CHO CHANG'S EIGHTH 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 the wizarding world that Harry isn't aware of.
Rated: PG
Spoilers: Everything
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12. Back to School
Her arrival at the Hog's Head was accompanied by the usual flash and smoke involved in Floo travel, but cutting through the smoke was a voice; a voice Cho had learned to detest in the past year.
"I don't care if they forbade me to come!"
Ginny Weasley.
"You'd better start caring; we can always change our minds," said one of her twin brothers.
"Yeah," the other twin picked up the sentence, "see how long you stay here if we peach on you."
"Well, I want to see him, so where is he?"
"You keep a civil tongue, child." The voice was familiar somehow; then she remembered. The Hog's Head was run by Aberforth Dumbledore, younger brother of Albus, Hogwart's late Headmaster. His accent was different from his brother's, and apparently he'd been disturbed by all the arrivals. Then the last of the smoke blew away and Cho noticed: herself included, there were only five members of the Army there.
Aberforth, meanwhile, had pulled aside a painting to reveal a tunnel. The three Weasleys and Lee Jordan rushed to enter. Apparently they hadn't even seen Cho.
After a few seconds Aberforth grumbled at Cho, "You waitin' on an invitation?"
"Erm, no, I mean, thank you." Cho dashed into the tunnel herself, afraid of crossing the old innkeeper any further but not sure what she had done wrong.
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She hung back as she walked the length of the tunnel, which somehow connected to Hogwarts—she was sure of that. She heard Lee Jordan trying to chat up Ginny Weasley; they had gotten together after she broke it off with Michael Corner, and he was trying to see if she was still interested.
Poor sod, Cho couldn't help but think; all of that topsy-turvy with boys she never cared about was Ginny's way of trying to catch Harry's eye. Now she's got it, and Lee has to know that. Why is he trying to speak with her now? I wonder if Lee will end up as bitter as Michael was. I wonder how Michael's recovery is progressing.
I wonder … Harry.
She stopped in the tunnel for a second, letting the voices of the others fade ahead of her. Harry had to have called this meeting; the Army was his idea, it couldn't keep on without him. The students tried it, and the school nearly killed Michael and Merlin knows who else. When I come out of this tunnel, wherever it's taking us, he'll be the first one I see.
And then?
She felt her cheeks burning, remembering the sneers Harry aimed at her after Marietta's betrayal of the Army. This is probably the worst time to think of this, she mused, walking without really seeing the tunnel, guided by the dim light ahead as a flame draws a moth. But it's two years since we said a word to each other; mummy's right, that's too long. I have to see his face, what it looks like the moment he sees me. I have to see his face. Then I'll know what he's thinking, I'll know if he still can't forgive me.
I have to see his face.
As she drew closer to the end of the tunnel, the light of the entrance wasn't what caught her attention; it was the voices. There were more than just the students she'd followed; much of the Army seems to have answered the call. In that moment, she forgot about Harry's face and rejoiced in the courage that led her to come when called. She didn't hesitate; it was too important. Then again, she had more reasons than most.
As she neared the entrance she heard one of the twins talking about the Hog's Head and Aberforth. Could more be coming? How many had come now? And where had they come to?
Lee Jordan had just stepped into the room, and he surely saw what Cho saw: Ginny Weasley, all smiles, rushing up to Harry, who didn't touch her, didn't kiss her. He glared at her, like a Prefect catching a rule-breaking student in the act.
That can't be bad, Cho decided, and stepped into the room.
It had to be the Room of Requirement, where the Army had spent most of its time learning the essential Defense spells that Umbridge refused to teach. She recognized the high vaulted ceilings, the arches from which one December night hung a sprig of mistletoe…
Then she remembered to look at Harry.
There he was, scar and all, as she knew he'd be. He wasn't sneering, nor was he smiling. Later she would describe him as looking "gob-smacked." One thing was certain: somewhere along the way, he'd stopped hating her. For that reason, and many others, too many to explain, she smiled.
"I got the message," she said, holding up the Galleon on its fine chain. He still didn't say anything, staring as if she was the last person he expected to see.
Maybe he still blames me after all, she thought in a panicky second. She started to say something else to him, but a movement along one wall caught her eye.
It was Michael Corner, sitting on a bench, with a couple of other Ravenclaws. But Michael looked terrible; even worse off than he'd been in January when Cho had nursed him for a week. She sat down beside him.
"They said Harry was coming back and calling the Army," Michael said in a low voice. "I'm glad to see you here."
"Well, I'm not glad to see you. It's like you've undone everything since January! What happened?"
"The Carrows happened. You know about them?" Cho nodded; she'd been briefed when she came to Hogwarts months before. "Well, they rather objected when Terry Boot stood on the table in the middle of supper and started telling everyone about what happened at Gringotts."
"How did he hear about it? I thought sure the school would try to keep quiet about it."
"The Carrows and Umbitch and Snape can all control the owls and the Floos and everything else they can find, but they do miss the pitch now and again. Boot's parents were shopping in Diagon Alley when it happened. By the way…"
"Yes, Michael, I saw it! I saw it all; it was amazing."
"We were beginning to wonder if Terry was gilding the dragonlily. But he just kept on about how Potter was seen riding the dragon…" Michael paused and looked at Cho, who glanced over at Harry, deep in conversation, then nodded. "Cor," Michael said under his breath. "Anyway, Boot was telling the tale, and at the same time deflecting spells that were coming at him from the Carrows, and even a few Slytherins. And maybe he figured that he was under attack anyway and had nothing to lose. He actually starts singing about Harry, to the tune of 'Rule, Brittania!' You should have heard…" Michael's chuckle turned into a wince of pain; he doubled over, clutching his stomach. "Well, one Slytherin catches Boot in the back with a Stunner, rotten little coward. I Stunned him, then they got me. I don't really remember after that."
"I'd say you were hit by three or four Stunners. Are you sure you feel all right?"
"All things considered, never better. The Army's back and Harry's here to lead it!"
Cho glanced over at Harry, braced by (of course) his two shadows, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. A minute before he had been talking with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan, but now it was between the three of them, as so many things had been over the years.
"Okay!"
Harry's sudden call to the room silenced everyone as they looked to him.
"There's something that we need to find; something … something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where."
Is he sending us on a treasure hunt, then, Cho wondered.
"It may have belonged to Ravenclaw."
Cho wasn't certain if her heart had missed a beat or was going faster than ever before. This is it, she told herself; this is why I'm here…
"Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"
Cho traded puzzled looks with Terry, Michael, and Padma Patil, who'd joined her fellow Ravenclaws. The answer, though, came from Luna Lovegood, who was—of all places—perched on the arm of a chair which Ginny Weasley inhabited like a queen on her throne.
"Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw."
The lost diadem of Ravenclaw! Cho had read about it two or three times in Hogwarts: A History—usually in passing while trying to find out about the history of Quidditch in Ravenclaw. But now she recalled what little history there was about the diadem.
Luna kept on: "Daddy's trying to duplicate it…"
Michael spoke up next to Cho: "Yeh, but the lost diadem is lost, Luna. That's sort of the point."
"When was it lost?" Harry asked anxiously.
The Snitch had just popped up in front of Cho's face, and she grabbed it: "Centuries ago, they say. Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?" She looked at the others of her House, who nodded in agreement.
Weasley spoke up: "Sorry, but what is a diadem?"
If Michael hadn't rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, Cho might have followed suit. It was a rather dim thing to ask.
"It's a kind of crown," said Terry, who Cho could tell was just as disgusted with the question but hid it well. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties: enhance the wisdom of the wearer." Again, any Ravenclaw would have known about how, every few years, someone would try to market a cheap imitation diadem as a study aide to naïve First Years. Of course, by the time their O.W.L.s rolled around, they knew the history and couldn't be fooled.
Luna was trying to say something about Wrackspurt siphons, but Harry cut her off.
"And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?"
Cho at first shook her head with the others, then stopped herself. Of course we've never seen it, but we've had a good guess staring back at us all the years we were here. And Harry doesn't know about it, because he's never been in Ravenclaw! The Snitch had appeared again, offering itself to Cho, and she seized it.
"If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our Common Room and show you, Harry. Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue."
For a moment, Cho thought a smile started to form on Harry's face; but then he winced in pain and touched the famed lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. Cho stood out of reflex, as ready to help Harry as she was to help Michael or anyone else. The embers, long banked in her heart, had flared back to life at the sight of Harry in pain. She knew now that she could face the Carrows, or Snape, or the Dark Lord Himself. She would do it because she loved Harry Potter, and only death could change that.
Harry, meanwhile, seemed to recover somewhat from whatever was attacking him, and he held a short conference with his shadows. Then he turned to Cho. Again, she seemed to see a smile start to form on his lips…
"NO!" Ginny Weasley; of course. Still balled up in her chair like an angry and disturbed cat, she turned to Luna Lovegood and said, "Luna will take Harry; won't you, Luna?"
"Ooooh, yes, I'd like to!" Luna gushed, as if Christmas had just come early.
Cho, feeling as if Christmas had decided not to come after all, sat heavily back down next to Michael. Harry and Luna then followed Neville Longbottom to a cupboard, which had a staircase inside it. "That wasn't here last time," she whispered to Michael. "Does that lead to Ravenclaw?"
"Sometimes." Cho gave him a puzzled look. "It leads somewhere different every day. Risky, but almost impossible for Snape and the Carrows to find. It's come in handy."
Cho didn't say anything; she just sat on the bench, looking down at the stone floor and wringing her hands.
"Friend to friend," Michael whispered to Cho as Harry and Luna disappeared into the cupboard, "don't let Ginny get to you, because that's just what she wants." Cho looked over at the chair, where Ginny was now conversing with some of the Gryffindors, while shooting the odd glare at Cho and Michael. ""She wants you to think she's whipped Harry for good and all."
"Whipped?"
"Don't worry; if she'd really done it, she'd be all smugness and high and mighty."
"But, whipped? She beats Harry?"
Michael chuckled. "Erm, that's not exactly what it means." He leaned closer to Cho and whispered in her ear. As he did so, her face passed through several different shades of red. Finally, she whispered, "You're joking, right? You think they had-"
"I have no idea," Michael said, "but don't forget I used to date that little bint. And I wouldn't put it past her."
The blush still hadn't entirely left Cho's cheeks.
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To be continued in part 13, wherein reinforcements arrive and the Battle of Hogwarts begins in earnest…