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
19. Quidditch Matches
Cho spent the remaining two days of the holiday preparing to go back to school. For Cho, this meant taking advantage of a break in the weather. The sun came out, the wind died down, and temperatures were at or above the freezing mark. So, using the Portkey her father had given her, she spent most of the two days at the home stadium for Puddlemere United. She'd gone for almost two weeks with no practice at all, and had to make up for lost time-and on a borrowed broom, at that.
At supper on the 4th, the night before she was to go back to Hogwarts, Cho's mother brought up Quidditch. She hadn't said a word during the meal. However, as the dishes cleared themselves, Lotus Chang stared daggers at her daughter. "You could have helped in the shop today."
Cho tried not to get upset. "You didn't tell me you needed help, mummy."
"Why should I have to tell you? Why didn't you think to ask?"
"I've had other things on my mind."
"Other things? Do you mean Quidditch, or sex, or both? It certainly hasn't been your schoolwork."
"Schoolwork isn't a problem. The courses are dead easy, and I got caught up with the work before I left. This is a holiday, you know."
"Only for some of us, it seems."
Mister Chang interrupted: "If you recall, we had to be sure about your balancing studies and Quidditch. We were concerned about how you would spend your time."
"I don't think I've abused the privilege."
"We're not saying you have, Cho, but now that you're actually on the team."
"You have no business being on that team! Especially now that you're becoming a woman. It's not proper!" Mrs. Chang was shouting at her daughter.
Cho barely kept her anger at her mother under control. "Mummy, there are plenty of older girls on the House teams. They don't seem to have a problem."
"Of course not; girls with no proper home training! With mothers who don't care!"
Cho finally lost her temper. "They are my friends!"
"You shouldn't be their friend!"
Cho jumped up from her seat, ran up to her room and slammed the door with all her might. She wasn't heard from until the next morning; with less than an hour until the Hogwarts Express left King's Cross, her father called to her. She threw the door open and walked downstairs, carrying her suitcase. She didn't say a word to her father as they walked down Diagon Alley and through the Leaky Cauldron. When he hailed a taxi, though, and the driver opened the boot, Cho threw her suitcase in as hard as she could, then sat on the rear seat, pouting.
As they rode toward King's Cross, Cho's father said simply, ""I know she's frustrating. I've known her longer than you've been alive. But surely we've taught you better manners than this."
"Sorry," Cho muttered, although her expression had softened, with a bit of sorrow mixed in with the anger.
When they reached the station, Mr. Chang took the bag and carried it to Platform 9. He set it down and put his hands on Cho's shoulders.
"Just . do your best, then."
"Yes, daddy," Cho answered, barely above a whisper, her lip starting to tremble.
With that, her father turned on his heel and left the station. There was just enough time for Cho to grab her bag, run through the barrier and onto Platform 9¾, and board the train. She stowed her bag, ran to the lavatory, and cried for thirty minutes. After that, she returned to her compartment as if nothing was wrong.
xxx
Once she got back to Hogwarts, Cho didn't let anything get to her except Ravenclaw's next three Quidditch matches. Even though she knew she stood no chance of playing, she thought of herself as a Seeker, and tried to stay always at the ready.
First, though, was the match on 22 February between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff was playing its regular Seeker, Chase-Sanborn. Like Mackie Culligan, it was his Seventh Year, and this would probably be his last game.
As Cho sat in the stands between Jan Nugginbridge and Penny Clearwater, they realized that the match would be refereed by Professor Snape.
"Tha's funny, tha' is. Wot's he playin' at?"
"Maybe Madam Hooch is under the weather," Penny guessed.
"She told me about Snape one time," Cho added. "Said he was a Beater when he was a student."
"Hard to imagine him being either one," Penny chuckled.
Just then, the teams flew into the stadium and landed on the field, preparing to play.
"Which side do yeh fancy, then?"
Cho was acting like a Seeker even though she wasn't even playing. She watched the two Seekers, and watched Snape release the Golden Snitch. It immediately sought cover near the stadium walls.
Cho had her eyes on both team Seekers, so she was one of the few in the stands who saw Harry Potter, circling high above the fray, actually spot the Snitch. He went into a high-speed dive, seeming to want to ram himself into Snape. As it was, he passed within a few inches of Snape, grabbed the Snitch, which had been flying in Snape's wake, and held it aloft.
Jan was aghast. "That was a load o' rubbish! Three minutes for a match?!"
Cho stared open-mouthed at her dorm-mate. "Were we just watching the same thing?"
"What was so great about that, then?"
"Honestly, Jan, he was a totally different Seeker! Like he'd been reborn over the holidays, or found his . I don't know. I can't put it into words. But that stoop, that dive for the Snitch. It was so perfect, so precise; it was like watching a falcon going in for the kill. It was . " Cho realized that her words were running on faster than she could control them. She took a deep breath. "He was the kind of Seeker I want to be! I'm going to be paying much more attention to Harry Potter!"
"Ar," Jan nodded. "Fancy him, do yeh?"
"I do not fancy anybody! This is all about Quidditch!"
"Well," Penny added, "you'd better not hope to be too much like him, or you'll have all of Ravenclaw House down around your ears."
"How do you mean?"
"Look at the score." Cho looked at the scoreboard: the numbers "150-0" were just fading from sight.
Cho understood at once. However perfect Harry's dive may have been, it was rash. Nobody else had had the time to score any points. At the end of the year, even a single goal might make the difference in awarding the House Cup.
Cho turned and nodded at Penny, showing that she understood. "It was still a magnificent dive, though." She turned her eyes back to the stadium, as if she could still see the Gryffindor Seeker in a fierce rush to capture the Snitch.
xxx
On 21 March, Cho's vantagepoint was again on the Ravenclaw bench. This game-Ravenclaw against Slytherin-was everything the previous game was not: confusing at times, boring at times, and rather drawn out.
Not that the Ravenclaws didn't enjoy the match, especially its outcome. When Mackie Culligan, with the Ravenclaw Beaters clearing Higgs of Slytherin out of his path, captured the Snitch after almost an hour of play, the score was 270-150. Almost all of Ravenclaw's other points were from penalty shots. Slytherin had finally made the mistake of being too bold, too obvious. After the loss to Gryffindor, they desperately needed to beat Ravenclaw to stay in contention, so they tried every trick they knew.
The trouble was, Ravenclaw knew them too. Since the Christmas holidays they'd spent their practices learning to counter the fouls that they could counter, while taking advantage of the fouls they couldn't help. Most important of all, Cho had spent the practices pretending to be Higgs, so that Culligan could get over his nervousness against Slytherin.
And it worked. Nothing seemed to faze Culligan this match. Even though he made three tries at catching the Snitch only to be fouled by Higgs or a Slytherin Beater, he didn't let it rattle his game. When he landed at the end of the match, with the Snitch in hand, he was as calm and self- possessed as he was at the beginning.
So it was a complete surprise that evening, as the team celebrated in the Common Room with other Ravenclaws, when Culligan stood and called for attention.
"This should be the happiest day of my life," he said, "because we've done what we never did before. We took the worst Slytherin could dish out, and we still beat them." Some Ravenclaws started to cheer, but they quickly stopped, seeing Culligan's silence.
"Any other year, I would have said that we were past the worst of it, with Slytherin out of the running and only Gryffindor to fight. But Harry Potter changes everything. We've all had a chance to see him in action. Putting it simply, he's the best I've seen here. I know I can't go up against him. That's why I'm telling you now: I won't be Seeker for the final game."
A chorus of protests drowned him out; he waited until the other voices died down. "Believe me, it hurts that I won't be playing my last game at Hogwarts, and a championship match at that. But I know my limits, and, as Captain, I'm taking myself out of the game and putting in Cho Chang."
Now the protests were even louder. Cho was too stunned to take it personally; all she did was stare at Culligan. What was he thinking?
As if he read her mind, Culligan answered: "Sorry to put you on the spot like this. I suppose it's rather a baptism by fire. But I'm not sacrificing you to make myself look good. I know that, between the two of us, you stand the better chance against Potter. You're young, you're fast, you've got a grand eye, and you know how to bide your time and make every movement count. I saw all that these past two months, when we were getting ready for the Slytherins. I'm leaving Hogwarts in a few months anyway, and I want us to have a winning season, and you're our best chance of that."
Every eye in the room stared at Cho, trying to judge her reaction. For her part, Cho stood by the fire, facing Culligan, but not saying a word or expressing any emotion. After a tense silence that lasted a minute but seemed longer, Cho spoke:
"Sorry, Captain, but I refuse the assignment, and I'll tell you why. It really doesn't matter which of us is better. You're still good enough to play against Gryffindor, whether you think it or not. But you'll never know it until you actually get into the stadium and play. And you have to play the last match, just because it's the last match. I don't want to think of you twenty years from now, and your last memory of Quidditch at Hogwarts is wondering what might have been. And I refuse to let that be the cost of my first match for Ravenclaw. When Madam Hooch blows the whistle for that championship match, you will be the Ravenclaw Seeker. You've earned it."
Now the eyes of the room turned back to Culligan, who was actually blushing. After a few seconds when all that could be heard was the crackling of the fire, Culligan glanced around the room, looked at Cho with the biggest smile anyone could remember him wearing, and said softly, "Well, when you put it that way."
The Common Room exploded with cheers. What had been a celebration of victory over Slytherin was now a rally to beat Gryffindor, even though the match was months away.
xxx
to be continued in part 20, wherein Cho watches Cups being won and points being awarded, and starts to see some people in a different light.
By monkeymouse
NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms.
Rated: PG-13
Spoilers: Everything
xxx
19. Quidditch Matches
Cho spent the remaining two days of the holiday preparing to go back to school. For Cho, this meant taking advantage of a break in the weather. The sun came out, the wind died down, and temperatures were at or above the freezing mark. So, using the Portkey her father had given her, she spent most of the two days at the home stadium for Puddlemere United. She'd gone for almost two weeks with no practice at all, and had to make up for lost time-and on a borrowed broom, at that.
At supper on the 4th, the night before she was to go back to Hogwarts, Cho's mother brought up Quidditch. She hadn't said a word during the meal. However, as the dishes cleared themselves, Lotus Chang stared daggers at her daughter. "You could have helped in the shop today."
Cho tried not to get upset. "You didn't tell me you needed help, mummy."
"Why should I have to tell you? Why didn't you think to ask?"
"I've had other things on my mind."
"Other things? Do you mean Quidditch, or sex, or both? It certainly hasn't been your schoolwork."
"Schoolwork isn't a problem. The courses are dead easy, and I got caught up with the work before I left. This is a holiday, you know."
"Only for some of us, it seems."
Mister Chang interrupted: "If you recall, we had to be sure about your balancing studies and Quidditch. We were concerned about how you would spend your time."
"I don't think I've abused the privilege."
"We're not saying you have, Cho, but now that you're actually on the team."
"You have no business being on that team! Especially now that you're becoming a woman. It's not proper!" Mrs. Chang was shouting at her daughter.
Cho barely kept her anger at her mother under control. "Mummy, there are plenty of older girls on the House teams. They don't seem to have a problem."
"Of course not; girls with no proper home training! With mothers who don't care!"
Cho finally lost her temper. "They are my friends!"
"You shouldn't be their friend!"
Cho jumped up from her seat, ran up to her room and slammed the door with all her might. She wasn't heard from until the next morning; with less than an hour until the Hogwarts Express left King's Cross, her father called to her. She threw the door open and walked downstairs, carrying her suitcase. She didn't say a word to her father as they walked down Diagon Alley and through the Leaky Cauldron. When he hailed a taxi, though, and the driver opened the boot, Cho threw her suitcase in as hard as she could, then sat on the rear seat, pouting.
As they rode toward King's Cross, Cho's father said simply, ""I know she's frustrating. I've known her longer than you've been alive. But surely we've taught you better manners than this."
"Sorry," Cho muttered, although her expression had softened, with a bit of sorrow mixed in with the anger.
When they reached the station, Mr. Chang took the bag and carried it to Platform 9. He set it down and put his hands on Cho's shoulders.
"Just . do your best, then."
"Yes, daddy," Cho answered, barely above a whisper, her lip starting to tremble.
With that, her father turned on his heel and left the station. There was just enough time for Cho to grab her bag, run through the barrier and onto Platform 9¾, and board the train. She stowed her bag, ran to the lavatory, and cried for thirty minutes. After that, she returned to her compartment as if nothing was wrong.
xxx
Once she got back to Hogwarts, Cho didn't let anything get to her except Ravenclaw's next three Quidditch matches. Even though she knew she stood no chance of playing, she thought of herself as a Seeker, and tried to stay always at the ready.
First, though, was the match on 22 February between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff was playing its regular Seeker, Chase-Sanborn. Like Mackie Culligan, it was his Seventh Year, and this would probably be his last game.
As Cho sat in the stands between Jan Nugginbridge and Penny Clearwater, they realized that the match would be refereed by Professor Snape.
"Tha's funny, tha' is. Wot's he playin' at?"
"Maybe Madam Hooch is under the weather," Penny guessed.
"She told me about Snape one time," Cho added. "Said he was a Beater when he was a student."
"Hard to imagine him being either one," Penny chuckled.
Just then, the teams flew into the stadium and landed on the field, preparing to play.
"Which side do yeh fancy, then?"
Cho was acting like a Seeker even though she wasn't even playing. She watched the two Seekers, and watched Snape release the Golden Snitch. It immediately sought cover near the stadium walls.
Cho had her eyes on both team Seekers, so she was one of the few in the stands who saw Harry Potter, circling high above the fray, actually spot the Snitch. He went into a high-speed dive, seeming to want to ram himself into Snape. As it was, he passed within a few inches of Snape, grabbed the Snitch, which had been flying in Snape's wake, and held it aloft.
Jan was aghast. "That was a load o' rubbish! Three minutes for a match?!"
Cho stared open-mouthed at her dorm-mate. "Were we just watching the same thing?"
"What was so great about that, then?"
"Honestly, Jan, he was a totally different Seeker! Like he'd been reborn over the holidays, or found his . I don't know. I can't put it into words. But that stoop, that dive for the Snitch. It was so perfect, so precise; it was like watching a falcon going in for the kill. It was . " Cho realized that her words were running on faster than she could control them. She took a deep breath. "He was the kind of Seeker I want to be! I'm going to be paying much more attention to Harry Potter!"
"Ar," Jan nodded. "Fancy him, do yeh?"
"I do not fancy anybody! This is all about Quidditch!"
"Well," Penny added, "you'd better not hope to be too much like him, or you'll have all of Ravenclaw House down around your ears."
"How do you mean?"
"Look at the score." Cho looked at the scoreboard: the numbers "150-0" were just fading from sight.
Cho understood at once. However perfect Harry's dive may have been, it was rash. Nobody else had had the time to score any points. At the end of the year, even a single goal might make the difference in awarding the House Cup.
Cho turned and nodded at Penny, showing that she understood. "It was still a magnificent dive, though." She turned her eyes back to the stadium, as if she could still see the Gryffindor Seeker in a fierce rush to capture the Snitch.
xxx
On 21 March, Cho's vantagepoint was again on the Ravenclaw bench. This game-Ravenclaw against Slytherin-was everything the previous game was not: confusing at times, boring at times, and rather drawn out.
Not that the Ravenclaws didn't enjoy the match, especially its outcome. When Mackie Culligan, with the Ravenclaw Beaters clearing Higgs of Slytherin out of his path, captured the Snitch after almost an hour of play, the score was 270-150. Almost all of Ravenclaw's other points were from penalty shots. Slytherin had finally made the mistake of being too bold, too obvious. After the loss to Gryffindor, they desperately needed to beat Ravenclaw to stay in contention, so they tried every trick they knew.
The trouble was, Ravenclaw knew them too. Since the Christmas holidays they'd spent their practices learning to counter the fouls that they could counter, while taking advantage of the fouls they couldn't help. Most important of all, Cho had spent the practices pretending to be Higgs, so that Culligan could get over his nervousness against Slytherin.
And it worked. Nothing seemed to faze Culligan this match. Even though he made three tries at catching the Snitch only to be fouled by Higgs or a Slytherin Beater, he didn't let it rattle his game. When he landed at the end of the match, with the Snitch in hand, he was as calm and self- possessed as he was at the beginning.
So it was a complete surprise that evening, as the team celebrated in the Common Room with other Ravenclaws, when Culligan stood and called for attention.
"This should be the happiest day of my life," he said, "because we've done what we never did before. We took the worst Slytherin could dish out, and we still beat them." Some Ravenclaws started to cheer, but they quickly stopped, seeing Culligan's silence.
"Any other year, I would have said that we were past the worst of it, with Slytherin out of the running and only Gryffindor to fight. But Harry Potter changes everything. We've all had a chance to see him in action. Putting it simply, he's the best I've seen here. I know I can't go up against him. That's why I'm telling you now: I won't be Seeker for the final game."
A chorus of protests drowned him out; he waited until the other voices died down. "Believe me, it hurts that I won't be playing my last game at Hogwarts, and a championship match at that. But I know my limits, and, as Captain, I'm taking myself out of the game and putting in Cho Chang."
Now the protests were even louder. Cho was too stunned to take it personally; all she did was stare at Culligan. What was he thinking?
As if he read her mind, Culligan answered: "Sorry to put you on the spot like this. I suppose it's rather a baptism by fire. But I'm not sacrificing you to make myself look good. I know that, between the two of us, you stand the better chance against Potter. You're young, you're fast, you've got a grand eye, and you know how to bide your time and make every movement count. I saw all that these past two months, when we were getting ready for the Slytherins. I'm leaving Hogwarts in a few months anyway, and I want us to have a winning season, and you're our best chance of that."
Every eye in the room stared at Cho, trying to judge her reaction. For her part, Cho stood by the fire, facing Culligan, but not saying a word or expressing any emotion. After a tense silence that lasted a minute but seemed longer, Cho spoke:
"Sorry, Captain, but I refuse the assignment, and I'll tell you why. It really doesn't matter which of us is better. You're still good enough to play against Gryffindor, whether you think it or not. But you'll never know it until you actually get into the stadium and play. And you have to play the last match, just because it's the last match. I don't want to think of you twenty years from now, and your last memory of Quidditch at Hogwarts is wondering what might have been. And I refuse to let that be the cost of my first match for Ravenclaw. When Madam Hooch blows the whistle for that championship match, you will be the Ravenclaw Seeker. You've earned it."
Now the eyes of the room turned back to Culligan, who was actually blushing. After a few seconds when all that could be heard was the crackling of the fire, Culligan glanced around the room, looked at Cho with the biggest smile anyone could remember him wearing, and said softly, "Well, when you put it that way."
The Common Room exploded with cheers. What had been a celebration of victory over Slytherin was now a rally to beat Gryffindor, even though the match was months away.
xxx
to be continued in part 20, wherein Cho watches Cups being won and points being awarded, and starts to see some people in a different light.
