OR DIE TRYING: THE STORY OF CHO CHANG
By monkeymouse
NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms. And one of the great things about JKR telling the story from Harry's point of view is that stuff could be happening all over Hogwarts that Harry isn't aware of.
Rated: PG
Spoilers: Everything
xxx
34. A Day in June
"And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days When Heaven tries Earth if it be in tune And over it softly her warm ear lays."-JRLowell
xxx
Hogwarts did well to cancel all exams after Ginny Weasley was released from the Chamber of Secrets. Between the relief that the year-long tension had been dispelled, the rejoicing over the return of Dumbledore and Hagrid, the summary departure of Gilderoy Lockhart, and the gloriously fine weather that settled in for the final weeks of the term, no student would have been able to study-even if they'd wanted to do so.
The school had a three-week holiday until the Hogwarts Express would return the students to London on the 19th-not, as at Christmas, in headlong fearful flight, but tanned and happy and sated with good meals and other sweet things.
The students of Ravenclaw House didn't have to spend their time reading, but many of them did it anyway. Only now, they could read whatever they chose and wherever they chose: out on the stone steps, or under a tree by the lake, or in the stands of the empty Quidditch stadium. Unfortunately for the teams at Hogwarts, there wasn't enough time to actually schedule a match.
Which is why Cho's first match was unscheduled as well as unofficial.
It started late on the morning of 7 June. In the Great Hall, some table had to be next to Slytherin's, and that unfortunate honour fell to Ravenclaw. Cho and Raina were among the last ones at table, Raina absently drawing patterns in her porridge with her spoon, while Cho sopped up some egg yolk with a corner of toast.
"Well, well; if it isn't the Sand Witch."
Draco Malfoy; Cho didn't have to turn to look at him. She could sense his smirk, just as she could sense that he was, as usual, flanked by two cloddish Slytherins named Crabbe and Goyle.
Raina glanced at the Head Table. There were only a few faculty members there at this hour, and one of them was Professor Snape. Surely Malfoy wouldn't start tormenting Raina in front of the Head of his own House-or would he?
"Give it up, Malfoy," Cho said smoothly, her back turned to Malfoy; "your jokes aren't half as funny as your Seeking."
For the first time in memory, colour came to Draco Malfoy's face. He collected himself, then made a great show of slowly inspecting Cho, first from one side, then from the other.
"And you would be Cho Chang. I understand your teammates broke some bones and you had to be carried to the hospital wing when you tried out. That would make you Chinese carry-out, wouldn't it?" Crabbe and Goyle laughed dutifully, as if they hadn't quite got it. "Goes quite well with a Sand Witch, I'm sure. So, do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Get on with the Sand Witch? You know what they say about Quidditch girls. Can I expect to find you two snogging in some dark corner sometime?"
Raina kept her head down. She was nearly in tears, but didn't want the others to know that. Cho decided to pay him back in his own coin. "Why?" she asked sweetly. "Would you like to watch? Of course, that's probably all you can do."
Draco's smirk turned at once into a scowl. "Maybe you don't think the Slytherin Snake stands for anything."
Cho glanced at Draco. "In your case, I'd say a garden slug."
Draco knocked the flagon of pumpkin juice from in front of Cho and drew his livid face within an inch of hers. "You will talk to me with respect, you filthy . . ."
"MISTER MALFOY!"
Snape. From the corner of her eye, she could see him standing at the Head Table, glaring down at them.
Draco took a step toward Snape. "But, sir, she started it, calling me . . ."
"I don't care who started it; I am finishing it. Just because exams are over and the House Cup has been awarded, that does not mean that I cannot mete out detentions. Say one more word to each other and you'll both find that out."
Draco angrily turned his back on Cho and sat at the Slytherin table.
"Garden slug? Good one, Cho."
Roger Davies was standing behind Raina, who took advantage of his arrival to get up and run back to Ravenclaw House. Roger sat in her place; Raina's dirty dishes were immediately replaced with clean ones.
"How much of that did you hear?"
"I was just passing through the Great Hall. I looked in, saw Malfoy moving in on you, and wanted to be sure you were all right."
"I think I can hold my own," Cho smiled.
"Not on the pitch, you can't," Malfoy muttered, just loud enough for them to hear.
Roger glanced up at the ceiling. "Did you hear something, Cho? Sounded like a Seeker who's lost every match he's played."
"At least he's played a match."
Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain, had shown up and was standing next to Draco.
Cho turned to Roger. "Given the outcome, if I were he I'd hardly admit to it."
Draco muttered again: "At least I was beaten by a proper wizard. My father would never let me hear the end of it if I lost to some yellow mongrel."
Roger was out of his seat like a jack-in-the-box. He managed to check himself as he walked over to Malfoy. "Would you care to repeat that?"
Now Flint was up, glaring eye to eye at Roger. "You wouldn't be threatening a member of my team, would you?"
"No, threats are more your style."
"I've nothing better to do, Ravenclaw. Perhaps you'd like to settle this one on one."
The idea came to Cho in a flash. "Why not seven on seven?"
Both Davies and Flint turned to look at her. She went on: "Both teams in the stadium in one hour."
Flint attempted to grin at Cho, but came across more like a wolf baring his misshapen fangs. "I guess lessons aren't all over for this term. You've got your hour, then." He practically pulled Draco off the bench as they left the Great Hall.
Roger turned to Cho. "What were you thinking just now?"
"That those bullies need to be taught a lesson, and that I'm going to explode if I don't have a match!"
"But the equipment, a referee . . ."
"Are already taken care of." Cho nodded toward the Head Table, where Madam Hooch was sitting, staring directly at Cho, an interesting grin on her face. Cho rose. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think we both have a match to prepare for."
xxx
Cho raced up to her dormitory and began her pre-game ritual. Her dorm mates realized that something was up, but dared not question her about it. Instead, having nothing else to do, they waited silently with a growing sense of excitement as Cho spelled up her hair and trimmed her nails. She then put on her robes and, followed by her dorm mates, went down to the Common Room.
There the rest of the team was waiting, along with about thirty other Ravenclaws who realized an impromptu match was about to take place.
"Right," Roger said when Cho entered the room. "Now, all we have to do is stay alert out there. Their Beaters are going to be all over us; Jinx, you and Becksnee need to play defense. And keep your eye on Cho; give her back up when she needs it." The two Beaters nodded. He turned to Cho. "Well, you got us into this, and frankly I'm glad you did. It's getting a little boring around here, and I like the idea of taking Slytherin down a peg."
"I won't let you down, Roger," Cho said.
Roger looked as if he wanted to say something else, but instead simply said, "Let's go."
When the Ravenclaw team arrived at the stadium, the Slytherin team was waiting, along with Madam Hooch. "You understand," Hooch said, "that this is an unofficial match. It won't matter who wins or loses."
"It'll matter to us," Roger said, speaking for the teams, and maybe for the fifty or so students who had gotten wind of the match and were in the stands.
"You all know the rules, then. Line up!" Hooch looked at the players, her gaze resting a bit longer on Cho than on the others, and blew her whistle. The players kicked up off the pitch and into the sky. She released the Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch, then sailed up herself to referee the game and keep score.
It became evident from the first second that the Slytherins were out for a bloody win. Their players put in elbows and feet whenever they could, hoping that Hooch wouldn't catch them at it. Unfortunately for them, she caught almost all of their fouls, but they often ignored her whistle. Bletchley the Slytherin Keeper managed to deflect most of the penalty shots, but it made for a slow-moving game.
As for the Seekers, Cho took a position above the play, while Draco hunted aggressively closer to the ground. Neither had much success finding the Snitch at first, and as play progressed, the day grew hotter than Draco was used to playing in. Cho, however, had practiced in hotter weather during her summer sessions in the Puddlemere stadium. If she was sweating at all, it was from nerves rather than the heat. After thirty minutes of play, Slytherin was up 80 to 50, and still no sign of the Snitch.
No; there! It was traveling in the wake of a Slytherin Beater. She flew above and past him, then quickly turned and dove down.
Draco caught all this, though, from halfway across the field. His 2001 closed the distance in no time, which frightened Cho; she hadn't encountered that kind of speed in practice. She wove back and forth, trying to keep Draco from passing, but he was actually hitting her broomstick with his own.
Then, with a loud WHAM! WHAM!, Draco was hit by Bludgers, one at each shoulder. His hands slipped from the broom, he lost control and swerved away from Cho, who reached forward, almost standing up on her broom, as she caught the Snitch.
"Ravenclaw wins, 200 to 80!" shouted Hooch.
The Ravenclaws in the stands cheered as if they'd won back the House Cup. The Ravenclaw players were as ecstatic as the Slytherins were disgruntled. But Cho Chang was beside herself. Madam Hooch had to tell her three times to give back the Golden Snitch; Cho simply refused to let it go. It was as if she couldn't believe that the day had finally come: she had won a match as Ravenclaw's Seeker. She had captured the Snitch!
As Hooch finally pried her hand open, Cho turned to the Slytherins. "That was delightful; we must do it again some time." They walked back to the castle without answering.
Roger burst out laughing, threw his arms around Cho, then seemed to remember himself and hurriedly let go. "So, er, you finally did it. How does it feel?"
"Like something I'll remember until the day I die," she smiled radiantly. Before she could say anymore, Jan and Raina and the other Ravenclaws from the stands ran onto the field and mobbed her.
"You were wonderful!" Raina gushed.
"Best match I've seen here," Terry Boot said, clapping Cho on the back.
"That was a pretty sight, buryin' those snakes," Jan beamed.
Cho glanced back at Madam Hooch, who didn't say a word, but nodded her head and beamed.
"So," said Cho as calmly as she could, "what about lunch? I'm famished!"
As they all headed back to the castle, Cho felt that she was walking on air without a broom. Her first match was finally, finally behind her, and it was a win against Slytherin, and she was only days away from her trip to China. How could life be any better?
xxx
to be continued in part 35, wherein Cho tells of her trip to China-the good and the bad of it
By monkeymouse
NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms. And one of the great things about JKR telling the story from Harry's point of view is that stuff could be happening all over Hogwarts that Harry isn't aware of.
Rated: PG
Spoilers: Everything
xxx
34. A Day in June
"And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days When Heaven tries Earth if it be in tune And over it softly her warm ear lays."-JRLowell
xxx
Hogwarts did well to cancel all exams after Ginny Weasley was released from the Chamber of Secrets. Between the relief that the year-long tension had been dispelled, the rejoicing over the return of Dumbledore and Hagrid, the summary departure of Gilderoy Lockhart, and the gloriously fine weather that settled in for the final weeks of the term, no student would have been able to study-even if they'd wanted to do so.
The school had a three-week holiday until the Hogwarts Express would return the students to London on the 19th-not, as at Christmas, in headlong fearful flight, but tanned and happy and sated with good meals and other sweet things.
The students of Ravenclaw House didn't have to spend their time reading, but many of them did it anyway. Only now, they could read whatever they chose and wherever they chose: out on the stone steps, or under a tree by the lake, or in the stands of the empty Quidditch stadium. Unfortunately for the teams at Hogwarts, there wasn't enough time to actually schedule a match.
Which is why Cho's first match was unscheduled as well as unofficial.
It started late on the morning of 7 June. In the Great Hall, some table had to be next to Slytherin's, and that unfortunate honour fell to Ravenclaw. Cho and Raina were among the last ones at table, Raina absently drawing patterns in her porridge with her spoon, while Cho sopped up some egg yolk with a corner of toast.
"Well, well; if it isn't the Sand Witch."
Draco Malfoy; Cho didn't have to turn to look at him. She could sense his smirk, just as she could sense that he was, as usual, flanked by two cloddish Slytherins named Crabbe and Goyle.
Raina glanced at the Head Table. There were only a few faculty members there at this hour, and one of them was Professor Snape. Surely Malfoy wouldn't start tormenting Raina in front of the Head of his own House-or would he?
"Give it up, Malfoy," Cho said smoothly, her back turned to Malfoy; "your jokes aren't half as funny as your Seeking."
For the first time in memory, colour came to Draco Malfoy's face. He collected himself, then made a great show of slowly inspecting Cho, first from one side, then from the other.
"And you would be Cho Chang. I understand your teammates broke some bones and you had to be carried to the hospital wing when you tried out. That would make you Chinese carry-out, wouldn't it?" Crabbe and Goyle laughed dutifully, as if they hadn't quite got it. "Goes quite well with a Sand Witch, I'm sure. So, do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Get on with the Sand Witch? You know what they say about Quidditch girls. Can I expect to find you two snogging in some dark corner sometime?"
Raina kept her head down. She was nearly in tears, but didn't want the others to know that. Cho decided to pay him back in his own coin. "Why?" she asked sweetly. "Would you like to watch? Of course, that's probably all you can do."
Draco's smirk turned at once into a scowl. "Maybe you don't think the Slytherin Snake stands for anything."
Cho glanced at Draco. "In your case, I'd say a garden slug."
Draco knocked the flagon of pumpkin juice from in front of Cho and drew his livid face within an inch of hers. "You will talk to me with respect, you filthy . . ."
"MISTER MALFOY!"
Snape. From the corner of her eye, she could see him standing at the Head Table, glaring down at them.
Draco took a step toward Snape. "But, sir, she started it, calling me . . ."
"I don't care who started it; I am finishing it. Just because exams are over and the House Cup has been awarded, that does not mean that I cannot mete out detentions. Say one more word to each other and you'll both find that out."
Draco angrily turned his back on Cho and sat at the Slytherin table.
"Garden slug? Good one, Cho."
Roger Davies was standing behind Raina, who took advantage of his arrival to get up and run back to Ravenclaw House. Roger sat in her place; Raina's dirty dishes were immediately replaced with clean ones.
"How much of that did you hear?"
"I was just passing through the Great Hall. I looked in, saw Malfoy moving in on you, and wanted to be sure you were all right."
"I think I can hold my own," Cho smiled.
"Not on the pitch, you can't," Malfoy muttered, just loud enough for them to hear.
Roger glanced up at the ceiling. "Did you hear something, Cho? Sounded like a Seeker who's lost every match he's played."
"At least he's played a match."
Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain, had shown up and was standing next to Draco.
Cho turned to Roger. "Given the outcome, if I were he I'd hardly admit to it."
Draco muttered again: "At least I was beaten by a proper wizard. My father would never let me hear the end of it if I lost to some yellow mongrel."
Roger was out of his seat like a jack-in-the-box. He managed to check himself as he walked over to Malfoy. "Would you care to repeat that?"
Now Flint was up, glaring eye to eye at Roger. "You wouldn't be threatening a member of my team, would you?"
"No, threats are more your style."
"I've nothing better to do, Ravenclaw. Perhaps you'd like to settle this one on one."
The idea came to Cho in a flash. "Why not seven on seven?"
Both Davies and Flint turned to look at her. She went on: "Both teams in the stadium in one hour."
Flint attempted to grin at Cho, but came across more like a wolf baring his misshapen fangs. "I guess lessons aren't all over for this term. You've got your hour, then." He practically pulled Draco off the bench as they left the Great Hall.
Roger turned to Cho. "What were you thinking just now?"
"That those bullies need to be taught a lesson, and that I'm going to explode if I don't have a match!"
"But the equipment, a referee . . ."
"Are already taken care of." Cho nodded toward the Head Table, where Madam Hooch was sitting, staring directly at Cho, an interesting grin on her face. Cho rose. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think we both have a match to prepare for."
xxx
Cho raced up to her dormitory and began her pre-game ritual. Her dorm mates realized that something was up, but dared not question her about it. Instead, having nothing else to do, they waited silently with a growing sense of excitement as Cho spelled up her hair and trimmed her nails. She then put on her robes and, followed by her dorm mates, went down to the Common Room.
There the rest of the team was waiting, along with about thirty other Ravenclaws who realized an impromptu match was about to take place.
"Right," Roger said when Cho entered the room. "Now, all we have to do is stay alert out there. Their Beaters are going to be all over us; Jinx, you and Becksnee need to play defense. And keep your eye on Cho; give her back up when she needs it." The two Beaters nodded. He turned to Cho. "Well, you got us into this, and frankly I'm glad you did. It's getting a little boring around here, and I like the idea of taking Slytherin down a peg."
"I won't let you down, Roger," Cho said.
Roger looked as if he wanted to say something else, but instead simply said, "Let's go."
When the Ravenclaw team arrived at the stadium, the Slytherin team was waiting, along with Madam Hooch. "You understand," Hooch said, "that this is an unofficial match. It won't matter who wins or loses."
"It'll matter to us," Roger said, speaking for the teams, and maybe for the fifty or so students who had gotten wind of the match and were in the stands.
"You all know the rules, then. Line up!" Hooch looked at the players, her gaze resting a bit longer on Cho than on the others, and blew her whistle. The players kicked up off the pitch and into the sky. She released the Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch, then sailed up herself to referee the game and keep score.
It became evident from the first second that the Slytherins were out for a bloody win. Their players put in elbows and feet whenever they could, hoping that Hooch wouldn't catch them at it. Unfortunately for them, she caught almost all of their fouls, but they often ignored her whistle. Bletchley the Slytherin Keeper managed to deflect most of the penalty shots, but it made for a slow-moving game.
As for the Seekers, Cho took a position above the play, while Draco hunted aggressively closer to the ground. Neither had much success finding the Snitch at first, and as play progressed, the day grew hotter than Draco was used to playing in. Cho, however, had practiced in hotter weather during her summer sessions in the Puddlemere stadium. If she was sweating at all, it was from nerves rather than the heat. After thirty minutes of play, Slytherin was up 80 to 50, and still no sign of the Snitch.
No; there! It was traveling in the wake of a Slytherin Beater. She flew above and past him, then quickly turned and dove down.
Draco caught all this, though, from halfway across the field. His 2001 closed the distance in no time, which frightened Cho; she hadn't encountered that kind of speed in practice. She wove back and forth, trying to keep Draco from passing, but he was actually hitting her broomstick with his own.
Then, with a loud WHAM! WHAM!, Draco was hit by Bludgers, one at each shoulder. His hands slipped from the broom, he lost control and swerved away from Cho, who reached forward, almost standing up on her broom, as she caught the Snitch.
"Ravenclaw wins, 200 to 80!" shouted Hooch.
The Ravenclaws in the stands cheered as if they'd won back the House Cup. The Ravenclaw players were as ecstatic as the Slytherins were disgruntled. But Cho Chang was beside herself. Madam Hooch had to tell her three times to give back the Golden Snitch; Cho simply refused to let it go. It was as if she couldn't believe that the day had finally come: she had won a match as Ravenclaw's Seeker. She had captured the Snitch!
As Hooch finally pried her hand open, Cho turned to the Slytherins. "That was delightful; we must do it again some time." They walked back to the castle without answering.
Roger burst out laughing, threw his arms around Cho, then seemed to remember himself and hurriedly let go. "So, er, you finally did it. How does it feel?"
"Like something I'll remember until the day I die," she smiled radiantly. Before she could say anymore, Jan and Raina and the other Ravenclaws from the stands ran onto the field and mobbed her.
"You were wonderful!" Raina gushed.
"Best match I've seen here," Terry Boot said, clapping Cho on the back.
"That was a pretty sight, buryin' those snakes," Jan beamed.
Cho glanced back at Madam Hooch, who didn't say a word, but nodded her head and beamed.
"So," said Cho as calmly as she could, "what about lunch? I'm famished!"
As they all headed back to the castle, Cho felt that she was walking on air without a broom. Her first match was finally, finally behind her, and it was a win against Slytherin, and she was only days away from her trip to China. How could life be any better?
xxx
to be continued in part 35, wherein Cho tells of her trip to China-the good and the bad of it
