Disclaimer: At the risk of sounding like a broken record... All things Harry Potter are the intellectual property of JK Rowling. The only characters I own here are Pam, Jane, Crystal, Patrick and the Wise Old Man.
Author's Note: My fellow rabid HP fans may think it sacreligious, but yes, I gave Cho a bit of clairvoyant power. Anyway, the HP books show even Harry and Ron have some psychic ability (Professor Trelawney notwithstanding). In PoA, Harry saw Buckbeak flying away in the crystal ball on his final exam, and Ron saw an acorn in Harry's teacup on their first Divination class. It means "a windfall, unexpected gold" and lo' and behold! Harry won a thousand galleons in the Tri-Wizard Tournament!
===========================
Dreams and Strange Incidents
"You guys go ahead," told Cho her friends, Pam, Jane and Crystal, as they cleaned up the mess in the dungeon after their Potions class. "I've lost us enough points today. No sense giving Professor McGonagall reason to take more."
"McGonagall wouldn't do that. She's not as harsh as Snape," said Jane, picking up twisted blobs of metal that were the victims of Cho's Melting Potion that spilled from her melted cauldron.
"Snape is just too much!" Pam cried in disgust as she wiped the table clean. "Granted, he had to take points from us, but why did he have to give you detention?"
"Cho, is something's bothering you? " Crystal asked as she helps her mop the floor. "This sort of thing never happens to you." Indeed, Cho was smart and meticulous enough she never had trouble in Potions or in any class. But recently, she wasn't her usual self. She left her Melting Potion in the fire too long it melted her cauldron, and any metal it touched as it spilled to the floor. Thankfully, her friends were close by. Crystal immediately performed the Impediment Charm to slow down the potion and Jane quickly sprayed the mess with the Anti-Melting Potion Snape gave them, thus averting a bigger disaster.
"Look, the place is almost tidied up," said Cho, ignoring Crystal's comments. "Go ahead to Transfiguration. McGonagall probably wouldn't mind one student late, but four, that's a different story."
True enough, they have gotten rid of most of the mess and agreed to leave Cho to finish cleaning up. "We'll let McGonagall know where you are," Pam called as she, Jane and Crystal headed out the door.
Not wanting Snape to give them more punishment for the incident, Cho checked the area for any spilled potion they missed and collected the blobs of metal and soaked rags to be discarded.
When everything seemed to be in order she grabbed her bag and hurried towards the door. She was very much late for Transfiguration now. As she reached for the door, somebody came barging in, knocking her to the floor.
It was Professor Karkaroff.
"Where is he? Where IS Severus?" Karkaroff bellowed. The Durmstrang Headmaster was fuming.
"He's not here," she replied, very much annoyed as she pulled herself up. The nerve, she thought, yelling at her after he stormed into the dungeon, collided with her and not bothered to help her up or apologize.
"You can't avoid me for forever, Severus! You know you can't!" Karkaroff roared as he stormed out of the dungeon.
Cho was very much bewildered. What was that about?
---------------------------------
Days later, Cho was in the trophy room, dusting and polishing plaques and trophies.
"Why does this have to be the day I serve detention," Cho sighed, absent-mindedly rubbing a piece of cloth against some Special Services plaque. Professor Binns was to give an exam the next day and even after spending hours reviewing, nothing seems to get through to her head.
Better put all this time spent in detention to use, she decided. She started recalling their recent History of Magic lessons. "Grogan Stump, Chief of the Wizard's Council, fourteenth century. Elfrida Muldoon, succeeded Stump," she recited to herself while polishing a trophy.
"No, Muldoon is the Chief of the Wizard's Council, and Elfrida's not the first name. And Grogan Stump, oh, who is Grogan Stump?" She was getting the names of the early leaders of the wizarding world all mixed up. If only she had not misplaced the outline of the lesson she prepared the day before. She knew it was with her when she went to breakfast at the Great Hall.
Then she remembered. She was flipping through Cedric's Transfiguration book this morning. She must have slipped it in his book.
She wasn't this forgetful and inattentive before, and people around her have started to notice. Something was bothering her, they all said. Cedric had tried a few times to get her to talk, but she insisted she was fine.
Nobody knew but it was that dream about Cedric that had been bothering her for some time now. She can no longer recall most of the details but the horror she felt then somehow remained. All she remembers now was seeing him sprawled on the ground. Cedric never knew about this.
That same day of the second task, she decided not to bother him about it. It was just some stupid dream. She had a spell cast upon her and spent some time sleeping at the bottom of the lake. Who knows what tricks such exercise can play on the mind.
Finally, she got the trophies clean and shining. It was almost midnight. If she gets back to their dormitory quickly enough, she might still find Crystal up and borrow her notes. She decides that if she runs really fast and takes the short cut through the hall towards the teacher's offices, she'll make it to the Ravenclaw common room in three minutes flat.
Pulling out her wand, she performs a simple Silencing Charm on her shoes so they don't make noise. It was a trick she and her friends learned in third year that had kept them out of trouble in many occasions. She then sprinted out of the trophy room and into the hall.
She almost forgot how good it feels to run, she thought as she rounded a corner. As a kid, she was a member of her grade school track team. But this was before she learned she was a witch. She then went to Hogwarts, fell in love with Quidditch, and is now very much attached to her broomstick. There really isn't much use for fast runners in the wizarding world, not when you have a broomstick, or can Apparate.
She rounded another corner, then stopped dead on her tracks. From a distance she saw somebody coming out of Snape's office. "Oh no," she groaned, "not another detention."
But it wasn't Snape. There was no mistaking the figure that stepped out of the office was Professor Moody.
His back towards her, Mad-Eye Moody took a couple of steps forward, then stopped to turn around and face her.
Nothing escapes that magical eye, she thought as Moody growled at her. "What are you doing here, in the middle of the night?" He was now ambling his way towards her.
Out of breathe and scared out of her wits, she trembled as she walked towards him and replied, "I had detention at the trophy room, Professor. I thought I'd take a short cut back through here." She knew Moody had turned some cocky fourth year into a ferret she wondered what he'll turn her into now.
"Alright, move on," he barked and gestured her to move along. He then turned and walked back on his way to his office.
Very much relieved, Cho started walking back to the Ravenclaw common room. Thank heavens it was Professor Moody she ran into, she thought. Imagine if it was Filch, or his cat Mrs. Norris. Or Snape.
She took a quick glance back at Professor Moody who was wobbling his way to his office on the other end of the hall. Then it hit her, what was Moody doing in Snape's office this late at night?
---------------------------------
She was standing behind a tombstone, in a graveyard that was eerily familiar. She saw the same man. In his arms was a bundle, wrapped in like an infant. He put the bundle down. It stirred. The man raised his wand, but before he could utter a word, she turned to look at the bundle.
"Cho! Cho! Wake up!" Cho's screams had filled Ravenclaw's fifth year girls' dormitory and Pam, Jane and Crystal had jumped out of their beds to wake her up.
"What happened?" Pam asked, very much concerned as Jane helped Cho sit up. Crystal was now handing her a glass of water.
Tears still streaming from her eyes, she took the glass of water from Crystal. As she drank, she tried to remember what her nightmare was about.
"It was horrible," she finally said. It was the most terrifying thing she had seen. Wrapped in ragged pieces of cloth was a most hideous being, so much so that her heart was still racing.
As her friends tried to calm her, she remembered something uncannily familiar about this.
That same dream she had months back. The details have faded from her memory but the horror she felt, it was as much as she was feeling right now.
"Stop crying now, will you?" said Jane, trying to cheer her up. "You were studying for our Potions finals too much you dreamt about Snape."
Final exams were today, after which was the Third Task in the Tri-wizard Tournament.
"Please don't tell Cedric about this," she told her friends, "the third task is today and I don't want him worrying about me."
Author's Note: My fellow rabid HP fans may think it sacreligious, but yes, I gave Cho a bit of clairvoyant power. Anyway, the HP books show even Harry and Ron have some psychic ability (Professor Trelawney notwithstanding). In PoA, Harry saw Buckbeak flying away in the crystal ball on his final exam, and Ron saw an acorn in Harry's teacup on their first Divination class. It means "a windfall, unexpected gold" and lo' and behold! Harry won a thousand galleons in the Tri-Wizard Tournament!
===========================
Dreams and Strange Incidents
"You guys go ahead," told Cho her friends, Pam, Jane and Crystal, as they cleaned up the mess in the dungeon after their Potions class. "I've lost us enough points today. No sense giving Professor McGonagall reason to take more."
"McGonagall wouldn't do that. She's not as harsh as Snape," said Jane, picking up twisted blobs of metal that were the victims of Cho's Melting Potion that spilled from her melted cauldron.
"Snape is just too much!" Pam cried in disgust as she wiped the table clean. "Granted, he had to take points from us, but why did he have to give you detention?"
"Cho, is something's bothering you? " Crystal asked as she helps her mop the floor. "This sort of thing never happens to you." Indeed, Cho was smart and meticulous enough she never had trouble in Potions or in any class. But recently, she wasn't her usual self. She left her Melting Potion in the fire too long it melted her cauldron, and any metal it touched as it spilled to the floor. Thankfully, her friends were close by. Crystal immediately performed the Impediment Charm to slow down the potion and Jane quickly sprayed the mess with the Anti-Melting Potion Snape gave them, thus averting a bigger disaster.
"Look, the place is almost tidied up," said Cho, ignoring Crystal's comments. "Go ahead to Transfiguration. McGonagall probably wouldn't mind one student late, but four, that's a different story."
True enough, they have gotten rid of most of the mess and agreed to leave Cho to finish cleaning up. "We'll let McGonagall know where you are," Pam called as she, Jane and Crystal headed out the door.
Not wanting Snape to give them more punishment for the incident, Cho checked the area for any spilled potion they missed and collected the blobs of metal and soaked rags to be discarded.
When everything seemed to be in order she grabbed her bag and hurried towards the door. She was very much late for Transfiguration now. As she reached for the door, somebody came barging in, knocking her to the floor.
It was Professor Karkaroff.
"Where is he? Where IS Severus?" Karkaroff bellowed. The Durmstrang Headmaster was fuming.
"He's not here," she replied, very much annoyed as she pulled herself up. The nerve, she thought, yelling at her after he stormed into the dungeon, collided with her and not bothered to help her up or apologize.
"You can't avoid me for forever, Severus! You know you can't!" Karkaroff roared as he stormed out of the dungeon.
Cho was very much bewildered. What was that about?
---------------------------------
Days later, Cho was in the trophy room, dusting and polishing plaques and trophies.
"Why does this have to be the day I serve detention," Cho sighed, absent-mindedly rubbing a piece of cloth against some Special Services plaque. Professor Binns was to give an exam the next day and even after spending hours reviewing, nothing seems to get through to her head.
Better put all this time spent in detention to use, she decided. She started recalling their recent History of Magic lessons. "Grogan Stump, Chief of the Wizard's Council, fourteenth century. Elfrida Muldoon, succeeded Stump," she recited to herself while polishing a trophy.
"No, Muldoon is the Chief of the Wizard's Council, and Elfrida's not the first name. And Grogan Stump, oh, who is Grogan Stump?" She was getting the names of the early leaders of the wizarding world all mixed up. If only she had not misplaced the outline of the lesson she prepared the day before. She knew it was with her when she went to breakfast at the Great Hall.
Then she remembered. She was flipping through Cedric's Transfiguration book this morning. She must have slipped it in his book.
She wasn't this forgetful and inattentive before, and people around her have started to notice. Something was bothering her, they all said. Cedric had tried a few times to get her to talk, but she insisted she was fine.
Nobody knew but it was that dream about Cedric that had been bothering her for some time now. She can no longer recall most of the details but the horror she felt then somehow remained. All she remembers now was seeing him sprawled on the ground. Cedric never knew about this.
That same day of the second task, she decided not to bother him about it. It was just some stupid dream. She had a spell cast upon her and spent some time sleeping at the bottom of the lake. Who knows what tricks such exercise can play on the mind.
Finally, she got the trophies clean and shining. It was almost midnight. If she gets back to their dormitory quickly enough, she might still find Crystal up and borrow her notes. She decides that if she runs really fast and takes the short cut through the hall towards the teacher's offices, she'll make it to the Ravenclaw common room in three minutes flat.
Pulling out her wand, she performs a simple Silencing Charm on her shoes so they don't make noise. It was a trick she and her friends learned in third year that had kept them out of trouble in many occasions. She then sprinted out of the trophy room and into the hall.
She almost forgot how good it feels to run, she thought as she rounded a corner. As a kid, she was a member of her grade school track team. But this was before she learned she was a witch. She then went to Hogwarts, fell in love with Quidditch, and is now very much attached to her broomstick. There really isn't much use for fast runners in the wizarding world, not when you have a broomstick, or can Apparate.
She rounded another corner, then stopped dead on her tracks. From a distance she saw somebody coming out of Snape's office. "Oh no," she groaned, "not another detention."
But it wasn't Snape. There was no mistaking the figure that stepped out of the office was Professor Moody.
His back towards her, Mad-Eye Moody took a couple of steps forward, then stopped to turn around and face her.
Nothing escapes that magical eye, she thought as Moody growled at her. "What are you doing here, in the middle of the night?" He was now ambling his way towards her.
Out of breathe and scared out of her wits, she trembled as she walked towards him and replied, "I had detention at the trophy room, Professor. I thought I'd take a short cut back through here." She knew Moody had turned some cocky fourth year into a ferret she wondered what he'll turn her into now.
"Alright, move on," he barked and gestured her to move along. He then turned and walked back on his way to his office.
Very much relieved, Cho started walking back to the Ravenclaw common room. Thank heavens it was Professor Moody she ran into, she thought. Imagine if it was Filch, or his cat Mrs. Norris. Or Snape.
She took a quick glance back at Professor Moody who was wobbling his way to his office on the other end of the hall. Then it hit her, what was Moody doing in Snape's office this late at night?
---------------------------------
She was standing behind a tombstone, in a graveyard that was eerily familiar. She saw the same man. In his arms was a bundle, wrapped in like an infant. He put the bundle down. It stirred. The man raised his wand, but before he could utter a word, she turned to look at the bundle.
"Cho! Cho! Wake up!" Cho's screams had filled Ravenclaw's fifth year girls' dormitory and Pam, Jane and Crystal had jumped out of their beds to wake her up.
"What happened?" Pam asked, very much concerned as Jane helped Cho sit up. Crystal was now handing her a glass of water.
Tears still streaming from her eyes, she took the glass of water from Crystal. As she drank, she tried to remember what her nightmare was about.
"It was horrible," she finally said. It was the most terrifying thing she had seen. Wrapped in ragged pieces of cloth was a most hideous being, so much so that her heart was still racing.
As her friends tried to calm her, she remembered something uncannily familiar about this.
That same dream she had months back. The details have faded from her memory but the horror she felt, it was as much as she was feeling right now.
"Stop crying now, will you?" said Jane, trying to cheer her up. "You were studying for our Potions finals too much you dreamt about Snape."
Final exams were today, after which was the Third Task in the Tri-wizard Tournament.
"Please don't tell Cedric about this," she told her friends, "the third task is today and I don't want him worrying about me."