OR DIE TRYING: THE STORY OF CHO CHANG
By monkeymouse
NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms.
Rated: PG-13
Spoilers: Everything
xxx
11. Some Changes
The rest of the first year for Cho and her mates was mostly slow and predictable, although there were a few breaks in the routine. There was the weekend that Krixlow and Grimaldi, claiming it was "homework" for Flitwick's Charms class, blew up Jan Nugginbridge's cat Coriander-puffing it up until it was round as a globe. The whole of Ravenclaw House heard the terrified yowling and came to see the cat bobbing along the ceiling of the Common Room. The two might even have gotten away with it, except that they started laughing.
Jan wasn't in the mood to hear excuses, and was ready to either hex the two boys or throw a couple of weighty books at them. At this point Penny Clearwater performed the counter-charm and brought the terrified cat back down to the ground; it immediately ran up to the dormitory and hid under Jan's bed, and wouldn't come out for three days. It took that long before Jan would even speak to the two jokers again.
They were probably trying to relieve some of the pressure of their studies. Being Sorted into Ravenclaw, Cho realized, didn't mean that they would find their schoolwork easy; only that they could find it enjoyable to spend hours in the library poring through old books. In any case, they had to do that on a fairly regular basis.
Some of the courses were practical and didn't involve writing lengthy essays. Actually, there was some writing in Potions, but it was strictly punitive. Snape had come in one Spring morning particularly upset that someone had stolen a large quantity of ginseng root from his private stores. (It later turned out that the Weasley twins were using it for barter with older students who were up late studying for their O.W.L.s, but Snape never figured that out.) The First-Year Ravenclaws all had to write a five-scroll essay on the history and properties of ginseng. (It was a doddle for Cho, coming from a family that had used ginseng as a restorative for generations.) They all turned the essays in to Snape, and that was the last any of them heard on the subject. They suspected that Snape had simply thrown them into a fire or something and that the essays didn't change their grades at all, but they couldn't prove it.
There was also Quidditch. Cho went in to watch the first game of the new year-Slytherin versus Hufflepuff in early spring-with a knot in her stomach. She knew that it would be a massacre, and it was. Slytherin seemed to go out of its way to foul as many of the Hufflepuff players as it could. The play got so rough that Hufflepuff lost their regular Seeker, Archie Chase-Sanborn, and they had to play their reserve-a Third-Year named Cedric Diggory. He was small, skinny and frightened of the play, so that he spent his debut match flying high to avoid Bludgers and other hazards rather than looking for the Snitch-which, of course, Slytherin captured.
Two weeks later, Ravenclaw went up against Gryffindor, to see who would have the honour of losing the Cup to Slytherin. Cho suspected that Culligan and Davies told the Ravenclaw team to hold back, to play less aggressively than they could. It didn't matter in the end; Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw, only to be beaten in turn for the Cup by Slytherin.
"How has it come to this?" Cho demanded of Madam Hooch the Saturday following Ravenclaw's loss to Gryffindor. "Why do we bother playing at all?"
"It's not as bad as it seems, Cho. Truth is, I've seen it much worse. During the last war, I saw Montrose play at Falmouth, and one of the Falcons enchanted the Montrose robes, so that Japanese writing appeared on them. Nobody knew what it said, but it was all one with the crowd; they started pelting the Magpies with all sorts of rubbish."
"You're joking!"
"Wish I were. But these things come and go in cycles. Just wait until next year; Flint and his crew may actually have to play a match," Hooch smiled and winked at Cho.
Cho nodded, but didn't say anything. After the holidays, Culligan and Davies went right back to snubbing Cho, pretending not to hear if she ever made a comment about Quidditch in the Common Room or the Great Hall. She was beginning to think that they'd refuse to let her on next year, no matter how well she played.
At the end of their final lesson, and an exam that was the simplest of the year for Cho, Madam Hooch smiled at Cho. "Well, I've taught you all that I can. Now comes the hard part: making it all work for you on your own. I can't be in the game with you, or in your House with the team Co-Captains, but I'm sure that you can hold your own now. So, back to the castle with you." Hooch's smile grew broader as she added, "And take your broom with you."
Cho had been waiting for this moment since Christmas. She fought back the urge to hug Madam Hooch; instead, with a beaming smile, she turned and ran back to Hogwarts, clutching the Comet 260.
Her Comet 260.
xxx
She almost brought the broom into the Great Hall with her for the end-of- year feast. As it was, though, she was one of the few bright spots in the otherwise gloomy Ravenclaw table, having to sit once again in a hall decorated in the green and silver of Slytherin House. And her mood seemed to be infectious. The more she asked others about their summer plans, and the more she talked about their chances for next year's Cup, the more optimistic the mood at the table became.
Her mood stayed bright even as the annual warning notes were handed out the night before they were to leave:
"Students are reminded that, per regulations from the Improper Use of Magic Office of the Ministry of Magic, they are not to use any of the Charms, Spells, Potions or other magical items, devices or techniques learned at Hogwarts while they are at home or elsewhere on vacation. These regulations will be enforced through the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, and any misuse of magic will be dealt with accordingly.
Mafalda Hopkirk, Assistant Director"
"Don' let it scare yeh," Jan said to the dorm mates that night as they packed most of their belongings and made ready for bed. "Ever'body slips up once er twice. I set a spell off the day I got me Hogwarts letter, an' all the pictures on all the walls started ter change rooms. No one said nary a word, but I was terrified fer a week they'd drag me off in irons."
"Then why send out notices at all?" Letitia asked.
"A practice more honoured in the breach than in the observance," Linda Fairweather added.
"Nah," Jan replied, "I think it's just ter tell us not teh go too far over the line. Think what Krixlow'd do at home if he had the chance."
The others chuckled; Cho kept packing.
"That means you, too, Cho," Letitia said. "No dive-bombing Muggles in Trafalgar Square." They laughed.
"On even days," added Raisa; the laughter continued.
When Cho showed up with the Comet in hand, a couple of the girls had jealous thoughts, but they were all swept aside. This broom wasn't just a gift: Cho had earned it, by working harder at flying than anyone in their year. When they referred to her as "Hooch's favorite", it wasn't an insult. It was a tribute to Cho's talent for flying and the hard work she put into improving on it.
What the others left unsaid was the fear that Cho was living in a fool's paradise. There was no chance that she'd be let on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team in the fall.
xxx
When the Express pulled into King's Cross station, some of the more enthusiastic children just barged through the barrier, heedless of whether any Muggles might be on the platform. Usually, a parent was there to slow them down and remind them to keep a low profile.
Cho was met on the platform by her father. He was meticulously dressed in a dark grey pinstripe suit, with matching bowler hat and umbrella. The only thing that might have given him away was the way his cufflinks, designed to look like dragon's eyes, kept scanning the crowd for anything dangerous. He had grown up in a dangerous world, and had never lost the instinct to be on his guard, even in Diagon Alley.
He silently helped Cho wheel the cart with her bags and empty cage-Quan Yin had flown home the night before. Cho tried to manage everything one- handed; the other hand was still wrapped around her broom.
Chang Xiemin stayed silent for most of the drive home, taking a Muggle taxicab from King's Cross to the Leaky Cauldron. He also stayed silent for the first two weeks of the summer holiday.
During that time, Cho was out of the house every day at dawn-which may have come far too early for her fellow students but couldn't come soon enough for her. In the still and early hours before the shops opened, Cho could be seen tearing up one end of Diagon Alley and down the other, almost stubbing her toes on the cobblestones before she wove in and out of the pillars of Gringotts, down to the very edge of Knockturn Alley, and back again. She flew no higher than the rooftops of Diagon Alley, but these were just speed sprints. Anyone could see that she wanted to do more, to push herself and her new broom even harder.
So it was that, two weeks into the holiday, Cho's father rose from the breakfast table and beckoned for Cho to follow him. Together they stepped out into the small back yard.
"I couldn't help but notice that you've been flying all up and down the street every day since you've been back. You've been careful to do it early mornings and late evenings, when the shops are closed and there's nobody about, but I'm still under the impression that you want to do more."
Cho didn't know where this was going. "Sorry, Daddy. I'm afraid I rather got used to flying in a stadium."
"No need to apologize. There haven't been any complaints. But there is a problem, and I've taken a step to correct it."
From under his robes he drew a small box. He opened it to reveal a model of a broomstick. About the size of Cho's hand, it was made of highly polished brass that shone like a torch in a dark tunnel.
"We should touch this at the same time," her father said.
They touched it.
Immediately, Cho felt a jolt as if she were on a broom herself and had just been hit with a powerful crosswind. She was no longer in their yard, but things hadn't yet settled down.
When they did, she saw a wide expanse of green grass, with three hoops atop fifty-foot poles at either end. They were in a Quidditch stadium. Above the top box flew a flag of blue with two crossed golden bulrushes.
"In my business dealings," her father was saying, "one meets all sorts of people. I met the business manager for Puddlemere United, and he was telling me that, most days, the stadium is completely empty. Seemed a bit of a waste, especially since you need someplace larger to practice."
He stopped speaking for the moment as Cho threw her arms around him. He waited a minute before pulling her off of him.
"Now, you must keep your part of the bargain. Any chores that need to be done must be done before you can practice. If we need you to mind the shop, that always takes precedence. You're not to use this Portkey to sneak in to watch a match for free; a Chang always pays his own way and always walks proudly through the front door. I have a list of the game days and practice sessions here. If you come during practice, you are expected to keep out of the way and not bother the players with too many questions. These are professionals, after all, and I suppose it's time you learned to act like one."
Cho couldn't believe it. Use of a professional Quidditch stadium for the summer!
Before she could say anything, her father-who embarrassed easily-held up his hand. "We should get back now," he said. They touched the Portkey, and once again the stadium was empty.
xxx
continued in part 12, wherein the train to Hogwarts is abuzz with some exciting news.
By monkeymouse
NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms.
Rated: PG-13
Spoilers: Everything
xxx
11. Some Changes
The rest of the first year for Cho and her mates was mostly slow and predictable, although there were a few breaks in the routine. There was the weekend that Krixlow and Grimaldi, claiming it was "homework" for Flitwick's Charms class, blew up Jan Nugginbridge's cat Coriander-puffing it up until it was round as a globe. The whole of Ravenclaw House heard the terrified yowling and came to see the cat bobbing along the ceiling of the Common Room. The two might even have gotten away with it, except that they started laughing.
Jan wasn't in the mood to hear excuses, and was ready to either hex the two boys or throw a couple of weighty books at them. At this point Penny Clearwater performed the counter-charm and brought the terrified cat back down to the ground; it immediately ran up to the dormitory and hid under Jan's bed, and wouldn't come out for three days. It took that long before Jan would even speak to the two jokers again.
They were probably trying to relieve some of the pressure of their studies. Being Sorted into Ravenclaw, Cho realized, didn't mean that they would find their schoolwork easy; only that they could find it enjoyable to spend hours in the library poring through old books. In any case, they had to do that on a fairly regular basis.
Some of the courses were practical and didn't involve writing lengthy essays. Actually, there was some writing in Potions, but it was strictly punitive. Snape had come in one Spring morning particularly upset that someone had stolen a large quantity of ginseng root from his private stores. (It later turned out that the Weasley twins were using it for barter with older students who were up late studying for their O.W.L.s, but Snape never figured that out.) The First-Year Ravenclaws all had to write a five-scroll essay on the history and properties of ginseng. (It was a doddle for Cho, coming from a family that had used ginseng as a restorative for generations.) They all turned the essays in to Snape, and that was the last any of them heard on the subject. They suspected that Snape had simply thrown them into a fire or something and that the essays didn't change their grades at all, but they couldn't prove it.
There was also Quidditch. Cho went in to watch the first game of the new year-Slytherin versus Hufflepuff in early spring-with a knot in her stomach. She knew that it would be a massacre, and it was. Slytherin seemed to go out of its way to foul as many of the Hufflepuff players as it could. The play got so rough that Hufflepuff lost their regular Seeker, Archie Chase-Sanborn, and they had to play their reserve-a Third-Year named Cedric Diggory. He was small, skinny and frightened of the play, so that he spent his debut match flying high to avoid Bludgers and other hazards rather than looking for the Snitch-which, of course, Slytherin captured.
Two weeks later, Ravenclaw went up against Gryffindor, to see who would have the honour of losing the Cup to Slytherin. Cho suspected that Culligan and Davies told the Ravenclaw team to hold back, to play less aggressively than they could. It didn't matter in the end; Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw, only to be beaten in turn for the Cup by Slytherin.
"How has it come to this?" Cho demanded of Madam Hooch the Saturday following Ravenclaw's loss to Gryffindor. "Why do we bother playing at all?"
"It's not as bad as it seems, Cho. Truth is, I've seen it much worse. During the last war, I saw Montrose play at Falmouth, and one of the Falcons enchanted the Montrose robes, so that Japanese writing appeared on them. Nobody knew what it said, but it was all one with the crowd; they started pelting the Magpies with all sorts of rubbish."
"You're joking!"
"Wish I were. But these things come and go in cycles. Just wait until next year; Flint and his crew may actually have to play a match," Hooch smiled and winked at Cho.
Cho nodded, but didn't say anything. After the holidays, Culligan and Davies went right back to snubbing Cho, pretending not to hear if she ever made a comment about Quidditch in the Common Room or the Great Hall. She was beginning to think that they'd refuse to let her on next year, no matter how well she played.
At the end of their final lesson, and an exam that was the simplest of the year for Cho, Madam Hooch smiled at Cho. "Well, I've taught you all that I can. Now comes the hard part: making it all work for you on your own. I can't be in the game with you, or in your House with the team Co-Captains, but I'm sure that you can hold your own now. So, back to the castle with you." Hooch's smile grew broader as she added, "And take your broom with you."
Cho had been waiting for this moment since Christmas. She fought back the urge to hug Madam Hooch; instead, with a beaming smile, she turned and ran back to Hogwarts, clutching the Comet 260.
Her Comet 260.
xxx
She almost brought the broom into the Great Hall with her for the end-of- year feast. As it was, though, she was one of the few bright spots in the otherwise gloomy Ravenclaw table, having to sit once again in a hall decorated in the green and silver of Slytherin House. And her mood seemed to be infectious. The more she asked others about their summer plans, and the more she talked about their chances for next year's Cup, the more optimistic the mood at the table became.
Her mood stayed bright even as the annual warning notes were handed out the night before they were to leave:
"Students are reminded that, per regulations from the Improper Use of Magic Office of the Ministry of Magic, they are not to use any of the Charms, Spells, Potions or other magical items, devices or techniques learned at Hogwarts while they are at home or elsewhere on vacation. These regulations will be enforced through the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, and any misuse of magic will be dealt with accordingly.
Mafalda Hopkirk, Assistant Director"
"Don' let it scare yeh," Jan said to the dorm mates that night as they packed most of their belongings and made ready for bed. "Ever'body slips up once er twice. I set a spell off the day I got me Hogwarts letter, an' all the pictures on all the walls started ter change rooms. No one said nary a word, but I was terrified fer a week they'd drag me off in irons."
"Then why send out notices at all?" Letitia asked.
"A practice more honoured in the breach than in the observance," Linda Fairweather added.
"Nah," Jan replied, "I think it's just ter tell us not teh go too far over the line. Think what Krixlow'd do at home if he had the chance."
The others chuckled; Cho kept packing.
"That means you, too, Cho," Letitia said. "No dive-bombing Muggles in Trafalgar Square." They laughed.
"On even days," added Raisa; the laughter continued.
When Cho showed up with the Comet in hand, a couple of the girls had jealous thoughts, but they were all swept aside. This broom wasn't just a gift: Cho had earned it, by working harder at flying than anyone in their year. When they referred to her as "Hooch's favorite", it wasn't an insult. It was a tribute to Cho's talent for flying and the hard work she put into improving on it.
What the others left unsaid was the fear that Cho was living in a fool's paradise. There was no chance that she'd be let on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team in the fall.
xxx
When the Express pulled into King's Cross station, some of the more enthusiastic children just barged through the barrier, heedless of whether any Muggles might be on the platform. Usually, a parent was there to slow them down and remind them to keep a low profile.
Cho was met on the platform by her father. He was meticulously dressed in a dark grey pinstripe suit, with matching bowler hat and umbrella. The only thing that might have given him away was the way his cufflinks, designed to look like dragon's eyes, kept scanning the crowd for anything dangerous. He had grown up in a dangerous world, and had never lost the instinct to be on his guard, even in Diagon Alley.
He silently helped Cho wheel the cart with her bags and empty cage-Quan Yin had flown home the night before. Cho tried to manage everything one- handed; the other hand was still wrapped around her broom.
Chang Xiemin stayed silent for most of the drive home, taking a Muggle taxicab from King's Cross to the Leaky Cauldron. He also stayed silent for the first two weeks of the summer holiday.
During that time, Cho was out of the house every day at dawn-which may have come far too early for her fellow students but couldn't come soon enough for her. In the still and early hours before the shops opened, Cho could be seen tearing up one end of Diagon Alley and down the other, almost stubbing her toes on the cobblestones before she wove in and out of the pillars of Gringotts, down to the very edge of Knockturn Alley, and back again. She flew no higher than the rooftops of Diagon Alley, but these were just speed sprints. Anyone could see that she wanted to do more, to push herself and her new broom even harder.
So it was that, two weeks into the holiday, Cho's father rose from the breakfast table and beckoned for Cho to follow him. Together they stepped out into the small back yard.
"I couldn't help but notice that you've been flying all up and down the street every day since you've been back. You've been careful to do it early mornings and late evenings, when the shops are closed and there's nobody about, but I'm still under the impression that you want to do more."
Cho didn't know where this was going. "Sorry, Daddy. I'm afraid I rather got used to flying in a stadium."
"No need to apologize. There haven't been any complaints. But there is a problem, and I've taken a step to correct it."
From under his robes he drew a small box. He opened it to reveal a model of a broomstick. About the size of Cho's hand, it was made of highly polished brass that shone like a torch in a dark tunnel.
"We should touch this at the same time," her father said.
They touched it.
Immediately, Cho felt a jolt as if she were on a broom herself and had just been hit with a powerful crosswind. She was no longer in their yard, but things hadn't yet settled down.
When they did, she saw a wide expanse of green grass, with three hoops atop fifty-foot poles at either end. They were in a Quidditch stadium. Above the top box flew a flag of blue with two crossed golden bulrushes.
"In my business dealings," her father was saying, "one meets all sorts of people. I met the business manager for Puddlemere United, and he was telling me that, most days, the stadium is completely empty. Seemed a bit of a waste, especially since you need someplace larger to practice."
He stopped speaking for the moment as Cho threw her arms around him. He waited a minute before pulling her off of him.
"Now, you must keep your part of the bargain. Any chores that need to be done must be done before you can practice. If we need you to mind the shop, that always takes precedence. You're not to use this Portkey to sneak in to watch a match for free; a Chang always pays his own way and always walks proudly through the front door. I have a list of the game days and practice sessions here. If you come during practice, you are expected to keep out of the way and not bother the players with too many questions. These are professionals, after all, and I suppose it's time you learned to act like one."
Cho couldn't believe it. Use of a professional Quidditch stadium for the summer!
Before she could say anything, her father-who embarrassed easily-held up his hand. "We should get back now," he said. They touched the Portkey, and once again the stadium was empty.
xxx
continued in part 12, wherein the train to Hogwarts is abuzz with some exciting news.
