream had come,
and then they saw, high in the sky, with snakes coursing out of a grotesque
skull, the Dark Mark.
Classes hadn't started yet on this
Tuesday morning, but Harry found that he was already in the midst of another
adventure.
What's happening to Hogwarts? How
does Cho feel about Harry? Why do Cho's parents need a secret-keeper? Chapter
2, which will be out shortly, contains action and more revealed secrets.
