OR DIE TRYING: CHO CHANG'S SIXTH YEAR
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
13. A Hogsmeade Visit
Hogsmeade was such a forbidden, therefore exotic, place to the younger Hogwarts students, and such a break in the routine even for the older students, that on Hogsmeade days students usually rushed through breakfast, then rushed to line up to go.
Cho Chang, however, deliberately held back, dawdling over breakfast, then fussing with her hair for half an hour after breakfast. She really couldn't help it; she was of two minds about going to Hogsmeade today.
The last times she had gone to Hogsmeade, between the Yule Ball and the Third Task, it was in the company of Cedric Diggory. She wasn't sure how she'd react, what she'd remember. It was one thing to make a spectacle of herself in Hogwarts, where at least the students knew why she would freeze, choke up, burst into tears every other day or so even after a month back. That didn't mean that they approved. Marietta had had to lecture a couple of Ravenclaw Third-Years the other day for pairing Cho with Luna Lovegood, and laughing at "Loony and Moony".
But Marietta's coming with Cho to Hogsmeade wasn't exactly a good thing either. Cho's other reason for going, after all, was the prospect of joining a special group of students, studying Defense Against the Dark Arts. With Harry Potter. She had been trying to chat up Harry since school started, but hadn't had any luck after the first week and their chance meeting in the Owlery. She had actually spent the next few Saturdays after that meeting rushing to the Owlery on Saturday mornings, hanging about just in case ... with no luck. Maybe she could get Harry away from Granger and Ron Weasley, and his sister Ginny, get him away from the other Gryffindors, just to ask a question or two about--
"Cho! Stop dawdling or we'll be at the end of the line!"
Cho bit her lip and, blushing, took a few swipes at her hair with her brush. She actually had been fussing far less with her hair since the Third Task, but apparently Marietta hadn't noticed.
As if reading Cho's mind, she went on: "Not that I'm all that anxious to get to this meeting, mind you, but there are quite a few things I need to get done: Christmas shopping, replace my philtres, get some new quills..."
Cho took a last stroke through her hair. "Come on, then." She grabbed the sleeve of Marietta's robe and almost dragged her down to the entrance to Hogwarts.
There was already a line there, but not as long a line as Marietta had feared. Each student had to be checked against a list of those whose families had granted permission for their children to go to Hogwarts. Since this was a Saturday, McGonagall had apparently delegated the task of checking the list to Filch the caretaker. As Cho approached him, the dark scowl on his face seemed to grow darker. He apparently remembered her standing up to him in the Owlery. He seemed to sniff the air around her, as a dog would, before he wordlessly waved Cho and Marietta through.
As they dashed down the stone steps into the cool but sunny October morning, Cho could see students all along the path to the station, most in groups of two and three. Up ahead, where the path took a bend and disappeared from sight, she saw three figures who might have been Harry and his friends. There was a Weasley there; the head of red hair was plainly visible.
Marietta was chattering on about what she thought her mother would like as a Christmas present, but Cho wasn't really listening. She kept trying to push her memories into the background of her thoughts--memories of happier times in Hogsmeade, times with Cedric... But how could they ever have been happy times, since thinking of those days now made her want to scream...
No! Stop that! she scolded herself. She wasn't being fair to Cedric or Marietta. This was supposed to be a fun afternoon, and maybe even an adventure, if what Granger had said was true...
By this time, they were in sight of the train station. Once they crossed the tracks, they were in Hogsmeade. Some students--all Third-Years, judging by their youth and enthusiasm--raced past them to get to the town, as if simply setting foot onto the main street was magical. Cho and Marietta simply walked along.
"Mummy usually finds everything she needs in Diagon Alley," Marietta was saying, "but, when you get right down to it, she doesn't need much. She might as well live at the Ministry, she spends so much time at the Network. I keep telling her that she needs a vacation, but she says that Fudge needs her expertise. I think Fudge needs to spend a few Galleons on hiring her a proper apprentice. Sometimes I think she wants me to just slip into the Network after Hogwarts, but that's certainly not what I want..."
"Marietta," Cho interrupted. "That's it, isn't it?"
Cho pointed down a side-street, which looked gloomy and uninviting despite the brilliant sunlight. She stared up at the gruesome sign of The Hog's Head and began to have second thoughts about this whole venture.
"Cho! Marietta!"
Both girls turned. It was Padma Patil, with her twin sister Parvati, also apparently heading toward the disreputable-looking inn.
"So you heard about this too, then?" Parvati asked.
Cho nodded. "Granger told me just the other day."
"I'm not surprised," Parvati nodded. "Padma told me about you standing up to Umbridge the first week. Pity more of us haven't had the Quaffles to do it."
Padma started giggling, as Marietta's eyes went wide and her face paled. "Personally, I don't care one way or another," Parvati went on. "It's just like another class with Binns; I just use the time to get caught up on homework for other classes. But we've got O.W.L.s later this year; they'll want us to do SOME kind of spell work, won't they?"
Padma grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her toward the inn. "Come on, we've put this off long enough." She opened the door to the Hog's Head, and a vaguely familiar scent hit Cho: the smell of livestock. It reminded her of her trip to China with her parents, and their stay in a small community of witches and wizards in the Chinese countryside. Watching the Patil twins enter without hesitation and wondering what kind of animals might be in the inn, Cho nodded toward Marietta as they opened the door and stepped inside.
xxx
An hour later, they returned to the fresh autumnal chill of Hogsmeade. They walked back toward the main street, and were halfway there when Marietta spoke up. "Cho Chang, you are utterly shameless!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cho asked even though she knew exactly what Marietta meant.
"I mean that last little bit at the end. It took you two full minutes to do up your robes and cloak! It was so obvious, the way you were dawdling about like that."
Cho blushed slightly. "Was it obvious, really?"
"I suppose you'd miss it if you were a troll. And jumping into the conversation like that: 'Harry's flown against dragons' and 'Harry fought off Hagrid's Skrewts'--honestly!"
"Well, it's all true!"
"It was hardly your job to tell the truth. We were just supposed to listen to their idea for a Dark Arts Defense study group. To tell the truth, I don't fancy it."
"Why not? We'll be studying the same spells Hogwarts taught last year and for centuries before that."
"It's not the same-- Look, can we argue the toss in the Three Broomsticks over some hot pumpkin cider? I just want to get that smell out of my nose."
As the two ducked into the far cleaner, more welcoming Three Broomsticks, they had to battle lines of students filing in and out of Madam Rosmerta's establishment. They found a small table for two in a far corner, and took their drinks from the bar to the table.
Marietta had hardly sat down when she started in again. "Hogwarts isn't the same anymore because of Umbridge. You can't deny that she's there because the Ministry wants her there."
Cho took a sip. "I don't think the Ministry knows what it wants. No offense to your mother; it's Fudge who's the problem. I mean, he acts as if Dumbledore hadn't said a word about, about..."
"No need to say it," Marietta interrupted. "But the Daily Prophet's been on about Potter being off his chump all summer..."
"Then answer me this, Marietta Edgecombe: we've both watched Harry for the past four years. Did he ever seem off his chump to you?"
"Well, considering he was raised a Muggle--"
"That's not an answer! Has he ever acted like Trelawney, say, or Luna Lovegood?"
"But they're both witches!"
"Exactly!" Cho set her mug down loudly on the small table. "So it's not about Muggle versus wizarding. Now, has Potter been sensible or not?"
"Well, for the most part, I guess I'd have to say sensible, but the Ministry--"
"Hang the Ministry! They're miles away!"
"Which is why they put Umbridge here! They want to know what's going on here, and Dumbledore probably doesn't tell them half of what happens. I tell you, Umbridge presided over a hearing on Harry Potter this summer; he came within a Puffskein's whisker of being expelled. Dumbledore saved his hide with some doubletalk about how Harry hadn't really committed a crime."
"What crime?"
"Ah. Well, they talked about all that at the Hog's Head just now, but Bones made it sound like two stories instead of one. Anyway, Harry was living with his Muggle relatives when he was attacked by a couple of Dementors." Cho's face went chalk-white. "Don't upset yourself," Marietta quickly added. "He's fine, as you can see. Of course, maybe there were no Dementors."
"But what was Harry accused of?"
"Underage magic."
"But we all slip up now and again."
"Not like this. My mum said that he summoned a Patronus to chase off the Dementors."
"Is that what Bones was talking about?" Marietta nodded. Cho stared at Marietta for a few seconds, then looked into space. "Patronus," she said, barely above a whisper.
"Look, maybe I should just leave you to your daydreaming..."
"I'm sorry, Marietta, but it's all been quite a lot to think about. You will come with me to the classes, won't you?"
"Classes? I'm sorry I even signed that paper."
"But what's the harm in a study group?"
"It's a study group that's sworn not to reveal what's going on to Umbridge!"
"Serves her right, then, stopping us studying the real spells."
Marietta sighed as she set down her now-empty mug and smiled ruefully at Cho. "Looks like I'll have to go to the next meeting, if only to rescue you from yourself if I need to."
"I don't think I'll need rescuing, thank you. I trust Harry."
"Looks to me like you do more than trust him, you know."
"I'm sure I don't know." Cho pretended to be insulted, but she was smiling at her friend the Prefect.
"All right, enough of that for today. I'm sure Scrivenshaft's is all out of quills by now; let's go find out!"
xxx
to be continued in part 14, wherein Cho attends a practice, listens to the talk, reads a notice, and discovers a classroom she never knew about.
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
13. A Hogsmeade Visit
Hogsmeade was such a forbidden, therefore exotic, place to the younger Hogwarts students, and such a break in the routine even for the older students, that on Hogsmeade days students usually rushed through breakfast, then rushed to line up to go.
Cho Chang, however, deliberately held back, dawdling over breakfast, then fussing with her hair for half an hour after breakfast. She really couldn't help it; she was of two minds about going to Hogsmeade today.
The last times she had gone to Hogsmeade, between the Yule Ball and the Third Task, it was in the company of Cedric Diggory. She wasn't sure how she'd react, what she'd remember. It was one thing to make a spectacle of herself in Hogwarts, where at least the students knew why she would freeze, choke up, burst into tears every other day or so even after a month back. That didn't mean that they approved. Marietta had had to lecture a couple of Ravenclaw Third-Years the other day for pairing Cho with Luna Lovegood, and laughing at "Loony and Moony".
But Marietta's coming with Cho to Hogsmeade wasn't exactly a good thing either. Cho's other reason for going, after all, was the prospect of joining a special group of students, studying Defense Against the Dark Arts. With Harry Potter. She had been trying to chat up Harry since school started, but hadn't had any luck after the first week and their chance meeting in the Owlery. She had actually spent the next few Saturdays after that meeting rushing to the Owlery on Saturday mornings, hanging about just in case ... with no luck. Maybe she could get Harry away from Granger and Ron Weasley, and his sister Ginny, get him away from the other Gryffindors, just to ask a question or two about--
"Cho! Stop dawdling or we'll be at the end of the line!"
Cho bit her lip and, blushing, took a few swipes at her hair with her brush. She actually had been fussing far less with her hair since the Third Task, but apparently Marietta hadn't noticed.
As if reading Cho's mind, she went on: "Not that I'm all that anxious to get to this meeting, mind you, but there are quite a few things I need to get done: Christmas shopping, replace my philtres, get some new quills..."
Cho took a last stroke through her hair. "Come on, then." She grabbed the sleeve of Marietta's robe and almost dragged her down to the entrance to Hogwarts.
There was already a line there, but not as long a line as Marietta had feared. Each student had to be checked against a list of those whose families had granted permission for their children to go to Hogwarts. Since this was a Saturday, McGonagall had apparently delegated the task of checking the list to Filch the caretaker. As Cho approached him, the dark scowl on his face seemed to grow darker. He apparently remembered her standing up to him in the Owlery. He seemed to sniff the air around her, as a dog would, before he wordlessly waved Cho and Marietta through.
As they dashed down the stone steps into the cool but sunny October morning, Cho could see students all along the path to the station, most in groups of two and three. Up ahead, where the path took a bend and disappeared from sight, she saw three figures who might have been Harry and his friends. There was a Weasley there; the head of red hair was plainly visible.
Marietta was chattering on about what she thought her mother would like as a Christmas present, but Cho wasn't really listening. She kept trying to push her memories into the background of her thoughts--memories of happier times in Hogsmeade, times with Cedric... But how could they ever have been happy times, since thinking of those days now made her want to scream...
No! Stop that! she scolded herself. She wasn't being fair to Cedric or Marietta. This was supposed to be a fun afternoon, and maybe even an adventure, if what Granger had said was true...
By this time, they were in sight of the train station. Once they crossed the tracks, they were in Hogsmeade. Some students--all Third-Years, judging by their youth and enthusiasm--raced past them to get to the town, as if simply setting foot onto the main street was magical. Cho and Marietta simply walked along.
"Mummy usually finds everything she needs in Diagon Alley," Marietta was saying, "but, when you get right down to it, she doesn't need much. She might as well live at the Ministry, she spends so much time at the Network. I keep telling her that she needs a vacation, but she says that Fudge needs her expertise. I think Fudge needs to spend a few Galleons on hiring her a proper apprentice. Sometimes I think she wants me to just slip into the Network after Hogwarts, but that's certainly not what I want..."
"Marietta," Cho interrupted. "That's it, isn't it?"
Cho pointed down a side-street, which looked gloomy and uninviting despite the brilliant sunlight. She stared up at the gruesome sign of The Hog's Head and began to have second thoughts about this whole venture.
"Cho! Marietta!"
Both girls turned. It was Padma Patil, with her twin sister Parvati, also apparently heading toward the disreputable-looking inn.
"So you heard about this too, then?" Parvati asked.
Cho nodded. "Granger told me just the other day."
"I'm not surprised," Parvati nodded. "Padma told me about you standing up to Umbridge the first week. Pity more of us haven't had the Quaffles to do it."
Padma started giggling, as Marietta's eyes went wide and her face paled. "Personally, I don't care one way or another," Parvati went on. "It's just like another class with Binns; I just use the time to get caught up on homework for other classes. But we've got O.W.L.s later this year; they'll want us to do SOME kind of spell work, won't they?"
Padma grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her toward the inn. "Come on, we've put this off long enough." She opened the door to the Hog's Head, and a vaguely familiar scent hit Cho: the smell of livestock. It reminded her of her trip to China with her parents, and their stay in a small community of witches and wizards in the Chinese countryside. Watching the Patil twins enter without hesitation and wondering what kind of animals might be in the inn, Cho nodded toward Marietta as they opened the door and stepped inside.
xxx
An hour later, they returned to the fresh autumnal chill of Hogsmeade. They walked back toward the main street, and were halfway there when Marietta spoke up. "Cho Chang, you are utterly shameless!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cho asked even though she knew exactly what Marietta meant.
"I mean that last little bit at the end. It took you two full minutes to do up your robes and cloak! It was so obvious, the way you were dawdling about like that."
Cho blushed slightly. "Was it obvious, really?"
"I suppose you'd miss it if you were a troll. And jumping into the conversation like that: 'Harry's flown against dragons' and 'Harry fought off Hagrid's Skrewts'--honestly!"
"Well, it's all true!"
"It was hardly your job to tell the truth. We were just supposed to listen to their idea for a Dark Arts Defense study group. To tell the truth, I don't fancy it."
"Why not? We'll be studying the same spells Hogwarts taught last year and for centuries before that."
"It's not the same-- Look, can we argue the toss in the Three Broomsticks over some hot pumpkin cider? I just want to get that smell out of my nose."
As the two ducked into the far cleaner, more welcoming Three Broomsticks, they had to battle lines of students filing in and out of Madam Rosmerta's establishment. They found a small table for two in a far corner, and took their drinks from the bar to the table.
Marietta had hardly sat down when she started in again. "Hogwarts isn't the same anymore because of Umbridge. You can't deny that she's there because the Ministry wants her there."
Cho took a sip. "I don't think the Ministry knows what it wants. No offense to your mother; it's Fudge who's the problem. I mean, he acts as if Dumbledore hadn't said a word about, about..."
"No need to say it," Marietta interrupted. "But the Daily Prophet's been on about Potter being off his chump all summer..."
"Then answer me this, Marietta Edgecombe: we've both watched Harry for the past four years. Did he ever seem off his chump to you?"
"Well, considering he was raised a Muggle--"
"That's not an answer! Has he ever acted like Trelawney, say, or Luna Lovegood?"
"But they're both witches!"
"Exactly!" Cho set her mug down loudly on the small table. "So it's not about Muggle versus wizarding. Now, has Potter been sensible or not?"
"Well, for the most part, I guess I'd have to say sensible, but the Ministry--"
"Hang the Ministry! They're miles away!"
"Which is why they put Umbridge here! They want to know what's going on here, and Dumbledore probably doesn't tell them half of what happens. I tell you, Umbridge presided over a hearing on Harry Potter this summer; he came within a Puffskein's whisker of being expelled. Dumbledore saved his hide with some doubletalk about how Harry hadn't really committed a crime."
"What crime?"
"Ah. Well, they talked about all that at the Hog's Head just now, but Bones made it sound like two stories instead of one. Anyway, Harry was living with his Muggle relatives when he was attacked by a couple of Dementors." Cho's face went chalk-white. "Don't upset yourself," Marietta quickly added. "He's fine, as you can see. Of course, maybe there were no Dementors."
"But what was Harry accused of?"
"Underage magic."
"But we all slip up now and again."
"Not like this. My mum said that he summoned a Patronus to chase off the Dementors."
"Is that what Bones was talking about?" Marietta nodded. Cho stared at Marietta for a few seconds, then looked into space. "Patronus," she said, barely above a whisper.
"Look, maybe I should just leave you to your daydreaming..."
"I'm sorry, Marietta, but it's all been quite a lot to think about. You will come with me to the classes, won't you?"
"Classes? I'm sorry I even signed that paper."
"But what's the harm in a study group?"
"It's a study group that's sworn not to reveal what's going on to Umbridge!"
"Serves her right, then, stopping us studying the real spells."
Marietta sighed as she set down her now-empty mug and smiled ruefully at Cho. "Looks like I'll have to go to the next meeting, if only to rescue you from yourself if I need to."
"I don't think I'll need rescuing, thank you. I trust Harry."
"Looks to me like you do more than trust him, you know."
"I'm sure I don't know." Cho pretended to be insulted, but she was smiling at her friend the Prefect.
"All right, enough of that for today. I'm sure Scrivenshaft's is all out of quills by now; let's go find out!"
xxx
to be continued in part 14, wherein Cho attends a practice, listens to the talk, reads a notice, and discovers a classroom she never knew about.